The Heart Bond

It was a dreary, rainy day on Privet drive, and the raven-haired boy with the unusual scar
on his forehead was matching it perfectly, laying down on his bed and staring into
eternity. He had been like this since he’d returned home to the Dursleys two days ago. .
His Aunt and Uncle had taken to ignoring and avoid him since Mad-Eye had had a chat
with them about treating Harry correctly. This new tactic didn’t bother Harry at all. In
fact, he preferred it.
This past week had been the worst he’d ever had in his life. His mind was weighed down
with the thoughts of the battle in the Department of Mysteries that had occurred only a
week ago. He blamed himself for involving all the people he loved and cared for, for
almost getting them killed, and most of all for Sirius getting murdered. Harry had gone
down to the Ministry thinking he was going to save him, and instead he fell into a trap
and got Sirius killed instead.
He slammed his fist into his pillow in frustration. “It just isn’t fair; I was going to live
with him. We were going to be a family!” He screamed, forgetting in his anguish that he
was still at his Uncle’s house. A moment later an enraged Uncle Vernon burst into Harry’s
room.
“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing? It’s 9 o’ clock at night! You’re going to
wake the neighbours. They’ll be wondering…” At that moment he stopped after realizing
that Harry had been crying. “What are you crying about? What happened, you can’t go
back to your school? Did they realize how bad of a person you were? Or did that convict
that you call a godfather get caught finally? Well boy…. answer me! Answer!” Vernon
screamed, his face turning an ugly puce colour.
Harry felt his stomach drop at the mention of his deceased godfather, he didn’t need to
hear about him right now. He would have hexed Vernon right where he stood if it wasn’t
for the fact that if he did he wouldn’t be able to go back to Hogwarts; Instead Harry stood
and said in an icy voice, “Leave me alone.”
“Or what? You’ll curse me,” Vernon cried derisively. “I know you can’t do you your
thingy out of school, you’ll get expelled.” The large man spat at him.
“Leave” Harry said again, this time standing and pointing towards the door. He was
furious at his Uncle and the way he had treated him all his life. At that moment a loud
crack sounded and Uncle Vernon flew through the door and tumbled down the stairs.
Harry thudded down on his bed, dumbstruck; he had just performed wandless magic, he
knew that sometimes wizards could perform accidental magic, but he never knew one
could do complex magic without a wand. The stunned boy had now completely forgotten
about his uncle, piled unceremoniously at the bottom of the staircase. All that mattered
now was that he was certainly going to be expelled from Hogwarts for performing
underage magic. He turned around when he heard the familiar noise of an owl tapping on
his window.
The ash grey owl lifted its leg so that Harry could retrieve the letter. It was from the
Ministry addressed to him... “Might as well get this over with.” He muttered to himself.
He opened the letter expecting it to be a summons to another disciplinary hearing, but
what he found surprised him. It was a letter from Madam Bones. The letter said…
Dear Mr. Potter-
It has come to our attention that a massive amount of magic was expelled at the
residence of #4 Privet Drive. It was concluded that it was underage magic. Under usual
circumstances we would be forced to take your wand and potentially expel you from
Hogwarts. However, this is not the usual circumstances; Albus Dumbledore has brought
to my attention that it is imperative that you and your friends are allowed to use magic
over the summer in hopes of preventing another attack. I would have to agree and
therefore The Order and I have now officially made you, Mr. and Ms. Weasley, Ms.
Granger, Mr. Longbottom and Ms. Lovegood registered wizards. You are now legally
adults in our world. I can only urge you to use the utmost care with your new allowances.
Sincerely,
Head of Auror Division Madam Bones
Harry dropped to his bed, still clutching the letter, he could do magic out of school! He
couldn’t imagine what his friends would be doing. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would be
ecstatic, and Neville and Luna would just be stunned. The one thing that bothered him
about the letter was Madam Bones’ knowledge of the Order of the Phoenix, he mentally
reminded himself to tell Dumbledore.
Harry just sat there on his bed imagining what he could do know that he was a legal adult
wizard; he didn’t even notice Uncle Vernon walk into his room again.
“They threw you out didn’t they, that’s what’s in that letter isn’t it?” Uncle Vernon
laughed manically.
“Nope,” and with that one word Harry raised his wand and shouted, “Expelliarmus!”
Uncle Vernon was, for the second time that night, forced out through the door and
tumbled down the stairs. Harry used colloportus and a silencing charm on his door, and
went to bed smiling for the first time in a week and a half at the thought of his uncle’s
startled expression when he had pointed his wand at him.
The next day, when Harry woke up he realized that it had been the first night he hadn’t
had his usual nightmare of Sirius falling through the veil. He was very grateful for not
having to witness it again, and was able to finally sleep soundly. Strangely, he
remembered his dream was about him sitting in a green meadow with a beautiful red
headed girl, but he couldn’t figure out who it was. It definitely was better than what he
used to see so he wasn’t complaining.
Harry decided, because it was so early, it would be nice to go for a walk. He now was
able to protect himself so he didn’t have to stay cooped up. He grabbed one of Dudley’s
used sweaters and his wand and walked out the door.
He wandered around for a while, just thinking to himself, trying to figure out what went
wrong at the ministry until he passed the small park that Dudley and his gang terrorised.
He spotted the swings and decided to sit down for a while. He walked over, sat down and
started to rock back and forth; it had been such a long time since he had actually done this
and was enjoying the comforting feel of the rock. He did this awhile, but stopped
suddenly as he heard someone walking up from behind. He turned around quickly
expecting a death eater or Voldemort, but what he saw was a little girl who couldn’t have
been older than 11. She had dark brown hair done in a ponytail, and had hazel eyes.
The little girl looked up into the raven-haired boy’s deep green eyes and immediately
liked him; she knew there was something unusual about him, and it piqued her interest
immediately.
“Hiya! I hope I didn’t scare you? I was just coming over to swing. Can I join you?” She
said in a light voice.
“Umm, sure.” Harry hadn’t dealt with many younger kids besides the ones he passed in
the halls on the way to classes, so he was unsure what to do.
She jumped on the swing next to him and started to swing. “So what’s that stick you’re
holding?” She asked. Harry hadn’t realized he even had pulled it out; it was just a reflex
for him now.
“Oh this, this is a… gift from my parents.”
“Could I see it? It looks pretty.”
Harry wasn’t sure what to do, she was just a muggle so she couldn’t do anything with it,
but he felt naked without it. He decided to let her hold it just for a little bit. “Sure, just be
careful because it’s really important to me.”
She took the wand from his hand and began to wave it around, When she did that though,
a jet of red and gold sparks shot out of the end, and she dropped it in surprise.
“Whoa, that was cool!” She said, grinning again.
Harry’s mind was in overdrive, she was a witch and didn’t know it, because muggles
couldn’t do anything with a wand. Dudley had stolen his and couldn’t even get it to let
out a spit of fire. She had to almost be 11, and if her parents were wizards then they
would tell her, so she must be muggle-born. Well, just try and figure out as much stuff
about her as you can, he thought to himself.
“It’s just a toy, like a magic wand, see,” he lifted his wand off the ground and shot some
more sparks out of the end, “It’s just a toy. Oh and by the way, my name’s Harry Potter.”
“Mine’s Emmaline Massey. I live just up the street,” she pointed her hand behind her,
“Where do you live?”
“Oh I live at #4 on Privet drive, but I’m gone most of the time at school in Scotland.
Where do you go to school?” This girl was growing on him every second; he could tell
she was very intelligent; she would make a good Ravenclaw.
“Oh I go to the public school right up the street. What do your parents do? Mine is
lawyer.”
“My parents were murdered when I was only a year old; I live with my Aunt and Uncle
the Dursleys.” Harry said sadly, remembering he wasn’t going to be able to live with
Sirius any more, but somehow being near this girl seemed to take the edge off of the
memory of Sirius’ death.
“Oh I’m so sorry. My dad died also, he was killed in a car accident.” She looked down at
her trainers momentarily then looked up at him again, “You have to live with Dudley?
That’s a bummer. He’s too fat.”
“Yeah he really is a great pig, isn’t he, but it’s alright. I don’t have to see much of him,
thankfully. How old are you?” She seemed to have a very strong personality, one which
Harry enjoyed
“I’m just about to turn 11, what about you?”
“I’m going to turn 16 on July 31.” So that means if she’s going to get the letter it will be
soon. Maybe even before this school year starts, McGonagall’s usually pretty good about
that stuff.
She let out a gasp of excitement, “Oh wow, that’s so cool. I have the same birthday as
you!” Emmaline was really starting to like this boy, he sure seems mysterious, but he’s
also nice. I wonder if he’ll be my friend, he doesn’t know about the stuff that I can do. She
thought to herself. “Do you want to be my friend?” She asked shyly.
Harry was taken aback for a moment, but then happily said “Sure I’d love to Emmaline.”
“Cool, you can call me Emma.” She had just gotten her first friend; she just hoped she
wouldn’t frighten him away.
“Ok Emma, you can call me whatever.”
“Ok Whatever,” she giggled at her own joke, “I have to go home right now or else mum
will be mad, but I’ll meet you here tomorrow ok?” She jumped off her swing, gave him a
quick hug, and then ran off to her home.
After a little more swinging Harry also got up and headed home smiling, thinking about
the little girl who he’d just become friends with.

Harry was sitting at his desk, surrounded by a pile of used parchment. Harry had been so
focused on his letters that he forgot to have breakfast, and lunch, for that matter. He was
having trouble writing the letters to Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Ginny. He
couldn’t figure out what to write to these people whom he had carried into a life-
threatening situation. The one he had the most trouble with was the one to Ginny. For
some reason he wanted to make sure it seemed just right. He felt horrible about dragging
her into this whole mess, and wanted to make sure she wasn’t upset with him. He
struggled for over 3 hours, but finally sent Hedwig off, laden with the five letters.
The days were passing much more quickly now; in the morning he would walk, or
sometimes jog, up to the park and swing with Emma, talking about their lives. She was
interesting to talk to and was very intelligent, almost like a miniature Hermione. She’d
grown up a single child and didn’t have many friends because she would make weird
things happen when she got angry or scared. This startled Harry because it was so similar
to his own childhood. Harry told her not to worry and stay strong, because he would be
her friend no matter what happened.
After he left the playground he would go back up to his room and work on his defensive
spells from books he’d been reading. Harry had been writing down any spells he thought
might help him in the fight against Voldemort; the list now had over fifty different hexes,
jinxes and other spell he thought he might be able to use.
One night Harry woke up from another dream about the Department of Mysteries once
again. It was always the same: he would rush to the death chamber to try and save Sirius
but right as he got there he fell through it. Then Ron and Hermione, and Ginny, Neville,
Luna, Lupin, and… It just kept going until he woke up with his scar twingeing irritably.
Harry stumbled out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and trying to shake out the
bad dreams inside his head. He felt around the bedside table for his glasses, knocking
over the lamp, which then in turn landed on his foot, in the process. Cursing under his
breath Harry shoved his glasses on his face and searched the room for the cause of his
waking. Outside the window Hedwig stood on the sill, tapping on the glass; she was
carrying a bundle of letters.
He untied them, gave Hedwig an owl treat, and then quickly tore open the first one,
which turned out to be from Hermione.
Harry,
I’m so sorry that this had to happen to you. Even though you’re saying you’re alright I
know you too well. You aren’t. You’re probably blaming yourself for Sirius’ death. It
wasn’t your fault; it’s no one’s but Bellatrix’s and Voldemort’s. Please promise me you’ll
forgive yourself. We followed you there; you didn’t force us. You saved all of our lives at
least once. Thank you for that, by the way. You are like my brother, and I hope you think
that about me.
Love,
Hermione
He set the letter down smiling; he had known that was what she was going to write. He
was also pleased that she considered him to be her brother, because he had always
considered her as a sister. He picked up the next letter, which was from Ron.
Harry,
How are the muggles? I hope they’re feeding you better than last year. If not I’ll go over
there and give them a piece of my mind! The Cannons are finally winning again after
their 5-year losing streak. They beat Ireland 250-0.
Do you know when you can stay with us again? I’ve been asking Dumbledore but he
won’t say anything specific, just something like ‘all in due time’ Write me if your troll of a
cousin is giving you any trouble, Fred and George have some new products to test. Their
store is a huge hit; even Mum thinks it was a great idea to start it up now.
See you soon,
Ron
Harry laughed out loud at the idea of Dudley turning into an octopus or some other weird
thing. He would definitely have to have Ron send some things over to him; it would
hopefully make his stay a little more enjoyable. He picked up the last letter. This one was
from Ginny. He hadn’t really been expecting one from her but welcomed it nonetheless.
Dear Harry,
I know you don’t know me as well as you do Ron or even Fred and George, I’ve just
always been “Ron’s-little-sister-who-had-a-crush-on-you,” but I’ve always wanted to get
to know you better; even just as friends. That’s why I asked you to write me on the train
ride. I know what it feels like to lose someone close to you. My cousin, who was also my
best friend, died from a fever when she was 9. I was so upset I cried for weeks. Let me tell
you it’s alright, you need to cry to let out all your emotions. It isn’t healthy to stay bottled
up like you do. You’re going to have to forgive yourself. We came with you by choice, and
the only person to blame is Voldemort. We’re all worried about you, especially mum.
She’s going nutters.
I hope you’ll realise I’m not just Ron’s sister but your friend also. I care for you, and
don’t want to see anything happen to you. You can write or talk to me any time you want.
Love,
Ginny
Harry was shocked. Ginny, Ron’s sister had just said she cared for him, and that she was
worried. He knew that she used to have a crush on him; the way she always used to
stutter when she was near him proved that, but he had figured that she had moved on. She
was actually dating Dean right now. However, this made Harry second-guess that; this
was a sincere letter, she seemed to still have feelings for him.
It wasn’t as though he hadn’t thought about Ginny, but he always pushed her out of his
thoughts when he remembered how protective Ron was of his sister.
She certainly had grown into a pretty young woman; she isn’t shy anymore, but filled with
a passion for life. From all the pictures he’d seen of his mom, Ginny looked just like her.
But NO! She’s Ron’s sister, he’d pummel me if he thought I fancied her. Remember what
he was like when he found out she was dating; I bet it would be a hundred times worse
than that. I can’t think of this right now. He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts.
That letter sure had made him rethink his decision. He glanced at the clock and realised
that he really had been lost in thought; it was already 8 o’ clock! He got dressed quickly,
stole some toast from Dudley’s plate and went down to the playground to meet Emma.
When he got to the park Emma was already there, waiting for him on the swing, there
was also a woman whom Harry figured had to be her mom. They looked almost identical,
with the same brown hair and eyes. When Emma saw Harry she jumped off the swing
and ran up to him,
“Hey Harry!” She said
“Hey yourself! how are you? Is that your mum?” Harry waved at the older woman.
“Yeah, she said she wanted to meet you. Come on.” She pulled him over to her mom.
“Hi I’m Joy, Emmaline’s mother. She’s talked non-stop about you for the last week so I
decided that I should come down and meet the famous Harry Potter.”
“Yes, Harry Potter,” he instinctively moved his hair to cover his scar, “It’s nice to meet
you, your daughter is really nice.”
“Thank you; she says the same about you.” Joy looked at the scrawny young boy, taking
in his oversized clothes and unusual scar. “Would you like to have brunch with us? It
would be nice to talk to you some more, and I’m sure Emma here would enjoy it.” She
hoped that she might be able to feed this boy, even though it appeared his family didn’t.
“Yeah! I’d love to,” Harry was glad for any excuse to get away from the Dursley’s and he
could do with some food.
Emma took Harry’s hand, and the three headed up the street to her house. When Harry
entered it he immediately could tell that this was a loving family. There were pictures of
Emma and her family on the walls, and everything had a homey feel to it that the
Dursleys’ lacked.
“Your house is really nice, and it smells really good too.” Harry said to Joy.
“Thank you, we try and make it feel nice and cozy; you probably smell the crumble cake
that’s baking.” Joy was surprised at how polite and mild-mannered the young boy was,
no he isn’t a boy, he’s a man, she corrected herself. His eyes make him look like he’s a
hundred years old. Joy’s motherly intuition told her that he was dealing with some large
problem, something which had caused him to skip over his childhood.
“C’mon Harry! Over here into the kitchen, we have lots of food.” Emma dragged him
into the kitchen and sat him down. Joy opened up the oven and pulled out the steaming
cake and cut each of them a piece; there was also bacon, eggs, and orange juice on the
table. For a while the room was only filled with the sounds of the silverware hitting plates
as they ate.
“Thank you for having me over Emma, I get really bored over the summer so it’s nice to
do something every once and a while. I can’t wait ‘till school starts again.” Harry said as
they cleaned up.
Emma laughed, “Silly! Why would you want to go back to school? Summer’s fun!”
“Because it’s more of a home to me than anywhere else,” he said quietly.
“Do you not do anything with your parents over the summer?” Joy asked.
“No, my parents were killed when I was one, I live with my Aunt and Uncle, and they
usually don’t like to acknowledge that I even live with them.” He said with a sour laugh.
“Oh, I’m sorry; Emma lost her father, Harold , in a car accident. If you don’t mind me
asking, how did your parents die?” Joy asked softly.
Harry tried to think of a story in his mind which would not reveal him as a wizard yet still
explain what happened. In the end though, he decided to just tell part of the truth.
“Well, my parent’s were murdered by a man named Tom Riddle. He killed both of them,
and tried to kill me. He couldn’t though, but left me with this scar.” He lifted his bangs
out of the way so they could see the lightning bolt scar he was so famous for.
“Did they ever catch the man who did it?” Emma asked.
“No, he ran away after that, no one could find him. Some said he was killed… but he was
seen again last year.” Harry stated, satisfied that the story made at least some sense.
“Well I’m sorry that happened to you. You said that you live with your Aunt and Uncle
now. How are they?” Joy said patting him on the shoulder reassuringly.
“They’re….ok…. I guess. I mean they feed me and clothe me. My Aunt never liked her
sister, or my dad, so they don’t exactly love me. I’m more like a tenant or something.
They’re as happy to see me go off to school as I am to go.”
“Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that. Do you like your school though; do you go to the one
near here?” Joy asked, she hadn’t seen the boy at Emma’s school and most of the
neighborhood kids went there.
“Nope, I go to a boarding school even though the Dursleys say I go to St. Brutus’s School
for the Incurably Criminal.”
“Really? I went to a boarding school too, what’s it called?” Joy asked.
Harry hesitated for a moment, but then decided to tell them because they would most
likely be figuring out soon enough.
“It’s called Hogwarts; it’s in Scotland near a town called Hogsmeade. It’s really cool, the
school’s an old castle and there’s a huge lake that you can hang out by. It’s like my real
home.” He said nostalgically, but also remembered how horrible the last school year was;
everything from Umbridge to learning about the prophecy Dumbledore had been keeping
from him. Harry shook his head clearing it of all those memories, it’ll be better this year.
I know it will.
“It sounds cool; I wish I could go to a school like that! It would be wicked!” Emma said
excitedly.
“I’ve never heard of a school by that name, but Emma’s right it does sound wonderful, I
could see why you love it so much. Do you have to apply?” Joy asked, it sounded like a
great school and she herself had enjoyed boarding school. Maybe Emma would too.
“Actually, I just got a note one day saying that I was accepted into it, apparently my mum
and dad had me signed up for it. That was one of the happiest days of my life.” Harry said
happily, thinking about what a shock it will be to Emma and Joy if they got the letter.
“Well I’ll have to look into that, since I enjoyed my boarding school experience and I’m
sure Emmaline would too.” Joy glanced at her watch and gasped. “Oh no, I’m sorry I’m
going to have to go, but I have a case that I should be working on. Harry you’re more
than welcome to stay with Emma if you want. Emma I’ll be at my office. You know the
number, and I’ll be home around six alright?” She bent down and kissed her daughter on
the forehead.
“I think I’ll be going home also, I have some chores I need to do. I’ll see you tomorrow at
the swings Emma?” Harry smiled at the little girl.
“Sure, same time, same place. See ya Harry!” She hugged him around the waist.
That night Harry sat down to write a response to Ginny’s letter, but he’d been thinking
about how to reply ever since he got it. He was sure now that he wanted to tell her how
he felt, but not in a way that shouted ‘I love you!’ It had taken him two hours and about
four feet of parchment but Harry finally managed to get his thoughts down on paper.
He re-read it to make sure it said what he wanted it to, signed the bottom and walked over
to Hedwig.
“Ok girl, this is for Ginny, so take it directly to her room ok?” Hedwig nipped his finger
as if in understanding, turned on her perch and flew out of the open window into the
night.
It’s out of my hands now. I only hope that Ginny likes me in that way, and I wasn’t
reading too much into it thinking that she liked me.
Harry laid down on his bed, fully clothed, and closed his eyes to another fitful night, full
of bad dreams.
Ginny was in her pyjamas, combing her hair. She had just taken a shower and was about
to go to bed. She’d been worried about how Harry would take the letter she had written
him. I hope it wasn’t too vague; I want him to know that I still do like him. But maybe he
doesn’t like me. Will he just think that the letter is just from a friend? I could swear that
sometimes I see a glimmer of something in his eyes; those deep green eyes. Get a hold of
yourself Gin’! If he likes you then he’ll write back, if he doesn’t then he’s just a friend.
Ginny stopped, suddenly hearing a tapping noise on her window; Hedwig was there,
holding a letter. Her heart leapt as she raced over to the window. Throwing it open, she let
Hedwig in and took the letter from her. Hedwig looked around for a moment and then
flew off.
Ginny didn’t know why but her hands were shaking out of nervousness. She sat down
and tore the envelope open.
Ginny, or is it Gin’?
Thank you for the letter you sent me, it’s nice to know that there are people out there who
care for me. Sorry I didn’t write back sooner I’ve been trying to figure out what to write.
First thing, I am glad that you consider me to be a friend, I am sorry that I haven’t ever
really noticed you before, I guess it was just me being afraid ofRon’s reaction; I
remember how he responded to you and Dean.
For some reason I feel that I can talk to you about this, and I hope you don’t see me as
weak once you’ve finished this letter. I’ve been having trouble sleeping, every single
bloody night I get nightmares. Ones where Ron, Hermione, Lupin and even you, are
killed in some way that’s my fault. And if it’s not that dream then I just replay the battle in
the Department of Mysteries. I get only a couple of hours of sleep a night… blimey I’m so
tired even right now. I remember you saying that you had nightmares after the Chamber
of Secrets. Do you still have them? Can you get rid of them? It would be nice if I could
get at least a couple more hours of sleep.
I know that Ron will always protect you, but maybe he would let up a little bit if he knew
I was with you. You really are a good friend, and I’m so sorry that I dragged you into the
Department of Mysteries; I should have made you stay. You’re too important to me
tolose. I don’t know why I didn’t notice it last year.
Anyway, I hope I don’t seem defenceless or weak to you now; I just had to tell someone
and you offered to listen to me. Can’t wait to see you all again, hopefully soon.
Love, Harry
Ginny’s eyes fogged over with tears, she couldn’t believe that he’d actually written back
to her, and exposed himself to her so much. It also seemed that Harry was looking at her
differently. He said that he was afraid of what Ron would do if he went out with her. I
can take care of my brother, and then maybe then he’ll make his move.
She looked back down at the letter. He’s having bad dreams? Well, how couldn’t he after
everything he’s suffered through, I’m just surprised he hasn’t completely snapped under
the weight of everything.
The first few months after Ginny had been rescued by Harry from the young Lord
Voldemort she had barely been able to close her eyes in fear of being repossessed. It had
taken the combined efforts of Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore to finally
allow her to get a decent night’s sleep, and that was with the aid of a dreamless sleep
potion. Why wasn’t Dumbledore giving him that same help she got? Was it because he
couldn’t help? Or was it to make sure it did not interfere with Harry’s trespasses into
Voldemort’s consciousness?
Emotionally exhausted, Ginny crawled into bed and drifted to sleep, thinking of Harry’s
continuous plight and how she might help him.
It had been a long day for Joy, she had just gotten back from a tedious day at court and
now she just wanted to have a nice dinner with Emma and go to bed early. She walked
into the kitchen to get dinner started when she saw a large bird standing in the kitchen
window frame. That’s not just a bird! That’s an owl! What’s an owl doing at our window?
And what’s that in its beak? It looks like a letter.
The owl gave a soft hoot as it dropped the envelope on the counter, spread its wings and
flew back out the window, leaving a completely bewildered Joy reaching for the envelope
tentatively.
She first noticed that it was addressed to Emma, more specifically Emmaline Massey of
Number Eight Broom Hall Lane, Upper Left Bedroom. Well that’s oddly specific she
thought to herself as the she broke the wax seal, which had a very odd looking coat of
arms on it with the inscription Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus. She unfolded the
letter and began to read:
Dear Miss Massey,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and
equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await you owl by no later than July 31.
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Joy stared at the letter with complete incredulity. What is this? This HAS got to be a joke!
There aren’t such things as witchcraft, and I’ve never heard of this school before… hold
on, I have heard this name before! Wait... Harry said that’s where he goes to school!
Maybe he’s pulling a prank on us, but why? It doesn’t seem like something he’d do. Oh
well, I won’t tell Emmaline until I talk to Harry about this. It doesn’t make any sense.
Reading the letter over and over again, Joy went about preparing dinner for Emma before
she came back from her play date.
The next day Joy stayed home from work so she could talk to Harry about the letter she’d
gotten. It was just a little after ten when Harry came with Emma to their house.
“Hello Mrs. Massey! How are you today?” Harry asked cheerfully.
“I’m fine Harry, I was wondering if I might be able to talk to you for a moment, just in
the living room. We’ll only be a moment Emma.” She gestured towards the room off the
hallway.
Harry gulped nervously, why did she want to talk to him privately? Out of sheer paranoia
Harry’s hand travelled to his wand inside his jacket pocket.
“Harry, come over here sit down,” she patted the seat next to her then seeing his
expression she added, “Oh don’t worry you’re not in trouble I just was wondering if you
might be able to help me understand this letter I got from an owl last night.” Joy pulled
out the letter, which she had now read many times.
Harry saw the parchment and immediately understood what she had wanted to talk to him
about; it was Emma’s acceptance letter. He grinned.
“Do you know what this is? Is it a joke you’re pulling on Emma?” She asked curiously,
seeing that he had seemingly noticed the letter.
“Well I know who it’s from. It’s from Hogwarts; you know, my school? I bet you’re
wondering if it’s true or not?” Harry asked.
“It can’t possibly be true! I mean there aren’t such things, they just exist in fairytale
books, don’t they?” She asked uncertainly.
Harry just nodded, “Would you like a demonstration? You should bring Emma in here
also; does she know?”
She shook her head and rushed off to go get her daughter, and a moment later she came in
with Emma in tow. “Honey, yesterday you got a letter from someone; actually it was from
Harry’s school, Hogwarts. Well, you got accepted into the school, and if you wish to go
I’ll be supportive of your decision. Now, there is something that may seem a little, odd…
well I can’t exactly explain it. Harry?” She looked over at him pleadingly.
“Sure,” he turned towards Emma, “Hogwarts isn’t just a boarding school… it’s a school
for a certain group of people, more specifically witches and wizards.” He looked at her
expression, in which he saw the same disbelieving look that he had given Hagrid six
years before.
“Well how ‘bout I just show you what I mean, because seeing is believing, right?” He
smiled jokingly, as he pulled out his wand. “Yes Emma. This isn’t a toy from my parents;
this is a wand. Ok then, here we go, conflagra!” He said commandingly, pointing his
wand at the fireplace. Instantly a roaring fire erupted in what was, moments before, a
stone-cold hearth.
“WOAH!” Emma yelled. Joy dropped the letter in disbelief and just stared at Harry in
amazement.
“Yeah that’s what I thought when I figured out, and I couldn’t believe such a thing
existed. Are you ok Mrs. Massey? You look a little stunned.” Harry said, grinning
slightly.
“Oh, y-y-yes…yes I’m fine, but it’s just a lot to take in all at once. It is hard to believe
that such a thing exists. How do people not know about wizards? I mean I’ve never heard
anyone talk about them outside of fairytales.” She took a deep breath trying to calm
herself. Emma still just stood, staring at Harry, completely gobsmacked.
“Hogwarts will teach you everything you need to know, and you’ll no longer be ‘weird’
just because you sometimes let your magic get away from you. Everyone there has done
some sort of involuntary magic at some point in their life. Also, you’ll love everyone
there. The teachers are great, and they’ll help you learn all about the magical world.”
Harry smiled at the ecstatic 11-year-old. He knew exactly how she felt at the moment;
excited that she was a witch, but also still somewhat doubtful that this was all actually
true.
“Mrs. Massey? Would it make you more comfortable to meet the headmaster of
Hogwarts? I’m sure I could convince him to come over and talk to you for a while about
how everything works. I remember how confused I was. I was brought up by muggles…”
then seeing their confused expression, “sorry, non-magic people, so I didn’t know
anything either.”
“I would like that very much Harry; it would just be nice to know a little more about
where I’m sending my daughter before I pack her things.”
“So I’m going? I can actually go?” Emma asked her mother excitedly.
“Yes dear, of course I want you to go. If this place will make you happy and allows you
to fit in, then why not? And I know your father would let you also; right now he’s up in
heaven smiling at you.”
Emma jumped into her mother’s arms and hugged her tightly; both of them had tears in
their eyes. Harry took this as his cue to leave. “Well I think I’ll go. I have a lot of chores
to do for my Aunt and Uncle, and I need to see if Dumbledore can meet with you.”
Joy and Emma both said goodbye, and Harry let himself out the front door. He strolled
down the sidewalk towards the Dursley’s house, trying to work out how he was going to
get Dumbledore to come to the Massey’s house. He thought that Dumbledore might not
want to talk to him after what Harry had done to his office upon hearing about the
prophecy. That, and he did tell me not to have any contact with anyone whom I didn’t
know, so he might be mad that I became friends with Emma.
Harry was halfway home when he felt the hair on the back of his neck stick up;
something told him someone was following him. He pretended not to notice but slowly
raised his hand up in the general direction of where he thought the person was. Whoever
was watching would have just seen a scrawny teenager waving at thin air, however this
wasn’t so. He had really just cast a petrifying spell on whomever it was that was
invisible, and then bound them with ropes he’d conjured.
Harry approached cautiously, with his wand out now, and pointed in the direction of
where the person now lay bound and gagged. His foot hit the invisible lump and he
kicked aside the invisibility cloak. Underneath it was a very belligerent Mad-Eye Moody,
whose magical eye was spinning like a top in its socket. Harry waved his wand and
murmured “Finite Incantatem.”
Moody was released from the ropes and the spell, and sat upright rubbing his head. His
eye was still spinning wildly until he hit his head sharply with the palm of his hand.
“Good one Potter,” he grumbled, still rubbing the back of his head, “way to have constant
vigilance! I only wish you hadn’t dropped me like a sack of potatoes. But seeing as I
could have been a Death Eater you had every right.”
“Sorry, but why are you here in the first place?” Harry asked, his temper rising slightly.
He already knew the answer that Moody was going to give him.
“You can’t honestly believe that Dumbledore would let you go wandering around the
neighbourhood unguarded, Potter! You’ve had at least one auror guard on you every time
you’ve stepped outside. By the way, what do you think you’re doing meeting with
random muggle girls in the playground? I thought that even you would have more sense
than that!” Moody laughed hoarsely.
Harry’s temper flared quickly, his eyes lit with a powerful glow. The dustbins next to
them started to quiver ominously, and one or two car alarms went off. He was fed up with
Dumbledore regulating everything he did and controlling where and whom he met. After
his last meeting with Dumbledore, Harry thought he would have learned his lesson. I
can’t believe he will still do this, even after he admitted to being a cause of Sirius’ death!
Harry squeezed his eyes shut, hiding his tears and counting to ten at the same time. Best
not shoot the messenger, he thought to himself as he turned to once again face a
somewhat nervous looking Moody.
“Well, you can tell Dumbledore thank you for looking after me, but I can do perfectly
well alone, especially without the Order peeking in when I’m in the shower or something.
What do you think; Voldemort will bewitch my shower head to drown me! Hah!” Harry
laughed incredulously at the thought. “Also, for your information, that ‘girl’ is a witch.
She has her letter from Hogwarts if you want to go take a look, in case you don’t trust me
enough. Now, before I leave you to your skulking, I need you to tell Albus to meet with
this girl and her mom to explain how this will all work out for them, and also to explain
the whole ‘Voldemort-is-trying-to-kill-everyone’ scenario.” Harry glared right at Moody’s
now completely still magical eye until Moody was forced to blink. He then turned away
from the dumbstruck Auror and proceeded up the steps of the Dursley’s house.
Inside his room, Harry Potter fumed. He couldn’t understand why he was still being
watched like a 3-year-old, even though he had been the only one to survive a duel with
Voldemort three times. His anger blocked him from acknowledging that each time he was
either extremely lucky, or had someone else to help him.
It’s just not fair. I should be able to deal with things the way I think they should be dealt
with, not just be one of Dumbledore’s toys. I just wish I could have a normal life. Damn
Voldemort, damn his death eaters, and damn SNAPE! If he was dead, I would still have
Sirius. He and Dumbledore forced Sirius to stay at his mother’s house and then Snape
teased him into insanity about obeying orders. Damn this prophecy too. Why do I have to
follow what it says? Couldn’t I just hide away somewhere? I wish I could talk to someone
about this. At that moment something clicked inside his head, I can talk to Ginny. I can
tell her about all this, well most of it. Not the prophecy right now, but later. She’ll
understand, and she won’t freak out like Ron or ‘Mione would.
Harry sat down and tugged a blank piece of parchment out form underneath the large pile
of defensive spell books. He sucked on his quill thoughtfully for a while, contemplating
where exactly he was going to start. He took a deep breath then started to scribble out his
thoughts to Ginny, hoping he was making the right choice in telling her all this.
It was almost night by the time Harry finished the final sentence of his confessional to
Ginny. He was still angry about what had occurred earlier, but by writing it down if felt
as if a large weight was lifted from his shoulders.
He rolled the letter up and gave it to Hedwig, who had just returned from hunting. “Okay
girl, this letter’s for Ginny again. Don’t wake her if she’s asleep but make sure she gets it,
and only her. Peck Ron to death it he tries to take it from you.” The white owl nipped his
finger affectionately as if in understanding, then leapt up to the windowsill, spread her
wings and took flight.
Harry sighed deeply, hoping that Ginny would understand what he was feeling, and
maybe could tell him what to do to help get rid of these dreams.
As he pulled on his pyjamas and crawled into his bed, he thought despairingly of the
unsettling dreams he would soon become prey to once again. At least in real life you
could run away from the bad thing, but in dreams you had to sit and watch the event play
out, trapped in your own mind.
Ginny woke up to a white owl tugging on one of her braids. She rubbed the sleep out of
her eyes and yawned deeply.
“Hello Hedwig. What do you have for me?” she asked the owl stroking its head.
The owl dropped the tightly rolled parchment, and then hooted softly.
“I’ll write back, I promise; I care about him as much as you do.” This seemed to satisfy
Hedwig, as she hopped up to the window and took off.
I hope he’s okay; Harry usually doesn’t write this often. Two letters in one week sure is a
lot for him.
Gin,
First off, don’t worry. I’m okay. I just wanted to write you again because I feel that I can
tell you stuff that I can’t tell Hermione or your brother without having them both go into
some form of panic. The last time I got a letter from you was the first night I didn’t have
some sort of nightmare, so thank you for writing me. I still can’t get rid of them, but every
once and a while I will get a nice dream of me having a picnic on some hill somewhere.
It’s really quite nice and quiet.
On another, unrelated topic, what do you know about your brother’s incredible crush on
‘Mione? I was thinking that we might be able to prod them together in some way or
another. Maybe seeing them squirm will help me get over these dreams. Anyway, if you
happen to come up with an ingenious plan worthy of the twins, write me back and maybe
we could put it into action.
I can’t wait till I can come back to the Burrow; it’s the closest thing I have to a home. I
hope it will be soon, but with Dumbledore and the bloody Order breathing down my neck
I might not come back too soon. Maybe you, Hermione, and Ron could work on that for
me.
Well, Aunt Petunia is yelling at me to go and clean the dishes. I have to go, I guess, even
though they’re petrified now that I can do magic whenever I want. I think I might just
wash the dishes with magic, just to give my aunt a heart attack.
Harry
Once again, Ginny had tears in her eyes from reading one of Harry’s letters. He can be a
complete moron sometimes, but every once and a while he says the right thing.
She looked outside her window at the perfect green hills in the background, the same
green hills that were in her dreams, and from what she could tell, Harry’s too. She looked
at the letter again and smiled. He’d actually called her Gin’, she hated the name when
anyone else used it but for some reason it sounded amazing when he said it, so she had
written him back and told him to call her that.
So Harry had noticed Ron and Hermione’s little crush? Not that it’s hard to see, I mean a
blind cave troll could see that they like each other. I’ll have to ask Fred and George if
they have any ideas, I’m sure they’d be more than willing to torture their little brother.
Maybe if we can get Ron and Hermione together then maybe Harry will make his move.
Well, I guess I’ll have to wait and see.
Ginny sighed, mentally reminded herself to write a letter back to Harry that night, and
moved away from the window and down the stairs to get breakfast before Ron ate all of
it.
At the same moment that Ginny was rushing down the stairs to get some bacon, Harry
was trying to steal some as well, or at least a scrap of toast. Dudley had been allowed to
go off the diet because Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia called it barbarically cruel, and
even went so far as to threaten the school with a lawsuit for child abuse. Although the
Dursleys avoided Harry like the plague ever since Harry threw his uncle down the stairs,
he was still denied food and expected to do his chores. The one upside to all this was that
he was never sore anymore from the beatings he used to get from Vernon.
The food problem wasn’t too big of a bother for him. He just got up earlier than the rest
of the house and wouldslink down the stairs and into the spotless kitchen to steal some
bread, or leftovers from last night’s dinner. While he wasn’t starving, Harry’s body still
showed the signs of hunger, which, coupled with his grief and a teenager’s growth spurts,
gave his face a very wan complexion.
This morning Harry managed to make a few pieces of toast and get a glass of orange
juice without alerting the Dursleys, and was now nibbling on them in his bedroom as he
studied a defense book labelled Mastering the Minions of the Dark, which mostly taught
how to defend against dark creatures or beings. Harry had just finished an interesting
chapter on bewitched statues and figures, which unnervingly reminded him of when
Dumbledore had bewitched the fountain to protect him in the Department of Mysteries.
The only difference was that at that time it wasn’t used for evil, but for good.
Harry finished off his toast and swigged the last of the orange juice, closed the book and
headed over towards the window. He couldn’t see anyone, but he knew that there was an
Auror right outside the front door, waiting to tail him the moment he left. The fact that he
was being followed didn’t upset him nearly as much as the fact that Dumbledore was still
doing things behind his back, even though they directly concerned him. He thought that
after the confrontation in his office only three weeks ago, the headmaster would have
opened up a little more.
Harry sighed, fogging up the window, as he remembered that if Dumbledore came to talk
to the Massey’s he would have to talk to him again, and do so in a cordial manner. He
didn’t want to break a window, or catch something on fire because he let his anger get out
of hand. That would definitely not set a good example of the wizarding world.
Harry’s mind now turned to Ginny, and the letter he’d sent her. He hoped that it wasn’t
going to worry her to know that he still had the nightmares, and that he wanted to come
back to the Burrow. For some reason, writing her was therapeutic in a way, just as
swinging and talking with Emma was. Harry had written to Ginny a few times now, and
every time he did so, the weight of the prophecy seemed to lessen.
I just wish I could tell them about the prophecy; I want to be able to explain why I’ve
almost gotten them all killed multiple times. I want them to know that I don’t have a
choice. Harry knew that it was a greedy thought, but just once he’d like to not feel all
alone. Ever since Dumbledore had revealed Harry’s fate, his world had shrunk down to
just himself. No one could understand what he had to deal with.
Over the past few weeks, Harry had seriously contemplated breaking off his friendships
with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He didn’t want to put them in harms way, and he
knew that by his being their best friend, they were sure to be on the top of Voldemort’s
most-hated list.
After suffering through Sirius’ death, Harry didn’t know if he had it in him to watch
another member of his surrogate family be murdered, let alone know that it was his fault
that they were killed.
However, for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to cut his ties. Every time he came
close to sending the letters of explanation, the idea of never going back the Burrow or
spending hours playing chess with Ron and Hermione in front of the commons fire halted
this action.
He was brought back to the now when a flash of fire and light came out of nowhere by
his bed. Harry spun around, wand already drawn and pointed in the direction of the
disruption. His hand relaxed though, after seeing what it was that had appeared. Sitting
regally on his bedpost was Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix. Harry smiled at the elegant
bird; he felt a great tie to Fawkes, asFawkes had saved his life from basilisk venom in the
Chamber of Secrets.
“’lo Fawkes,” Harry said softly, holding out his hand and letting him hop up onto it. The
phoenix crooned softly, and Harry’s mind became completely at ease abolishing the
previous grief and sorrow he’d been wallowing in. He stroked the bird’s head softly
several times before noticing it had a tightly rolled piece of parchment in its talons. He
pulled the letter from his grasp and set him back on the bedpost so as to allow him to read
the letter. Once unfurled, Harry squinted at the small loop-de-do cursive that he knew all
too well.
Harry-
I have just received word from Alastor about your confrontation. First off, let me say how
sorry I am I have not told you everything. Alas, I am still trying to overcome the secrecy I
have built around you for your protection. I promise I will strive to tell you more
explicitly of what is going on.
Furthermore, I also understand that you have befriended a young girl by the name of
Miss. Emmaline Massey. She is indeed a witch, and has just received her letter of
acceptance. Alastor told me that you wishfor me to speak to her. I can completely
understand and am willing to help. I would be honoured if you went with me to their
house this Thursday so we can betterexplain the wizarding world to her together. I also
see it as a time when we may be able to sort out a few other problems that may be
bothering you. Please respond via Fawkes, for Fudge is still keeping an annoyingly close
watch on all owl post coming in and out of Hogwarts.
Your humble servant,
Albus Dumbledore
Harry reread the letter to take in all the information. He then sat down on his bed and
once again began petting Fawkes. While the letter certainly helped take the edge off of
his resentment towards Dumbledore, he couldn’t help but still feel somewhat bitter
towards his headmaster. I just wish I could be told everything. I mean,am I not the one
who has to fight Voldemort?So why is everyone keeping secrets from me when I need to
know what he’s doing the most? Harry’s scorn rose once again, and the mirror in front of
his bed started to shake somewhat.
Fawkes called softly once again, nuzzling the side of his head. His anger subsided as the
phoenix’s calming effect took hold. “Thank you Fawkes. I guess I should write that reply,
shouldn’t I?” Harry stood up, rustled around for a piece of parchment and rapidly penned
out his response.
Headmaster,
I’ll meet you at the Massey’s house at 11 AM on this Thursday; if this is acceptable you
don’t need to reply. Concerning the other topic you mentioned, I’ll be willing to discuss it
with you when we meet.
Until then,
Harry
Harry forced himself to be as polite and curt as he could when responding back to the
headmaster, although he wanted to write a scathing note worthy of Rita Skeeter. He held
himself back knowing it would do no one any good to get in a public fight with
Dumbledore.
He rolled the note up and placed it in Fawkes’ talons. The phoenix called out once more,
and then disappeared in a flash of light and flames. Harry sighed again when he heard
Uncle Vernon come marching up the stairs in a huff. In his anger, he seemingly forgot the
last time he caught Harry in a bad mood, and stormed in and headed right for the boy. His
pudgy hands extended and aimed at Harry’s neck. Harry held up his hand, palm
outwards, and just looked at Uncle Vernon with a rueful smile.
“Not right now, Uncle Vernon. Actually, it would be best if you never did it again.”
Vernon had come to a sudden halt just a foot away from Harry and was now hovering a
good foot off the floor, looking at the boy with the utmost incredulity. “Bye-Bye” Harry
said as he pointed to the door with his hand and the fat man went sailing through it.
Apparently you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, or in this case a fat uncle a lesson, Harry
thought to himself with mild amusement. While Madam Bones had warned him about
misusing his allowance to do magic, he simply wrote this little incident off to protecting
his own neck, literally.
The rest of the week went by agonizingly slow as Harry awaited Dumbledore’s meeting
with the Masseys. He had informed Joy and Emma that the headmaster would be visiting
with them that Thursday, and for the rest of the week, Emma was bouncing off the walls
in excitement for her upcoming meeting with another wizard. That didn’t mean that she
was bored of Harry in the least,though. In fact, whenever they were alone, Emma would
ask him to do some magic. He kept it relatively tame: levitating this or that or catching
things spontaneously on fire. Joy was also enthralled by Harry’s abilities; occasionally
she would stop what she was doing just to watch Harry show Emma a new little trick.
She had never seen anything like what Harry was doing, and she knew now that this
wasn’t just some elaborate trick or gag; that raven-haired boy really was a wizard. And
from what she’d seen so far, a pretty damned good one too.
One morning, Harry had come over, and he’d explained to her about how Emma could
have possibly become a witch. One was that she herself was just a squid, or squib; some
word Joy had never heard used before, and that her parents never told her. Another
possibility was that Emma’s father, Harold, had been a wizard but had never told anyone.
The last one,which Joy found easiest to believe, was that Emma was a muddle, muffle,
muggle, something-born witch; someone who was just magical for some weird reason.
Even if this was the reason for her amazing ability, it still left Joy somewhat anxious.
How in the world would she tell the school, let alone everyone else that Emma just left
for a boarding school for Witches and Wizards?No one would believe her if she did, and
instead they would probably throw her in the psychiatric ward if she said so. Harry,
however, insisted that she tell no one. Apparently the wizarding world was very secretive,
which was probably why she had never heard of them before the letter.
When Thursday came around, Joy was so nervous awaiting the Headmaster that she
started to obsessively cleaning the house just like Aunt Petunia did. She was panicky
about meeting the headmaster of the school that her daughter had been let into, and didn’t
want to change his mind about accepting Emma. Emma, however, was completely the
opposite; Joy had never seen her daughter this happy since her husband had died four
years ago. It warmed her heart that her daughter would finally fit in, and have friends.
Harry arrived at around 10:30 that day, having come late because his uncle had forced
him to wash the car before Harry left. Something about the boy’s relationship with his
family seemed odd. Whenever Joy mentioned his aunt or uncle, he would flinch
involuntarily. She always wondered about it, but not being a busybody, she didn’t look
into it.
Joy, Harry, and Emma spent the thirty minutes before the headmaster’s awaited arrival at
11:00 sitting in the living room, chatting mildly about the basics of wizarding etiquette.
Harry had told them all about robes, and wands, and even a little bit about owl post. He
was now telling them, with quite a lot of enthusiasm, about Quidditch. He had just started
into the different players on a Quidditch team when the doorbell rang merrily.
Joy jumped as if she’d been electrocuted, and Emma sprinted towards the door to meet
her new headmaster. Harry stood up and led Joy to the front door; the mother was
obviously nervous and Harry was curious to see how she’d react to Dumbledore’s
undoubtedly peculiar fashion sense.
Emma opened the door to reveal, standing in his most luridly purple robes, Dumbledore.
He smiled genuinely at Emma, and then took on an expression that appeared to be sorrow
when he caught sight of Harry.
“Hello little miss, you must be Emmaline Massey?” Dumbledore said to the ecstatic little
girl, and then turned to Joy and held out his hand, “and you must be Mrs. Joy Massey if I
am not mistaken. I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry.”
Joy was undoubtedly shaken by his initial appearance, but took the wizard’s hand in hers
and shook it with great kindness. Although his clothing appeared to be a bit amiss, this
Dumbledore character seemed to be perfectly kind.
“While Harry here has undoubtedly told you somewhat about the school that your
daughter has been accepted into, I am hoping to clarify things, and to tell you a little
more about the current state of things in the wizarding world. Shall we go somewhere a
little more comfortable? There is much to tell you, and alas, not all of it is good.”
Dumbledore stepped inside curtly and followed Joy and Emma to the living room. Harry
walked beside him but did not say a word to the headmaster. Dumbledore noticed the
seemingly icy demeanour Harry had developed, looked over to the boy and smiled sadly.
Once everyone was settled in the living room, Dumbledore, much to Emma and Joy’s
surprise, conjured tea and biscuits for them all to nibble on. “Now that we are settled, I
see no sense in delaying any longer.” Dumbledore smiled, “So Harry, what have you
discussed with the Masseys so far?”
Harry listed off that he’d explained a bit about secrecy, wands, magic, how Emma
might’ve become a witch, what the school was like, and the basics of Quidditch.
“Ah, well he seems to have done a fine job of explaining the basics. I’ll try to fill in all
the blanks, and then tell you about the wizarding world right now.”
Harry flinched at the last part, knowing how mild a euphemism he was using to describe
Voldemort’s reign of destruction. Hopefully, the revelation of the wizarding world being
in such a state of turmoil would not dampen Emma and Joy’s enthusiasm. Harry crossed
his fingers and turned his attention towards Dumbledore, who was explaining the basics
of the school.
The headmaster spent well over an hour explaining the niceties of the school, even going
so far as to describe the “wonderful assortment of hidden pass ways and rooms.” When
the topic of the school was finally exhausted, the attention turned to the wizarding world
itself and what was currently going on. Harry saw the headmaster visibly straighten as he
began.
“Now, onto the less pleasant facts of our world, I fear,” Dumbledore smiled softly at the
little girl who’d been completely enthralled by the discussion so far. “Now this is not
intended to discourage you from sending Miss Massey here to Hogwarts, but currently
our world is at war with itself.”
This was when Joy piped up, “but didn’t you say that there weren’t that many wizards? I
mean it couldn’t be much of a war when only a few hundred are fighting.”
Dumbledore sighed, “I wish that were true, but I am afraid it isn’t. There is a very evil
wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort, who, with his faithful followers the Death Eaters,
has been spreading panic and fear within the wizarding community. Now there have been
many dark wizards over the centuries, but this one is especially so. This is the second
time he has been terrorizing people.” He said grimly.
“What do you mean his second time?” Emma asked nervously.
“Well Lord Voldemort was very strong sixteen years ago, and was doing the same things
he is doing currently, but he was defeated and his rule was destroyed.” Dumbledore
stated, smiling proudly at Harry.
“How was he defeated? I mean, how could someone have defeated someone as powerful
as you said he was?” Joy asked; her fear had been piqued by the headmaster’s latest
revelation. She was wondering if it was the right idea to send her daughter to school
during a war.
Dumbledore turned towards Harry his eyes twinkling mischievously. “He was defeated
by a young boy, his parents were unfortunately murdered by Voldemort, but somehow
this baby vanquished this dark lord. Although Voldemort tried to kill him, his spell
backfired and all that happened was that the boy received a lightning bolt-shaped scar on
his forehead. No one is quite sure why, or what happened, but somehow he brought about
Voldemort’s end. For well over eleven years Voldemort was thought to be dead, but we
were given quite the wakeup call five years ago when Voldemort returned. The same
young boy who destroyed him the first time foiled his plans once more, this time at the
age of eleven. Over the next four years he continued to fight Voldemort in different
settings and ways. He is the youngest person who has ever survived a fight with
Voldemort, let alone four different times. He is actually a current sixth year at Hogwarts
right now, and is by far one of the best Quidditch seekers I have ever seen pass through
the school; better even, some may say, than his father.”
Harry’s cheeks glowed fiery red under the headmaster’s embarrassing praise.
“What’s his name?” Emma asked quizzically, in complete wonder how a little boy could
defeat such an evil person so many times.
Dumbledore turned once again towards Harry, looked deep into his eyes, and then
proudly said, “His name, if I’m not mistaken is Harry James Potter.”
“WHAT!” Joy and Emma both shouted at the same time swirling in their seats to face the
embarrassed boy. Harry buried his face in his hands. Well he couldn’t have done that any
more subtlety. I sound like some sort of prophet or something.
Dumbledore chuckled softly as if he could hear Harry’s thoughts. Harry raised his head
out of his hands to look over at Emma and Joy who were both staring at him
incredulously. For Harry this was right up there with his most embarrassing moments in
his life. He was frustrated at Dumbledore for telling the story in such a way that it made
him appear to be something he wasn’t. Right about now he wished he had his invisibility
cloak with him so he could disappear forever.
“Why didn’t you tell us Harry?” Emma said, sounding a little put out that her best friend
had not told her something this important.
Harry got up and sat down next to Emma and put an arm around her comfortingly. “I
didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to scare you or worry you. It’s not exactly normal for
a 16 year old to fight the world’s most powerful dark lord. And it’s summer, I just want to
be like any other sixteen year old right now, because once I get back to school everyone
stares at me for my stupid scar and my over sensationalized stories.” Harry ended in a
somewhat defeated voice. Joy placed a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder and Emma
hugged him.
“It’s alright Harry, we wouldn’t have cared, I mean if we could handle the sudden fact
that Emma is a witch then I’m sure we could have handled your story too. And you’re
right; you should have every right to live a normal life not one that’s in the spotlight.” Joy
said in a comforting voice.
“I completely agree with Mrs. Massey here, I believe that you should enjoy this summer
to its fullest and not worry about what is to come.” Dumbledore put stress on the last
words. “You are first and foremost a student and a teenager, not an Auror, and it would do
well for you to pursue what other teenagers do. While I cannot stress how important it is
for you to stay wary you should also relax for, unfortunately, it may be the only time you
have for a long time.” Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled in a way Harry had never seen before;
they were not merry but morose. When he stopped to think about it the Hogwarts
headmaster had never looked this worn down. Joy sensed that there was a large amount
of sorrow between the two wizards in front of her, and decided that they needn’t bring it
up again just for their sake.
“Well Mr. Dumbledore, thank you so much for meeting Emmaline and I. We cannot tell
you how much it means to us that you would take time out of your schedule, especially
when there is a war going on. I’ll make sure Harry is acting like a normal teen, but I’ll
also make sure that he is safe. I don’t know anything about spells or wands, but I can
promise you that I’ll protect him. He means too much to Emma for me to let him get
harmed.” Joy stated, smiling happily at the two children.
Dumbledore stood up and shook Joy’s hand congenially. “The same goes for you Mrs.
Massey, I will have an Auror posted by your house to ensure that you and your daughter
will not come into any sort of harm.” Dumbledore smiled at the little girl and then turned
to Harry, “Harry? Might we have a word while you go back to your house?” Harry just
nodded fearing what new revelation Dumbledore would have for him. “Excellent! Thank
you for your hospitality and I will expect to see you, Miss Emmaline, at Hogwarts on
September 1st.” Dumbledore stepped out the door after ensuring there weren’t any
muggles around, and Harry followed closely waving goodbye to Emma and telling her
he’d meet her tomorrow at the park.
“Harry, thank you for having me come today. I think it was best that they were told as
much as possible here instead of Emmaline learning it all second hand from her peers.
This year the entrance rate has actually dropped significantly because parents are too
afraid to send their children away from their sight, even if it is safer at Hogwarts.” At this
Dumbledore stopped walking and turned to face Harry, “Harry, I meant what I said in
there. You really are an amazing person facing adversity most people could never
imagine, and overcoming it with a sense of style that I don’t even think I have. I also
meant what I said when I told you that you had to have a normal summer, relax. If you’ve
noticed there haven’t been any more public disturbances by Tom after the Ministry
incident, sadly this is only the calm before the storm.”
The headmaster continued walking, speaking in a softer voice, “I really and truly am
sorry that I have continued to snub you. I am still teaching myself that I cannot protect
you from everything without an explanation. I will strive to tell you more now, although,
because you have still not yet mastered occlumency I cannot tell you everything.”
Reaching the front step of the Dursley’s house Dumbledore came to a stop and placed his
hands on Harry’s shoulders. “Before I leave you let me say two more things. One; it is
not your fault; you couldn’t have done anything to prevent your godfather from going to
the Ministry that night. And secondly; this is not only your battle, use your friend’s
support that is why they are here, they care for you, especially young Miss Weasley, she
has been most distraught over your current situation.” Harry’s mouth was agape. How
does he always know everything?
“There are more ways than one to overcome grief Harry; you just need to find the one
that suits you.” Dumbledore winked over his spectacles, turned, and without saying
another word apparated away.
The next two weeks for Harry were filled with early morning walks to the swings, intense
hours of defensive training, and the now commonly occurring dream of him and a girl
having a picnic on a green hill. While Harry didn’t have any particular qualms about
these dreams they left him wanting more every time he woke up, for some reason this
dream settled his fears and grief better than everything else, besides swinging with Emma
and writing to Ginny.
While he still couldn’t make out the girls face he noticed that slowly but surely the dream
was becoming sharper, more defined. It wasn’t really blurry anymore but still things were
a bit indistinct. Something that was bugging him was that he knew the girls laugh from
somewhere, he’d spent hours trying to recall where he’d heard it but it eluded him.
Sometimes he would wake up from the dream standing up, other times he was hugging
his pillow as if it were a person. He also knew these weren’t just normal dreams either,
they were too real. He could feel the grass on his legs and hands, and when he ate a
strawberry he could actually taste it. He couldn’t make heads or tales of this but he was
happy this time the dream didn’t involve long winding hallways or an endless procession
of friends and family falling through the veil in the Department of Mysteries. In fact,
Harry couldn’t recall a time when he had actually been excited about a dream.
Along with Ginny’s now almost daily correspondence, Harry had received a few letters
from both Ron and Hermione telling him about the different things that were going on in
the wizarding world. The one thing that frightened him however was that neither of them
had heard anything about Voldemort or the Death Eaters in the past few weeks. The only
thing that was closely related was something Ron had said about Fudge trying to salvage
his career by randomly searching houses and arresting suspected ‘threats’. Although the
ministry Aurors had apparently arrested over fifty people, not a single one of them had
been actually declared a Death Eater. From what Harry could tell Fudge was, politically,
on his deathbed. His reputation had taken quite a hit after Voldemort waltzed right into
the ministry itself after saying that he was all just a figment of Harry’s imagination.
Fudge’s career was poised to topple and Harry would have no ill feelings if it were he
himself who gave the last shove.
Before Harry knew it, it was July 30th, the day before his birthday. He hadn’t even
remembered about it until Errol and Pig came flying in together carrying a very large box
filled not only with a chocolate cake from Mrs. Weasley, but a smaller box of sweets from
Fred and George. He set the sweets aside and reminded himself only to feed them to
Dudley.
He also received individual packages from Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, Lupin, and Ginny.
Everyone sent him either large amounts of sweets and cakes, or books on defensive, or
white magic. Ginny had sent him a small leather bound book, which held, when he
opened it, pictures of Harry with Ron, Hermione, the Weasley’s, Lupin, the Order, and to
Harry’s anguish a small picture of him and Sirius grinning stupidly at the camera during
Christmas break.
Harry’s heart ached as he recalled the best Christmas of his life, when he was with
everyone at Grimmauld Place, and there wasn’t a prophecy to worry about.
He turned over to the last page of the book to find a short letter to him from Ginny.
Harry,
I remember you showing me the photo album Hagrid made you of your parents; I noticed
that there weren’t many of your friends or your new family, so I decided to make you
another. I asked Colin to owl me a bunch of really good photos and I sorted through them
and found the best ones. I hope that you think this is a good present; I wasn’t really sure
what to get you, seeing as you sure as hell don’t need anymore defense books or broom
stuff. You can send it back if you don’t like it.
Happy Birthday
Ginny
Harry was touched that Ginny cared enough about him to go through all this trouble just
for a birthday present. The photos in the small book brought a smile to his face, he
especially liked the on of all the Weasley’s, and all of the Order of Christmas last year.
They looked up at Harry and waved happily, as if there wasn’t a war going on when this
was taken.
Harry then reeled when he remember a similar picture that Moody had shown him that
same Christmas. In it were all the members of the old Order of the Phoenix. Harry looked
down once again and closed his eyes, praying that unlike the other photo all of these
people would still be alive in a few years.
For the rest of the day Harry played with Emma, showing her the photo album, and
bringing over some of the tamer prank candy that Fred and George had created. They
both laughed when Joy accidentally ate one of the Canary Creams and burst into a giant
yellow canary, complete with realistic chirp. Once the charm finally wore off Joy too
joined in laughing about the prank.
For his Birthday Emma had baked a cake all by herself. She carried it out while singing
happy birthday to him, then told him to make a wish and blow out all the candles.
I wish this war could be over, and I wish that I could have a family. Harry thought with
his eyes squeezed together, and then blew hard at the candles. Emma took the one that
went out last and handed it to Harry.
“When you go home tonight take this candle and place it under your pillow. If you do it
will make your wish come true!” The little girl chimed, thrusting the candle into his
hands as he was walking out the front door.
“Okay Em, I do want these wishes to come true. Thanks Mrs. Massey! I had a wonderful
birthday,” Harry said to Joy as she hugged him tightly then wished him goodbye.
Harry didn’t head directly home, instead he walked around the park once or twice
thinking about random, pointless things. His feet carried him without thinking, eventually
taking him to the front of the Dursley’s house. He sighed and looked down at his watch.
It was only 9:00 at night; he would have to just sit in his room and try and go to bed. He
thought of taking another walk, but his better judgment told him nighttime and a dark
alley don’t mix too well, not to mention what Moody would do to him if he did indeed
decide to go for a walk.
So solemnly, he resigned to his fate, and walked up the front path to the door.
“Oy! Potter, happy birthday mate!” Someone invisible whispered as a heavy package
thudded in front of the door.
Harry immediately recognized the voice as that of Tonks, and spun around wildly
searching for her and her invisibility cloak. She didn’t appear but whispered once more,
“Sorry, can’t take off the cloak, Moody would skin me alive ‘revealing myself to the
enemy’, sorry you didn’t have a great birthday. Next year though we’ll throw you a huge
party to celebrate your coming of age.”
Harry looked in the direction of where the voice was coming and smiled, “Thanks Tonks,
it’s nice to know that it’s you keeping watch and not someone like Dawlish.” Harry
picked up the poorly wrapped package and tore off the paper revealing a small book
titled, 101 Ways to Decorate Your Room by Martha Stewart.
Harry was shocked, “Martha Stewart is a witch!”
“You bet, how else do you think she figured out about those stocks? She’s not a very
good one though, just can make things look pretty. I figured you’re in your room enough
that you should at least make it look nice.” Tonks whispered from behind the begonias.
Harry smiled again in her direction, “Thanks Tonks, its perfect. You’re right my room
could use a little bit of a personal touch. Tell everyone hi for me, and tell them I said
thanks for their gifts too.”
“Sweet dreams Harry,” Tonks whispered from farther away as he headed inside. Harry
smiled, knowing that his dreams were definitely going to be nice, especially when it came
to the part of him kissing the girl in the dream. He just wished he could figure out who it
was.
That night Harry’s dream once again returned, it started as usual, with him walking up
and sitting down next to the pretty girl and smiling. They then had a giant picnic together
talking and laughing about anything and everything. She was so amazingly beautiful;
although he couldn’t see her clearly his mind told him that she was breathtaking. Every
time he tried to focus on seeing who it was her image just got blurrier which frustrated
Harry to no end, he just wanted to finally see the girl. It was just as infuriating as the
endless halls of the Department of Mysteries, only much more pleasing to experience.
He knew the dream was once again ending; they’d finished dessert and were now just
looking at each other. Please just let me see her, I want to know who it is I’m dreaming
about.
The girl leaned forward as if to kiss him, Harry tried to focus his eyes but all they could
make out now was a blur of red. She was now just an inch away from his face and slowly
getting closer. He’d never actually kissed her, waking just moments before, shaking his
head in frustration. This time however he didn’t wake up and his lips connected with
hers.
That exact moment everything became crystal clear, he looked up and saw her brown
eyes and red hair and he pulled back in shock. At the same time he was pulling back he
woke up sitting straight up with a rather heavy weight on his legs. He heard a muffled
gasp of surprise as he fumbled to get his glasses on the table. His feet were tangled in the
bed cover and the weight on top of him wasn’t helping matters, it was right on his
stomach and also seemed to be moving.
He finally managed to grab his glasses, but in the process knocked over the lamp causing
the whole thing to break. He groaned inwardly, this much noise was sure to draw the
wrath of Uncle Vernon. Whatever was on top of him slid to the side and came into
Harry’s view. He gasped and so did the girl. It was Ginny Weasley, sitting on the edge of
the bed in her pajamas looking quite flustered as if just waking suddenly.
“Harry!” She managed to stutter out before looking down at what she was wearing and
began to blush.
“Uh, hi Ginny,” He said awkwardly trying to avert his eyes, although for some reason
that seemed to be very difficult.
“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON IN THERE BOY!” Uncle Vernon shouted
through the door. Thankfully Harry had started to magically lock it so he couldn’t barge
in and beat him.
“Nothing, just practicing a new spell,” he knew that would shut him up and he was right.
Harry stood up, and then realized he was wearing just his briefs, grabbed the blanket and
covered himself. Ginny giggled.
“I think your uncle said it best, what the bloody hell is going on? One minute I was
asleep dreaming and then the next second I wake up on top of you.” She said in complete
disbelief, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
“That’s what happened to me too, I was asleep and dreaming and right before I woke up
I…” Harry stopped, his dream now coming back with amazing clarity. He turned to face
Ginny. “What was your dream about Gin?”
Her stomach clenched a little at Harry calling her Gin, she wouldn’t let anyone else call
her that but for some reason she liked it when Harry called her that. “Well I was dreaming
about a picnic with a boy, except I couldn’t figure out who he was, but right before I
woke up I figured out it was…” She stopped too, her dream coming back; she stared at
Harry in realization “… It was you.”
“That was the same dream that I had, except I couldn’t see the girl, but at the end we
were about to kiss I saw her, and it was, you” Harry stood stock still, his blanket slipping
down his waste.
At that moment there was a loud crack and someone apparated in Harry’s room. Harry
spun around, with his wand pointed at the intruder.
“Whoa, whoa there Harry! It’s me Remus, calm down.” The man stepped out of the
shadows to reveal it really was Lupin with his hands raised high to show he wasn’t
holding a wand. “What’s going on Harry, all your wards were tripped every single one.
There are still alarms going off at headquarters. We thought that someone had broken
through…” Lupin stopped as his eyes landed on Ginny, she smiled and waved feebly.
“Er…hello Professor Lupin,” she said in an embarrassed voice.
“What is going on, how did you get her Ginny?” Remus turned a humorously suspicious
eye at Harry, then back to Ginny just in her pajamas.
“Not me,” Harry said throwing his hands up in innocence, “We were wondering the exact
the same thing.”
“One second we were dreaming, then the next I was sitting on top of Harry in my
pajamas. I some how got apparated onto his bed!” She said exasperatedly.
Lupin just shook his head in amusement and started to chuckle. “I’m sure your mother
will be just ecstatic when she hears the news, you take after James, Harry, redheads.”
“Ecstatic about what?” Ginny asked nervously, Lupin’s laugh was setting her on edge.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, in front of the two very tired teenagers, then looked
up and smiled at them, “Well, I don’t know much about it, but Dumbledore warned us it
could happen.”
Harry bristled at the mention of Dumbledore and him telling everyone but him about
something. “What would happen?”
“As I said I don’t really know all about it, I just know that it’s really powerful.
Dumbledore told us that once you started to become a man it was possible that something
along these lines would occur.” He stopped for a moment, smiling once again. “It’s only
been know to happen twice in recorded history. Once with Merlin and Gwendoloena,
that’s his wife, and Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw, both times when the
wizarding world was in a state of utter turmoil. It helped them win their battles; it made
them stronger, both mentally and physically.” He stopped for effect.
“Well, what is it called?” Harry asked impatiently, he hoped it wasn’t another prophecy.
Remus looked at them once again, Albus was right, they are a perfect couple, and Harry
already looks somewhat healthier. I guess it won’t hurt to tell them, they’ll figure out one
way or another. “Well, it’s been called many things, in Latin its Cordis Catena, but its
most famous name is the Heartbond.”
The two teens just stared at Lupin dumbly. He sighed and tried to think of another way to
explain it. I’m not an expert at this, what I’ve told them is everything I know about it
right now. They will need to know more about it if they’re going to be bonded for the rest
of their lives. Maybe I could take them to headquarters, let Dumbledore explain things.
Lupin thought over it for a second then came to his conclusion. “Ok, here’s what we’re
going to do. I’m going to head over to headquarters really quickly and see if Dumbledore
can come over here and explain it. I really am not the one you want to be asking about
this whole thing, and there are a lot of details that I’m sure only he knows of.”
Ginny spoke up first, finally snapping out of her astonishment and confusion. “Do you
promise that he will tell us everything? I mean from what I’ve heard from Harry the
headmaster seems to be keeping us in the dark on a lot of things.”
Harry was touched that Ginny would stand up for him, but knew it was fruitless;
Dumbledore was too used to keeping things a secret. He would never tell them anything
more than what was necessary.
“It’s okay Gin, it’d just be nice for him to come here and tell us what is going on. I mean
you said, Lupin that he knew that this could happen for a long time. So I’m sure he’s had
plenty of time to research it.” The sarcasm in his voice seemed to drop the temperature of
the bedroom just a little.
Lupin just shook his head, he didn’t know exactly what had passed between Harry and
Dumbledore after the Department of Mysteries, but it had made a profound effect on the
boy’s trust of the headmaster. He’d thought that Dumbledore treated Harry like his own
son, trying to take care of him. It wasn’t a secret at Hogwarts that Dumbledore adored the
boy. It shocked him to know that a riff had grown between the two.
“Well Harry I can’t promise anything, but I’ll leave right now and try to get him to come
here and explain things to you two. All I know for certain is that you will make an
excellent couple, just like James and Lily.” He smiled softly, patted Harry on the shoulder
and made for the door.
“Wait, Lupin!” Harry started as he was heading out of his room. “What about the wards,
you said that someone broke through them, are you sure they’re still there?”
Lupin laughed softly, “Yes I’m quite sure, it took me quite a while to apparate into you
room, even with the passes Dumbledore gave me. Now if I can’t get the headmaster to
come I’ll be back shortly, meanwhile, you two don’t get into any trouble.” He winked,
and then disapperated with a ‘pop’.
Harry turned to Ginny, and smiled foolishly. “So, ummm… how has you’re summer been
so far?”
Ginny just laughed, “It’s been okay, you know that though silly, remember how you’ve
been writing me for the past month and a half?”
“Oh yeah, right.” He stuttered embarrassingly, “about that, thank you.” Ginny was about
to speak up, but he cut her off, “No really I mean it, I know you didn’t have to do it, but
you really helped me through a tough time, I just feel comfortable talking to you.”
Ginny now had tears in her eyes, she hadn’t seen Harry for over a month, but it felt as if
they had become unbelievably close. She had never felt like this before, she cared for
him, she loved him.
Harry stepped closer towards her and she stepped closer towards him. Harry was about to
say something, but she just stepped closer until she could look right into his emerald
green eyes, they seemed to sparkle with the light of the moon coming through the
window. Before she knew it, she was kissing him, not passionate, not lustful, just loving.
Harry was surprised but happy; he too had felt the draw and had begun to get closer to
Ginny as he spoke. He thought he knew what love was like when he and Cho were first
going out, but he threw that notion out the window. Something told him Ginny was
always there for him.
The kiss lasted for what could have been a second, or an hour, both drawing strength
from the other. They both had wounds that needed healing from over the past years.
Harry had never had anyone to really and truly love him, and now that he did his entire
body seemed to relax. The worry of the prophecy, as well as the death of Sirius slipped
from his mind for the first time in a very long while.
Their kiss was broken abruptly by the noise of a soft crack, and a flash of light. There
before them stood Dumbledore smiling amusedly. Harry was so shocked he jumped back
from Ginny as if she were on fire, tripped on the blanket which had slipped from his
waist onto the floor, and fell back onto the floor. Ginny too jumped at the sudden
interruption of their first kiss, but managed to stay upright although she did need to lean
on the foot board of the bed for support.
Dumbledore just looked at the two teens and chuckled, “I am sorry to interrupt you two,
but Remus has told me that there may have been a new development.”
Harry groaned as he rubbed his head from the fall, then noticed he was still just in his
boxers and struggled to cover himself up once again. Ginny flushed red, feeling as if the
headmaster knew what she and Harry had been doing a second before he appeared.
“If you call Ginny suddenly apperating on top of me in my sleep a ‘new development’
then yes, I think you are right in saying so.” Harry said as he slumped onto the bed next
to Ginny.
Dumbledore just laughed and conjured a big leather chair for him to sit in, and three
bottles of butterbeer for them to drink. “Well I believe your old professor told you the
basics of the Heartbond, he got me in hopes of telling you the intricacies, which I dare
say are many. So you already know that both Merlin and Godric Gryffindor had the same
thing. Do you know anything about the bond itself?”
“Well Lupin said that it bonded Harry and me, he said we would grow much faster
physically and mentally. He also said it would help us win our battles, hopefully we
won’t have to have any more battles, one fight with Tom is enough for me.”
Harry shifted uncomfortably, and then stared pleadingly at Dumbledore and then at
Ginny.
The headmaster seemed to understand his predicament. “Harry, while it is your choice in
the end, I would be willing to tell her for you.”
Ginny looked inquisitively at Harry, raising her eyebrow. “Thank you headmaster, but I
think I’ll wait until after you tell us about this Heartbond.”
“Very well,” Dumbledore resituated himself in his chair and began again, “now what I am
going to tell you is all from my research, there hasn’t been a book or scroll written on the
Heartbond, just myths, fables. The Heartbond was first scene in action when it linked
Gwendoloena to Merlin, when he was fighting Morgana. It is said that because of this
bond that was forged from pure love, Merlin’s powers increased startlingly, allowing him
to vanquish the dark witch. In Godric Gryffindor’s case, he was bonded with another one
of the other founders of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw. Again it is said that because of
the bond Godric was able to defeat the dark wizard of their time Hlothere.
It would now appear that you two have been Heartbonded, and I need not tell you who it
is in hopes of defeating. If my research is correct, you two will begin to start growing
exceedingly fast, both physically and magically. Apparently Merlin and Godric both
ended up being the most powerful wizards of their times because of this bond, the ladies
too were strengthened. Now there is a bit of a snag that we will have to overcome. Now
that you two are bonded you will have to stay in relatively close relationship to each other
in order for you to grow. While I do not know the full extent of that requirement I am
quite sure that it will require one of you to stay with the other for the rest of the summer
and the school year.” Harry and Ginny shared surprised but excited looks. “Now I do
know that this part is true because of your little outing tonight Miss Weasley. The
moment Harry turned 16 the bond seemed to go into full power, thus increasing your
apparent need for Miss Weasley here. The bond it very strong indeed, it managed to break
through my wards, which, excuse my hubris, is quite a feat. Now I know that your mother
will not be too pleased with this small turn of events, nor will the Dursley’s most likely.
But it is necessary if you wish to survive; it is a very good thing that you two were
bonded. A very good thing indeed.” The headmaster said softly, staring into space.
It was completely quiet for a moment until Ginny spoke up. “Excuse me sir, but does this
mean that Harry and I were always destined for each other?” Ginny asked softly, staring
wide-eyed at Harry, who also had a similar expression.
“Well I wasn’t positive until now, but ever since the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry
here rescued you, literally sacrificing his own life to save yours, I felt that there may be
something deeper. Love like that cannot be easily created, just like your love for Ron,
Hermione, and now the young lady Miss. Massey. Each of these are strong, but now that
your love is strengthened by the bond you have an even a greater chance. Do you recall
what I showed you in my office, ‘he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…’ You
may have just found it Harry.” Dumbledore said, with a soft smile, his eyes twinkling.
“What is he talking about Harry?” Ginny whispered softly to Harry, who had a face of
revelation plastered on his face.
“Professor, is that all you know of the Heartbond?” Harry asked.
“Yes, that is all I have gathered, it should be interesting to see how it progresses in you
two. I feel there may be many surprises this next year.” The Headmaster said, already
knowing what Harry was going to ask of him.
“Would it be okay to show Ginny now, I mean, we are bonded now.” He laughed
emotionlessly, he didn’t want to frighten the girl he loved with thoughts of him dying and
Voldemort winning, but he knew she had to see it if she was to help.
“I think it is a wise idea Harry, also it would be a good idea to show Ron and Hermione
when you get a chance. Would you like me to do it?” Dumbledore asked, pulling his
wand out of his robes.
Harry just nodded, not looking Ginny in the eyes.
“Very well, vocamusincrantantem!” Immediately a small figure of professor Trelawney
appeared on the floor of Harry’s bedroom. It began to talk in the harsh voice a huge
variance from her usual ethereal voice.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have
thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as
his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the
hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power
to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies …'
The last syllables echoed off the walls, and the image flickered away. The room was left
completely silent save Ginny’s quite sobs of anguish.
Harry grabbed her in his arms and held her closely, not wanting her to cry anymore, not
wanting anything to happen to her.
“Is that what the prophecy said? The one that was crushed?” She said between gasps.
“Yes, and no one but you, I, and the headmaster know about it. You need to keep it a
secret, you can’t even tell your brother or Hermione yet. I will when I get the chance.”
Harry said softly, stroking her hair softly. He was surprised at how natural comforting
Ginny felt.
“And you have to kill him? Or else he’ll…kill you?” She said holding back another cry.
Harry nodded softly in approbation.
“I’ll help you Harry, I’ll help you kill him if it’s the last thing I do.”
Chapter 13: A New Room
Dumbledore smiled at the compassion the young girl showed for Harry. It’s just the thing
he needs right now, love. He’s lost so much to this war, probably the most out of
everyone, and he needs something to focus his mind and allow him to get through the
next years of his life unscathed.
After taking a moment to compose herself, Ginny looked up at the headmaster with an
expression of determination. “What can we do to stop him?”
“Alas, I do not know. I have studied that very problem for over a decade now and I still
cannot find a way to defeat Voldemort. It would appear that whatever steps he has taken
to protect himself have so far worked; him coming back from the near dead is proof
enough. Whatever it is that will be able to destroy Tom is hidden inside Harry. All we can
do is support him as much as possible.”
Harry grimaced as he once again was reminded of how he was no longer just a person,
but a weapon. Ginny noticed this reaction too and grabbed one of his hands firmly as she
stared into his eyes. “Harry James Potter, you better listen to me, you aren’t only good for
killing this lunatic, you need to stay alive. There are people who love you, like my mum
and dad, and my brother, and Hermione….and me.” She said the last part softly, almost
whispering it.
Harry closed his eyes, fighting off tears, trying not to lose it in front of his headmaster.
After giving himself a moment to compose himself he raised his bloodshot eyes to
Dumbledore. “Sir, you know how you said that Ginny and I are going to have to stay
close together, how are we going to do that? I mean, you said that I would have to stay
here for a while so the blood magic still works so I can’t go to headquarters…”
“Ah, yes I can see the problem. Well, while I’m not quite sure you mother will be happy
with this. As of right now, unless you have any objections Miss Weasley, I have arranged
for you and your old professor Lupin, to stay here.” Dumbledore’s smile broadened as the
two tired teenager’s faces lit up with excitement.
“You mean here, at the Dursley’s! That’s bloody brilliant!” Harry shouted, completely
forgetting is current company momentarily, “Oops, er… sorry headmaster, just got a little
excited.” Harry said apologetically.
“What did you say, you’ll have to speak up, I don’t have the best hearing you know.” He
said smiling absently at the book shelf.
“Uh, sir, what about clothes and beds and stuff. I mean this bedroom already small as it
is. We probably couldn’t fit much more than a house elf right now.”
At that Dumbledore stood up and vanished his recliner. “I actually have a solution for that
problem too. Even since I learned about Dumbledore’s Army, and where it was located,
specifically the Room of Requirement, I went about researching ways to make another
such room. I had to go through some particularly nasty books to find the right
combination of charms to do it. Once I used the wrong set of charms and turned my
bedroom into a rainforest, complete with lion.” Dumbledore laughed loudly, and Harry
and Ginny joined in too, trying to imagine the headmaster in his nightgown trying to find
his bed in a rainforest.
Whipping out his wand he continued, “Well you’ll be happy to know I found the charm.
Now if you’ll just step close to me, this will take just a moment. Don’t worry Harry, I
guarantee you that your room will not be turned into a rainforest.” He started to wave his
wand in a complicated swooping pattern, causing the air around it to glow, “however I
cannot say the same for a swamp.”
After another moment’s time the bedroom began to vibrate ever so slightly, then a gold
light seemed to seep from every part of the room. Dumbledore, Ginny, and Harry were in
one corner, shielding their eyes from the intense light. How the neighbors, let alone the
Dursleys, didn’t wake up from what looked liked an entire stadium worth of lights in one
little room, completely escaped Harry.
Soon there was a loud grinding noise and a pop and the light dissipated slowly leaving
the room exactly the same way it was before.
“Did it work?” Ginny asked, squinting still because of the now sudden darkness.
“Would you like to do the honors Miss Weasley?” The headmaster asked playfully,
almost like a child.
Ginny closed her eyes once again and thought of something. Just like in the Room of
Requirement after she’d said it to herself three times she felt movement around her and
opened her eyes, and gasped.
There was no longer a bed, nor a table, in fact there wasn’t even a floor anymore instead
they were now standing on a grassy hill just like the one in both Ginny and Harry’s
dreams.
“Well, sure seems like it work, unless this is another dream.” Harry said enthusiastically,
“this will certainly make defense practice a little easier, and our housing situation. When
will Lupin be coming, I think that I better leave telling my Uncle about these new
arrangements to him. I’m just a little small, and I honestly don’t think I know a jinx
strong enough to take him down if he gets as mad as I think he might.”
“Point taken, I have arranged for him to come tomorrow morning. He is very eager to do
this, I daresay it’s the happiest I’ve seen him in a long time.” Dumbledore pulled out a
pocket watch and checked the time, “it would seem that it almost is morning anyways.
Well I do need at least two hours of sleep a night and I think that you two could do with
some also. I will have your mother pack some things for you tomorrow Miss Weasley,
and will have Remus take them over with his belongings. If you have any further
quandaries concerning this new bond, feel free to owl me anytime, and remember to
always be cautious when taking excursions outside of the house. I hope to see you both
soon again. Good morning.” With that the old headmaster tipped his head and vanished
with a soft pop.
Ginny turned towards the still blanket covered Harry and grinned. “I think we should try
and get a little sleep tonight, don’t you?”
Harry shifted his blanket nervously, trying to cover up as much of himself as possible,
while also noticing Ginny didn’t seem to mind his lack of clothing. “Uh, I guess you’re
right.” Harry closed his eyes and the room changed to reveal two identical beds next to
each other. “Which one do you want?”
Ginny took the one closest to her, and Harry climbed into his, trying to keep his blanket
on for as long as possible before slipping under the covers. Soon Harry turned the light
out, wished Ginny goodnight. As both of them were started to fall asleep, their minds
tried to sort out the complicated mix of emotions that had just recently been stirred up.
Both of them had only been asleep for an hour, dreaming of the usual picnic, now seeing
each other instead of a blur. The moment they kissed again however Harry woke up to
find himself on top of Ginny’s bed kissing her in real life. Ginny’s eyes sprung open wide
in shock. Harry pulled away immediately, falling completely off the bed in surprise.
“Not again!” He said as he rubbed his head for the second time that night.
“Looks like this Heartbond is stronger than we thought it was, seems like we have to be
in the same bed for it to be happy.” Ginny said laughing groggily, pulling her covers
down and motioning for Harry to get in.
‘What, I can’t sleep in the same bed as you, think what your brother will do.” Harry said,
scooting away from the bed in mock horror.
“Listen, I know you won’t do anything, and I won’t tell my brother, but I am tired and
you look like it too. Now if you want to get some sleep get over here, if you want to keep
hitting your head on the floor go to your own.” She said huffily.
It didn’t take Harry long to realize what he was actually arguing about and nervously
crawled into Ginny’s bed, trying to settle himself as far away from her as possible. But
she seemed opposed to the idea and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Night Harry,” she whispered as she closed her eyes.
“Good night Gin’,” Harry closed his eyes too and drifted off to deep sleep.
Chapter 14: A Werewolf’s Visit
The next morning the pair woke up surprisingly well rested considering all they had gone
through that night. It was a sunny day outside; finally dispelling what seemed like a
month of endless fog and rain. Hedwig had come back from her hunt and was resting in
the sunlight happily.
“Morning sleepy,” Harry said as he got out of bed, and quickly put on a pair of jeans.
“Can I just stay in this bed; it’s so comfortable, much better than mine.” She pulled the
blankets higher up and puffed up a pillow.
“Come on get up, Lupin’ll be coming soon, and plus we should try and make the room a
little better, you two are going to be living here for a while.
Finally Ginny go tout of bed and they had a small breakfast, sneaking downstairs and
stealing whatever leftovers there were in the kitchen.
“Did you know that it’s my birthday today?” Harry asked through mouthful of toast, just
after he remembered himself.
“Really! I completely forgot that it’s today, I guess last night sorta made me forget.” She
said laughing. “So did you get everything you wanted for your birthday?”
“I did, everyone sent me cakes and cards. Again, thank you so much for yours, it really
was great,” Harry paused embarrassed, then started reaching for the pillow. “I just
remembered something that Emma gave me, it should be under this pillow. There it is!”
He pulled the small blue birthday candle out from under the pillow and held it up to
examine it, now remembering the wish he made that day after blowing out the candles.
“No bloody way that’s possible, how…” Harry stammered out staring at the candle in
shock.
Ginny tensed up thinking something was wrong, “Harry what’s wrong, did something
happen?”
He shook his head and then just started to laugh out loud; rolling onto the bed clutching
his sides. Ginny tried for five minutes in vain to figure out just what he was laughing
about and finally just crossed her arms and scowled at the delirious boy. After another
moment he finally caught his breath, looking up at Ginny he spoke, “sorry Gin’ it’s just
that I remembered what wish I made when I blew out the candle. I wished that I would
finally get to see who the girl I was kissing in the dream was. Seems like it came true
didn’t it. Maybe whoever’s up there is listening.”
Ginny just smiled back at him then leaned forward and kissed him again. “Happy
birthday,” She whispered pulling away after what seemed like a long time.
He just sat there stunned once again, his brain feeling as if their gears had locked in
place. As he stammered for a reply salvation came in the form of a doorbell ringing.
“Oh, that must be Lupin, come on we better get down there and head off my Uncle.
The two sprinted down the stairs in hopes of beating Uncle Vernon to the door, as luck
would have it though, he was already there holding the door open staring at the
disheveled shape of Remus Lupin.
“Oh hello Harry, Ginny,” Lupin said pleasantly upon catching sight of the out of breath
teens.
“Uh, hi professor, Uncle Vernon this is Professor Remus Lupin he’s going to be staying
here for a while.” Harry said trying to head of his uncle’s anger, unsuccessfully.
“He will not stay here! He is a thing, like you are, and I already have enough to deal with
one of them. He will not stay one more bloody….” But that’s when Uncle Vernon
stopped talking, he just set his eyes on Ginny and was just staring at the girl in her
pajamas, who had she gotten into his house? His face started to turn blood red once again,
his tiny eyes sinking farther into his head, giving him the look of a very ugly red toad.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING BOY? WHO IS THIS GIRL, HOW’D YOU
GET HER IN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE? YOU HAD BETTER NOT HAVE
GOTTEN HER PREGNANT OR ELSE I’M GOING…”
“…to do absolutely nothing,” Harry said coolly, raising his wand right into the pudgy
face of his uncle. “I have every right to have guest, and that’s why Professor Lupin is
here, he’s going to watch over Ginny and I.”
“I will not let any one else in this house, it is mine and I choose who lives here. She
cannot stay, and he will not come in. I will call the police.” He said with steaming rage.
Harry just laughed, “Yeah, I’d like to see that. ‘Officer, yes, I’d like to report that there
are two wizards attempting to live in my nephew’s room.’ Oh and if they believe that
part, they’ll think you’re crazy if you show them my room now. I think you’re forgetting
that I can do magic legally now.”
The word ‘magic’ seemed to physically hurt the large man, flinching as if it were a knife
wound. The boy had called his bluff, of course he wasn’t going to call the police, but he
had to do something!
“Sir, I guarantee we will not get in your way, we will eat upstairs and I will make sure
that there are no outward signs of three wizards living here.” This time it was Lupin
talking, stepping through the front door into the entrance.
“No, no, no, absolutely not, I will not allow him to come in, and you girl, you better
bloody be ready to leave right now.” Vernon pointed viciously at the door.
Harry stepped closer towards his uncle, walking right up to his face, and whispering said,
“no, she will not leave, and he will come in. Also, that man that you’re saying can’t come
in is a werewolf.” Uncle Vernon scoffed at Harry, “no really, I guarantee it. But if you
don’t believe me get on his bad side and see for yourself.”
Harry’s air of certainty seemed to wilt his Uncle’s resistance to the idea of these two
strangers staying with them. He stood there completely silent mulling things over in his
mind trying to see the upside to the whole situation. Well the werewolf thingy wont kill
me. And the he did say they wouldn’t bother us, maybe his freaks will keep him quiet and
not make him do any other stupid things.
Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity his Uncle sighed and shrugged his shoulders
in defeat.
“So Uncle Vernon, what do you say, are we going to have to hex you to let them stay?”
Harry said, fingering his wand dangerously.
“No you won’t. I have decided to let your little weirdo friends stay here. You have to stay
up in your room, and don’t you dare blow anything up or do anything to attract the
neighbor’s attention!” Uncle Vernon waggled his finger threateningly at the whole group.
“Whatever,” Harry said walking past his Uncle and up to Lupin, who just seemed amused
by the whole situation “nice to see you Professor, sorry ‘bout this, do you need help with
your luggage?”
“No I have it all in my pockets,” he pointed his outer cloak pocket, “Harry, I’m not your
professor anymore, actually I haven’t been for some time. Why don’t you call me
Remus? That goes for you too Ginny.”
“I don’t know, Remus is what the adults call you, couldn’t we call you just Lupin, or…
Moony!” Harry said excitedly.
The old marauder’s face brightened much more at the name, “of course, that’s perfect. I
miss hearing that name anyways. Moony it is. What do you say to getting all settled then
having a cup of tea and opening my present for you?” Lupin said as he placed a hand on
Harry’s shoulder and started to walk towards the stairs with Ginny.
“You got me a birthday present?” Harry asked, shocked that the werewolf had
remembered, let alone had the money to get him one. His clothes certainly looked more
worn than last time he’d seen him, and it appeared that he hadn’t eaten much too.
“Of course I got you a present, marauders don’t forget each other’s birthdays.” Lupin said
happily, as the three wizards headed up to their room for the summer.
Chapter 14: To Harrods, or is it Harolds?
Once the three got into the room they went about changing it for their needs. They added
three large beds on one side, along with cupboards to store their clothes and a large
bathroom. On the other side of the now very big bedroom was a large red and gold couch,
a book shelf with many defensive books, and a small fireplace. It looked just like a dorm
from Hogwarts just scaled differently.
After they had finished all the moving in, Lupin conjured some drinks and they all sat
down to discuss what the rest of the summer was going to be like.
“So, it seems like we’re going to have a lot of time to do whatever we want. I suggest we
use this free time to practice on some spells.” Lupin said, putting on his teacher tone of
voice.
“Actually that’s exactly what I was thinking. Because Fudge finally is letting us do some
magic I’ve been practicing some spells, mostly small stuff but I can now cast a lot of it
silently.” Harry said.
“Ah, good, silent casting is a very big step towards wandless magic. Most wizards can
barely levitate a teacup, but I have a feeling you might be able to do more than that.”
Lupin got up and pulled out a stack of books. “Now, how about we start on these books,
just look through them and try and find some helpful items. Then this afternoon we can
try them out.”
And that is exactly what they did, for the next week Harry, Ginny, Lupin, and even
sometimes Emma, would look through books for what they thought would be good spells
and bookmarked them. Then, after a large lunch, due to Lupin’s amazing skill in the
kitchen, they would clear the furniture and practice the spells until they could cast them
fluently. At nights the group would often go for a short walk, or just sit around the fire
chatting about life.
While there was plenty of beds to go around that seemed to be the main problem of the
entire arrangement. Even though Harry’s bed was right next to Ginny’s, every night they
would be woken up by one of them landing on the other. No matter how close they got
the beds to each other they would still be transported over to the other bed sometime in
the night.
By the eighth night everyone was sleep starved and mad with frustration, so when Harry
landed on top of Ginny causing her to yelp and kick him in the arm Lupin simply stood
up and without a word, vanished Harry’s bed, and pointed angrily to Ginny’s, he then
simply turned around and crawled back into his own. Harry couldn’t find the energy to
argue the point, and he probably wouldn’t have in the first place, so he shrugged and
crawled into bed with Ginny, who immediately feel asleep with her head on his shoulder.
About two weeks into Lupin’s stay with Harry the state of Harry and Lupin’s clothes
were brought up into discussion.
“Harry, I’ve noticed that you don’t seem to have many clothes that actually are in a good
state, could I ask why?” Lupin said.
Harry just shrugged, “The Dursleys just give me their old junk, and even though I have
money I’ve never had a chance to get anything with it, just some school robes. But I
wouldn’t be talking Moony, your clothes aren’t exactly the picture of perfection.” He
teased.
“Well those bloody laws the Umbridge lady managed to pass hasn’t really afforded me
any luxuries, it’s tough enough worrying about how to pay for the Wolfsbane potion let
alone clothes. But now that you mention it Sirius did leave me a large amount of galleons
saying I should spoil myself, I was just thinking about food but maybe he meant clothes
too.” He stopped there though, noticing the drawn expression on Harry’s face.
It was still painful for him to hear Sirius’ name, but slowly it was growing easier to
accept. The part that caught him off guard was the fact that he had a will prepared and he
hadn’t been told about it.
“Sirius wrote a will?” Harry asked quietly.
“Of course he wrote a will, almost every adult wizard has one, I do. It makes sense to
have your affairs in order incase something happens, especially during these times. He
wasn’t expecting to die, just prepared to. His will actually left most of his possessions to
you, including the house, but it’s in Dumbledore’s control until you come of age.”
“I don’t care about the house, or the money, I’d give it all back to get him back. He didn’t
have to be ready to die!” Harry moaned as he sunk into Ginny’s arms.
“I know he didn’t, and I’d give back everything he gave me to get him back too, but he
gave us the things to take care of us, you most importantly. Now you know what, I think
that a little outing would be just what would help us. We’ve been pent up in this room for
two weeks now, I say we go get you some of your money and get you a whole new outfit,
underwear even.” Lupin playfully punched the boys arm.
“Right, but you have to promise to get some new clothes also; maybe you’ll finally be
able to get Tonks to notice you. And I want to get you some things too Ginny, you know,
so you look more like a muggle and all.”
Lupin blushed slightly at first but didn’t acknowledge it, “Well that sounds like a plan!
I’ll owl the headmaster right now to make sure it’s okay but I don’t see why not. We’ll be
in well protected areas, and not even Voldemort would attack Gringotts.” Lupin got up
and scribbled a quick note to Dumbledore then attached it to Hedwig who seemed eager
to deliver the message quickly.
“Well I told him I was hoping to go on the weekend. We can first go to Gringotts and pick
up some money, then go to the stores and get clothes.”
“What about muggle clothes, I haven’t seen any stores in Diagon Alley that sells that
stuff.” Ginny asked.
“Harrods,” Harry said, almost questioningly to himself.
“Bless you,” Lupin offered.
“No, no, Harrods, or Harolds or something like that,” Harry said waving him off, “the
Dursley’s go there when they need to buy stuff. They say ‘they’re going shopping at
Harrods, don’t break or blow anything up,’ yeah Harrods. I see their ads sometimes in
newspapers and on the television. I’m sure they’ll have clothes there it looks huge!”
“Cool, my first muggle store, I can’t wait to see what’s in it. I wonder if it’s like Diagon
Alley.” Ginny said enthusiastically.
“Well that sounds good Harry, I’m sure well probably be able to drop in there. I’ve heard
of some people talk about it before, they say it’s massive, but has everything you could
possibly need.” Lupin had a bit of a whimsical look on his face, as if he couldn’t believe
the stuff his friends had told him.
“Well it’s late and I want to get some sleep tonight now that we finally got he whole bed
thing figured out.” Ginny said yawing wide as she walked over to her cupboards to get
dressed.
“Good idea, if we get Dumbledore’s approval tomorrow plan on leaving early we have a
lot of things to do. About the bed situation though, I know you won’t tell your mother so I
won’t, I just ask for a little discretion when it comes to the kissing.” He said teasingly,
smiling as both teens blushed deeply.
In just a little the light was ought and all three were drifting off to dreams imagining what
they were going to get at the shops.
Chapter 15: Europe’s New Billionaire
That morning they were all woken up to Hedwig landing and hooting shrilly in the dawn
air. It was still dark out but the alarm clock read 4:45 in the morning. Harry slowly
untangled himself from Ginny and the bed covers and took the letter from Hedwig. He
unrolled the small piece of parchment to find the usual neat cursive of the headmaster.
Remus,
I do believe that you three have earned a chance for a day of rest. I also think it is a good
idea to let Harry get out of the neighborhood for a while and stretch his legs. If you were
going to a less protected area I would suggest taking another Order member with you,
but seeing as it is the weekend at Diagon Alley there will already be plenty of protection
there. I only ask that you return before sundown and do not venture off to any
unprotected areas.
Your’s humbly,
Albus Dumbledore
Harry waved the letter triumphantly. “He’s letting us go, he said we can go, and we don’t
need any other protection!” He thrust the letter out towards Lupin for him to read.
“Well we should start getting ready then, we want to have enough time to visit
everywhere, including Harrods. I know he said no where unsafe, but I don’t think
Voldemort will be expecting us there. I’ll make us a quick breakfast while you two get
dressed then we’ll use Arabella’s fire to floo to the Leaky Cauldron. Gringotts opens
early, five o’ clock every morning.” Lupin was already out of bed and pulling on a new
shirt, this trip meant as much as it did to Harry, he hadn’t been truly out in public for a
while and was eager to get some new clothes. Although he didn’t want to admit it, Harry
and Ginny were correct; he was hoping to impress Tonks.
Only thirty minutes later the group was fed and walking down the street to Miss Figg’s
house to use her fireplace. When they rang the door bell they could hear her cursing her
many cats as she progressed towards the door. She ushered them in grumpily, still
wearing her flannel nightgown and curlers merely pointed at the fireplace before going
back to her bedroom.
They each took a large handful of floo powder and lined up. Lupin went first to check the
area then Harry and Ginny stepped in side by side. The ride went a lot better than last
time for Harry because he was caught from falling by Ginny.
They waved hello to Tom the barman before quickly heading to the back and into Diagon
Alley. The roads were almost completely empty, due to the combined effect of
Voldemort’s return and the rather early time of day. They hadn’t seen a single other
person until they reached Gringotts where there were already dozens of people moving in
and out of the large white marble building.
They all entered and Harry walked up to one of the Goblins to get them to take him to his
vault. “Hello, I’d like to withdraw some money from my vault.” Harry said, at the same
time handing the Goblin his tiny gold key. He took it and examined it then reached under
his desk and pulled out an enormous leather bound book and began to thumb trough its
pages until he found what he was looking for.
“Mr. Potter, it would appear that you have come into your family’s vaults as of two weeks
ago. You are 16 are you not?” The goblin asked leaning over his desk to inspect the boy.
“Um, yes. But what vaults are you talking about. I already have access to my vault.”
“The Potter family vaults. What you had access to was simply your trust fund, that is
until you became 16 years old. You now have full and complete access to your family
vaults. It also states in our books that you are the sole heir to the Black family assets.
Which means you now can access all of their vaults too. We do need you to fill out a few
forms just to finalize it and make sure you know of your holdings.” The goblin smiled
widely and handed over a small pile of papers and a quill.
Harry looked nervously at the stack of papers, unsure what to do, “You said vaults not
vault, just how many are there?”
“Well the Potter family only has two, one for the gold and the other for heirlooms and
storage. The Black family vault is much older and therefore has four vaults. Two weeks
ago however, when you came into control we took it upon ourselves to combine a few of
them into one larger vault. Therefore now you only have three: one for the gold, one for
Potter heirlooms, and one for Black heirlooms. I hope that is ok with you Mr. Potter?
Once you sign right here I would be happy to take you down to them.”
Harry, Ginny, and Lupin were speechless. None of them had heard of a person having
more than one vault, let alone five. The goblin coughed politely reminding Harry that eh
still had business to do. Harry quickly scribbled his name on the parchment in the
required places, in return he got another larger key.
“That is the key to the entrance room for the vault; the actual safes are locked with blood
magic. Much more secure. Now if you would please follow me this way I’ll get an
attendant to take you down to your vaults.” The goblin hopped off of his stool and led
them to the usual entrance where another goblin was waiting to take them to the vault.
“If you just follow Griphook here he will get you access to your vault.”
“Thank you, I appreciate your help.” Harry said courteously then turning towards
Griphook smiled, “How are you? I haven’t seen you for a while.”
“A little over five years actually, step onto the cart please,” Griphook said opening the
little carts door and ushering them in.
As soon as all four of them were in the cart started abruptly and they were sent spiraling
down into the labyrinths of the Gringotts vault.
After a few adrenaline pumping minutes the cart slowed to a stop and approached a large
metal door. Griphook stepped out and asked for the new key that Harry had been given.
After another moment’s time passed the goblin got the door open and the cart began to
move once again, this time into a small room with three large gold doors in the rough
hewn walls.
Harry, Ginny, and Lupin all stepped out and walked up to the first door to examine it.
Engraved across its whole front was the Potter Family crest with a large Griffin reared up
on its hind legs with a large serpent in its beak. In the background was a phoenix with its
wings spread wide.
“I never knew that I had a family crest. It’s amazing; I guess it’s sorta obvious why I got
into Gryffindor.” Harry said pointing to the gold door.
“All ancient families have crests, I think that your family has one even Ginny.” Lupin
offered.
“Yeah, we have it on some of our fancy plates, I think it’s a lion or something like that
with a mountain in the background, and my dad also has a ring he sometimes wears with
the seal on it. He only wears it on special events. I like yours a lot though Harry, its very
appropriate.” Ginny said, as she ran her hands over the engravings.
“So, how exactly do blood charms work? I hope I don’t have to give it any blood, I’m a
little nervous around blades ever since the Triwizard tournament.” He shivered
involuntarily at the memory of that night.
“They don’t need blood, all you have to do Harry is place your hand in the right place.
There’s usually a spot where you can put it…”Lupin said as he looked the door up and
down, “Ah! Here it is, see the hand shaped indent under the phoenix? Just put your hand
there and it should open up.”
Harry placed his hand in the spot and the whole door glowed gold momentarily then
vanished.
All three of them gasped at what lay in front of them. Ginny grabbed hold of Harry’s arm
to keep herself standing upright.
“Harry, um…just how much gold is this?” Lupin said eyeing the stacks of gold which
went from bottom to top.
“I…I have no bloody clue. The vault I used to go to was small; it just had a tiny pile of
gold.” Harry said, stammering for words, and then he turned to Griphook who was
politely standing at the cart. “Griphook, do you know how much there is here?”
“I do, we counted your assets when we consolidated all of your vaults. In the vault your
are currently in there is a little over a quarter of a billion galleons in gold.”
Ginny gave a squeak of excitement, Lupin did a double take, and Harry’s eyes widened to
three times their normal size.
“Wh…wha…how much?” Harry stuttered.
“There is precisely 280,013,873 galleons in that vault. In the Black family vault there is
roughly 650,000,000 galleons; thereby giving you a combined net worth of 910,000,000
galleons. And as of yesterday’s close of bank you are the 7th richest wizard in Europe.”
This time it was Harry who had to grab a hold of something just to stay standing.
He couldn’t believe his ears, he had never even heard of that much money, let alone stood
next to it. He had always been given badly worn second-hand clothes by the Dursleys,
now it wouldn’t surprise him if he could by a clothing company. He was still too stunned
to speak so Lupin did.
“Thank you Griphook, who is his current financial adviser?”
“That would be one of the bank assigned CPA’s, however if Mr. Potter has someone else
we would gladly work with them.”
“He doesn’t yet, but I think it would be a good idea for him to get someone, don’t you
Harry?” He asked, gently nudging him to bring him back to reality.
“Er, yeah sure…sorry I just sorta spaced out there. I’ve never seen anything like this.” He
said sheepishly.
“I don’t think any of us have, I’ve barely seen 10 galleons together. Three-hundred
million sure is a lot more.” Ginny said quietly, ashamed at her family’s lack of finances.
“Well you better get used to it,” Harry said teasingly. Ginny looked at him quizzically.
“Well we are Heartbonded aren’t we? That means that we’ll probably be together for a
long time. So what I have is yours.”
Ginny hugged him tightly, until Harry managed to gasp for her to ease up a little because
she was breaking his ribs. When she pulled away she had tears in her eyes but was
smiling. “Thank you Harry. You know I don’t care about the money, but the fact that
you’re willing to share it with me means the world. Your really are one of a kind.”
“I’d have to agree with Ginny on that point Harry, you have a knack for being generous.”
Lupin said squeezing Harry on the shoulder.
Harry blushed at the praise and just smiled at the two. “Moony, would you like to help…
I mean would you help me…would you manage this stuff for me? I’ve never been very
good with money or math and with this much of it I’m sure I’d be lost. So like you said I
need someone to help and I’d like it to be someone I trust.”
Lupin was taken aback by the boy’s kind words and that he would hold him in such high
regard, being a werewolf usually didn’t warrant many compliments. “Yes Harry, I would
be honored to help you. I want to make sure you have some money to start a family with
when you grow older so that means you can’t blow your whole fortune on broomsticks or
candy.”
“Great! Thanks Moony. Now what do you say we get some of this money converted to
pounds and go to Harrods. We can look at the other vaults later, right now I feel like
getting all new clothes, and maybe even some dress robes if we get a chance. Come one
guys, lets hurry up we don’t have all day!” Harry said enthusiastically, excited to finally
be able to get some clothes that weren’t second hand.
The three of them ran into the vault, each stopping by a pile and filling decent sized bags
full of galleons. Feeling that they may come in handy later, Harry quietly made an extra
stop by a small wooden case he’d found and took out several velvet boxes.
Their pockets considerably heavier, and their souls considerably lighter they climbed
back into the cart with Griphook and headed up to the ground floor to get the gold
exchanged for British pounds for their busy shopping day.
Chapter 16: A New Suit and Godfather
Once they had plenty of cash in their pockets the three headed back out of the Leaky
Cauldron to go to Harrods. Seeing as they were already in London they decided to walk
the several blocks to the department store. As they walked they marveled at the wonders
of downtown London, the massive buildings, the bustling people and cars, and the
thousands of different stores and shops. More than once they stopped to look in a store
that caught their attention, one of their favorites being Hamley’s the four story toy store.
Lupin and Ginny were spellbound by the toy trains and model airplanes. They had never
seen anything like them and couldn’t understand how they worked without magic.
Finally they came to Harrods and stopped dead in their tracks. It was huge five stories
and there seemed to be hundreds of people buzzing in and out of its doors every second.
Not even Lupin had seen anything like this. The largest store in Diagon Alley was
Gringotts, and even that was small compared to this.
“Harry, this place is huge. I’ve never seen a store like this!” Ginny said completely
awestruck.
“You took the words right out of my mouth. I haven’t really even been in London ever; I
thought it would be a little bigger than Flourish and Blotts, not an entire block!” Harry
said.
“It looks like you picked the right place for us to get some new clothes, it looks like we
could even buy a home if we wanted too,” Lupin said humorously, then pushing Ginny
and Harry forward towards the doors he said, “Come on then, last one in is a rotten
flobberworm!” And with that the three wizards stepped into, what was to them, a
completely unknown land.
They were immediately submerged in a deluge of perfumes and noises, then stumbled
into the grocery store which was almost the entire floor, filled with fresh breads and pie
and cakes, and candies that they hadn’t even seen in Honeyduke’s. Lupin managed to
locate a store map and discovered that clothes were on the third level, and through a
complex maze of escalators, of which Ginny had never seen and was very entertained by,
and people, of which there seemed to be thousands everywhere; they finally reached the
men’s clothing section of Harrods.
“Wow, I never knew that shopping could be considered to be exercise. I’m exhausted,
there are so many people here and they’re all pushing and shoving like they have to get
what they want or else they’ll hex you.” Ginny said exasperatedly.
“There’s a desk over there with a lady, maybe she can help us find what we need.” Lupin
said pointing out a lady a store uniform who was folding clothes at the counter.
Harry led the way up to the woman, “Hello, I was hoping you might be able to help me
and my friends. We’re from a small town and are a bit overwhelmed by this whole
experience. If you could just point us in the right direction it would be very helpful.” He
said as politely as he could, trying to make it seem as if they were unsettled by the huge
city, which wasn’t too difficult seeing as they were.
The woman smiled falsely turning her, what used to be pleasant appearance, into
something a little more garish. “If you just go right down that aisle there you’ll be in the
suit section, if you need help picking out a suit I’d be more than happy to help,” she said
as she pointed one of her jewelry laden hands at the suit section.
They walked over to the wall of suits, there were hundreds in every shade of color and
cut. Harry walked up to a dark blue pinstripe one which had immediately caught his
attention and made to take it off the rack but the saleslady cut him off by stepping in front
of him.“Uh sir, maybe you’d like to look over here, this suit costs more than two-
thousand dollars. It’s an Armani silk original.” She said with the same false smile
ushering him over to the suits on the sales rack.
Harry’s temper frayed slightly over the fact that she was judging them by their
appearances. His eyes seemed to radiate a little when he looked up at the lady, startling
her. “I think I’ll look at this suit over here actually, I can afford it I think. Also I think I’ll
get this one too.” He said coolly walking back over to the jackets and pulling out the blue
one along with another black suit.
The woman was obviously confused over what to do so she just smiled politely once
again then asked to be excused for a moment while she went and got her manager. As she
hurried off Ginny came up to Harry as he was comparing suits, “You didn’t have to do
that, we could have gotten it ourselves. It looked like you really frightened that girl.”
“She should be, I was just fed up with being treated poorly based on what we looked like.
I know you’ve dealt with it your whole life, so have I, I just thought that now that I can
change that I should. I wanted to make you feel better.” He said quietly, now looking at
her with a face of compassion.
Ginny smiled then grabbed him tight and hugged him, “You really are amazing Potter,
did you know that? Do you ever worry about yourself?”
“Not any more, because I know I have you to watch my back,” he said kissing her
forehead quickly, almost embarrassedly, “here comes the saleswoman looks like she has
her manager too.” He said nodding towards the still slightly shaken woman.
“Hello sir, I am the manager of this section, how may I help you?” The older woman said,
her smile more genuine than the other’s.
“Well we were just…” Lupin started but Harry cut him off, “I have this Moony.” He said
then turned back towards the manager, “Your saleslady here thought it would be a good
idea for us to shop at the sales rack, not get one of these suits, just because we aren’t
exactly dressed like kings. I don’t want to be rude but I would just like to get some things
for me and my family.”
The manager looked the boy up and down appraisingly then nodded, “Of course, I am
sorry that you were treated rudely that is not what we train our representatives to do. I
would be more than happy to ensure you get what you need today. We actually have a
private room we keep open for when people are completely redoing their wardrobe so
they have some more privacy, if you’d just follow me I’ll take you to it then we can get to
work on getting you three some clothes.” The manager led the way leaving the befuddled
sales lady behind in the sales rack section of the suit aisle.
On the way to the private room Lupin caught up with Harry to talk with him, “Harry, why
did you call us your family? I don’t believe that made much of a difference with her
choosing to help us.”
“Moony, I didn’t say it to get help, I said it because it’s true, you are my family even
though it might not be through blood. You’re the last Marauder and you’re by far the
closest thing I have to a father. As for Ginny, I couldn’t be happier that we’re fated for
each other.” Harry said matter-of-factly smiling at his surrogate family.
Lupin was left momentarily speechless at the revelation of Harry calling him his father
figure, he always believed he would never be able to fill the shoes of Sirius. Hearing that
from Harry lifted his heart. “Thank you Harry, you have no idea how much that means to
me. It lets me know I haven’t let your mother and father down on the promise Sirius and I
made them, to take care of you if something happened,” grabbing him into a one handed
hug. “Harry, I’ve actually been thinking this over for a while. I know I can’t replace
Sirius, or be him, but I’d really like it if you would let me be your godfather. I’ve worked
out my little ‘problem’ with Dumbledore and he’s arranged to have me live in Grimmauld
place, there’s a basement with a very big lock for when the full moon comes round, and it
does need someone to take care of…” but Lupin’s nervous rambling was cut off by Harry
hugging him tightly.
“Moony, you can stop blubbering like you got confunded, I was planning on asking you
to be my new godfather. Looks like you beat me to the punch though. I would love to
have you as my godfather, and I’d like to move into Grimmauld place with you when I
get old enough to leave the Dursleys. And don’t worry about the ‘problem’ I’m sure
you’ll be fine. Thanks.” Harry said happily as they walked through the door into the
private room.
The room was a large room with mirrors on one side and several large armchairs along
with a T.V. There were already racks of clothes along the sides and there was a man who
seemed to be the tailor. Harry, Ginny, and Lupin were stunned by the elegance of the
room and the fact that she had decided to use it on them.
The manager turned to face the three and smiled brightly, “Now who wants to go first?”
Chapter 17: To Headquarters
Many hours later the three completely exhausted wizards walked out of Harrods carrying
handfuls of bags each.
“I had no idea that shopping could be so much work! I feel like I just played a day long
Quidditch game right now, not to mention I’m starving.” Harry said, although his voice
was muffled by the stack of clothes boxes in front of his face.
“I’m glad that we were able to do that though, I really did need some new clothes and I
did what Sirius told me to do. Maybe I’ll ask Tonks on a date sometime now.” Lupin said
excitedly. He had bought an entirely new muggle wardrobe, including a very nice watch
and several silk ties. “Here why don’t we go down this alley and I’ll shrink all of our stuff
so we can fit it in our pockets. We still have a bit of a walk to the Leaky Cauldron.”
Lupin piled up all of the bags and boxes and shrunk them neatly into groups small
enough to fit into their pant pockets. They made the long walk to the Leaky Cauldron,
once again stopping at Hamleys just to look at the toy trains again, then flooed back to
Miss. Figg’s house and snuck into the Dursley’s house as quiet as possible seeing as it
was well past eleven at night when they got back. They all emptied their pockets and un-
shrunk the packages so they could change into their new pajamas. Because everyone was
so tired they changed as quickly as possible then turned in for the night, all of them
falling asleep minutes after the light was put out.
The next morning over a late breakfast Lupin received a letter from Fawkes. He read it
out-loud to Harry and Ginny. “Remus, I believe that enough time has passed for Harry to
be sufficiently protected for the rest of the year. When it is convenient I expect you three,
along with the Masseys to head to Grimmauld place to pass what little time remains of
the summer. You can also expect Miss Granger and the rest of the Weasleys there. Reply
with your date of departure so we can prepare for you. Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore.”
Remus finished reading the letter and looked up at the two excited teenagers, “looks like
we should start getting packed.”
Harry and Ginny both jumped up off the bed excitedly. It was nice having company, but
the Dursleys were still horrible people and you could only be cooped up in one place for
so long.
“Tell him were coming tomorrow, I’ll go over to Emma’s today and explain everything.
I’m sure she and Joy will be excited.” Harry said quickly, as he threw on a shirt at the
same time causing him to fall over, “Oh, and we’ll need new trunks, we have too much
new stuff.” He added poking his head out from his shirt.
Ginny and Lupin laughed at his antics, happy to see him in such high spirits. The whole
time they’d been here they’d noticed some sort of tension. Lupin put down to a mix of the
tension and fear between him and the Dursleys, and the depression over the loss of Sirius.
Although he hadn’t seen any outward signs of abuse by his Aunt or Uncle the way Harry
acted around them did not escape his notice. Harry was amazingly mature for his age, yet
around his relatives he acted like a very nervous five year old. All Lupin knew was that
he was glad to be leaving.
“I’ll go to Diagon Alley quickly this afternoon and get some trunks for us to use.
Meanwhile, after you talk to Emma, how bout you two try and get as many of your items
collected so we can be ready to leave tomorrow.” Lupin said. He dressed quickly, sent off
a message with Hedwig, then left to Miss Figg’s house after warning them to be careful
and not stray too far when going to Emma’s.
A little while later Harry and Ginny headed over to Emma’s house to tell them the good
news.
On the way there Ginny paused momentarily on the side of the street and looked around.
“Are you okay Gin? What’s wrong,” Harry asked immediately noticing the change in her
mood.
“Yeah I’m fine, it’s just we have a follower. Tonks, is that you?” Ginny asked, pulling out
her wand just in case it wasn’t, “Tonks?”
Harry pulled out his wand too and started walking towards where Ginny was looking at.
He couldn’t see anything but continued walking forward until he hit something invisible
and tripped, hitting his head on the curb at the same time as he ripped the invisibility
cloak off of a crouching Tonks.
“Harry!” Ginny shouted and ran over to where Harry was now sitting on the ground, she
rolled him over to reveal a large gash on his forehead which was bleeding badly. He was
conscious though and smiled at Ginny, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt. Just one of those
things that looks worse than it is.”
Tonks was now hovering over them, with a worried look on her face, “Oh bugger Harry,
I’m sorry, that looked like a pretty nasty fall. Here, let me get rid of that for you.” But she
stopped at that gaping at what Harry was doing.
He was slowly rubbing his hand around the cut, and somehow this was removing the
blood and also looked as if it were healing the cut.
“Harry, how what are you doing?” Ginny, who now also had noticed his actions, asked.
“Just rubbing my head, I think I’m going to have a pretty bad headache later.” He said
shrugging.
“No, Harry, your healing yourself! You’re rubbing the cut and it’s completely
disappearing.” Tonks said in utter amazement.
“What? I thought you couldn’t do wandless healing? At least that’s what Lupin told me.”
Harry said confused as he stared at his own hands, which were now completely blood
free.
“It is true, no one I know, not even Madame Pomfrey can do wandless healing. It takes up
too much energy to perform even a simple healing charm,” Tonks said.
“Well he’s doing it, so it can’t be impossible.”
“I know, Dumbledore did say that now you two are Heartbonded you both would start to
show some…un-common abilities. Maybe this is one of them?” Tonks said with a shrug.
“Probably is, hey Gin’ by the way how did you know that there was someone following
us?” Harry asked as he stood still rubbing his disappearing cut.
She shrugged and shook her head, “I honestly don’t know. I just felt that there was
someone near us. It was really weird, I didn’t know who or really where they were but I
just felt that we were being watched. It was sorta creepy.”
“I think that might be something new too, Dumbledore said we would be getting much
more powerful magically. Maybe it’s started already.” Harry said as the three walked up
to Emma’s front door. “Remind me to ask him when we get to headquarters tomorrow.”
“Harry! Your shirt,” Ginny said right before he rang the doorbell. It was covered in blood
from the fall, and to anyone who didn’t know what had happened would look very
frightening; especially an eleven year old.
“Oh, good catch Gin, you always have my back don’t you?” Harry joked as he vanished
the blood with his wand, returning the shirt back to its perfectly new state.
“Yes I do, and I always will,” she said, then rang the doorbell.
The door opened to reveal Joy in an apron, apparently right out of the kitchen, “Oh hello
Harry, Ginny, how are you? Where’s Remus?”
“Oh, he’s just getting things in order for tomorrow, this is Nymphadora, but you should
probably just call her Tonks, she doesn’t like her first name. She’s an auror, you know,
one of the police I told you about.” Harry said, winking at Tonks.
“Well any friend of Harry is a friend of ours. Why don’t you come in and I’ll get Emma,
she’s upstairs cleaning her room,” Joy said beckoning them inside graciously.
Moments later Emma came running down the stairs and grabbed Harry by the waist
hugging him. She then hugged Ginny, who she had become good friends with also,
always asking her questions about school and the wizarding world.
Harry introduced Tonks, and then sat down to tell Emma a Joy the news. “So yesterday
we got a note from the headmaster saying that I have spent enough time at my aunt and
uncle’s house this summer and that we could go to headquarters. He also said that the
invitation was open to you two, we only have a little over a week before school starts and
you’d be able to go with us to the train platform and we’d be able to get Emma her things
for school. Now I know you have your barrister duties Mrs. Massey, but I would really
like it if you and Emma could come. You’d be able to meet a lot of other witches and
wizards.” Harry finished, smiling at Emma who was now looking pleadingly at her
mother.
“What is ‘headquarters’?” Joy asked, fifteen years as a lawyer had tuned her ability to
notice the smallest discrepancies.
Harry mentally kicked himself for slipping up like that, he should have known better than
that, discussing Order matters in front of non-members; he knew that this secret was the
only thing keeping many witches and wizards hidden from Voldemort.
Thankfully Tonks popped in and answered the question for him, saying that it was too
sensitive to discuss in the open but if they were coming tomorrow that all would be
explained by Dumbledore himself.
Joy asked for a minute to think it through, all the while Emma was quietly begging her
mom to let her go. Finally she made up her mind and spoke up, “well work won’t be a
problem. We just finished our case this Friday so I am not busy next week, and I know
Emma wants to go. I just am nervous about this whole wizarding world war right now
that Harry and the headmaster has told me about. And I’ve been around enough liars to
know when I’m not being told the whole truth, you will have to promise to tell me
everything you can once it is safe.”
“So are we going?” Emma asked excitedly.
Joy smiled at her daughter and nodded, “yes dear. We’re going. You should go get
packed.”
Emma jumped out of her seat, kissed her mom on her cheek and asked for Ginny to help
her get packed. The two girls took the stairs two at a time running for her room upstairs.
When Lupin got back later that day he too headed for the Massey’s and helped Joy sort
out all the smaller details of the trip. They were planning on flooing from Miss Figg’s to
headquarters next morning, and then would bring Joy back after she saw Emma off at the
train station.
They left late at night after a long enjoyable dinner cooked by Joy and Lupin, who
actually enjoyed cooking quite a bit, and whose magic allowed for them to cook many
more things at once. Everyone shared funny stories and jokes and ate enormous amounts
of food and sweets.
Lupin had the three trunks up in Harry’s room when they arrived and he showed them the
features that he was most excited about; including the shrinkable feature which allowed
you to shrink the trunk to fit in your pocket, and the second compartment whish was a lot
like Moody’s trunk, which would open if you twisted the second knob.
They all packed that night, sticking all of their old and new clothes in the trunks, along
with the dozens of spell books and parchment pieces. Finally the room was barren, with
only the bookshelves and the furniture remaining they all turned in for bed excited about
the next morning’s journey.
Lupin woke up Harry and Ginny at six in the morning so they could collect Emma and
Joy before going to Miss Figg’s. They shrunk the trunks down, and removed the
requirement spell from the room returning it to its normal proportions. They then headed
downstairs, Harry shouted down the hallway to his aunt and uncle that he was leaving for
the summer, then headed out the door. But that wasn’t before he and Ginny cast another
special spell that they had found.
Walking over to the Massey’s Lupin noticed their conspiratorial glances at each other and
asked what they had done. At first they refused to answer but finally Harry broke up
laughing and told Lupin that they had placed a jinx on the house called conversio
cubiculum which, Ginny said, completely inverted the house for a set amount of time.
They had found it in one of the spell books Lupin had brought and thought it would be a
good parting gift.
“Well, you two aren’t doing much for Muggle wizard relations, you could seriously scare
them,” Lupin said, trying to hide his smile but eventually failing. “Alright, alright, it was
good, I’ll admit that. They’ll have no idea what’s hit them. But you cannot tell your
mother I said that, she’d skin me alive if I knew I was encouraging you two.” Lupin said
pointing at Ginny jokingly.
When they reached Emma’s home the lights were already on and there were two bags
sitting on the front step, Emma answered the door excitedly and said she was all ready to
go and that she couldn’t wait. Joy gave the three some muffins and tea because they
hadn’t had breakfast yet.
A little before seven the group reached Miss Figg’s and rang the bell, once again they
heard the screeching of cats and the curses from the squib about turning them all into
turnips.
They all bustled in, apologizing for waking her, then lined up at the fire. Lupin explained
to Joy and Emma the basics of floo travel. Harry offered to go with Emma to make sure
she wouldn’t go somewhere wrong, and Lupin offered to go with Joy.
Ginny went first, throwing her handful of powder into the fire and stepping into the
hearth, then shouted “12 Grimmauld Place!” She disappeared and Harry and Emma
stepped up next. Harry took a handful threw it in the fire and reassured Emma nothing
bad would happen. She then nervously stepped in next to him and gasped as she felt the
cold licks of fire on her legs. “It’s okay Em, don’t worry. 12 Grimmauld Place!” Harry
shouted and they were spent spinning around catching glimpses of other rooms and
buildings as they passed. Usually Harry couldn’t see anything because his glasses kept
getting knocked off but this time he’d placed a sticking charm on them so they wouldn’t
fall off, and what he saw both shocked and scared him.
The last room he saw into before landing at headquarters was that of a small poorly lit
room, and although it was poorly lit the face he saw was easily recognizable. It was that
of the traitorous friend Peter Pettigrew. Alongside him were several other obvious Death
Eaters including one Harry recognized as McNair.
The scene flashed by so quickly that he wasn’t completely sure that it really was real or if
he were imagining it. But once he landed in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place he was sure
it had to be real. Emma was standing next to him, looking at him curiously, not sure as to
why he looked so nervous.
Around the kitchen were several members of the Weasley clan along with some other
Order members. Before any of them could welcome him back or say anything for that
matter, he said in an low voice, “We have a problem.”
Chapter 18: Captures and Confessions
Harry stood up, dusting off the soot from the fireplace. Nobody in the room said a thing,
still waiting for what Harry was going to say. None of them had ever seen him this
serious before. “You know how when you are traveling using floo you can see into the
random fireplaces as you pass by? Well this time the last place I saw before coming out
here was a very dark room with several people in it. At first I thought I was seeing things,
or maybe I was just confused, but I realized it had to be real. There wasn’t any other way
that I had seen what I had seen, and once I saw his hand I knew that it was.” Harry
paused, trying to collect his thoughts. At the same time Lupin and Joy appeared in the
fireplace, smiling, completely unaware of what was going on.
“Wow, that was by far the oddest feeling I’ve ever had. I could feel the fire on my legs
but it wasn’t hot. And the whole fireplace expanded so we could fit in it. Did you like it
Emma?” Joy asked, exhilarated by her trip she still hadn’t noticed the tense atmosphere in
the room.
“Harry what’s wrong, did something happen?” Lupin asked, finally noticing the boy’s
now ashen face.
“I saw him Moony, just sitting by the fire. I think that they might be spying on us, it was
the last place I saw before landing here, that means they’re close right?” Harry asked
quickly, almost out of breath.
“Slow down there boy, you’ll give yourself a stroke. Breath. Now tell me what happened,
who did you see?” Moody said, limping up to the boy, scaring Emma with his magical
eye.
“I saw Wormtail, well Peter I guess, and some other death eaters. I think I recognized
another, McNair, they were all just sitting in the room discussing something. I think they
must be close because they were the last room I saw before getting here. Could they be
spying on us? Do they know about headquarters?” Harry said glancing at the fireplace
behind him nervously, as if he expected them to come bursting out of it.
Everyone tensed up immediately, the Aurors in the room drew their wands and out of
maternal instinct Molly grabbed Ginny, and even though Joy had no idea what was going
on she did the same.
“Potter, can you describe the room, what did it look like?” Moody asked, his eye
swiveling even more out of control.
“I only saw it for a second, but it was just a small dirty looking room. Its curtains were
pulled, and there wasn’t really any light. The wallpaper was peeling off also. But that’s
about it, I really barely recognized Peter, but then I saw his hand, the silver one. I wish
I’d seen more.” Harry said, shrugging.
“That’s better than nothing,” Shaklebolt said, standing up, “Mad-Eye, I think we should
head outside and search the surrounding buildings. I don’t know if the room being the last
thing he saw means it’s close, but it wouldn’t hurt to be safe.”
“I agree with Kingsley,” Tonks said, “Why don’t we let your eye take a little peek at the
houses near us. Maybe it can find that filthy little rat.”
Moody laughed harshly, “Let’s get going then, Shaklebolt, Tonks, your coming along.
Remus?”
“Yes, I’ll come too, let me just get my cloak,” He made to head out of the kitchen but
Harry stopped him.
“Moony, this isn’t about vengeance; I don’t want to loose you too. Just find them and
capture them that’s it.” Harry said putting stress on the last words.
Lupin smiled and then hugged the boy tightly, “I promise I won’t do anything stupid, but
I do want to go try and get him.” He pulled away and walked out of the room to go with
the rest of the Aurors who were waiting at the front door.
“If we aren’t back by nighttime contact Dumbledore, but we should be back soon. I doubt
that even the Death Eaters are stupid enough to hide next door to us,” Moody said letting
another harsh laugh out, which in turn woke up Mrs. Black’s portrait. The Aurors went
outside and left the others in the hallway with a screaming portrait.
“Harry, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL JUST…hold on a minute…” Ron shouted over the
din of Mrs. Black’s screeching to no avail. He turned to face the portrait, grabbed its
curtains and yanked them shut bringing silence back once again. Turning once again to
face Harry he smiled, “Good to see you mate, now will you tell us what just happened?”
After getting the customary hug from both Mrs. Weasley and Hermione, and introducing
Joy and Emma to everyone he led them back to the kitchen and retold the story exactly.
When he finished he leaned back and watched everyone’s different expressions.
“And you’re sure it was them? I mean they weren’t just people who looked like them?”
Hermione asked.
“I’m positive, Wormtail has a silver hand. I’ll never forget it, I saw Voldemort give it to
him for bringing him back to life. And McNair was there too that night, you know, the
man who was going to kill Buckbeak,” Harry added, noticing the blank expressions.
“Um, I know I don’t really know anything about this whole war. But why is it bad if you
saw these Death Eaters in the fireplace?” Joy asked, feeling very out of place in this
group of wizards.
“It’s not just the fact that he saw them in the fireplace, but also that it was the last thing
he saw before arriving here. That means that the place had to be somewhat close to here,
and seeing as this place is supposed to be a secret that is not a good thing if they know
about it,” Hermione said.
“Let’s just hope that they can find them,” Ginny said.
“Ginny dear, how was your stay with Harry and Remus? Did you learn a lot, Albus said
that you two would be learning a lot more defensive spells. Did the Dursley’s treat you
well?” Molly said, snapping at once back into her motherly mode bustling around to
prepare Ginny, Harry, Emma, and Joy bowls of porridge for breakfast.
“Yeah, the Dursleys were quiet, we rarely saw them,” Ginny said uncertainly, curious
why her mom hadn’t asked about the Heartbond yet, “Did Dumbledore tell you what
happened to Harry and I?”
“Tell me what?” Molly asked, now eyeing her daughter suspiciously.
“Well, I’m not sure why he didn’t tell you but the reason I had to stay with Harry was
because-he-and-I-have-been-Heartbonded,” She spit out quickly, afraid of her mom’s
reaction.
At those words, Molly dropped the bowl of porridge she was handing to Harry in shock,
“YOUR’E WHAT!” She shouted, but it wasn’t only her, Hermione too had shouted in
amazement.
“Uh…Heartbonded,” Ginny said feebly, witling under her mother’s gaze.
“There’s no way that my daughter can be Heartbonded, I mean that’s a child’s story that
parents told their kids. I mean even if it was true the story said only Merlin and Godric
Gryffindor have been Heartbonded.” Molly thudded down into a nearby chair, rubbing
her temples. Joy jumped up and began cleaning the spilt porridge all over the counter top.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Weasley, I don’t know why Dumbledore didn’t tell you, but it is true.
That night that she disappeared was on my 16th birthday, apparently when I turned
sixteen we became bonded. It was so strong that it broke through the wards at both your
house and mine. The bond is very strong, and if what Dumbledore says is right then it
will make us both much stronger too.” Harry said, trying to head off Mrs. Weasley’s
temper before it got the chance to really manifest. He’d seen her be mad at both the twins
and Ron and it wasn’t a pretty even if you were on the sidelines.
“Oh Harry dear I’m not mad at you, well maybe a little bit at Albus, but I’m just more
confused than anything. I don’t know what to say, did he tell you what was going to
happen to you two?” Molly said, composing herself once again.
“Well, we’ve already started to be able to do smaller stuff like some wordless or wandless
incantations. I can sometimes feel where Harry, or another person is, even if I can’t see
them. Oh, and Harry can do some sort of wandless healing on himself,” Ginny said
shrugging, “It’s been an interesting few weeks.”
“There haven’t been that many changes…well we do have to sle-“ But Harry was cut
short by Ginny stepping on his foot and giving him the, ‘we’ll tell her later’ look, he then
tried to cover up his near slip up, “Umm…we do have to get used to the fact that Gin and
I are fated for each other. Not in a bad way, but knowing that your soul mates is a little bit
too much to digest right away.”
“At first when you told me I didn’t believe it at all, I thought your aunt and uncle were
feeding you something bad. But now looking at all the things you have done it seems to
make sense. You had a crush on him the moment you met him at the train station your
first year, even before you learned his name. Then you saved her life once when she was
a first year, and probably saved her again last year at the Ministry of Magic. You might
not have even known yourself, but before the Quidditch World Cup I could tell you were
starting to realize she wasn’t just Ron’s sister anymore.” Molly said smiling at the two
teens who were blushing and smiling awkwardly now.
The rest of the day went by with Harry, Ginny, Emma, and occasionally Joy, telling about
their summer and all of the things they had done. Molly and Hermione were most
interested by the trip to Harrods, but the twins were ecstatic when they heard about
Hamleys, the four level toy store, saying they were planning on going as soon as possible.
The room was not devoid of tension however, everyone would occasionally glance over
at the clock, counting down the time until they would call Dumbledore if the Order didn’t
return. At around three the fireplace roared up in flames and everyone jumped up
expecting Moody, or some other auror, but it was only Mr. Weasley stopping by for a
quick late lunch before heading out again. He was pleased to see Harry and Ginny back,
and had to sit down for a moment when Mrs. Weasley told him about them being
Heartbonded. He rebounded quickly however, and said he was happy for them and he’d
be interested to see what other things would happen over the next several months.
Molly decided to not tell her husband about the Order’s expedition right at that moment
because she felt he was stressed enough. Apparently with the open announcement of
Voldemort’s return a lot more, much nastier, muggle traps were being created. Causing
Mr. Weasley to have a lot more work, but because of Fudge’s loathing for anything
Dumbledore, even friends of his, it had been difficult for him to even get a temporary
replacement when his assistant Perkin’s got viciously mauled by a bad tempered pair of
fire tongs.
Arthur left a little later, and Molly decided to start cooking once again to take her mind
off of the Order. The rest of the group were sitting in the dusty couches in the library
talking about Hogwarts and other news around the wizarding world.
“Did you hear that Malfoy’s dad apparently got out of Azkaban? He was the only one too.
Somehow either he, or someone else, managed to stun over a dozen guards and break
through the warded gates,” Hermione asked Harry.
“That great git, stun 12 guards, I doubt it. I bet he had help from his cronies Crabbe and
Goyle Senior,” Ron guffawed.
“Or Tom,” Harry said solemnly.
“Who?” Ron asked.
“Tom,” Harry said more loudly, then noticing no one knew what he was talking about he
continued, “…Marvolo Riddle? Lord Voldemort.”
“Maybe, but do you really think he’d risk it just for Malfoy’s dad? I mean he’s nothing
special, is he?” Ron asked.
“He’s got money, and that seems to be the only thing ‘Tom’ can’t really kill to get. The
goblins have it all, almost 87 percent of all galleons, and he’s not exactly friendly with
them. He killed a whole colony somewhere in Scotland during the last war and they’ve
hated him ever since.” Hermione stated, “I read it…”
“in a book!” Ron, Harry, and Ginny all said in unison.
Ignoring the incredulous glare from Hermione Harry turned to Ron, “So has your dad
heard anything on the inside. I mean from the papers I’ve read it seems like Fudge is
having a hard time staying minister right now.”
“Yeah, my dad says he’s really mad now, after the whole Department of Mysteries thing.
Dad hasn’t seen him after that, says he’s mostly up in his office now, fuming. I think he
knows his time’s up and he’s now just trying to buy time to get out of it in a way that
makes him look good.” Ron said.
Another hour passed until they heard a loud knock on the door and muffled voices.
Everyone sprinted down the hallway to get the door and see who it was.
When Molly threw the heavy door open a figure dropped in through the door frame. It
was Emmeline Vance, and she seemed to be completely covered in blood, so much so that
it was impossible to see the actual cuts.
“They sent me, they’re coming. Got them…some injured. Cutting hexes…something
else. Call doctor,” Emmeline panted, she was suffering from massive blood loss.
Molly could mend bruises and cuts but not something this drastic so she ran off to go floo
Madam Pomfrey for help.
“Harry, try what you did this morning. She doesn’t look too good, and maybe it will help
her,” Ginny said.
“Good idea, here Ron help me flip her over so I can get a good look at where her cuts
are.” Harry and Ron gently turned her on her back. Hermione tried a cleaning charm to
remove some of the blood but it didn’t do much.
Harry got on his knees and began to look for where the hexes had hit. He saw a large
gash around her left calf and upon closer inspection saw the huge cut on her leg. “Looks
like they got an artery, she’s loosing a lot of blood. I’m going to try and stop the bleeding.
Here Hermione do that cleaning charm over here one more time.”
She did it twice more, clearing it a bit so Harry could see the beginning and end of the
gash. He placed his thumb on the smaller part of it, closed his eyes, and just began
rubbing the area in circles.
He heard a gasp from Hermione, and Ron said some variation of a curse word, so he
opened his eyes. The spot where he’d been rubbing had become completely clear of
blood and was healed. He quickly went to work on the rest of the cut, slowly working his
way across it, stopping the blood flow. He reached the very end and rubbed the edge of
the cut until that too disappeared.
He smiled and stood up, but swayed a little bit and had to grab a hold of Ron to stop from
collapsing.
“Whoa, that was weird, that healing must have taken a lot of magic because I’m a little
dizzy. Here let me just sit for a second I’ll be alright. Take her to the kitchen and let
Madam Pomfrey look at her, I think I hear her.”
As Harry was sitting down several more figures appeared in the doorway. They stepped
into the house. On the left side was Moody, on the other was Kingsley Shaklebolt, and
sandwiched and bound up in-between the two men was Wormtail.
“This little bastard tried to choke me with his silver hand on the way back here, almost
took my head off in the process,” Moody growled, indicating the large cut on the side of
his face. “Get moving rat!” Moody shouted pushing Wormtail further inside.
Harry looked at Wormtail with the utmost disgust then noticed he was cradling his right
hand, “Mad-Eye, what happened to his hand?”
“Oh well I told you, he tried to choke me with it. So I removed it,” He said, with a slight
grin on his face, he then pulled the arm out of his cloak pocket and waved it in front of
Wormtail’s face teasingly.
“Kingsley, where are the others?” Molly asked, bustling out of the kitchen, looking
slightly flustered from all the commotion. Joy was back with Emmeline and Madam
Pomfrey trying to patch everything up.
“They’re on their way Molly, no need to worry. Got a couple more of the scum with ‘em.
A few managed to escape but we got four of the six, not too bad. How’s Emmeline, she
was our only real injury, couple of us got scrapes or burns but that’s about it.” Kingsley
said.
Moody pushed Wormtail once again, causing him to fall over, “Get up you rat, and go in
there, we’re going to have ourselves a little chat about espionage.” Moody said in his
most frightening voice, both his eyes focused intently on the cowering spy.
Chapter 20: Bedtime Troubles
Moments later the rest of the Order, including Lupin and Tonks, came in; dragging with
them three struggling death eaters, one of them being McNair.
“These buggers tried to ambush us when we hit one of their detector spells. Got
Emmeline mostly, but one of the hexes clipped Remus. We put a befuddlement charm on
them so they can’t remember where they are or how they got here. Where’s Moody?”
Tonks asked, keeping her wand aimed directly at McNair’s neck.
“He went into the living room with Wormtail. Said he was going to teach him a lesson
about traitors,” Ginny said, grimacing as she imagined what it would be like to be one of
Moody’s enemies.
The Aurors dragged the other three death eaters into the room and closed the door,
leaving the rest to ponder what was going on inside that room.
“Well, it’s already late, why don’t we have dinner. Joy and I have just finished up, there’s
no point in waiting on an empty stomach.” Molly offered helpfully, ushering the hungry
group once again into the kitchen, only this time there wasn’t the anxiety there had been
when they had first arrived.
The rest of the evening passed quickly, everyone chatting or laughing over numerous
stories of the twin’s exploits at Hogwarts. Joy and Emma were having a great time among
their new friends; Joy had never met such kindhearted, happy people in her life. Although
there was a war going on, which she’d gotten a taste of just hours before, this large family
had a levity which was infectious. She couldn’t help but laugh at the two red headed
twin’s antics.
Emma was immediately taken by her new friends, she was amazed that they were all
witches and wizards and was excited that she’d be going to school with them in barely a
week. She was also excited to go shopping at Diagon Alley, Harry said it was like no
place she’d ever seen and promised to buy her an owl so that she could write her mom
anytime she wanted to.
Well after 11 o’clock that night Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley came out of the living room
with tired expressions on their faces.
“Well, we questioned them all, asked them all sorts of questions. Didn’t get much just
some hints on what could be some plots to attack the Hogwarts Express. So we tied ‘em
all together and portkeyed them to the ministry holding cells. They’ll be held there ‘til the
Wizengamot can try them. Could’ve just accidentally let my wand slip and that would
have saved the court a couple of weeks and a lot of gold.” Moody said shrugging. His
comment would usually seem offensive or cruel, but not a single person in the room
spoke up this time.
“What about where Voldemort is, did they tell you that?” Hermione asked hopefully.
Tonks shook her head as she helped herself to some of the leftover dinner, “Nope, not a
bloody sentence. Didn’t really expect to though, Voldemort is smarter than that. He has to
have it under the fidelius charm; it wouldn’t make sense for him not to.”
“At least we caught them, that means there’s four less minions of his running around
killing people,” Harry said, looking over worriedly at Lupin who hadn’t said a thing since
coming back in. Harry feared that his run in with Peter Pettigrew might have upset him.
“Hey Moony could I ask you something? Over here I think I might have found some
more of Sirius’ things.” Harry beckoned him outside the kitchen into the hallway.
“What did you find?” Lupin asked, trying to sound like normal but failing miserably.
“Moony, are you okay? You’ve looked upset ever since you came back from interrogating
Wormtail,” Harry asked.
“I’m okay really. It’s just he said some things about your parents, and Sirius that made me
upset. He said he couldn’t have cared less for Lily, James, and Sirius,” Lupin’s voice
faltered, he was trying to hold back his grief, “he said he would have killed them if he
had been given the chance.” Lupin looked up sadly at Harry, who also wore an
expression of sorrow. “Why did we let him be the secret keeper? Even if Sirius couldn’t. I
could have done it, what about Dumbledore? He could’ve…I gave your parents to
Voldemort myself by letting the rat be their secret keeper.”
“Moony, come on…Remus!” Harry said, finally getting his new godfather’s attention,
“you’re doing the same thing I’ve been doing. You couldn’t have done anything different.
No one knew that Peter was going to betray them. It’s not your fault so stop blaming
yourself.” Harry said with care in his voice, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Lupin looked up at the boy and smiled, “Looks like you’re the adult now. Wasn’t I telling
you just that a little while ago?”
“I learned from the best, you showed me that it wasn’t really my fault. I just told you the
same thing.” He said chuckling at the change in roles.
“I know you’ve heard this a million times, but you really are like your parents. You have
the comradely of James, and the boundless heart of Lily. I’m sure they’d be very proud of
you.” Lupin said, wiping his eyes off and smiling sadly at Harry. “Now come on, I need
to get something to eat. I’m starving!”
A little later Molly decided that it was time for everyone to go off to bed, and started to
shoo them out of the kitchen.
Harry and Ginny lagged behind, chatting quietly under their breath.
“What are we going to do? This Heartbond is too strong to sleep in separate beds, and we
haven’t told your mum yet either? She’d skin me alive if she saw you sharing a bed with
me. I can’t even imagine what Ron would do!” Harry said worriedly.
“Or the twins,” Ginny asked teasingly.
Harry’s face went into shock about forgetting the twins, “Gin’ you’re not helping.” He
said rubbing his eyes.
“Harry I’m teasing you,” she said, “just go sleep in your room with Ron. I’ll go to my
room with Hermione and Emma. When you do transport me there make a big commotion
and say that it’s never happened before, that the Bond must be getting stronger. Then my
mum will have to be cool with it. Now come on, it’s late and I’d like to spend at least
some of this night asleep.” Ginny said grabbing Harry’s hand and leading him upstairs.
It was the same as the nights before his birthday, the dream of him and Ginny on a green
hill having a picnic. Then as he leaned forward to kiss her he woke up to find Ginny once
again laying on top of him smiling. Harry pretend yelped in surprise causing Ron, who
was precariously balanced on the edge of his bed to fall off of it.
“Whatdahappenen?” Ron said thickly rubbing his head, then looking up at Harry’s bed he
noticed Ginny. “Ginny! What are you doing here? What are you doing with my sister?”
Ron said much more menacingly than normal for him, his fists were actually balled up.
“Ronald, calm down, he hasn’t done anything. One second I was asleep in my bed,
dreaming, the next I was on top of Harry. Dumbledore did say the bond would get
stronger and stronger as time passed, maybe its so strong now that it makes us have to be
close.” Ginny offered placating to the still fuming Ron.
At that moment the twins and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran into the room, looking for the
cause of the trouble. When their eyes landed on Ginny laying on top of Harry in his bed
their faces turned grave.
“Harry, how could you…I thought you would…” Molly started up but Ron stopped her.
“No mum, he didn’t do anything. It was this Heartbond thing, somehow it managed to
transport Ginny from her bed to Harry’s. Ginny said that Dumbledore told them the bond
would get stronger, maybe this is just that. I mean look at them, she’s on top of his covers
right now.” Ron managed to get out before his mom could say anything more.
Molly took a moment to take in the situation then sighed, “I’m sorry dear. It’s just at first
glance it looked a little…compromising. If Dumbledore said that this was going to
happen then I guess we must take it for the truth. I just don’t know if I want my daughter
sleeping in bed with you. No offense but she is my child.” She said.
This time Mr. Weasley spoke up, “Molly, they are bonded, that means they are fated for
each other. No matter what they will end up sleeping in the same bed at sometime. Plus, I
trust Harry with my life, seeing as he has already saved it once. I know he wouldn’t do
anything to hurt Ginny. Why not let them share a bed, Ron will be in here too.” He said
trying to sort this out so that both sides would be happy.
Molly was once again taken aback by her husband’s intelligence, not that she didn’t know
he had it, but every once in a while he would say something that seemed fit to come out
of Dumbledore’s mouth. She thought it over for several moments then nodded her head,
“Fine, you can share a bed, but remember both of you this is just so you two can get a
decent night’s sleep. We’ll talk about this more over breakfast when were not all tired.”
Mrs. Weasley said as she headed out the door yawning.
The twins lagged behind grinning, “Harry just because you survived Voldemort doesn’t
mean that you can escape us. You’ve been warned.” They then walked out the door
murmuring in hushed tones about what Harry was sure to be some sort of elaborate plan
to prank him.
Chapter 21: Pranks and Grades (Revised)
The next morning Harry awoke to Ginny trying to crawl out of bed without waking him.
“Where are you going Gin’?”
“I’ve been trying not to wake you up, you looked tired. Plus it is almost noon,” She said
pointing at the alarm clock.
“Wow, I must have been tired. I did feel a little weird after healing Emmeline, must’ve
taken more work than I thought,” He shrugged and made to crawl out of bed too, only
stopping short half way through. His feet wouldn’t move from the footboard of the bed,
he tugged and tugged, even tried Finite Incantatem but nothing would get his feet lose.
Meanwhile Ginny was trying to stifle her laughter at his predicament.
“Gin’, this isn’t funny!” He said exasperatedly, “did you do this?”
She shook her head holding back her laughs, “No, the twins did, came in a little later last
night. Said it was your initiation into the family, also they thought not being able to get
down to breakfast, oh excuse me, lunch, on time would be funny.”
“Well would you get one of them up here and make them undo it before I have enough
time to think up a really good revenge!” He said pointing at his unmovable feet.
“Okay, but first try something wandless, you know, what Lupin taught us. It doesn’t even
just have to be a spell, just think hard enough about what you want to happen and they
may just un-stick.”
“K’, just give me a second,” Harry said closing his eyes. It took several minutes of
silence and frustrated grunts but finally his right foot slid off of the footboard. “Whoa! I
can’t believe I just did that, I could feel the magic build up and then it just slid off.”
“That’s great, try the other one now,” Ginny said encouragingly.
This time he only had to close his eyes for several second before his left foot dropped to
the bed.
“Wow, this is great. I can get out of Fred and George’s traps now. I can’t wait to tell
Moony what I can do now? Do you reckon this is from the Bond?” He asked.
“Probably,” Ginny said helping Harry up, then looked him up and down, “now that has to
be from the Bond, look!” She said standing next to him, “yesterday I was at your nose,
now I’m at your neck! You’ve grown four inches in one night!”
Harry hurried over to the mirror and examined himself, taking note that he really had
gotten taller, he then looked over at Ginny and smiled. “Gin’ I think you’ve grown too,
look at your pajama pants. We just got those and they are already up to your ankles.”
“You’re right; I must’ve grown a couple inches too! Wow I can’t wait until I’m taller than
Ron,” Ginny said admiring her new height.
“All this growing has made me hungry, let’s go down and try and get some lunch before
your brother eats it all,” Harry said grabbing her hand and pulling her down the stairs.
All the other kids were already in the kitchen sitting down for lunch when Ginny and
Harry came in. The group was discussing the events of last night and asking how
Emmeline Vance was feeling. Emma saw the two first, waved, and said, “Morning!”
“Morning Em’ how’d you sleep? Hey where are all the Order Members, usually they at
least have a guard?” Harry asked as he sat down and began to grab some food.
“Tonks said they would be back before dinner, she told us they were going to try and
round up a couple more Death Eaters that were spotted in Diagon Alley. And mum and
Joy went grocery shopping for dinner.” Ron said while at the same time chewing a
sandwich.
“Miss Weasley said that we’re going diagonally tomorrow!” Emma said enthusiastically.
“Huh,” Harry asked, “Oh, Diagon Alley, right. We do need to go there I need to get some
new stuff for my classes, and we can visit Fred and George’s shop! Hold on, I don’t know
what classes I’m taking yet, I completely forgot about O.W.L.s, have you lot gotten
your’s yet?” Harry asked Ron and Hermione.
“Nope, not yet,” Ron said shaking his head, Hermione just looked mournful. Harry had
forgotten how important these were to Hermione, and could only imagine how stressed
she was now.
“Dumbledore said they should show up pretty soon, things got a little bollixed with the
tests this year. Apparently Umbridge tried to flunk most of her students so they had to go
back through and reexamine each test. He said they finally got them fixed though so I
expect they’ll be coming soon,” Ron offered, patting Hermione on the shoulder
compassionately.
“I know Ronald, it’s just I worked so hard on them and I thought they were coming last
month, not a week before school starts!” She said crossly, poking at her lunch moodily.
“Why do you want owls for tests?” Emma asked confusedly.
Harry laughed, just realizing how weird that must sound to someone who didn’t know
anything about the wizarding world. “O.W.L.s are test that everyone in their fifth year at
Hogwarts has to take. They tell us what we are going to be able to take the next year and
what we could be when we graduate.”
“What do you want to be?” Emma asked.
Harry shrugged, “I don’t really know. I told Professor McGonagall, the head of
Gryffindor, that I’d like to try and become an Auror. You know, one of the people that
you met last night. I think I would be good at it.”
“Cool, like a policeman!” Emma said brightly, then turned to Hermione. “How bout you
Hermione? What are you going to be when you grow up?”
Hermione paused, and actually had to think it over for a moment. The question had
caught her somewhat off guard. She had always thought she knew what she wanted to do
when she got out of Hogwarts, but now faced with the question she couldn’t quite seem
to figure it out. “I’m not sure, I really enjoy charms and arithmancy, and it would be
really fun to make new spells for the ministry or someone else. Or maybe a healer, a
wizard doctor.” Hermione said distantly, her mind still sorting through the eleven-year-
old’s probing question.
“Me too, I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, I want to be able to save people’s lives. What
about you Ronald?” Emma asked.
“Dunno’ it’d be cool to be an Auror, but I would really like to try out for a Quidditch
spot, I want to be Keeper for the Chudley Cannons!” Ron said proudly, supporting his
team despite their dismal record.
“I’ve never seen a Quidditch game before, Harry’s told me loads about it though. I want
to try out this year, I’ve never played though.”
“You better watch out ‘Ronald’ maybe Em will take your spot on the team. By the way,
when did you start calling Ron, Ronald, Hermione?” Harry teased.
Ron looked over at Hermione and both blushed as they turned away. Hermione regained
her composure and with a curt voice said, “I can call Ron whatever I like, and I like
Ronald.”
Harry just smiled at his two awkward, blushing friends, sharing a knowing glance with
Ginny. Maybe getting these two together won’t be as hard as we thought, they like each
other they just don’t notice the other one does.
At the end of lunch Harry asked Ron about Percy .
“Nope, haven’t seen him since last year, the filthy prat hasn’t talked to any of us.
Apparently he’s living in a flat somewhere near the Ministry so he can come to Fudge’s
aide at a moment’s notice. Doesn’t even acknowledge dad, I think Fred and George
pranked him a couple weeks ago because they had a large package and were arguing
whether or not Percy’s mail would be searched. Mum’s still a little upset but she seems to
have gotten used to it. I don’t really miss him though, rarely saw him anyways.” Ron
shrugged.
“And none of you have tried to talk...” Harry stopped short when something out the
window caught his eye, he grinned. “‘Mione, I think you might wan to open a window
up, looks like your wish may be coming true.” He said pointing outside.
Hermione squealed and ran to the window throwing it wide so that the three owls that
were now very close could land. When they touched down, Hermione untied all three as
fast as she could then ran over to the table, looking for hers. In her excitement she tossed
Ron and Harry’s on the counter almost throwing them into the sink. She peeled the letter
apart and began to scour the letter, her face running a gamut of expressions as she looked
her scores over.
Harry and Ron did the same thing only at a more leisurely pace. Harry unfolded his piece
of parchment and read the letter enclosed with the grades.
Dear Mr. Potter,
Enclosed you will find the scores for your Ordinary Wizarding Level tests conducted this
May. We apologize for the delay in the scores, we encountered several technical
difficulties.
Harry next picked up the next page which had the actual grades for his classes.
History of Magic: Troll
Defense Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding
Charms: Outstanding
Care of Magical Creatures: Exceeds Expectations
Divination: Dreadful
Herbology: Exceeds Expectations
Transfiguration: Exceeds Expectations
Potions: Exceeds Expectations
Harry James Potter has received 6 (six) passing O.W.L.s including one of especially
high merit in the field of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Harry’s eyes widened in shock, he had never thought he was going to do as well has he
had, he’d only failed two classes, and they were both ones he didn’t care for much. How
the bloody hell did I get a grade of ‘high merit’ in Defense Against the Dark Arts?
Umbridge hated me, she was torturing me. And what does a mark of ‘high merit’ even
mean? Harry thought to himself.
“How’d you do Harry?” Ginny asked craning over his shoulder for a look at his letter.
“Er, great, I think. I got six O.W.L.s.” Harry said shrugging, looking over at Hermione
whose head had suddenly snapped up.
“Wow, you did great. You got an Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts, no
surprise, but in Charms too? I didn’t know you were that good?” Ginny commented as
she read his grades.
“Dunno, I just had a good day, I didn’t really mess up in that test which is good. What’d
you get Ron? ‘Mione?” Harry asked looking over at his two friends.
“You go first Ronald, I want to hear what you got,” Hermione said still examiner her
own.
“I got six O.W.L.s too, outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts too, looks like we
won’t be taking potions though, I got a Exceeds Expectations, Snape only take
Outstanding. Not a loss really, couldn’t stand the class anyway,” Ron said lightly.
Harry’s heart sank momentarily as he realized he too wouldn’t be taking potions and that
his short lived dream to become an Auror had died. He was most upset about letting
down Professor McGonagall after her heated argument with Umbridge about getting him
to become an Auror if it ‘was the last thing she did.’ He smiled slightly at the memory of
that meeting then came back to the present. “So Hermione, what did you get? Did you get
8 O.W.L.s that were all Outstanding?”
Hermione looked a little sheepish, “Well, you were right about one part. I did get all
Outstanding, but…oh just look,” she gave up thrusting the letter into Ron’s hands.
He, Ginny, and Harry looked at it in astonishment. “But Hermione, how? I mean there
has to be a typo or something. How?” Ron asked completely taken aback.
“I didn’t want to tell you guys, I thought you might make fun of me, I mean I’m sort of
already labeled as Miss-Know-It-All aren’t I?” Hermione said nervously.
“Hermione, why would we care? It wouldn’t have made a difference at all, I’m just
amazed you pulled it off,” Harry said caringly.
Hermione just smiled up at her three friends, got up and grabbed them all in a group hug.
On the table next to them lay Hermione’s O.W.L. scores.
History of Magic: Outstanding
Defense Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding
Charms: Outstanding
Care of Magical Creatures: Outstanding
Divination: Outstanding
Herbology: Outstanding
Transfiguration: Outstanding
Potions: Outstanding
Arithmancy: Outstanding
Muggle Relations: Outstanding
Hermione Jane Granger has received 8 (eight) passing O.W.L.s all of which are
Outstanding, thereby placing her in the top 30 test scores of the past century.
“I can’t believe you tested in eight different subjects, when did you find the time to
study? Harry and I were breaking down with just six!” Ron asked in amazement, “You
don’t have another time turner do you?” He said nervously eyeing her.
Hermione laughed, “No, I think we’ve played enough with time already, besides we
destroyed most of them in the Department of Mysteries. It wasn’t too difficult, I just
asked the headmaster if I could take the Arithmancy and Muggle Relations tests along
with my other ones. He was supportive and even lent me a few of his books to read. I
didn’t really have to study much for Muggle Relations, and I was already reading a lot of
books on Arithmancy anyways.” She shrugged, “It really isn’t that big of a deal, it’s only
two more tests.”
“Yeah it is a big deal, you got Outstanding on all of them! It says you had one of the best
test scores in…” Harry looked at the, “…a century! If that isn’t a big deal I don’t know
what is.”
“Congratulations Hermione, I bet mum will through you a huge party,” Ginny said
hugging her again.
Chapter 22: Requests
Ginny was right, when Mrs. Weasley and Joy came home Ron immediately told them
about the O.W.L.s. Molly was overjoyed that Ron had gotten six O.W.L.s, stating that it
was twice that of which Fred or George got, and when he told her about Hermione and
Harry’s scores she grabbed them in a hug too.
“I think that this calls for a celebration, I’m so proud of all three of you. We do have
enough food; would you want to help Joy?” Molly asked, already pulling pots and pans
out of their respective cupboards. She and Joy had become close friends just over the two
days they’d been together, discussing everything from cooking techniques to raising kids.
The two mothers hopped into action, immediately starting to chop, dice, and boil things.
Hermione, Emma, and Ginny pitched in too, stirring different things and setting the table.
There was an Order meeting that night too so they were planning on having a very large
group of people. Along with the roast beefs, and numerous pies the mothers were making,
the three girls, along with Tonks worked on making a cake big enough for everyone.
Mrs. Weasley declared that on top of the party being for getting such good O.W.L. scores
it was also a belated birthday party for Harry and Emma. Harry had never had a true
birthday party and was excited for it. Emma was ecstatic when she heard that Fred and
George were going to set off some of their new indoor fireworks they’d been working on.
“The only problem is that we’ve made them work so well it takes forever to get them to
stop,” Fred explained as he heaved a crate onto a table.
“We expanded on the idea we used against Umbridge, taking out some of the more boring
ones and adding a little more excitement.” George said wickedly, setting the other crate
on the table. Each one was labeled with bright red and yellow lettering; DANGER!
HIGHLY FLAMMABLE DO NOT EXPOSE TO WATER, FIRE, ACID…JUST
DON’T GET NEAR THEM! DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T WARN YOU.
“Good labeling guys, that really instills some confidence in your customers,” Hermione
said as she kneaded dough for rolls.
“It does,” Fred said enthusiastically. Hermione gave him a doubtful look.
“No really, think about it this way,” George said.
“If we told you that there was something really cool in a box and then said under no
circumstances can you look at it,” Fred said.
“95 out of 100 people would look at it,” George added.
“So that’s all we’re doing” they both said at the same time.
“I didn’t think they had the makings of businessmen either Hermione dear, but they seem
to have proved me wrong. They have a certain knack for making the things they create
irresistible. Just you wait until you see their shop tomorrow,” Molly said, with a slight
hint of pride in her voice. She was upset that her sons had left their education early but
was very pleased with what they had done so far. Their shop was certainly the most
popular in Diagon Alley, attracting all ages to see their pranks and inventions. The sudden
reemergence of Voldemort had sent many people looking for a way to let out their
anxiety, and a trip to Weasley Wizarding Wheezes seemed to be the common way to get
rid of it.
It was nearing supper so everyone who wasn’t cooking or helping was shooed out of the
kitchen; this was mostly because of Ron who kept sneaking tastes of everything that
came out of the oven.
Slowly 12 Grimmauld Place began to fill with people, and accompanying that was the
screeches and curses of Mrs. Black’s portrait. Harry and Ron would keep running up to it
and wrenching them shut once again, only it seemed that over the past year she had
become a little more persistent and would just spring open once again. On their fifth time
that night Harry shouted to Ron over the din, “There’s got to be something we can do to
make her shut-up! We can’t keep doing this my arms are getting sore from yanking…”
but he could tell Ron wasn’t hearing a word he was saying, “SHUT THE BLOODY
HELL UP!” Harry shouted at the portrait as loud as he could, even louder than the
portrait itself.
Surprisingly it did just that, Mrs. Black didn’t stop shouting it was just that there wasn’t
any sound anymore. The hallway was completely silent.
“Well that was easy,” Harry said shaking his head to try and get rid of the ringing noise in
his ears.
“Why do you think we can’t hear her? She hasn’t stopped shouting that’s for sure. We’ve
tried silencio loads of times on her and no one could get her to shut up. Moody almost
went crazy trying to get her off the wall last week,” Ron said a little louder than
necessary but he couldn’t tell because of the buzzing in his ears.
Harry shrugged, “Dunno, all I can say is that I’m glad she shut up. I know ‘Mione said
she didn’t mind her, but I saw her flinch every time she started to shout again.”
“Yeah me too, glad we got her to be quite,” Ron said.
“HARRY! RON! Dinner time, hurry up!” Joy’s voice echoed through the hallway.
“Come on mate, dinner, can’t miss that! Last one there has to eat the vomit flavored
Bertie Bott’s!” Ron said as he started to spring down the hallway, Harry was right behind
him.
The kitchen was packed with people and food it looked as if someone had done
something to the room to expand it somewhat so as to fit another table next to the first
one to make enough room for everyone.
All the Order members, including Dumbledore, and to both Ron and Harry’s pleasure
Charlie Weasley, was there, even, much to Harry’s distaste, Snape.
He was smashed right in-between Emma and Lupin, his discomfort was evident but no-
one seemed to take much notice. Emma was asking him dozens of questions completely
oblivious to his cold stare.
Once everyone was seated Molly stood up and cleared her throat for everyone’s attention,
“Well this massive feast is to congratulate the three students who all got amazing O.W.L.
scores, and it is also a belated birthday party for Harry who is now 16, and Emma, who
just got into Hogwarts, and is now 11. Now go on eat up, we have plenty of food for
everyone, and then before the meeting starts we have cake.
Dinner went on for well over two hours, everyone laughing and talking, shouting over to
the other side of the table for someone to pass such-and-such. Harry was sitting next to
Charlie Weasley and Dumbledore, both of whom were telling him about what was going
on under ground in the wizarding world currently. Not a single real piece of news had
been printed about Voldemort after the Department of Mysteries.
“And that isn’t because Fudge is trying to deny it, there just hasn’t really been anything
happing publicly.” Charlie said.
“Which is out of character for Tom, he gained power in the first war through terror, and
this is the opposite of what I thought he would be doing.” Dumbledore said thoughtfully
as he picked at the last morsels of a steak and kidney pie.
“Couldn’t he just be gathering people to him, I mean you did hear how Malfoy’s dad got
out of Azkaban. Maybe Tom just needs supporters and is biding his time.” Harry said.
“Perhaps, perhaps,” Dumbledore said looking over at Harry, “all will become clear in
time. Now would you like a piece of this excellent cake, it has a raspberry filling, my
personal favorite.” He said pointing over to the lavishly decorated cake which Harry and
Emma had just blown the candles out on.
“Sure, not a huge one though. Uh sir, I was hoping I might be able to ask you
something,” Harry said uncertainly, he’d been mulling it over in his mind for a while but
had just decided to actually ask the Headmaster.
“Of course Harry, what is it?” Dumbledore asked, although in his eyes it seemed as if he
already knew the answers.
“Well sir, I’m 16 now and I was hoping that I might be able to join the Order, you know, I
mean I need to know as much as possible if I’m ever going to be able to kill him,” Harry
said quietly, still mindful of the secrecy of the prophecy.
Dumbledore’s features seemed to soften, almost in sadness, but also in caring, “Harry, I
am afraid I am still not going to be able to allow you to join. But before you ask why, let
me explain.” He placed a placating hand on Harry’s shoulder, “What I told you in my
office last year was all true, everything. Including the bit where I felt as if it were my
duty to protect you, I know that Lupin is now your guardian but I still feel compelled to
watch after you too. This is not to slight you in any way, but it is for the good of everyone
in the Order that you do not attend.”
Harry bristled slightly, mentally trying to remember the 10 uses for dragons blood so as
to calm himself; he didn’t want to ruin this party because of some argument. He closed
his eyes momentarily then opened them again, a new glow to them that wasn’t there
before, “Why can’t I attend?”
Dumbledore smiled, “You are learning to control your anger, that will help build the
power that’s growing inside you, I can see it in your eyes. But, I am digressing, do you
remember last Christmas break when you could see Mr. Weasley get attacked?”
Harry’s heart sunk, he knew where this was going, and knew it was pointless to argue
because it actually made sense.
“That connection with Tom’s subconscious, along with what I would call a fiasco of
Occlumency lessons, makes me believe it would be a rash decision to allow you to see or
hear certain discussions. I am not afraid of you staying here, it’s one of the safest places
around, and I just do not want to jeopardize what we have accomplished so far. I hope
you understand and will forgive me when I say no.” Dumbledore finished finally, Harry
averting his eyes from the Headmaster. He always felt that he could see right into your
mind and figure out what you were thinking, and due to his occlumency lessons he
wouldn’t be surprised if that were possible.
“Yes, I understand, I just wish that I could know more, all last year I was kept in the dark
and that caused the whole Ministry problem. I will not ask again for right now as long as
you promise to tell me everything you can without endangering anyone. I don’t want
anymore people dying on my account.” Harry said.
“A very mature decision Harry, the Heartbond truly is an amazing thing, I will instruct
Remus to tell you everything that he deems allowable, but please do not go searching for
other information. I am working on a way to solve the trespasses into his consciousness,
but for the time being try and work on your occlumency.” Dumbledore said with a slight
smile.
“Thank you sir, I should leave now, looks like the meeting is about to start,” Harry said
standing up.
“Oh, of course, thank you for understanding, it is yet one more hardship I hope we will be
able to overcome in time. Now you should get going, if I’m not mistaken the Weasley
twins have brought some of their fireworks, and I just saw them sneak down the hallway
with the others. I wish I could see them, if you recall I wasn’t present for their first use
either.” Dumbledore said smiling.
“I forgot, it really was brilliant, but I don’t think you’ll have to worry about missing them
sir. If the twins did what they said they did, and I’m pretty sure they are capable of it,
then they’ll be around for quite some time.” Harry said, then headed out of the kitchen
after thanking Molly and Joy, who was becoming an Order member, for dinner.
Chapter 23: A Necklace and a Wand
The party went well past midnight and was only ended when one of the twins’ fireworks
found their way into the Order’s meeting and caught Snape’s robes on fire. Whether or
not it was accidental was questionable considering the fact that somehow the firework
would not go anywhere else save Snape’s cloak; it took the combined efforts of Moody
and Lupin to finally get rid of the persistent firework.
As Snape stalked out of the front door Mrs. Weasley called for everyone to go to bed
because they were going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get everyone’s school supplies.
Soon the house was once again eerily silent as everyone nodded off to sleep.
The next morning everyone was woken very early due to one of the leftover fireworks
finding its way to the floo powder jar, which, as it turns out makes a very loud bang when
it mixes with a Weasley Wizarding Wheezes firework. Some of the people tried to go
back to bed after the explosion but most people had been woken so jarringly that they
decided just to go downstairs and have a nice long breakfast.
As everyone trickled in downstairs Mrs. Weasley and Tonks reviewed the lists of what
everyone needed and went over who was going to be their escorts when they arrived.
“Well, I’ll be coming along, and so will Kingsley, there have been some rumors about
Death Eaters planning to attack some of the softer targets around Diagon Alley to scare
people,” Tonks said.
“Are you sure that’s enough, I mean with Harry and all…” Mrs. Weasley said nervously,
not finishing her sentence.
“Don’t worry two Aurors is enough, anymore would attract too much attention, besides
from what I’ve heard from Remus Harry can hold his own.” Kingsley said, nodding at
Harry. He’d immediately been taken by the boy’s perseverance, and the fact that he’d
overcome so many obstacles, including fame, and come out perfectly normal.
“Thanks Kingsley,” Harry said, proud that an Auror like Kingsley would think him
capable of defending himself.
“Well looks like we best be heading out, we have a lot of places to go, Emma needs to get
everything including a wand,” Molly said standing as she examined the grandfather
clock.
There was a bustle of commotion as everyone grabbed cloaks and wands and lined up in
front of the fire, waiting to get Kingsley’s ok from the Leakey Cauldron. As they were
lining up in the hallway waiting for Ron to find his wand Emma gasped.
“Harry! Why are you so tall? I used to be up to your elbow, now I’m almost at your hand!
Are you wearing different shoes?” Emma asked trying to get taller by standing on her
tiptoes.
“Oh yeah, guess we forgot to tell you guys, I’m surprised you didn’t notice sooner.
Somehow the Bond is making us grow really fast, I got really tall, and so did Gin’ look,”
Harry said pointing to Ginny who was next to Tonks. “She used to be shorter than Tonks,
now she’s the same size, maybe even taller.”
“Blimey Harry, you’re right, she is taller, and you too. This all happened in one night?”
Tonks said admiring their new height.
“Must’ve, I mean I know I wasn’t this tall the day before, I had to duck today coming
down the stairs so I wouldn’t hit my head,” Harry said.
“There certainly are a lot of changes going on, I’m still not sure I approve of you sharing
beds, but it seems that Dumbledore was right as usual, and that these changes will help
you two,” Molly said.
Ron too was impressed by Ginny and Harry’s growth spurt, Harry was now the same
height as Ron.
“Come on everyone, we just got the ok, you first Molly,” Tonks said handing her the pot
of floo powder.
Once everyone had gone through the fireplace they reassembled in the back room at the
entrance into Diagon Alley. They decided first it would be best to go to Gringotts. Mrs.
Weasley, Harry, and Hermione all had to withdraw money for their supplies, and Emma
and Joy needed to open a new account for themselves
As they walked down the cobble stone streets Emma ran, dragging her mother with her,
to every store’s window marveling at the many unusual items. She was most taken by the
Nimbus 2001 that was floating in the store window. She’d seen Harry’s broom every
once and a while but seeing a whole store full of them enthralled her. Her expression was
the same as they entered Gringotts’ large marble halls, Ginny had told her that it was run
by goblins but she never really comprehended what she said until now. There were
dozens of them in the giant room, carrying large diamonds and rubies, or sitting on stools
scribbling in tomes.
Lupin got Joy started on the paperwork then went with Harry and the others down to the
vaults to get some money.
They first stopped at the Weasley’s small vault, this time Harry was happy to see that it
wasn’t looking as empty as it had been last time; apparently he was getting paid quite a
lot of overtime lately.
Next up was Harry’s vault and as they approached the entrance Harry suddenly realized
he hadn’t mentioned the new significant increase in wealth to anyone, only Ginny and
Lupin had seen it. He mentally kicked himself as he handed the key to the goblin, just
imagining Mrs. Weasley and Ron’s looks when they saw the next room. The door swung
open to reveal the three large gold doors with the family crests on them. Harry’s
assumptions were right, both Molly and Ron gaped in disbelief, but they weren’t the only
ones, Kingsley and Hermione were both staring at Harry in astonishment; the only people
who didn’t have similar expressions were Ginny and Lupin who’d been with him on the
first trip down.
“Sorry about that, I sort of forgot to warn you guys,” Harry said halfway smiling at the
now stunned expressions of his friends, “I won’t be long, come on, I need help looking
through the other vaults. I’ve only been in one.”
Harry walked up to the one which held the black family heirlooms and pressed his palm
against the cold metal door a moment later it swung open effortlessly revealing the Black
heirlooms.
The whole room was filled with antiques; from piles of large, dusty books, most of which
appeared to be about dark magic, to boxes filled to the brim with gold, platinum, and
silver necklaces, rings, and earrings. The vault glimmered in the ethereal light of the lone
torch illuminating it.
The group just stared wide eyed at the enormous collection of priceless antiques for a
while, until Harry spotted something and walked into the vault.
He had to climb up several precarious piles of books, including one which tried to eat his
foot, but he managed to reach the small, thin, polished box he had spotted. It was covered
in a fine dust but the inlay in it was still clear, that was what caught his eye in the first
place. In large flowing, gold, inlaid script was the name Sirius Ignatius Orion Black.
Harry’s breath hitched as he opened the lid, the inside was covered in blood red velvet. At
first Harry didn’t see anything in the box, and then he noticed a thin gold chain which
seemed to be the thickness of a human hair. He picked it up carefully then noticed it was
attached to something. When he completely pulled the necklace out of the box he saw a
deep blood-red stone almost the exact same color of the velvet in the box.
The torch’s light flickered off of the stone showing it’s completely smooth surface, as it
spun around in circles he saw a small flaw. He squinted under the dim lighting and
learned it wasn’t a flaw but a small but beautiful stone which when in the light it sparkled
like a prism, throwing a rainbow of colors in every direction. Harry studied the stone
from every direction, completely taken by the simple beauty it contained.
“Hey Harry! You okay mate? Did you find something,” Ron shouted from across the
vault.
“I’m fine, I just found something of Sirius’ I’m coming back, we can look in the vaults
some other time, we need to go shopping,” Harry said. He was about to put the necklace
back in the small box but something stopped him. He instead unclasped the miniscule
coupling and secured it around his own neck, the stone laying near his heart. Once he put
it on it seemed to radiate with an inner heat that Harry found comforting in some way, he
couldn’t place it exactly, but just wearing something that belonged to his deceased
godfather comforted him, he would always have something to remind himself of him
with.
Harry stood up and navigated his way back down the piles of books and joined the rest of
the group who were still just on the outer edge of the vault just admiring some of the
objects near them, Hermione was almost drooling over the piles of books that were
everywhere.
Ginny noticed Harry’s unusually calm demeanor, “Are you okay Harry?”
“Yeah I’m great Gin’ I found something of Sirius’ and it just made me happy, there
wasn’t much of his stuff around Grimmauld Place so I was glad to find something that
belonged to him,” Harry said, not telling them exactly what it was he’d found, for some
reason he didn’t want to show them the stone; it was between him and Sirius; thankfully
no-one asked to see what he had found.
“Okay, let’s close this vault and I’ll just grab some galleons for my new equipment,”
Harry said closing the Black vault and opening the gold vault. He once again forgot to tell
the group what was in the vault so there were several gasps when it swung wide open.
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that again, should have warned you,” Harry said shrugging;
feeling somewhat awkward around the Weasley’s flabbergasted expressions at the
mountains of gold in front of them.
“Harry, how the bloody hell did you get all this,” Ron blurted out, he flinched expecting a
condemnation from his mom, but it never came, Molly was still just staring at the pile of
gold.
“I honestly didn’t know I had it until a couple of weeks ago, turns out that what I used to
have was just a trust fund for me, this is also the Black fortune. also,” Harry said trying to
get the money he needed as quickly as possible so as to not flaunt his new found wealth.
He filled his small leather pouch with galleons and quickly closed the door. Once it
sealed shut with a hiss it was if a spell was broken. Everyone stopped staring and began
to head towards the cart.
“I had no idea you had that much money, you’ve got to be richer than the Malfoys now!”
Ron said hopefully.
“Lupin says that I’m right behind them for now, but the way they’re dumping money in
Voldemort’s projects I bet they’ll be broke soon.” Harry said.
“Harry dear, I hope you have someone who knows what to do about all this, you need
someone to take care of your finances,” Molly said taking her usual motherly outlook on
the situation.
“I’ve already found one; Moony’s going to take care of it. I think it’s a good idea that I
have someone I can trust to look after it,” Harry said as they stepped out of the cart once
again above ground.
They met up with Emma and Joy who had just finished creating their own vault and
converted some pounds into galleons for shopping.
They headed outside once again squinting in the sunlight. Diagon Alley was still
noticeably empty, and the few people they did see were mostly ministry officials rushing
back and forth form The Leaky Cauldron on business.
The group decided to split up half of them going to Flourish and Blotts to pick up the
supplies there, and the other half going to the Apothecary to pick up the required
materials then would go to Ollivander’s to get Emma a wand.
Harry and Ron decided to go with Kingsley and Emma to get potions supply then the
wand, the others headed off to get the necessary spell books.
The potions supplies were simple enough, Emma, Ginny, and Hermione, were the only
ones who needed them because Ron and Harry were both unable to take Snape’s
N.E.W.T. level class.
After they arranged for the potions kits to be picked up later in the day they walked past
Florean Fortescue’s, to Ollivander’s to get Emma her very first wand. She was jumping
up and down as she dragged both Ron and Harry behind her into the shop.
It was exactly as Harry remembered it last time, the hundreds of dusty boxes lined up
against the wall, the dust motes swirling in the air like golden dust, and the small bell on
the front counter. He walked up to it and tapped it.
“Coming!” Mr. Ollivander shouted from the back room, a moment later he was bustling
into the front room, and when he saw Harry’s face broke out into a wide smile. “Mr.
Potter, how nice to see you again, I hope you’re wand is treating you well? Eleven inch
holly, Phoenix tail feather if I’m not mistaken? And Auror Shaklebolt, 12 inch hornbeam
with a thestral tail hair, correct?”
Both Harry and Shaklebolt nodded, astounded by the old wizard’s flawless memory.
“And who are your friends?”
“Oh sorry, these are my friends Ronald Weasley and Emmaline Massey. We need to get
Emma a wand for her first year at Hogwarts.” Harry explained.
“Oh-ho very good, very good indeed, well Miss Massey would you please come over
here, why don’t we start with this one?” Ollivander said handing her a wand, “Just point
it over there and give it a wave.”
She waved it as she was told and the back door flew open. She looked over at Harry
frightened.
“Don’t worry Em, you should have seen what I did to his store,” Harry said bracingly.
Ollivander gave her another wand, and she waved it once again, this time splitting the
chair near them neatly in half.
“And that, is why we point the wand away from everyone,” Ollivander said once again
bustling off to get another wand. He came back with two more, “Well, third time’s the
charm, and if it isn’t I have another that might work.”
She took the first one and waved it again, curiously it did nothing apparent, not even
made a sound.
“I thought that would happen, very well try this one,” Ollivander said trading her wands
out. She waved the last one and suddenly there was a burst of light. When it had
dissipated the chair was nicely repaired and the back door was closed once again.
Ollivander clapped his hands together merrily, “Excellent, I thought that would do the
trick. Nine inches, wood from a very old and particularly stubborn alder tree, and a
Phoenix tail feather. Perfect fit for you. As I say, the wand chooses the wizard.”
Emma held her new wand with reverence, she couldn’t believe that just a few months ago
wizards and magic were still just fairytales, and now she had her very own wand.
“Will that be all? Or does your other friend need a wand too?” Ollivander asked
courteously.
“No, that’s it. Thank you for helping us,” Harry said as he pulled out the several galleons
the wand cost.
“Oh no Mr. Potter, you don’t need to pay me, if she is a friend of yours she is a friend of
mine, consider it a thank you for what you did in the Ministry this summer.”
“Well thank you very much, if there’s anything we can do just ask,” Harry said taken
aback by the man’s graciousness.
“I do not believe in debts just generosity, and friendship, that is all I ask,” Ollivander said
shaking Harry’s hand as he held the door open for them. “Oh, Mr. Potter, if you find you
have some free time in the near future I would like to talk to you about something I’ve
been working on with Dumbledore, it’s to help fix that little problem you discovered.” He
said cryptically.
“Oh yeah, sure, I’ll try and come over as soon as I get the chance,” Harry said picking up
on the subtle hint Ollivander had dropped about Priori Incantatem. He was curious to just
what solution he’d been able to come up with. “Have a good day Mr. Ollivander!” Harry
shouted over his shoulder as they walked away from the store to their next destination,
Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.
Chapter 24: An Empty Alley
The ancient streets which wove through Diagon Alley were unnervingly empty, only
containing a few passing wizards, and the occasional Auror. As Emma, Ron, and Harry
walked, Kingsley would wave to the Aurors and sometimes have a rushed and whispered
conversation. From what Harry and Ron could pick up it had something to do with recent
rumors of a planned Death Eater attack, either aimed at the Hogwarts Express or Diagon
Alley. When Harry questioned Kingsley however he dodged the questions, only saying,
“We have more than enough guards here, and Albus is ensuring the safe passage of all of
his students to Hogwarts.”
In just a few minutes they arrived at what had to be Fred and George’s store, it was
gaudily painted bright gold and purple with the occasional pink or red polka-dot thrown
in; and the windows were filled from top to bottom with hundreds of different items, each
one’s labeling promising more hysteria than the one next to it.
“Looks like we found the right place, and the others are already inside, come on!” Ron
said rushing inside.
Inside was as brightly painted as the outside, everywhere there were splotches of different
colors of paint, and boxes filled to the brim with vividly wrapped items. The seemed to
be the one store that any of them had been in that actually had customers currently, there
were about a dozen kids, many of them Harry recognized from Hogwarts.
“Oy! You better not be planning on stealing that,” said a voice from behind the group.
Everyone turned around to see a smiling Fred and George who were both wearing lime
green dress robes and were currently manning the cash registers helping other customers.
“Good to see you lot,” said George.
“We thought you might’ve forgotten about us,” said Fred.
“Feel free to take a look around, we need to help these young ladies then we’ll be right
there,” said George as he started to tally up one of their customer’s selection.
“And Ronald, we don’t give a family discount, so don’t go taking anything without
paying,” Fred said half seriously.
Harry walked down one aisle labeled Dangerous Devices, which was covered from floor
to ceiling in ominously shaking boxes or crates. Some of the items were labeled, like
Tongue Tying Tweezers, Instant Hair Remover, or Never Ending Book of Questions; many
of them however were simply not labeled at all, leaving Harry and the rest of the group to
tentatively pick them up and try to look inside.
Emma had picked up a small box covered in blue mesh, on the inside there appeared to
be a small metal ball. She carefully cracked the lid trying to get a better look at the
mysterious silver ball.
“No,no,no I wouldn’t be touching that!” Hermione said as she pulled the box away from
Emma, examining the little ball cautiously. Ron gave her a dirty look and muttered
something about her being overprotective.
“No little brother, in this case she’d be right,” George said taking the little box from
Hermione.
“It’s a bludgeoning BB, very nasty,” said Fred.
“You should have seen the R&D for that; we were both covered in hundreds of tiny
bruises after it escaped from its box once,” said George grimacing”
“Absolute nightmare, almost broke out of our test room, would’ve shredded Diagon Alley
to bits,” said Fred grinning as if it would have been an adventure.
Hermione looked scandalized, “Then why, pray tell, did you geniuses make it!”
“Dumbledore, sweet Hermione,” Fred said waving the little box in front of her.
“Has been kind enough to give us some financing when it comes to R&D, he is very
interested in some of our pranks’ uses in the war,” said George proudly.
“We’ve been working on dozens of new pranks, slash weapons, that we’re hoping to use
in the war, this one however didn’t work out too well in development so we only made
one,” Fred said shrugging.
“You mean Dumbledore is just giving you two money to play around with your toys?”
Ron asked incredulously.
“Not at all, while we do play hard we also work much harder, right now were working
with Mr. Ollivander on something that could possibly help change the course of the war.
Of course we couldn’t tell you, Dumbledore’s the only one who knows right now. We
have just started testing so we hope it’ll be out soon though,” Fred said conspiratorially.
The twins continued on their discussion for quite some time, as they did they led the
group down the different aisles, pointing out their best sellers. It was a surprisingly large
room, and there was even more in the back for production. Harry was happy to see his
winnings being put to such great use.
They spent nearly an hour in the store, playing with most nearly everything they had to
offer. And by the time Molly and Joy said that it was time to start getting ready to leave,
each of the children had several different side effects from the wheezes. Ranging from
Harry’s polka dotted skin, to Emma’s constantly changing eye colour, which included
every colour in the rainbow.
So finally Fred and George loaded Harry, their benefactor, with as many different pranks
as possible. Just saying, “Just tell people where you got them, you don’t need to pay,
you’re already our business partner.”
“Oh, that should wear off in another hour or so, if George here mixed it right,” Fred said.
“Oy, that last batch wasn’t my fault; the man shouldn’t have put the whole thing in his
mouth, and they at least finally erased them by the end of the week,” George said in
defense. Harry gulped a bit nervously, hoping that he wouldn’t still have polka dots for
skin when he got on the train tomorrow.
The whole group stepped outside once again into the desolate streets, waving goodbye to
the twins as they went, the colour seemingly melting away as they walked further and
further away. The life had gone completely out of Diagon Alley, Harry no longer felt
happy here, he’d had some of his best memories, yet now there was just desolation. A
harsh wind whipped the streets, blowing the occasional ministry issued Death Eater
Safety manual through the streets.
When they finally came to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry just shook his head
in sorrow, disappointed that Voldemort’s mere existence had somehow sapped this place
of life.
The Leaky Cauldron was empty as was now usual as the group went up tot the fire and
began to go through the fire, quietly whispering, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, in
case someone was listening in. One never could be too careful nowadays.
For the rest of the evening the whole house was a bustle with people trying to locate their
belongings which had been strewn all over the house. Molly was busy doing the wash,
and Joy was cooking a quick dinner for everyone. After dinner they chatted for only a
while until Molly decided that it would be a good idea to head to bed early because this
time the Ministry cars were picking them up earlier than usual because of the purported
security risks of arriving unannounced and without enough security. All the Order
members present were busy working on a plan to secure the train platform, there had now
been numerous rumors about a impending attack tomorrow on the train.
So, just like every year before, Harry fell asleep with a mixed sense of excitement and
nervousness over returning to Hogwarts this year. Only this time there was another
feeling, something that had come to the surface that day at Diagon Alley, something he
hadn’t been able to place until just as he fell asleep, it was the sense of an uneasy calm,
just like the one that came before a thunderstorm, one that came before a war.
Chapter 25: Attack on Grimmauld Place
BANG! A huge shockwave shook the very foundations of 12 Grimmauld Place, waking
everyone and everything in the house.
BANG! A second shockwave hit, tipping over bookshelves and unsettling everything in
the house. Pictures cried out in anger from their tilted frames, and various other items
began to move about freed from their holding places.
Harry and Ginny jolted out of bed a second after the first bang, Harry jumped so high he
hit his head on the backboard and clear off his bed landing hard on the wood floor. Ginny
sat straight up knocking over the lamp and the clock on the small bedside table.
BANG! A third loud explosion rocked the ancient house.
“Harry! Are you okay? What’s going on?” Ginny shouted over the, now considerable, din
of everything falling and moving at once.
Harry squeezed his eyes shut trying to get rid of the dizziness from his fall, “Yeah, I’m
fine. I have no bloody idea what’s going on though. Sound like we’re being attacked! I
reckon we should head downstairs and see what’s going on. Come on!” Harry stood up,
grabbed Ginny’s hand and his wand, and together they tore down the flights of stairs to
see what all the commotion was.
On the ground level it was utter chaos, there were people running back and forth some in
their pajamas others in auror uniforms. There was smoke and dust everywhere and Harry
was shocked when he saw a pool of blood on the floor near the kitchen.
Molly caught sight of the two teens and ran over to them. “Quick you two, get into the
kitchen now!” She said in an unusually panicked voice.
“What’s going on?” Ginny shouted over the noise.
“We’re being attacked; somehow the death eaters managed to find where we are and are
now attacking us. Of course Albus’ wards are holding up but better safe than sorry. The
Order is cleaning things up as we speak!” Molly said, trying to give a smile but failed and
just sort of grimaced weakly.
“Oy who has the herd of Hippogriffs running around the house?” Ron said rubbing sleep
from his eyes still not aware of the battle going on outside.
“It’s not Hippogriffs Ronald, its death eaters! They’re outside right now attacking us.”
Hermione said as she comforted a somewhat shell-shocked Emma. “The Order seems to
have managed to at least stop the bombardment that was going on.”
“Why aren’t we doing anything, we should be out there helping?” Ron said as he held up
his wand and made for the hallway. Right at that same moment the front door burst open
and Moody came limping in cradling what was left of his left arm.
Ron immediately blanched at the sight of the blood covered Mad Eye and went back into
the kitchen. Ginny saw the injured Auror and rushed towards him hoping her small
experience in medicine might help.
“Fucking rats! One of them distracted me while another snuck up from behind and sent a
severing charm my way. I saw it just in time or else I would have to have had two coffins.
I think I have some of my arm but most ‘f it’s gone.” Moody cursed through clenched
teeth, still not taking his hand off the stump that was his left arm.
Ginny saw how much blood he was loosing and knew she wouldn’t be able to do much
but remembered what Harry had done with himself and Emmeline Vance when she was
injured. “Harry! Come over here and help me take care of Moody!” Harry ran over to the
couch that Moody was now laying on, still cursing heavily under his breath. “Harry, do
you think you can do that healing thing you did for Emmeline. Just so we can stop the
bleeding? He said he’s lost his arm so we can’t do much about that.” Ginny said as she
tore a towel into pieces to dab at the wound with.
“Okay, Moody, this is probably going to hurt some,” Harry said as he slowly moved Mad
Eye’s other arm away from the stump. The one upside to the cutting curse he had suffered
was that it was quick and clean. There was nothing left just a perfectly smooth cross-cut
of his upper arm.
Harry gulped and began to slowly massage the severed limb, urging his power to heal the
wound just like he’d done the other times.
Moody roared in pain as his wound slowly stopped bleeding and was cauterized by the
immense magic that Harry was pouring into his wounds. The blood began to disappear
and skin grew back, slowly covering the stump, Moody just stared in disbelief at what
Harry was able to do. Other Aurors running by too slowed down and stared at the
teenager with his eyes closed slowly massaging a wound closed.
It only took a few minutes to close the gap until there wasn’t any sign of blood on what
was left of Mad Eye’s arm. Harry sighed and leaned back heavily on the couch never
looking over at Moody, just keeping his eyes closed out of exhaustion.
“Harry, are you alright? I can sort of feel that you’re tired, does it feel like you did when
you helped Emmeline?” Ginny asked brushing back his unruly hair and mopping his
sweaty forehead.
All Harry could do was mumble, he was exhausted. Healing someone seemed to
completely suck the life out of him; he could feel himself grow colder as he poured more
magic into the person, as if he were giving part of his own life to save theirs.
Moody stood up, his shirt was soaked in blood and he looked worse for wear, especially
with the missing arm, but he seemed to be alive enough to grab his wand again and run
out the front door to help mop up.
Apparently while Harry and Ginny were helping Moody the Order got a leg up on the
Death Eaters and managed to stun about half a dozen of them. The others got as far as to
try and disapperate, when Dumbledore’s wards came online and knocked them
unconscious too. The Order was now just tying the Death Eaters up and readying a
portkey to send them directly to the ministry for holding.
“Oy! Ginny, is Harry alright. He looks a might peaky, like he’s just got attacked by a
dementor,” Tonks asked as she came in through the doorway. “Moody told me about what
he did for him, I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen his arm. I’ve never heard of anyone
being able to do any sort of healing wandlessly.”
“Harry’s just tired, doing that healing is draining. I’ve been wanting to become a healer
and in all the books I’ve read I haven’t heard of anybody doing this, ever. “Ginny said
proudly as she ran her fingers through his hair.
Tonks just smiled at the couple.
“Hey Tonks, what are we going to do about getting to Hogwarts. We don’t have enough
time to get to the train…”Ginny asked.
“We will be flooing there, it is much too dangerous to send you all on the train anyways,
the Death Eaters are not only stopping at attacking just us today. I believe it was just a
diversion to hopefully delay the Order from protecting the Hogwarts Express.”
Dumbledore said, stepping gracefully through the doorframe, his wand still out from the
fighting. “Is Mr. Potter alright Miss. Weasley?” He asked upon noticing Harry lying
asleep on the couch.
“He’s just tired, he helped heal Moody’s arm,” Ginny said once again, “is anyone else
hurt?”
“That is the third time he’s done wandless healing. It would appear that the Heartbond is
certainly causing both your powers to grow. And no, there were no others injured,
certainly a few close calls, but everyone is quite okay,” Dumbledore said softly, still
watching the sleeping Harry. Hermione, Emma, Ron, and the twins came into the hallway
having been in the kitchen during the whole skirmish helping calm Molly and Joy down.
“When will we be going to Hogwarts headmaster, we won’t be able to make the train, it
left an hour ago?” Hermione asked, hoping that maybe bringing a little normalcy to the
chaotic setting would help calm Emma.
Dumbledore smiled, as if he knew what she was thinking, “We will be flooing there
shortly Miss Granger. Just as soon as I have ensured that headquarters is secure, and that
Mr. Potter and Alastor are okay. Now you best go collect your trunks and try to grab
something to eat, I’ll be back shortly.”
About thirty minutes after Dumbledore left the group to go ward the house, Harry stirred
in his spot in the living room. He had a horrible headache and his eyesight was blurred.
Squinting he saw his glasses sitting on the table next to him. He groped for them and put
them on and the world came flowing back into clarity. All around him were his friends
talking quietly and munching on sandwiches Molly had made.
“Had a nice rest mate?” Ron said noticing Harry stir, “I saw what you did for Moody,
pretty wicked. I wonder if you’ll be able to re-grow arms soon.”
“Mmmhm…does anyone have some water. I feel like I was sleeping in the desert.” Harry
croaked out looking around for a glass.
“I’ll get you some, hold on!” Emma said running down the hall to get a glass of water
from the kitchen. Hermione and Ginny grinned at the little girl’s devotion to Harry.
“Getting jealous Gin’?” Harry teased seeing the girls’ expressions.
“You’re lucky you got me Potter with your looks, I mean what girl would want a guy
with hair he can’t even keep straight with magic or eyes that sparkle?” Ginny countered
immediately.
“Touché,” Harry said grinning. Emma came running into the room again with a glass of
water. Really it was half a glass of water, she’d spilled most of it running back to the
room. “Thanks Em, you’re a lifesaver.” He said ruffling the little girl’s hair and drank the
whole glass quickly.
A few moments later Dumbledore entered the room, “Ah excellent, we’re all here. And it
looks like one of you has already started a fire. I would have been here a few moments
earlier but I encountered what appeared to be a small lake in the hallway and had to stop
myself from sliding into a shelf when I walked in it.” He smiled widely, seeing Emma
blush under his stare. “Well then we best get this underway, we don’t want to be late for
the feast do we?” He said clapping his hands together. “Ah, Molly and Arthur, would you
like to join us for opening dinner tonight?”
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, and Joy, had all come into the room to say goodbye. “Oh
no Headmaster, we have a lot to do. There still are Death Eaters on the loose from this
attack, and I must get back to the ministry, another batch of exploding light bulbs has
gotten out.” Arthur said graciously.
“I understand perfectly, very well, who’s first?” Dumbledore asked moving towards the
fireplace and removing the silver urn with the floo powder from the mantel.
Ron stepped up and pulled his trunk and Pigwidgeon’s cage with him, he hugged his
parents’ goodbye promising to write, grabbed a handful of powder and stepped into the
fire, shouting “Hogwarts!” He disappeared in the customary burst of green flame.
Next up were Hermione and Emma, who were going as a pair. Emma hugged her mom
goodbye, gave her a kiss on the cheek, then grabbed Hermione’s hand and repeated Ron’s
steps, both of them disappearing after shouting “Hogwarts!”
Then Ginny and Harry stepped up, both hugging both Weasley parents, Lupin, and Joy.
They then stepped forward taking their shrunken trunks and Hedwig with them, both
grabbed a handful of powder and stepped into the fire. They counted to three then at once
shouted “Hogwarts!”
Harry was spun around and his glasses knocked off his face, but he managed to stay
upright as he held onto Ginny’s hand tightly. An instant later they were both thrust out of
the fireplace, along with their trunks, into a room Harry immediately recognized; it was
Dumbledore’s office.
He took in the familiar surroundings, taking note that all the items he’d previously
destroyed earlier that year had been repaired. He noticed Emma was stuck in one place
trying to take everything in at once, her face a picture of pure happiness. He saw Fawkes
and smiled, the bird crooned in what he thought sounded like a greeting.
Ginny could almost physically feel Harry’s spirits rising as he walked around the room.
She smiled not having seen his true smile in a very long time.
“Well guys,” Harry said as he turned towards the group, grinning, “We’re back.”
Chapter 26: the Hat’s New Song
The fireplace roared to life once again and out stepped Dumbledore smiling. “Good,
good, no one was sent to the wrong place. You can leave your trunks here we’ll make
sure they get to their respective rooms. We should be heading to the Great Hall the other
students should be arriving soon; Miss Massey here must be sorted.” He escorted them
down the spiral staircase and through a hidden door Harry had never seen before which
seemed to not follow the basic laws of physics. Somehow by just walking several yards
the whole group appeared at another door which opened up to reveal the Great Hall.
Emma gasped, having never seen such a room, her eyes swung from the bewitched
candles to the gleaming plates, and then fell upon the enchanted ceiling and just stared at
the evening sky inside the room. “Wow,” was all she managed to say.
“You should see it during a thunderstorm,” Ron said, “complete with lightning and
thunder.”
“You five may want to head down to the entrance so it would appear you were on the
train but simply no one saw you. It would be in all our best interests if you didn’t disclose
that you were at Headquarters or even away from the train. There are people, I am afraid,
inside the school, who would be very eager to get that information. I’ll see you shortly at
the feast.” The headmaster tipped his head and began to walk away, suddenly he spun
around again, “Oh, I almost forgot, Mr. Potter and Miss. Weasley, would you two kindly
meet with Professor McGonagall after the feast?” The two teens nodded, unsure to what
they were agreeing, and watched the headmaster walk back through the Great Hall and
back through the door.
It was only a matter of minutes before they heard the dull roar of several hundred
students proceeding their way up the front steps from the thestral drawn carriages. The
doors flew open and in an instant the entrance was filled with other students, non of
which, seemed to notice that there was already a small group of students waiting inside
the room.
Harry grabbed Ginny’s hand and proceeded to enter the hall with the other students,
waving goodbye to Emma who now was waiting with the other first years to be sorted,
“Good luck!” He shouted over the rising din.
Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny all sat down in their usual spots at the Gryffindor table.
Harry spotted Hagrid sitting down at the front table and waved happily at him. Hagrid
mouthed something which seemed to be ‘visit me soon.” He also saw Snape who was
sitting in his seat, grim as ever, staring at the mass of students he so greatly despised.
Ron nudged Harry and pointed over at the Slytherin table, where Malfoy sat with Crabbe
and Goyle as usual. Only now Malfoy seemed to have a slightly nervous look on his face,
as if at any moment something would jump up and grab him. He also seemed to be a bit
more jumpy; when Pansy sat next to him he almost fell off his seat. Harry was brought
back to his table when Neville, Seamus, and Katie Bell all sat down around the group.
“Where were you lot on the train, we looked all over for you! We thought Malfoy
might’ve gotten you,” Neville said.
Harry looked around for an explanation; thankfully Hermione was quick as ever. “We
were having a meeting with an Auror, about Harry’s protection this year. Like when we
go to Hogsmeade.”
“Like that’s ever going to happen again,” Dean said glumly.
“Now that You-Know-How’s out and about again, I bet we won’t even be able to go visit
Hagrid,” Neville added.
“Well I guess we’re going to figure out soon,” Ron said motioning to Dumbledore who
was standing up. “Welcome back everyone, we will get to the feast soon enough, but first
we must sort our new students!” And with that McGonagall came in with the small stool
and the tattered old Sorting Hat. The hall’s doors swung open again and with a little
persuasion the nervous group of first years lined up in front of the stool.
Everyone in the Great Hall went silent, ready to listen to the hat’s new song. The long
tear at its base opened up and it began:
Merlin’s champions,
His companions.
Stand and unite,
Prepare to fight.
The war is near,
But do not fear.
My creator’s heir
Will rise this year.
From my decision
Four of five have risen,
Tonight the fifth will come,
Binding the four to ONE.
The voice faded, and unlike previous years, the murmurs and discussion about the song
were absent. Instead, the entire room was dead silent, still staring at the hat, not quite sure
about what to make of the Sorting Hat’s newest verses.
With a kind cough from the Headmaster McGonagall thoughts refocused and she
unfurled her scroll of new students.
Archer, Lincoln was sorted into Hufflepuff; followed shortly by Brickman, Sarah being
sent to Ravenclaw.
In-between the bursts of applause when Gryffindor got a new student, Harry and the
others were busy talking in hushed voices about the song.
“I don’t know, it doesn’t remind me of any of the others, the old ones just said come
together or watch out. This one seemed more like it was telling us that it was doing
something,” Ron said.
“Well at least you listened this time, it was telling us something. And it didn’t even seem
like a song to me, more like a prophecy.” Hermione added.
“Who was the Sorting Hat’s creator?” Ginny asked Hermione.
“Don’t remember the song two years ago?” Hermione asked, but not receiving any nods
simply continued, “it said that Gryffindor had made it. So whoever will rise this year is
going to be Gryffindor’s heir. We’ll talk about this later, Emma’s up now.” She said as
McGonagall read off “Massey, Emmaline.”
She sat down on the stool, looking just as nervous as everyone else, staring blankly out
over the sea of waiting faces. Then McGonagall placed the Hat on top of her head, it was
too large for her head so it sunk down over her eyebrows. The hat’s mouth was moving as
if it were talking, but Harry strained to hear anything. Apparently whatever it was saying
was meant only for Emma’s ears. The hat seemed to take an inordinately long time on
choosing where to sort her some students were drifting off into conversation or were
playing with the silverware. Finally it did come to a decision and shouted out
“GRIFFYNDOR!” in a louder voice than usual, surprising some of the students who’d
dozed off.
The Gryffindor table burst into applause at their new addition, and Emma hopped smartly
off the stool and sat down at the front of the table grinning as she met the other first
years. Emma looked down the table and waved to Harry and the rest of the group.
Harry gave Emma a thumbs up then looked up at Dumbledore to see if he approved. The
headmaster was clapping politely and did nod his head, but nothing outward. The only
thing that somewhat unsettled Harry was the smile on his face, something about it
seemed to make it look like the headmaster was hiding something.
Chapter 27: Room and Board
After the rest of the first years were sorted Dumbledore stood up once again to make his
start of term announcements, the hall went quiet very quickly, most everyone was
starving and ready for the feast.
“Well now that we have the sorting out of the way let me intrude upon your feast for only
a moment more. As usual the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden, Professor
Umbridge’s little incident should be deterrence enough.
Mr. Filch has informed me that he has forgone the usual list of illicit objects and has
simply decided to ban anything with the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes logo on it.” At
saying this Dumbledore smirked slightly.
“Now onto some scheduling changes. Due to Voldemort’s return, yes the Daily Prophet
and the Minister were incorrect; we have decided to supplement your learning with
several classes the school feels would benefit everyone. First, this year we will not be
offering Care of Magical Creatures.” At this many people, mostly Gryffindor, stood up in
protest. Dumbledore raised a hand to silence them. “Now, now, it does not reflect on
Professor Hagrid’s teaching abilities at all, in-fact one reason we are doing it because he
now has to care for the dragon we have patrolling the school. Which, on a side note, is
not to be approached under any circumstances. To replace Care of Magical Creatures we
are now offering a mandatory class for all years, it is called Offensive Light Magic; this
will be taught in conjunction with Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
Harry examined the front table but couldn’t find any teacher who would be filling the
thankfully now abandoned position. Maybe Dumbledore couldn’t find anyone?
Dumbledore continued to speak, “This class will be taught by trained Aurors, who can’t
be here at this moment due to certain circumstances, and you will learn not only how to
protect yourself but how to fight back if that is necessary. As for a teacher for Defense
Against the Dark Arts, I am afraid the rather high risks involved in the class has scared
most potential teachers away, so for the moment I will be teaching the class along with
the occasional aide of a former professor.” At that the whole hall burst into applause, no
one imagined that Dumbledore himself would teach Defense.
Harry and the rest of the group were standing up applauding. “Well I doubt you could
find a more experienced teacher for the job!” Ron shouted across the table to Harry who
nodded vigorously.
“I think that is all, so let the feast begin!” Dumbledore said clapping his hands, making
the mountains of food appear from nowhere. The whole Hall was soon filled with the
noises of cutlery and laughter as old friends caught up and the first years began to talk
amongst each other.
As usual the dinner was amazing, the house elves seemingly trying to outdo themselves
every year with more extravagant desserts and cakes. Even Hermione thought these were
pieces of art and refrained from her usual tirade about enslavement.
“So, Neville, what’d you do over summer?” Harry asked.
“Oh it was brilliant, I worked with Luna on a special project Professor Sprout gave us, we
had so much fun; deriving the hybrids, splicing the root systems, even matriculating the
flowers. It was amazing!” Neville said with evident enthusiasm. Harry just nodded, not
quite sure what ‘matriculating the flowers’ meant, but was glad to see that he’d found a
friend to share his enthusiasm with.
“What about you? Did you do anything fun?” He asked Harry, pointing a drumstick at
him.
“Well I don’t know if you’d call it fun, but I did practice defensive magic with Lupin and
Ginny loads,” Harry said not wanting to tell him anything more in fear of being
overheard. He gave him an ‘I’ll tell you later’ look and Neville nodded in understanding.
“Hey Harry! Is the D.A. going to be around again this year? I know loads of people who
want to join now that they don’t think your loony,” Seamus shouted.
“Hopefully, except this time I think it would be a good idea to get the Headmaster’s
permission this time. People need to learn how to defend themselves though, I think the
new class their offering will be good also. I wonder which Aurors are going to be
teaching it?” Harry asked.
“’Dunno, Moody maybe, he’s a little worse for the wear now, maybe teaching wouldn’t
be too bad for him now,” said Ron.
“Don’t you remember what happened to him last time he signed up to be a teacher Ron?”
Hermione said, “I was worried about Hagrid at first, but I bet he couldn’t be happier, he
has his own dragon to take care of again. Except this time it’s legal!”
As the desserts and empty plates disappeared and the noise began to rise in volume
Dumbledore stood up once again.
“Well then I hope we are all well fed, I see some of you nodding off already. You should
all head to your houses, your prefects will supply you with the passwords. And please
remember, do not give them out to any strangers, and especially do not leave them
written on scraps of paper. As the Navy says, loose lips sink ships!” Dumbledore said
merrily, only a few muggle raised students understanding his last line. “Well goodnight,
off to bed!” He said clapping his hands.
Harry and Ginny made to follow Ron, Hermione, and Emma to the Gryffindor house but
Harry then caught sight of McGonagall waving them over. He’d forgotten that
Dumbledore had wanted for them to meet with her after dinner. “Hey guys, we’ll catch
you later, we need to talk to McGonagall about something. Night guys, congratulations
Emma!” Harry said as he and Ginny’s headed to their head of house. Not a few heads
turned at the sight of the two holding hands do affectionately.
“Mr. Potter, Miss. Weasley, the Headmaster wanted me to arrange for you rather peculiar
sleeping arrangements. We decided that it would sat a bad precedent if you two were to
share a bed in either of the dorms, therefore we have decided to give you two the extra
Head Student room attached to the Gryffindor commons. Follow me please,”
McGonagall said as she walked up another set of stairs. Harry and Ginny shared grins
and headed up behind her.
After taking a rather confusing and most likely forgettable maze of stairs and
passageways McGonagall stopped in front of a painting containing a huge tree in the
middle complete with squirrels, foxes, and birds.
“Natura Vera,” McGonagall spoke clearly towards the painting, and it swung open just
like the Fat Lady at the entrance of the Gryffindor tower. She stood aside and motioned
for the two to enter.
Inside the rather large room was a seemingly exact replica of the Gryffindor common
room, complete with fireplace and chess set. The only difference being that there were
two other doors in the room.
“This is where you are to stay this year. I must stress however this is not a privilege and
should not be flaunted; it is a necessity due to the Heartbond. You may have you friends
inside but no one else, it is not going to be a hide out, just a bedroom. If I learn of any
misconduct,” at that she coughed and Harry and Ginny both blushed, “You will loose this
room and will be forced to sleep on the couch in the commons if need be. I most likely
need not tell you that you should not go about speaking of your bond, especially around, I
am afraid to say, the Slytherins. Do you both understand?” She asked, both simply
nodded. It was pretty difficult not to understand what it was she wanted to prevent.
“Good, now then let me show you the rest of your arrangements. This door, to the left of
the fireplace is the entrance to the bathroom. This door is the bedroom,” she opened the
door and led them inside. It was a huge king-sized bed covered in red and gold sheets and
piled with enough pillows to make it look like a small mountain. There was a small desk,
a fireplace, and closets for them to hang their clothes. On the side of the room lay their
two trunks along with Hedwig and her cage.
“Wow, this is great!” Harry said, taken aback by lavishness of the room. He had
completely forgotten about how they were going to handle the whole sleeping problem
and was surprised that Dumbledore had gone through all this trouble.
“We did do a little remodeling, the old room was bare stone and somehow the bed had
been tuned into a large swimming pool,” McGonagall said, “this doesn’t give either of
you an excuse for coming to class late because you slept in. I do expect it to help give
you an edge on Quidditch this year though,” McGonagall smiled, she had always had a
small soft spot for her victorious house team.
“Thank you for doing this, to tell you the truth I’d completely forgotten about the
problem, I’m glad that the Headmaster remembered,” Ginny said stifling a yawn.
“Well just remember not to abuse it. Now it is late and I need to assure that all the other
students are situated properly, so if you’ll excuse me.” McGonagall said, then headed out
the entrance leaving Harry and Ginny alone.
“Should we try and find the others to tell them where we are?” Ginny asked.”
“No, McGonagall’ll tell them don’t worry. Plus you look tired, let’s just go to bed,” Harry
said as he stripped off his robes to his boxers. He no longer bothered putting on pajamas
because he figured he was going to be spending the rest of his life with her so one or two
years difference wasn’t going to make much difference in the long run. Ginny nodded,
and did the same thing staying in only her under garments, and crawled into bed.
Harry pulled the window blinds shut and crawled into bed next to Ginny. “Good night
Ginny,” he said kissing her on the cheek then turning out the lamp.
“Night Potter,” she said softly, cuddling up next to him.
Chapter 28: The Department of Mysteries and the DAII
The first week of school passed by uneventfully in Harry’s standards. He had already
been to at least one of all his classes and was pleased to see he thought he might be able
to keep up, even in Snape’s class. Harry’s first N.E.W.T. level potions class went by
somewhat bearably, Snape either had been told to back off by Dumbledore, or he was too
upset to even speak to Harry; either way he didn’t mind.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was now without a doubt his, and almost everyone else,
favorite class to date. The N.E.W.T. level class consisted mainly of all old DA members
and several Slytherins, all the other students who hadn’t decided to continue with
Defense Against the Dark Arts were deeply disappointed with Dumbledore’s
announcement. Dumbledore taught with a gusto which belied his age, and seemed much
more animated when he taught. It also appeared that Dumbledore didn’t believe that
heavily in homework, his only assignment so far was to practice the new defensive spells
with a friend.
Harry’s other new favorite class was Offensive Light magic which was being taught by
none other than Kingsley Shaklebolt and a still recuperating Mad-Eye. None of the
students knew what to expect that first class and were therefore surprised when the
walked into the classroom which appeared to be a perfect replica of a place only Harry
and a few others knew of; the Department of Mysteries.
Once the last student came in the door slammed shut and they were thrown into darkness.
The DA members all lit their wands immediately and the others followed suit.
Harry’s heart was beating heavily and Ron and Hermione were also mirroring his stress.
All three of them still had nightmares of this place and what occurred there only a few
months ago.
As Harry took the lead with is friends his mind kept flashing back to the memories of his
friends and the Order members fighting each other and then Dumbledore and Voldemort’s
duel. When they reached the large spinning door the whole room illuminated at once. Out
of the door right in front of the group stepped Moody and Kingsley both looking
determinedly serious. No one spoke or even seemed to be breathing. The two Aurors
were formidable looking; Moody’s new arm was painted flat black and its texture
appeared to be that of a rock; it reminded Harry closely of Wormtail’s magical
appendage.
“This will be your classroom for the first half of the year, you will train, fight, and study
with this group. Does anyone know what this place is supposed to be?” Moody asked
both his eyes surveying the students. In the back Neville slowly put his hand up. “Mr.
Longbottom, I’m sure you know what this place is.”
“It’s the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic,” Neville said in a strong
voice which Harry had not yet heard from the timid boy.
“That’s right, ten points to Gryffindor. This is an almost exact replica of the Department
of Mysteries, minus some places that you don’t need to see. Can anyone tell me why we
are going to be training here?” Moody asked.
This time Hermione’s hand shot into the air, Kingsley nodded at her and she said, “So we
can all learn the best ways to use offensive magic in an actual setting, one which has
already been battle tested by people.”
“I couldn’t have put it better myself, take ten points Miss. Granger,” Kingsley said
smiling. “She is correct. As many of you know several of the students in this class were
involved in a full on battle with Voldemort’s Death Eaters.” All of the students either
focused on Harry, Ron and Hermione, or Neville. Kingsley continued, “The reason we
chose this location is because the students performed so admirably, and the setting was so
adverse to both sides. This will hopefully teach you all how to think on your feet and
show you which spells are beneficial in which areas of combat.”
“This is NOT Defense Against the Dark Arts, this is Offensive Light magic, Offensive. We
will be learning spells, jinxes, and hexes which if used correctly will help you win a fight
not just protect yourself,” Moody said with an empirical look on his face. “There will not
be any homework unless we assign you to find useful spells for the situations we are
working on. Your tests will simply be to see how well you fare in the simulations that we
hold. Kingsley and I will be magically controlling up to twenty mock fighters and
sometimes we may have guest Aurors come any train with you lot.”
Harry raised his hand now, Moody just smiled and nodded. “Uh, professor, you said that
we’d be training in this for the first half of the year, what about the other half?”
“Good catch Potter, well let’s just say we’ll be working in something with a little larger
scale. Hopefully it will prepare all of you for the upcoming war. Now if there aren’t any
more questions lets start the class.” Kingsley said smiling approvingly.
“We’re going to practice entering an insecure location such as this one where you do not
know if there are hostiles inside. We’re going to try it once without any hints and see how
you do first. Everyone line up, when the lights go out the first person can step through
this door and face us, once the light goes on again the next can come in.” Mad Eye
growled then he and Kingsley walked into the adjoining room.
The rest of the class was passed facing off against different groupings of Death Eaters, all
of which appeared to look strikingly like Lucius Malfoy much to Harry and the other’s
chagrin.
The whole week all the house tables were buzzing with discussion over both Dumbledore
and O.L.M. many students were up at the teacher’s table discussing possible course
changes with their heads of house so they too could have Dumbledore as a teacher. There
were also rumors circulating over who his assistant teacher would be; some even went so
far as to claim Harry was going to be.
While Harry was confident that he wouldn’t be suddenly asked to become an assistant
teacher his mind was still weighted down with the worries of both the D.A. and the
Quidditch Captainship which he’d been given just the day before by a very happy
McGonagall. The Quidditch Captainship was a small irritation at the moment, both Ron
and Katie Bell were constantly asking when tryouts were going to be and if he’d gotten
the pitch reserved; although that had lessened slightly after he announced next week
would be the tryouts for the empty positions.
The D.A. however was not as small a problem. Everyday people were going up to him
and asking whether or not they would be holding the club or not, and every time he just
told them he wasn’t sure and he’d tell them when he figured out. He finally had had
enough and decided to ask his friends that Saturday as they sat in the private bedroom
drinking butterbeer Dobby had nicked from the stores.
Hermione of course was first to respond. “ I think that we should start it up immediately,
we can never have enough training! Plus it’s a great thing for inter-house unity.”
Harry smiled, that’s the prefect in her, always thinking about the school. “Well I agree but
I still think it may be a good idea to keep it secret, even from Dumbledore. I have a
feeling that it may be useful to keep our actions quiet fro at least right now, first and
foremost to keep Malfoy and the others from telling on us to Voldemort. The last thing I
want is for more people to get killed because of me.”
“Harry, it isn’t your fault people have been getting killed by Voldemort,” Ginny said
comfortingly, squeezing his hand. Harry was still getting used to having someone who he
could tell everything to but he had been slowly letting loose small bits of his worries. It
was amazing how much good it did for him also, he could feel the pain dissolve away as
he told her about parts of his abusive childhood.
“Ginny’s right Harry, it isn’t. I agree with you on the secrecy thing though, I don’t trust
Malfoy an inch, I bet’ll just go tell his dad everything we’re doing.” Ron said
supportively as always.
“I’m glad you agree, I was hoping you might be able to work out a better system for us;
maybe groupings of some sort just so we can figure out who’s who and what each group
has study so far. Remember what Moody said about the Auror divisions and how they’re
divided into expertise maybe we could do something similar.” Harry said, he’d been
thinking the idea over for a while now and had finally gotten enough courage up to tell
them about it.
“I’ll start working on it right away. ’Mione will you help me look for books in the library
tomorrow; we don’t have that much homework so we can probably spend some time on
it.” Ron asked, there seemed to be a hidden question under it and both Ginny and Emma
noticed Hermione blush.
“Anything that would make you want to go to the library is ok in my books, lets do it
after lunch. Harry how do you plan on keeping it a secret still if half the school wants to
join?” Hermione asked her eyes kept flicking back to Ron who was smiling triumphantly.
“Well that’s why I want it in groups so each will meet once a week, and then the group
leaders will meet up to keep the groups connected. That way well also keep the
information controlled. Only a few people will know how many kids there really are in
the DA.” Harry said. Hermione just smiled and nodded, apparently she didn’t have any
other questions.
“Well then, we’ll first use the coins to set a meeting for the originals and then they can
help spread the message. As of now DA II has begun.”
Chapter 29: A Crush Revealed
The word that the DA had been reinstated spread like wild fire throughout the entire
school, a very quite wildfire however. Harry was quite surprised when not a single
teacher had yet approached him about the club. It appeared that the student’s one year
under Umbridge’s tyrannical rule taught them something about operational security. In-
between meals and homework Harry and the others would meet in their room and discuss
the details of the new divided groups. Ron, much to Hermione’s delight, had taken to
reading piles of Muggle books all about war and strategy. His strategic chess mind
allowing him to absorb all the moves just like the one’s he’d learned for the chess board.
It appeared to Harry that Ron had finally found his calling, he was spending almost all his
free time now either in the library or playing with a little piece of parchment Hermione
had charmed for him. It was able to simulate battle sequences that Ron had created so he
could see if his strategies would work or not against Voldemort’s.
With the other’s help he slowly but surely designed a plan for how the D.A. would be
run. Late at night in Harry and Ginny’s room he laid it out for them for the first time.
“Okay, well ‘Mione and I have been reading a lot on Muggle warfare. We would’ve used
wizard but there isn’t any strategy to it really. It was all just a bunch of spells flying
everywhere, even when Dumbledore fought Grindlewald; there just wasn’t a real attack.
The only reason Grindlewald’s army was defeated was because they didn’t have a rank
system so they just argued about who’d do what. That’s the first thing I think we should
do… create a ranking system.”
Seeing Harry cringe slightly at the idea of dividing an already divided school Hermione
interjected, “It wouldn’t be to show who was better and who is worse, Harry, just so we
can have a chain of command so people would know what to do if they need to.”
Ron gave her a smile then continued, “Right. So we’d have a general, then commanders,
then division groupings. Each commander would be in charge of one of the groups that
you talked about Harry. And each group would be divided into divisions; each one of
those would have the same training as the rest of the group but would be able to work by
itself if it was necessary. Each group would also have a color or a symbol to show who
was who and keep it a little more organized. This strategy has been used by almost every
Muggle war in the past two-thousand years so I figure it should work for us.” Ron
shrugged, his face showing immense confidence in the plan.
Harry smiled and patted him on the back. “Brilliant work mate! I knew if I left it up to
you you’d come up with something. It sounds like a great idea so we’ll use it, hopefully
it’ll keep us safer than if we just did it like last year.” Harry said excitedly. His idea for
the new DA was coming together. “Hey Hermione, could we make more of the coins?
We’ll probably need a hundred or so from what I’ve heard from different students who
want to join. I really don’t want anyone to figure out about what we’re doing. I know that
if Malfoy figures out what we’re doing he’ll run and tell his father all about who’s in it
and what we’re doing. I think the coins will help keep it secret.”
“I’ve already started working on them, only, they’re a little difficult to make. I have only
23 so far. I could definitely use some help making them.” Hermione said.
“I’ll help ‘Mione! I’ll help!” Emma said jumping out of her seat excitedly. She had been
listening to everything they’d been doing but hadn’t been able to help them with anything
so far.
Hermione and Emma had grown to be really good friends and she was a little sorry that
the little girl hadn’t been able to help them out in anything. She looked over at Harry and
Ron, they both just nodded smiling. “Alright Emma, you can help me. I’ll have to teach
you a couple of spells but from what I’ve heard from Professor Flitwick you shouldn’t
have any problems.”
“Wicked! When can we start? Can we start now? I don’t have any homework; come one
‘Mione!” Emma said tugging at the older witch’s robes.
“Well… if you don’t have any work I guess we could start now, we have a lot of coins to
make. Let’s go to the library so people won’t see what we’re doing.” Hermione stood up,
bid farewell and walked out of the portal with Emma tailing her.
Harry and Ginny both noticed Ron’s silly grin as he watched Hermione walked out and
gave each other a knowing looking. Harry spoke up first, “So Ronald, when are you
going to ask Hermione out on a date?”
Ron spun around in chair his face already turning red, “What do you mean? Why would I
ask her on a date?”
Ginny shook her head, “Ron, you’d have to be blind and deaf not to notice that you fancy
her. She fancies you too, did you know that?”
Ron’s face lost a little of its red hue, “She’s like my sister; she wouldn’t go out with me.”
“Why wouldn’t she Ron? Hermione has asked me a hundred bloody times if you like her.
Every time I tell her that you do but she just doesn’t believe me. You both like each other
so just do something about it.” Ginny said exasperated.
“Or we will…” Harry said teasingly, grinning at his friend.
“Well, what should I do? I mean…how should I do it. If you haven’t noticed there aren’t
exactly a load of date opportunities here,” Ron asked a little embarrassed. It was the first
time he’d admitted his crush to anyone, let alone Harry and his sister.
“Not quite sure you want to take advice from me, I’ve only gone on one real date, and
that was with Cho. Don’t forget I made her cry within ten minutes of the trip. Ginny and I
haven’t really gone on any dates because we didn’t need to, we just sort of hang out.”
Harry said shrugging, “You can always use the invisibility cloak to sneak out to
Honeyduke’s with her.”
Ron smiled, “That’s a good idea, doubt she’d go for it though, her being a Prefect and all.
Maybe Dobby can help me work something out.”
“He’d probably carve an ice sculpture for her if you asked him,” Harry joked. But Ron
didn’t seem to hear him; he was already too wrapped up in thinking for what to do
“Well I’m tired, I think I’m going to head up to my bed,” Ron said absently, his mind
focused on finding the best way to ask Hermione out.
“Night Ronald, have a good night patrolling the hallways with ‘Mione,” Ginny called out
over her shoulder. Surprisingly Ron didn’t even respond and just continued out of the
room.
Once the portrait close the couple broke into hysterics, both of them laughing until their
sides hurt.
“I can’t believe that they’ve liked each other for at least three years and all it took us was
one question to get the ball rolling.” Harry said sitting up on the floor.
“Yeah, I guess Fred and George don’t need to send us any of their Blabbing Bubblegum,
shame.” Ginny said. She was always eager to try out any new prank that her brothers
made.
“We could always use it on Malfoy, I’m sure he’s got some embarrassing secrets he’d tell
everyone in the Great Hall.” Harry hinted mischievously.
“Wow I like the way you think. My brothers really are starting to rub off on you aren’t
they? Let’s wake up early tomorrow, maybe Dobby could help us.” Ginny said as she
curled up next to Harry in front of the crackling fire.
“If he isn’t too busy carving a life-sized ice sculpture of Hermione,” said Harry, and they
both broke into laughter once again.
Chapter 30: Nicholas Flamel
During breakfast the next day Harry and the others were approached ceaselessly
throughout their entire meal. Every person trying to discreetly inquire into when the D.A.
would be having its first meeting and where they were going to hold it. At some points
during the meal there was a line of people waiting to talk to Harry, Ron or Hermione.
“Harry, we need to do something about this, Snape and Dumbledore are starting to look a
little suspicious. Why shouldn’t they anyways, we have half of Gryffindor lined up trying
to talk to us.” Hermione said in-between a momentary break in the stream of DA
members.
“I know, I know, but I can’t exactly make an announcement now can I?” Harry said
exasperatedly.
“Well then lets just leave, we can go to your room, no one will find us there, plus Dobby
can sneak us some food,” Ron asked hopefully.
“No, we can’t just run away from them Ron, if we just disappear then it looks like we
don’t care about the DA anymore. Maybe we can just pass a message somehow,
Hermione?” Harry looked at his friend, hoping she might have some idea as to what to
do.
Hermione just shook her head, “Sorry Harry. All the spells that we could do are either too
noticeable or just too complex to perform while we’re just sitting here. Oh, heads up
Harry, here comes Colin.” Sure enough the small blonde haired boy walked right up to
Harry smiling as usual.
“Hiyah, Harry, haven’t seen you around lately. No one seems to know where you’re
spending your nights. I’ve been meaning to ask you about the DA, when is the first
meeting?” Colin spit out the whole conversation in one breath and waited anxiously to
hear what Harry would say.
“Yes Colin, the DA will be starting soon, we’re just getting the last kinks out of our new
plan. I promise you’ll know when the first meeting is just as soon as we do. Hermione is
working on making more coins like last year so everyone will be able to figure out when
to meet. Remember though, keep it secret, we don’t want Malfoy to figure out about it.”
Or Dumbledore, I can’t imagine what he’d do if he figured out I was running this thing
again. He thought to himself.
“Sure thing, Harry. I can’t wait for it to start, is there anything I can do to help out?” The
boy asked with his usual alacrity.
“No it’s okay, we have everything figured…” Harry paused suddenly thinking of
something, “Actually there is something Colin, but it’s really important that you do it
right.”
“Sure, I’ll do anything to help! You name it I’ll do it.”
“Right, well we need you to quietly spread the word around the school just what I told
you, we can’t let anyone get suspicious. Make sure they are members of the DA also,
there are probably not going to be many Slytherins asking about our next meeting.” Harry
said in a whispered voice.
Colin nodded seriously, just like a soldier receiving an order from his general, “You can
count on me Harry! I’ll start right away, and I promise not to tell people who aren’t in the
DA.”
“Thanks Colin, that’s a load of help.” Harry said gratefully. Colin could be a pain most of
the time but he certainly had faithfulness, Harry wasn’t worried about him spilling their
secret.
“Well I better go get started, wait till my brother hears about this, a mission for the DA!”
Colin said as he ran off presumably to brag to his younger brother.
Harry turned to face the others and let out a breath of relief. “Well I’m glad we took care
of that. Now I can finally eat my breakfast, I’m starving. Plus we have Double D.A.D.A.
with Dumbledore today and we finally get to figure out who is going to be our assistant
teacher he keeps talking about.”
“Maybe it’s Lupin or Tonks, we haven’t seen them at all.” Ron said through a mouthful of
hash browns.
“I don’t think so, we all know Lupin wouldn’t hurt anyone but not everyone else knows. I
doubt he’s going to be coming back to Hogwarts to teach. And can you honestly see
Tonks ordering around students? I mean she’s sometimes a bigger prankster than Fred
and George. Remember the time she charmed that jar of potpourri to follow Dung around
everywhere? She said it was to cover the smell of his awful pipe but I think she just did it
because he hates the smell of anything clean.” Hermione said grinning.
“Well I wonder who’s it going to be then,” Ginny said still not completely awake. She
wasn’t much of a morning person and it usually took her a while to completely wake up.
“It is Dumbledore we’re talking about, so it could be anyone,” Harry shrugged.
“Well we probably should head down there, breakfast is almost over and I want a good
seat.” Hermione said as she gathered her books and her bag, the rest soon followed suit
bidding Emma and Ginny farewell as they headed out of the Great Hall and to the
D.A.D.A. classroom.
Unsurprisingly there was already a long line of other students who were just as anxious to
learn who their assistant teacher would be for the rest of the year. The crowd waited
outside the classroom for about five minutes until the door swung open and Dumbledore
called. “Let’s start class everyone, come inside quickly. I can assure you we will want all
the time that we are allotted.”
Everyone pushed through the entrance and there was a small skirmish over who got the
seats closest to the front. Once everyone was settled down Dumbledore raised his hand
for silence. “Excellent! Now that we’re all situated I can introduce our new teacher, he
will teach whenever I am not available or when there is something that requires a little
extra teaching. I daresay he has several hundred years of experience on me.” Dumbledore
chuckled, his eye twinkling. Harry hadn’t seen Dumbledore truly smile or laugh in a long
time, ever since Voldemort returned that night at the Ministry of Magic. “Would you
please give your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher a warm welcome. Nicholas
you can come out now.”
Out from the teacher’s quarters strolled an old man who looked as if he were Father Time
himself. Innumerable wrinkles covered his entire face yet it did not hide his large smile
and piercing dark blue eyes. He seemed to posses a certain sense of calm and knowledge
that reminded Harry of what Merlin might have been like.
“Nicholas Flamel, Professor Flamel to you students, has been a dear friend of mine for
countless of decades; he and I go back many years. You may recognize him from the
Chocolate Frog cards that I know you, just like me, collect religiously. He has been kind
enough to offer his time to supplement my teaching with some of his own ideas,” the
Headmaster smiled, his eyes were distant however, as if he were recounting some past
memory. “Perhaps you’d like to say something to your new students Nicholas?” The
classroom was obviously bubbling with excitement over the announcement of their new
teacher. Almost everyone had heard about Nicholas Flamel, who was most well known
for his creation of the Philosopher’s Stone. Hermione, Ron, and Harry shared an
uncertain look. They were told by Dumbledore that Nicholas had destroyed the Stone and
had only enough elixir to organize his estate. Maybe he’s still putting his affairs in order,
I mean he has been alive for six-hundred years. Harry reasoned, but still didn’t
completely believe it. Five years sure was a long time for anyone.
“Thank you Albus for that flattering introduction, I doubt I will be able to supplement
your teaching much however. You seem to have a better knack at it than I do, I daresay
I’m more of a tinkerer.” The man let out a laugh that filled the room. His voice seemed to
be both kind yet assertive at the same time, probably born from what Harry knew was
600 years of life. “Your headmaster asked me to help him because he wants to make sure
you are all prepared for the next few years which I am sad to say are most likely going to
be filled with strife. I owed him a favor and figured it would be nice to return once again
to Hogwarts. I hope to be able to help you all learn how to protect yourself and your
family. Oh, and one other thing, I’m not much on titles so you can just call me Nicholas
or Nick in class. Seeing as I am a teacher now I think that is okay Albus?” Nick smiled at
his old friend then laughed.
“Of course Nicholas, whatever you see fit. What do you say we start our class then, we
have a double period so hopefully we can cover a decent part of the more mundane
literature and still have ample time for demonstrations,” Dumbledore waved his wand
and a black board appeared along with notes on how to check and set simple wards
around a house.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other students listened for an hour as Nick and
Dumbledore covered everything there was on the blackboard. Usually lectures had a
soporific effect on students yet everyone in this room was wide awake, scribbling
furiously in their notebooks. Having Dumbledore as a teacher was one thing but having
both Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel teaching was an entirely different thing.
Harry couldn’t help but compare this class to one of Umbridge’s. Hers involved a
completely silent room where the only noise was the occasional turn of the page or a
muffled cough. This new class was loud and filled with energetic discussion. Dumbledore
and Nick fed off each other each one adding onto the other’s arguments or ideas. If
someone had a question they barely had to raise their hand before the question was
answered.
By the time they had gotten through the whole blackboard Harry realized he probably had
learned more in that one hour than all of last year. And when it was time for the practical
section of the class almost everyone was able to cast a ward strong enough to repel an
intruder if he or she touched it. Harry had never seen Neville cast anything in class that
hadn’t taken him at least half –a-dozen tries, yet today he was casting each ward with
little difficulty.
“Alright everyone, superb job today! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be teaching
such an enthusiastic class. Judging by the way things went today we’ll be finished with
the scheduled curriculum by mid December.” Nicholas said clapping his hands happily,
his smile growing even wider.
“Homework for tonight is to review your notes from class and be prepared to be tested on
them in this class or Professor Moody and Shaklebolt’s. Be forewarned, anything taught
in this class or theirs is fair game on a test. If there aren’t any questions you are
dismissed.” Dumbledore said waving his wand making the door swing open. The students
filed out the door each stopping to shake Nicholas’ hand and thank both of their teachers.
“Harry, do you have a moment?” Dumbledore asked as he was walking towards the door.
“Sure, I have lunch next,” Harry stalled as the other students left the room, he told Ron
and Hermione he’d see them for lunch, then approached Dumbledore and Nicholas.
“So you’re Harry Potter. The savior of my stone?” Nick said as he shook Harry’s hand.
“I didn’t really do anything sir, Professor Dumbledore’s mirror just gave it to me.” Harry
said modestly.
“Nonsense! Albus told me the whole story, you and your two friends managed to get by
the traps and puzzles of every teacher here. I think I owe you a thank you; you prevented
Tom from getting his hands on it.” Nicholas said with a kind look on his face.
“Er, your welcome, but I couldn’t have done it without my friends.” Harry said blushing
slightly under his praise.
“Of course, that’s what friends are for! Albus has helped me out countless times when it
got a little sticky. I still owe you for getting me out that spot of trouble with the Ministry.
You know, the one with the barrel of leeches and a box of that Muggle dynamite?” He
nudged Dumbledore, tipping his head in thanks.
“How could I forget Nicholas, they were forced to write up a new bill after I used that
loophole to get you out of the trouble,” Dumbledore smiled softly. “Harry I noticed your
confusion when Nicholas walked in, I assume that is because of my last mention of him a
few years ago?”
“Umm, yes sir, I mean you said he’d destroyed the stone didn’t you?”
“Well I guess you don’t know much about the Philosopher’s Stone, there isn’t much
information out there anyhow. Well even if you stop taking the elixir the potion will last
in your bloodstream for a certain amount of time. This increases exponentially the longer
you consume it, so for Nicholas here he still has it in his blood for…oh, you’ll have to
help me Flamel, I don’t have the same mind as you do when it comes to math.”
“My wife and I ran out of elixir about two years ago which means I have about a decade
left before it is completely out of my system. So I’m afraid I’ll be around for just a bit
longer.” Flamel said jovially.
“Quite so, and I am really glad that you agreed to teach,” Dumbledore said.
“Well I was pleasantly surprised today; you and the others have quite a work ethic!”
“You have Harry to thank for that too, last year he started and ran a defense club outside
of school when he realized our last teacher wasn’t exactly teaching them what they
needed. The club members all scored over outstanding on their O.W.L.s this summer
which is quite a feat.” Dumbledore looked proudly at Harry.
“Excellent, well I shan’t keep you any longer my dear boy, I just wanted to meet your
personally so I could thank you. I know how important lunch is around here, I’m pretty
hungry myself right now.” Nick shook Harry’s hand once more and waved him out the
door.
As Harry walked up to lunch he smiled as he thought to himself. Maybe this year won’t
be too bad. I’m bonded to the person I love, no one thinks I’m a nut, and I’m learning
how to fight from some of the best wizards in the world. For the first time in a long while
Harry started to hum to himself.
Chapter 31: A Dream Intterupted
The corridor was obsidian black, even the light coming from the wand seemed to be
devoured by the walls. It was well past curfew at Hogwarts and even most of the teachers
had turned in for the night. There were some people still out and about however, one of
which who was currently running down a corridor trying to make it to the Gryffindor
entrance without being caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris. As the person briskly walked
down the stony, dark corridor, they failed to notice the dark shadows that were following
stealthily. The stalkers were cloaked entirely in black and moved lithely between hiding
spots never allowing themselves to be in the wand light for more than a second.
As their target rounded a corner both of them acted on some unnoticeable signal. The two
hooded assailants jumped the young girl. One grabbed her by the shoulders while the
other muttered silencio, effectively muffling her shout of surprise. They then dragged her
into the nearby empty classroom and threw her to the floor.
As the larger of the two checked the hallway then locked the door the other assailant
walked slowly up to the sobbing girl. His wand was the only light source in the entire
room, which consequently gave the boys face an even more pallid complexion. His
blonde hair and sunken eyes now gave him the appearance of a ghost. He lowered his
wand to the little girl’s tear stained face and smiled cruelly; his face was the picture of
pure malice.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” the boy chided using the wand to lift the girl’s chin. “Well now, first years
really shouldn’t be wandering around in the dark all alone, it really isn’t safe. You never
know who you could run into.” The other hooded person now approached, his face was
barely visible in the light, but the girl could recognize it anywhere.
“Nott, come over here so we can do it together,” Malfoy said never letting his eyes leave
the girl.
Nott strode up next to the Slytherin drawing his wand as he did so. “You don’t have
Potter here to help you know do you? You’re going to pay mudblood, we’re going to
make you an example to the entire school!” The two of them looked at each other and
nodded, both then raised their wands simultaneously and shouted CRUCIO!
Harry bolted awake at that very moment, his scar was burning and there seemed to be
another pain, one he hadn’t felt since that night at the Department of Mysteries.
It seemed that Ginny too had woken up at the same time, she looked over at Harry, and
even in the dark she could see the fear of realization in his eyes. “Emma,” he whispered
in horror then grabbed his glasses, wand, and the Marauder’s Map and ran for the door
pulling it open so hard the hinges pulled out of the stone wall.
Ginny jumped out of bed and grabbed her wand and was soon on right behind Harry as
he scanned the map with his wand looking for Emma. He was breathing heavily and his
eyes were now glowing brightly, his whole body seemed to be radiating energy. If Ginny
had looked at herself in a mirror she would have seen a similar thing in her eyes, which
were glowing ruby red now.
Harry moved with frantic desperation, murmuring to himself as he scoured the map for
Emma. Ginny simply tailed behind, her wand ready.
Harry finally found the small dot labelled Emmaline Massey it wasn’t moving. Right next
to hers were two other dots one labelled Draco Malfoy and the other Theodore Nott. They
were in a classroom on the second floor, almost directly above where Harry and Ginny
were right then.
“Gin, come on!” Harry said, his tone of voice unsettled Ginny, she’d never heard him this
angry before. As he grabbed her hand she felt something like a shock of electricity pass
through her. They ran the entire way only slowing when they neared the door. Harry’s
eyes were burning deep green, he didn’t even raise his wand as he neared the door yet the
whole thing ripped off its hinges and hit the wall across the hall.
Harry strode into classroom, his wand now drawn already aimed at Malfoy and Nott who
had been thrown on their backs by the force of the door being opened.
“Potter! How did I know, oh yeah, because you’re the only one who cares about fucking
mudbloods!” Malfoy spat kicking the little girl on the floor as he slowly moved his hand
towards his own wand.
Harry didn’t need anymore encouragement; he pointed his wand at Malfoy’s face and
without a word from either of them Malfoy simply fell to the floor unconscious; his eyes
rolling up into his head then going completely limp. Harry then turned on his heels
fuming to confront Nott only to find him hanging upside down from the ceiling bound
up; Ginny was already on the ground next to Emma checking to see if she was okay.
Harry’s heart was racing, he looked down at Emma. The little girl wasn’t moving and her
entire face seemed to be covered in bruises, she was curled up in the fetal position trying
to cover the blows to her face.
Ginny turned up to look at Harry the fire in her eyes was now replaced with tears, “Harry,
we have to get her to Dumbledore. She’s really hurt, I can’t find a pulse.” While Ginny
had done some volunteer work for Madam Pomfrey she’d never learned any spell or
charm to restart someone’s heart.
“We can’t carry her, not in her condition. Maybe I can run up to his office, it isn’t too far
from here. Take care of her while I go get help.” Harry said already making for the door.
Ginny just nodded, too afraid to speak.
Suddenly there was a burst of fire and out of nowhere appeared Fawkes hovering in the
middle of the room. Harry seemed to immediately know what the phoenix was there for;
he ran over picked Emma up in his arms and then grabbed hold of one of Fawkes’
feathers. Ginny followed suit grabbing hold of another one of Fawkes’ tail feathers.
Immediately she felt the familiar weightlessness and then a burst of light as she Harry
and Emma were transported with Fawkes.
A moment later they appeared again in what Harry recognized to be the infirmary. The
torches were out and the whole ward was deathly, the only light was coming from the
corner room which was Madam Pomfrey’s quarters. Ginny ran to rouse Madam Pomfrey
while Harry lifted Emma gently and set her down on one of the nearby beds. He hadn’t
seen her move or even breath the whole time he’d been there; he remembered learning
something in elementary school about helping someone breathe but he all he could recall
was that it was called CPR.
There was a commotion from inside the room and out came Madam Pomfrey, dressed in
her nightgown and a robe, with Ginny close on her heels. She saw the little girl on the
bed and sped up nearly knocking Harry over as she reached Emma.
“Merlin! What happened to this girl?” She said as she began casting various diagnostic
charms over Emma. “How long has she not been breathing? Have you checked her pulse
yet?”
Harry was first to reply, “Ginny couldn’t find a pulse, and when we got to her she wasn’t
breathing. It was Malfoy and Nott, they were using the cruciatus curse on her. Malfoy
was kicking her also, I think that might have been what knocked her out.”
Madam Pomfrey face showed alarm. She quickly pointed her wand at Emma’s heart and
shouted Cardium Renervium! Emma’s whole body spasmed in the bed as she gasped for
air then fell back unconscious. Madam Pomfrey checked her pulse then her breathing,
seemingly satisfied that the girl was at least alive and breathing now, she stepped back to
face Harry and Ginny. “Very well even though she isn’t conscious she’s at least breathing
that was the greatest danger. Potter go and get the headmaster, he’ll want to know of this
attack. The password is peanut brittle; tell him to have Professor Snape bring his best
cruciatus reliever. Hurry now!”
Harry was turned and ran down the ward, heading straight for Dumbledore’s office as fast
as he could. He only made a few steps however before he ran into something and hit the
floor. He grabbed for his glasses and shoved them on, only to see the headmaster in front
of him holding out his hand to help him up.
“I am already here Poppy, Fawkes was kind enough to alert me to the situation as soon as
he returned, Severus should be here momentarily.” Dumbledore helped Harry up then
strode quickly to the bedside. “How is she Poppy?”
“She wasn’t breathing and her pulse was practically nonexistent headmaster. I actually
had to use the revival charm, that’s only the second time I’ve ever had to use it. Whatever
these boys did to this little girl was enough to almost kill her.”
“Thank you Poppy, Severus should be here momentarily. Harry, Ginevra, if I could talk to
you for a moment in private?” Dumbledore asked the two teens.
Harry and Ginny were both reluctant to leave Emma’s side.
“Emma is going to be quite alright now that she’s breathing again, we just have to let her
get her rest, I’ll call you two over immediately if she awakes.” Madam Pomfrey said
trying to reassure them. They both nodded and hesitantly joined Dumbledore.
“Now then, I know a little about what occurred, but phoenixes can only tell me so much.
I hope you wouldn’t mind filling me in on what just transpired?” Dumbledore asked
softly. Harry was holding Ginny in his arms; both of them were obviously still recovering
from the shock of seeing the friend in such a state. “I need to know Harry, that way we
can take care of Miss Massey as well as possible.”
Harry nodded, knowing he would have to tell him. But the adrenaline had worn off now
and he suddenly realized how close Emma had come to dying, and how lucky it was that
they had found her in time. Harry then did something he hadn’t done since the first few
days of summer, he cried.
Chapter 32: A Request
Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron were sitting in chairs around Emma’s small bed in
various states of exhaustion and grief. They hadn’t left the infirmary since last night’s
attack and Dumbledore had told them they would be excused from classes the next day so
as to not leave Emma alone in the infirmary.
After Harry and Ginny had recounted the entire story to the headmaster, including the
fact that they both had the same vision at the same time, the group returned to the bed
where Emma was laying, still unconscious. Madam Pomfrey had found that along with
the effects of the Cruciatus curse, she had three broken ribs and a large bruise on the side
of her body.
“She’ll have to remain here for at least this week before I will even consider letting her
go back to the dorms. Considering what those two boys did to her I’m surprised I didn’t
have to send her to St. Mungo’s.” The nurse said in her usual curt voice that morning,
talking to Dumbledore at the entrance to the infirmary.
“Thank you Poppy, you have done, as always, an excellent job.” Dumbledore said kindly.
“Miss Massey’s mother should be arriving shortly, I hope that it is okay with you if she
stays with her for the rest of her time here?”
“Yes of course, I will make up a bed in the private ward so they can have some privacy.”
Madam Pomfrey said and bustled off to work on the room.
The room was silent for a moment, all of the just looking at Emma, still too shocked
about what happened to her. Harry was still trying to figure out how he and Ginny had
seen Emma being attacked last night in their dreams, he knew Voldemort hadn’t been
there so it wasn’t like the normal intrusions he had upon the Dark Lord’s mind.
Dumbledore was simply standing there, and although Harry still had some resentment
towards the headmaster he decided to ask anyway.
“Professor?” Harry asked tentatively, Dumbledore looked at him, his blue eyes seemed to
be lacking some of their usual lustre.
“Yes Harry?” He responded, his voice revealing his exhaustion. The headmaster had been
up all night running in-between the floo, the infirmary, and the tower room where Mr.
Malfoy and Nott were being held. Everyday his list of things to do seemingly grew longer
and longer as the war grew inevitably closer and closer.
“Well, I was wondering about last night. How was Ginny and I able to see what was
happening to Emma? I mean I know Voldemort wasn’t there that night, so I couldn’t have
been in his mind.”
“That is a good question indeed, I might have a possible reason for this, but there is very
little information on the specifics of the Heartbond. From what I have read so far of a few
ancient papers on Myrddin, you probably know of him as Merlin, he would occasionally
refer to his ability to know the whereabouts, and feelings of not only his lover
Gwendoloena, but of his apprentice Arturius. While I would usually consider this just
being some reference to legilimency, the ancient Coptic language he was using has
several translations and one of the meanings for the word he used when describing the
connection was that it was like a bond between them.
“This now leads me to assume that this bond you and Miss Weasley posses not only link
you two together, but connects you to your closest friends. In your dream state your mind
is much more open than when you are awake, and when Emmaline found herself to be in
peril the bond somehow allowed you to see where she was.”
“If we are all bonded why didn’t Ron or I see anything last night? I mean we figured out
when Professor McGonagall woke us both up last night.” Hermione interjected, her mind
sharp as always.
“Quite right Miss Granger. Well, and I’m only hypothesizing now, but I believe that you
may have felt something rather than seen anything. How did you feel when you woke up
last night?” Dumbledore asked, enjoying Hermione’s keen questioning.
“I can’t really remember, there were other things on my mind obviously. Now that I think
of it though I did feel a bit nauseous, but I just thought that was from the combination of
waking up early and hearing about Emma.” Hermione said slowly, working through the
night’s rather hectic events.
Dumbledore only nodded then turned to face Ron. He hadn’t said anything yet, but a look
of surprise had come across his face as Hermione was talking.
“Blimey ‘Mione, I think he’s right. I woke up and was achy and had a headache, I just
thought it was either something to do with dinner or I wasn’t coming down with
something!” Ron said now looking up at Dumbledore, hoping he would confirm what the
two had just said.
“It would seem that your friends did have some reaction to the attack through the bond. I
believe they were feeling trace effects of both the Cruciatus curse and the kicks Mr.
Malfoy delivered; only they did not notice it because of all the commotion.” Dumbledore
said, and then looked out the window to the grounds below. He was silent for a moment,
then spoke again, not turning to face them. “This bond continues to surprise even me
every day; I believe that as you grow stronger magically the bond will continue to grow
with it. We will have to continually monitor to see what new developments occur over
this school year, if anything happens please tell me or another Order member what it was.
That goes for all of you, if anything changes please te-…”
But Dumbledore was cut off by a commotion in the hallway. A second later the doors
opened and a stricken Joy Massey came striding in closely followed by McGonagall.
Joy saw Emma lying in the cot unconscious and gasped, her eyes filling with tears. She
stood there momentarily paralysed, just staring at her daughter then at Harry, then
Dumbledore, then at the three other children. Her mouth opened as she tried to say
something, but then she closed it again as her gaze returned to her only daughter lying
there unconscious. Finally after a moment of complete silence she managed to speak the
one question that sprung to mind first, “Is she going to live?”
“She is going to be quite alright, Miss Massey, I can assure you. Madam Pomfrey says
she will make a full recovery in only a week. Why don’t you have a seat and you can ask
any other question you want while we wait for your daughter to wake up.” Dumbledore
said consolingly, and at Joy’s stunned nod he conjured two rather comfortable looking
chairs and a small side table with a teapot and two cups.
“Who…what…did this to her? Why did this happen?” She asked as she stroked her
daughter’s hair lovingly.
“I am afraid that Lord Voldemort’s followers are even in the school. They blindly obey
his commands, and commit acts of violence just for fun or in hopes of being recognized
by their master. Tom believes that witches or wizards who are not born from two wizards
are ‘impure’ and not worthy to be considered wizards. He feels that it is the pureblood
wizards that deserve to have the power. He looks upon anyone who is not a pureblood
with utter contempt. His one goal is to rule the wizarding world and have Muggles as his
slaves.” Dumbledore finished with sadness in his usually jovial eyes. Although he and
Harry had discussed Voldemort with her before they hadn’t really told her what his goals
were.
“Did you catch them, the people who did this to my little girl?” An intensity entered Joy’s
eyes, a maternal instinct Harry knew well from Mrs. Weasley’s ministrations around the
house.
“Harry and Miss Weasley were able to find Emma and apprehend the perpetrators before
long, Emmaline is very lucky that they found her, any later and her situation might have
been much graver. Her attackers are currently locked up in a secure room and will be
dealt with appropriately.” Dumbledore’s voice had an edge of what seemed to be sorrow
when he said the last sentence. His look of anguish was not lost on Harry who thought it
odd to be talking about Malfoy and Nott’s capture with sorrow.
At the mention of Harry Joy turned to him and without a single word scooped him up in a
giant hug, while not at strong as Mrs Weasley’s, definitely left his ribs aching. She then
kissed him on the forehead and whispered, as if speaking louder would cause her to cry,
“Thank you Harry.”
She then went over to Ginny and did the same thing; Ginny too looked as if she were
holding back tears. Once joy finished she turned back to face the headmaster, her face
stoic.
“Professor Dumbledore, I know that I’m a muggle and I know I’ve only known about
wizards for a few months now but I want to join the Order. Before you say anything let
me explain. I know about the Order, it was somewhat difficult not to figure out once we
were at the house, and I know that they are fighting this Voldemort. I don’t have a wand
or any other skills, but I know that I want to do everything I can to stop this if I can. My
daughter was hurt by his followers and I want to hurt him now because of it. I’ve already
lost my husband, I will not lose my daughter.” Tears were now coming down her face, but
her eyes showed only determination.
“Mum, please don’t cry. I okay, please don’t cry. I’m not dead.” A feeble sounding voice
emanated from behind Joy and the headmaster. The whole group spun around to find
Emma sitting somewhat upright in her bed, her bruised face the picture of worry.
Joy immediately ran up to Emma a grasped her in a tight hug. It looked as if she were
trying to hold her as close as possible, trying to protect the only person she cared about in
the world.
After a few minutes of hushed sobs and quite pleas from Emma for her mom to stop
crying Joy turned to face the headmaster once again.
Dumbledore seemed to consider the woman’s request for quite some time, he finally
nodded slightly and spoke. “Very well Ms. Massey, your reasons are completely justified.
And I do not see why we could discriminate against Muggles; it would simply be doing
what Tom does. We have our next meeting at headquarters this Thursday night. I will
arrange to have your fireplace attached to the Floo Network and will have Remus Lupin
pick you up so he can instruct you on its use. As for what you said about not having any
skills I believe we could always use a person knowledgeable in Muggle ways; The lack of
a wand may also be able to be taken care of if I know the Weasley twins.” The
headmaster smiled slightly at that ad turned to face Ginny, Ron and the other two. “I’m
afraid I must beg my pardon as I have many things I must attend to, it would seem my
work is never finished. Madam Pomfrey has already seen to it that you have a private
ward and a bed so you can stay with your daughter as long as necessary. If you need
anything do not be afraid to ask. Now before I leave I must ask to borrow Harry here for
just a moment.” Dumbledore nodded at Harry and let him lead the way out of the
infirmary.
“Professor, what are you going to do about Malfoy and Nott? Are they going to be
expelled?” Harry asked, eager to know the answer the moment he’d learned of their
captivity.
Dumbledore sighed, he knew that this question was coming. “Draco and Theodore are
currently being lectured by Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall. While I would
usually ask the Board of Governors to allow any rule breakers to stay in school,”
Dumbledore held up his hand asking Harry to hear out his full explanation before he
spoke out, “this is quite an unusual and extreme case. Therefore I have decided to turn
them over to the Ministry of Magic and the Auror Department. Their court dates have
been set for next month and meanwhile they will be sequestered in their current holding
place. I never want to abandon a student if at all possible but in this case I am afraid there
was no other choice.”
“It’s fine with me, them being sent to Azkaban means there’s two less Death Eaters to
deal with.” Harry said angrily, his mind still playing back that horrible scene from his
dream last night.
“Harry, I know you are angry right now, and you very well deserve to be. But do not let it
overshadow the good, Emmaline is okay, and you caught those responsible. If we live on
anger we only follow the path that Tom took. Never forget that Harry.” Dumbledore
patted him on the shoulder in a fatherly way, then turned and walked down the hallway
leaving Harry to contemplate his words.
Chapter 33: The Division of the DA
Emma was released from the infirmary later that week, Madam Pomfrey finally
acquiescing to the dozens of pleas from both Emma and the others.
Emma’s face was still covered in bruises from Malfoy’s kicks and she was moving
visibly slower than her usual hyper level. Occasionally she would have to stop in the halls
to take a break during her walks to classes around school. Overall everyone was
overjoyed that she had managed to spring back from a life threatening attack.
There were some side effects however. Emma had been visibly shaken by the strange way
she had become the target of this hate crime. While Harry and Dumbledore had told her
about the supposed war that was going on, she hadn’t heard or read anything to make her
think that she was in danger.
Emma had heard from her dorm mates and other first years that there were people in the
school, specifically Slytherins, who hated anyone who wasn’t a pure-blooded wizard.
When she had heard that she didn’t really put much thought into it, but now the words
Malfoy had called her, mudblood, filthy half-blood, and the likes, were running through
her head almost continuously.
Emma was currently walking with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. Dinner had just
been let out and they were now heading up an obscure hallway to the first DA meeting of
this year.
Harry was holding onto Emma’s hand as he led them up to the Room of Requirement, she
had been sticking close to either Harry or one of the others whenever she could. The
castle seemed larger and more foreboding than even when she’d entered it for the first
time before the Sorting.
On their way up to the meeting place Harry passed several other groups of past-DA
members heading up to the room by another direction. He nodded at them and kept on
going upwards. He was a more than a little nervous about this meeting because of two
things; he hadn’t gotten permission from Dumbledore, in fact he was keeping it a secret,
and two, he wasn’t sure if the other members would like the new system Harry and the
others had been working on.
There was a small crowd gathering in front of where the door usually was. Apparently no
one else knew exactly how to operate it so they were waiting on Harry to arrive.
As he had done countless times now he stood in front of the door, closed his eyes and
thought to himself about what he needed. I need a place that we can study in, a place that
we can keep secret but big enough to fit a large group of people and have sparring
competitions. Harry opened his eyes, and sure enough there was a large door in front of
the used-to-be blank wall.
The doors were different from what it looked like last year, although it looked sturdy
enough it didn’t have the same bank vault look that it did last time. The doors were made
of heavy ancient wood and were at least twelve feet high. Each one had a large brass ring
one of which Harry pulled on. The doors swung open easily not making a sound,
revealing the space inside.
There was a general intake of breath from all the assembled members at the sheer
enormity of the room that they were now facing. Harry was the first to enter and as he
stepped through the doorway torches ignited all around him, shedding light on the dark
room.
The room had massively high ceilings, and resembled a miniature version of the Great
Hall, with the exception of the enchanted ceiling. There were dozens of chairs around
small lamp lit table near the left wall. The whole wall was covered in bookshelves,
containing massive tomes, and small rolls of parchment. Hermione gave a small gasp of
delight, grabbed Ron’s arm, and ran over to scour the books. On the other side of the
room, the other wall was draped in elaborate tapestries that looked ancient even when
they were surrounded by the dusty books and old chairs. Each tapestry was depicting a
different scene, each one showing different points in what appeared to be a battle. They
vaguely reminded Harry of the picture books he’d read in muggle elementary school,
pictures depicting great stories and myths of ancient times. Emma tugged on Harry’s
robe, “Hey Harry, what’s that thing over there?” she pointed over to the large platform
that was in the far back of the massive room.
Harry smiled when he saw it, “I thought we could use one of these. It’s a professional
duelling pitch; it even has special wards around it to stop stops from hitting spectators. It
should be a good way to train for Kingsley and Mad-Eye’s course, and it’ll be a good way
to watch our skills improve and see where we can do better.” Harry turned around and
saw that there were now at least forty students inside and were listening to Harry’s
conversation. Many were smiling, others were nodding in approval.
“I guess we should start Harry, it looks like most everyone’s here.” Ginny whispered.
Harry nodded, taking strength from her firm grip of his hand, and then called for
everyone’s attention. Once the noise had settled down and everyone was looking at where
Harry and the others were standing he started to speak.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting this many people. Umm, this is the DA II, short for
Dumbledore’s Army, and if you don’t know me I’m Harry Potter.” He stammered, he still
wasn’t used to talking in front of such large groups.
“Everyone in the world knows who you are!” someone shouted from the group, people
laughed.
Harry pushed on, “I guess I should introduce the others, this is Ginny Weasley, next to
her is Hermione Granger, and next to her is Ron Weasley. We’re going to do our best to
help every one of you learn how to protect yourself and fight. Now, one thing before I
continue; no matter what Fudge or the paper tells you there is a war going on! Voldemort
has returned and he is as strong as ever, trust me on that. We’re here to help you get
ready.
“Also, I noticed how all of you flinched when I said Voldemort. Let me tell you
something about that. His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, and he is infact not a
pureblood as he says, his dad was actually a muggle. If you let yourself be afraid of a
name, just imagine how you’re going to stand up against a Death Eater. So from now on
when we’re at meetings you will call him either Voldemort or Tom, not he-who-must-not-
be-named.
“Now that I got that out of the way, we need you all to sign the piece of parchment that
Hermione is passing around before we go any further.”
“And yes, before you ask, I did charm it with several new jinxes I’ve wanted to try. If you
break this contract you will end wishing you looked like Marietta.” Hermione said, the
older students laughed the younger ones looked at each other with hesitancy.
“The only reason we’re having people sign this is to protect everyone here. This is still an
illegal organisation, Dumbledore does not know about this, nor does any adult for that
matter. What we practice and talk about in here will remain secret; no one may discuss
what we do outside of this room. You will be informed of further meetings by the coins
you already have.” Harry was getting back into the groove of speaking now; people
seemed to be hanging on every word that he spoke eager to partake in this illegal
organisation.
“Tonight’s meeting is only for us to sort out all the logistics of the group. Ron, Hermione,
Ginny, and I have been working on a new plan based on a lot of research into muggle
combat methods. Now I’m not a battle strategist, and if you’ve ever been unfortunate
enough to play chess with Ron you’ll know he is one. So for the next part of this meeting
you’ll be listening to Ron.
Ron was obviously nervous about speaking in front of a group and his face was flushed
his usual red. “Right, well…hmm. Okay then, were going to…uh…” He glanced
nervously over to Harry, looking for help.
“You’re going to tell us about how the groups are divided up, and how the meetings will
be run.” Harry prompted his friend.
“Oh yeah, thanks. Right, well I’ve, I mean we’ve, been studying a lot of books and tactics
about how to fight in a real battle and what combat is really like. Surprisingly, there was
almost nothing helpful about wizarding combat except for a few rules on duelling. It took
us a while but we finally did find a good source, turns out the muggles have this whole
fighting thing down to a science. Anyways, we took notes on different battles that
muggles fought over the years and one thing that kept popping up, even as early as
Merlin’s time; it was the idea of a rank system.” Ron paused, and seemed to gain some
strength as he noticed everyone was listening to him.
“Well for our first change to the DA we’ve created a rank and group system for everyone.
The main reason for this is to streamline the way we communicate. At the Department of
Mysteries last year, it was utter chaos because of the lack of communication.” All of the
students broke out in excited chatter. Everyone had read or heard about Harry and the
other’s involvement in the battle at the ministry, yet no one knew more than what was
published in the Daily Prophet.
“It was pandemonium down there. No one knew who was good and who the enemy was.
So we think it would be a good idea for us to be split up into smaller groups of people
who could work separately from the larger whole and still be capable to fighting Death
Eaters successfully.” Ron said, his nervousness having now completely vanished, and in
its place was confidence.
Hermione now spoke up, “this division will not only be for communication but will also
help divide up into more specialized groupings. For example, we need a group of healers,
or medics as muggles call them, to take care of anyone who is injured in a fight. We will
also have
“Right, well there are going to be four groups. There will be medics, like Hermione said.
Defence, who are a group of fighters that will cast shields and other charms to ensure
everyone is safe. There will be a runner, someone who will communicate with the leaders
and keep the groups together. The last group will be an offensive magic group, they will
be in charge of our actual fighting. “ Ron stopped then looked over at Ginny, jerking his
head to tell her to start talking now.
“You will train with your group separately once a week in this room. Each group will
train individually from the others except for once a month we will all meet for a bigger
practice. The final plan is to have one medic, one runner, two defensive, and two
offensive fighters in a group. Hopefully each one will be self sufficient and be able to
fight by themselves if needed.” Ginny stopped, and looked over at Harry to continue the
rest of the speech. The crowd remained completely silent, everyone seemed eager to be
involved in the DA, even if it meant they had to fight.
“Right, well they couldn’t have said it better. Now for the rest of the meeting we’re first
going to split up into the different groups and discuss what our plans are for the rest of
the semester. If you want to be a healer go over to the bookshelves over there and wait for
Ginny, she’ll be the leader of that group. If you want to be a runner, go over to Hermione
by the fireplace. If you want to be a defensive fighter go over by the tapestries to Ron.
Anyone who wants to be an offensive fighter come in closer to me, I’ll be your
instructor.”
The whole group stood and began to disperse into the different groups. Harry was afraid
that the groups would be somewhat uneven but what he saw surprised him. There were
almost a dozen people in both the medical and runner groups. Ron’s group had over two
dozen and his own was just a little smaller with twenty kids in it, most of them were older
students, including Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Harry was pleased to see Emma had
joined the medical group and was standing close by Ginny eager to learn.
Harry turned to face his own group and pulled out his wand. “Well, this is the offensive
fighting group. First let me just say even though I’m called the leader I don’t expect to be
treated any differently. I am here to help teach you guys, that’s it. We are all going to have
to work together to fight properly. Now, last year we learned just some basic hexes and a
few defensive charms as well. Neville and I can tell you that most of those weren’t too
helpful when it came to fighting, but it was surprising how few of the Death Eaters
bothered to stop a leg locker curse or a stupefy.
“While we will be working on those Ginny and I did some research over the summer and
found loads of curses that aren’t as bad as the Unforgivables but will certainly do
damage. We figured if Death Eaters can use the Killing Curse then we should be able to
use something like diffindo or another spell we found ignatus which will light anything
on fire, no matter what. I don’t want to kill, and probably couldn’t but I do want to make
sure none of our people will get hurt.” Harry’s voice was low but strong, it was difficult
for him to discuss the Department of Mysteries with his friends let alone 20 strangers. He
wanted to stop people from dying though, and thought it was a small price to pay to save
people’s lives.
“Well, before I show you the list are there any questions so far?”
“Are we going to get to duel?” Dean asked anxiously, there had been talk about duelling
in both Light Offensive magic and DADA, but Tonks had said it wouldn't be until second
term.
“Yes we will be duelling almost every meeting in some form or another. Being able to
move quickly is just as important as being able to fire the right spells.” Harry said.
A fourth year girl raised girl hand nervously, “is it true? I mean I’ve read it in the Prophet
but did you really duel he-who-must…Vold…Vold. Tom?” The boy stuttered several
moments trying to figure out what name to use, finally pushing Tom out at the end.
Harry sighed, he was expecting at least one question like this, he knew it was inevitable,
but it didn’t make that any easier to discuss. “What’s you name?”
“Jenn, Jenn Sloan. I’m from Ravenclaw, Mr. Potter.” She stuttered, she was nervous
being so close to someone she had been told about in stories by her parents.
“Well Jenn first off, my name is Harry. I’m not a sir or a Mr. or a professor. I’m way too
young for that. And yes I did have to fight Voldemort, although not very well, if
Dumbledore hadn’t been there I would have been killed, you can ask Neville about that.
That’s exactly why I researched more powerful spells to use, I want to be able to survive
a fight on my own.” Harry knew none of them knew about the prophecy but that was the
true reason behind him and Ginny’s research into more powerful hexes and curses. He
knew he was going to have to fight him in the end and he wanted to live now, because of
Ginny he now had something to look forward to after Voldemort was gone.
Lost in his own thoughts he also noted he hadn’t told Ron and Hermione of his
prophesized destiny with Voldemort. He didn’t like keeping secrets from them, especially
one this important. But he knew that telling them would only put them in even more
danger than they were in currently. It was becoming harder for him to keep it from them
every day and he knew he would have to tell them soon.
“Harry? Are you alright?” Neville asked, Harry had been silent for almost a minute now.
Harry shook those depressing thoughts from his mind and brought himself back into the
present.
“Sorry, I was just daydreaming there for a moment. Well let’s take a look at the list of
spells we have compiled and try and sort out what the rest of the year is going to look like
for us.” Harry unrolled a long piece of parchment he, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had
come up with.
For the next forty-five minutes of the meeting the groups planned how they were going to
turn Dumbledore’s Army into an actual army.
Chapter 34: The First Kiss
Harry was walking out of the DADA class with Ron and Hermione after a class with
Flamel, and were all eagerly talking about the new shield charm he had just taught them,
when he a hand grasped him firmly by the shoulder. He turned around and saw the old
man smiling at him. In a hushed voice he whispered, “Harry, a word please?”
Harry told Hermione and Ron he’d see them at lunch and went back into the classroom,
following the professor into his office.
Flamel sat down heavily in a large leather chair and motioned for Harry to take the seat
across from him. Harry followed suit and sat down in the comfortable chair. “Sir, is there
something wrong. Am I in trouble for something?” Harry asked nervously. The DA had
now been running for two weeks and had successfully avoided detection by any teacher
so far; personally Harry wanted it to stay that way.
“No, no Harry you are not in any trouble,” the ancient man laughed heartily. “But there is
something wrong, and I think it’s about time I do something about it.” The professor
leaned closer in to Harry staring right at him. His eyes were just like Dumbledore’s; they
seemed to cut to your very soul. Harry wanted to look away but forced himself to
continue to look into the man’s brown eyes. The two stayed that way, staring right at each
other for what seemed to be an eternity, finally Flamel blinked and pulled back.
“Well, that hadn’t happened for quite some time, usually the only person who can give
me a run for my money when it comes to stare downs is your headmaster!” He waved it
off and continued to speak. “As I was saying, you’re not in trouble but I feel that I should
be. School has already been in session for over two months now and I haven’t been able
to teach you anything at all!”
Harry was unsure where this was going but was relieved knowing it wasn’t about the DA.
“You’ve taught me loads! I mean just today you taught us that new shield I’d never even
heard of! You’re loads better than Umbridge.”
The professor laughed again, “well thank you Harry. It is good to know that my teaching
skills are above those of Dolores. I know I have been teaching you in class, and you have
been doing quite well if I may say so, but I haven’t been able to teach you personally.
Albus and I think that it would be a good idea for you to learn some rather specialized
branches of magic. Now I’m not exactly sure what you’d like to learn or even what you
know so far. So if possible I’d like to have a meeting with you one night and see what we
can work on. Do you have any particular night that would work best for you?”
Harry thought for a moment, trying to sort out what nights, if any, he had free. Every
Tuesday now he met with his group for the DA and would occasionally go help Ginny,
Ron, or Hermione when needed. On top of that Moody and Kingsley had given their
students the assignment of going through the course they had set up alone and outside of
class once a week
“Well I’m busy tomorrow, and I have to do the training course sometime this week, but
other than that…oh bugger!” Harry cursed as he remembered that he had told his team-
mates he’d be holding Quidditch tryouts on Friday. “Oh, sorry professor, it’s just I
remembered I have Quidditch tryouts on Friday, I almost completely forgot about them.”
“It’s quite alright Harry, it sounds as if you still have either Wednesday or Thursday free,
and I have a faculty meeting on Thursday, so it seems as if our meeting shall be on
Wednesday. One more thing I almost forgot, Albus has recommended, and I quite agree
considering the current state of things, that we keep this a secret. Therefore it would be
wise for you to tell any inquirers that you have volunteered to help me makes the class
plans for the younger students. Now I could never stand it when I missed one of
Hogwarts’ famed meals, and I believe I have kept you from your lunch long enough. I’ll
see you on Wednesday night right after dinner.” The professor smiled and waved Harry
out of his office.
As Harry headed down the hallway he decided he didn’t feel like having lunch today, the
sudden realization that he had to organize the tryouts for the team made him more than a
little queasy. Even though he’d only been back at school for a few weeks the pressure
was slowly building everyday, and now on top of everything else he was going to be
taking advanced magic lessons from Flamel. And there was the inescapable worry over
the prophecy he had to deal with constantly also. Although Ginny usually was able to
take care of some of his worries, his quandary over when to tell Ron and Hermione about
his fate was unshakeable.
Harry climbed through the portrait hole into his room hoping to maybe get a nap in
before double potions began. He walked into the bedroom and tossed down his book bag,
and then just flopped down onto the bed. He closed his eyes and tried some of the
occlumency lessons Snape had taught him last year to try and clear his mind of all his
worries. Every time he tried to clear his mind however his problems seemed to just grow
in size. Harry finally just gave up and stared up at the ceiling letting his worries surround
him.
He laid there for several minutes, just happy to at least have a respite in the constant
questions from his fellow class mates. As he was going over how to solve the Quidditch
problem for the fifth time he heard the portrait door open and close. A moment later
Ginny came into the bedroom.
“Hey Harry,” she said softly, sitting down on the other side of the bed.
Harry mumbled something incoherent and pulled a pillow over his face. Ginny lightly
pried it off and looked right down at him. “Harry, is everything okay? I know something
isn’t alright, I feel it.” She put stress on her last words. “This bond just keeps getting
stronger Harry; I could tell that you were stressed about something ever since this
morning.”
“I’m alright Gin’,” Harry muttered, avoiding looking her directly in the eyes.
“No, you’re not. I told you I can feel it now.” Ginny leaned in closer, now stroking
Harry’s hair out of his eyes. “Do you remember what I told you that night Harry; the
night you told me about this prophecy? Well I do, I promised you I would do anything I
could to help you beat him; I still mean that Harry.” She said, now struggling to hold
back the emotion in her voice and face.
Harry now looked right at Ginny, her red eyes were now sparkling with unshed tears, and
her face was red from her passionate talk. Something about Ginny struck Harry. He had
been bonded with her for over three months now, and although they were sleeping in the
same bed, and held hands, it wasn’t what Harry thought of as a usual couple. Their
relationship seemed to be more based out of sheer necessity, and although he knew he
loved her he hadn’t really seen Ginny in that light since she first showed up on his bed in
the summer. But now, the way she was right next to him, every line of her face showing
utter compassion and love, he realized he really did love Ginny Weasley.
“I love you,” he said quietly, in fact he wasn’t entirely sure she’d heard him.
“What?” Ginny asked, either she really hadn’t heard him or she was startled.
Harry sat up now, and took her hand in his this time he looked into her eyes and again
said, “I love you.”
Ginny’s mind stopped for a moment, stunned by Harry’s sudden absolute sincerity. While
she had had a crush on him even before she’d met him, and she thought she was the
world’s luckiest person for actually being bonded to Harry, she felt that ever since the
revelation of the prophecy Harry had come to see the relationship as a formality more
than anything else. Now actually hearing those words from the one of the people she
cared more for than anything in the world made her heart skip a beat. Harry opened her
mouth to say something but couldn’t seem to find the words; instead she just grabbed him
in an embrace and kissed him.
Harry was a little shocked by her sudden movement but as the kiss continued all of his
earlier worries were erased, he was kissing the person he loved. After what seemed like a
lifetime the two broke apart, both of their faces flushed from their first true kiss.
Ginny wiped a tear from her face although she was smiling brightly, her eyes now alight
with passion.
“Am I that bad, why is it whenever I kiss a girl they start crying?” Harry said perturbed,
excluding one or two kisses from Ginny over the past months his only other kiss had been
from Cho; and Harry tried to forget that moment.
Ginny laughed softly, smiling even more widely, “No Harry, you’re not a bad kisser, in
fact your quite good; It’s just I’m happy. When you said you loved me I knew you
weren’t lying, I knew in my heart that it was true. I’ve had a crush on you ever since I
met you and even with the Heartbond I still thought there might be a possibility you
didn’t love me, but now I know.” Ginny grinned and before Harry could say anything she
kissed him again, savouring the fact that they were really and truly meant to be together.
Chapter 35: A New Bond is Wrought
Gryffindor Common Room
The next morning Harry and Ginny headed over to Gryffindor commons to wait for Ron
and Hermione to go down to breakfast. They sat in one of the large couches and held
each other’s hands as they talked lightly, laughing every few moments. When Ron and
Hermione came down the dorm stairs they looked at the couple sitting closer than usual
to each other and talking happily
Ron looked at Hermione questioningly but she just shrugged her shoulders and went over
to join the two.
“Morning Hermione, Ron, you guys ready to go down to breakfast, I’m starving.” Harry
said as he and Ginny stood up from the couch.
“Careful there Harry, you’re starting to sound like Ron,” Ginny teased him playfully, the
two then broke into laughter again.
Ron once again gave the two an uneasy stare before replying, “Whatever you two are up
to cut it out ‘cause its freaking me out. I just want to get some food; in case you forgot
Harry we have double Offensive Magic today. And Moody seemed pretty eager to test out
his new charm that shocks us every time we make too much noise.” He led them out the
portrait door and down the staircase.
Harry smiled back at him, “We’re not doing anything Ron, I’m just happy today. And
trust me I didn’t forget about Moody’s class. Maybe you don’t remember but Hermione
was the one who so kindly offered him that new charm.”
“Yeah I do, and you better be glad I don’t know the incantation or else you’d be shocked
every time you took a step,” Ron said turning to Hermione resentfully.
“Moody asked us if we knew any charms and I just told him one I read about the night
before,” Hermione said defensively. Ron snorted and shot an argument back at her.
Harry looked at his two friends; they would quite frequently bicker about the most
pointless things, almost like an old married couple. Even though Ginny and Harry had
told Ron that Hermione liked him he still seemingly hadn’t done anything about it. He
shared a look with Ginny, and without saying a word agreed on the next plan of action.
“So Ron, Hermione? Dumbledore announced the Halloween Ball last night; do you know
who you’re going to take?” Harry asked mischievously right as they walked into the
Great Hall.
Both of them had identical reactions. Their faces went bright red then turned absolutely
pale. Both of them were trying to catch glimpses of each other out of the corners of their
eyes. Then Ron’s face suddenly went still and he took a deep breath then turned to face
Hermione. His hands were visibly shaking and it looked like he might start coughing up
slugs if he opened his mouth.
“Hermione?” Ron barely whispered.
“Yes?” she said, a shimmer of hope appearing in her eyes.
“Would you want to ball…would you go to the me…would you go the ball with me?” he
finally uttered out in a surprisingly natural voice.
The two stood there completely silent, in the Great Hall entrance, with Harry and Ginny
behind them. For a moment Hermione didn’t say anything but then a huge grin broke
across her face and she wrapped her arms around Ron, causing quite a commotion.
“I would love to Ron,” she said her arms still wrapped tightly around him. For his part
Ron looked quite pleased to finally have Hermione hugging him instead of lecturing him.
Noticing she was hugging him in the middle of the Great Hall she pulled away but gave
him a quick peck on the cheek as she did so, then headed for the usual seat at Gryffindor
table as if nothing had happened. Ron stood still touching his cheek and probably would
have continued to do so if Ginny hadn’t pinched him. On the arm.
“Earth to Ronald Weasley, you do know the whole school is watching you look like a
complete idiot right now?” Ginny asked as she grabbed his arm and guided him into his
seat.
The Caucus Mountains, Russia
“My Lord, I have excellent news concerning the Order.” A black hooded figured said in a
slightly pompous tone, a few strands of long blonde hair were the only thing visible from
the under the hood. The only light in the room came from a blood red candle mounted on
a sconce near Voldemort’s chair.
“Speak Lucius, and for your sake I do hope it is good news,” the serpentine face of
Voldemort showed a smile of pure mirth as his servant began to speak.
“Well, you do know that Pettigrew and some of the fresher recruits were sent to spy on
my cousin’s old residence, and due to their utter lack of magical ability they were caught
by the Order.” the usual pompousness was slowly returning to Lucius’ words as his
excitement at delivering good news to his Lord grew.
“Yes Lucius, you were the one who informed me of their capture, and you do remember
how displeased I was,” his voice dripped with malevolence.
“Yes I do my Lord, but it seems it was not all for naught. Lets just say Minister Fudge
was more than happy to arrange one of our friend’s early releases. McNair and I just
retrieved Pettigrew last night and already he told us some things of great import. It seems
that the Order has taken a Muggle into its ranks.” Lucius paused to see his master’s
reaction.
The thin snakelike lips of Voldemort bent upwards in what could only be a smile. “I knew
Dumbledore was growing senile, but to allow a Muggle into the Order is foolishness!”
“I agree my Lord, but there is more. My son, Draco, is currently being held against his
will in a Hogwarts dungeon due to a spot of questioning he and Nott performed on a
mudblood girl. We have been able to communicate however and he told me how this little
girl and Potter have quiet a connection, it was Potter who stopped my son from
completing his job in the first place. After learning this I looked a little deeper and it
seems that this little girl is from the same block that Potter’s relatives live on, and her
mother is the one Pettigrew claims is the Order member.” Lucius finished his eyes
gleamed with triumph at being able to deliver this information to his Lord. The
punishment he received from reporting Pettigrew’s failure still stung, but it was now all
forgotten.
“You were right about Draco, Lucius, he is quite useful. Perhaps we can arrange him and
Nott’s early departure from Hogwarts.” Tom’s eyes were filled with a new light, he had
information that he could use against the boy now, and with it he would squeeze every
drop of life from him.
D.A.D.A. Classroom
Harry bid goodbye to Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Emma and Neville after dinner telling them
all he had to go help Flamel with some class plans for the younger students. He had only
told Ron, Hermione and Ginny why he really was going. Harry walked into the empty
classroom and saw the old Professor up front.
He was currently leaning back in his chair, his feet resting on the table, and was whistling
an odd little tune. Harry was struck by how this 600 year old man acted quite young and
jovial.
“Hello Harry, I hope you enjoyed class today. I do know Muggle defenses aren’t terribly
exciting but I tried to make it at least engaging.” Flamel smiled and lowered his feet off
the desk.
“It was great professor, I actually think it’s interesting to see how Muggles protect
themselves because I live with them in the summer.”
“Good, good. Oh, excuse my manners, would you like a cup of tea, maybe a biscuit?” He
waved his wand and a platter appeared with both. Flamel poured two cups of tea and then
passed one to Harry.
He took a small sip and found it wasn’t the usual English breakfast tea he had. He looked
up at the professor.
“Oh the tea, yes I’m afraid over the years I got a little tired of the usual tea, a friend of
mine from India sends me a crate full of this every Christmas. It’s called Chai, which is
essentially India’s Earl Grey, it means ‘tea’ in Hindi.” The professor smiled as he took
another sip of it.
“It’s good, it reminds me of Christmas.” Harry said as he took a sip too.
“Well, now that we are settled in, what do you say I tell you what we shall be doing the
rest of this year. And I can tell you it will be much more interesting and difficult than
Muggle defenses.” He took another sip then set down his cup and pulled a rather dusty
piece of parchment off his desk. “This, Harry, is something I picked up on a trip I took
with Albus over thirty years ago. It is from a group of magicians in New Zealand that
were destroyed by Grindlewald in 1945, this luckily wasn’t. It seems they were interested
in the Heartbond themselves and had studied it intensively. A husband and wife there had
been Heartbonded and they studied them and wrote everything down.
As you can tell that wasn’t a lot, but what is here is very helpful, and will prove essential
to you if you are to survive.” The professor stopped when he saw Harry’s reaction.
“What do you mean ‘if I am to survive’?” Harry asked nervously, how did he know about
the prophecy, did Dumbledore betray his trust and tell Flamel.
“I mean that if you are to survive another battle with Voldemort you need to know more
about the powers you now have,” the old man said softly, but the immense wisdom in his
eyes carried the weight of what he just said.
“How do you know? No one does,” Harry asked nervously.
“Do not worry Harry; Albus did not betray your trust, nor anyone else. I knew it the
minute I met you, the minute I looked into your eyes I saw the combination of panic,
determination, and resignation. You must remember I have had hundreds of years to learn
and read people, I don’t always see that as a good thing either. I promise with my life, I
will not reveal what I know to anyone, it is far too important.”
“That importance is also why you must learn about the other powers this Heartbond has
given you and Missus Weasley. This wasn’t an accident that it happened to you Harry; it’s
given you the tools to destroy him. And I hope that I will be able to teach you what you
need to know to use these tools effectively, I would like to leave this world knowing that
I helped preserve the future, one I will not be able to experience.” Flamel once again
leaned back in his chair, his eyes though never left Harry’s.
“Now, what do you say we start looking over what you can do with this bond of yours?”
Harry left the classroom an hour later exhilarated at learning more about the mysterious
Heartbond and heartened knowing that he and the professor had created a bond just as
strong as his and Ginny’s. The professor had promised his life to helping Harry destroy
Voldemort.
Chapter 36: The Twins Come to Visit
Quidditch Pitch, Hogwarts
The stands were crowded with eager Gryffindors waiting for Harry and the other team
members to come out onto the field and start the open tryouts.
They needed to find two new chasers, Angelina and Alicia had graduated, and two new
beaters seeing how Kirke and Sloper had been told by their parents to focus more on their
schoolwork.
Harry, Ron, and Katie Bell were the only three remaining players and had agreed as they
were getting ready to go on the field to each have an equal say in the selection process.
“Well, are you ready Harry? It’s your first duty as the Quidditch captain, you get to sit out
there and make sure you pick the right people. I don’t know what McGonagall, let alone
the house, would do if you picked a bad team. We’ve gotten used to winning.” Katie
teased.
Harry smiled, “well with you guys helping out I can’t see why we won’t have a great
team. Really though, I do want to say thank you for splitting the load with me, I don’t
think I could do D.A. and this combined.”
Ron clapped him on the shoulder, “What are friends for? Anyway how could I pass up the
chance to be a co-captain of Gryffindor Quidditch? And what if the Chudley Cannons
come and scout, it’d be brilliant!” Ron exclaimed then grabbed his broom and helped
Katie carry out the chest with the balls in it.
Harry followed close behind and soon all three were standing on one side of the massive
Quidditch pitch. The amount of people in the stands was impressive, considering they
were only going to be watching people go through the same drill over and over again.
Harry looked over at Ron and Katie Bell, “guess it’s time to get started, looks like we’ve
got a lot of people to go through.” Harry then pointed his wand at his throat and spoke
once again, this time his voice was amplified thanks to Dumbledore who taught him the
spell.
“Morning everyone, I’m glad to see so many people here to tryout. We’re going to be
looking at chasers first so anyone who wants to try out come on down to this side of the
pitch and we’ll get started.” Harry’s voice echoed around the stadium and about a dozen
Gryffindor’s came down the stands with brooms in hand to try out.
When they were all assembled in front of Harry and the others, Katie Bell spoke, “Okay,
well this year we’re going to be doing things a little differently. Because Harry is a little
busy right now with…other things,” she looked around nervously not sure if everyone
was in the D.A., “anyways, if you line up I’ll have each of you do a lap around the pitch
then some ball work, okay? Right, let’s see, Weasley and McNeal you’re first.”
Ginny grinned at Harry and Ron then jumped on her old Cleansweep 7, which was
actually Charlie’s old broom. The 3rd year boy named Lucien McNeal was close to
follow and soon the two were shooting around the perimeter of the pitch at lightning
pace.
Slowly but surely the pairs of seekers went through the same motions as Ginny and
Lucien, and in just under twenty minutes they were onto ball work. Katie would play the
third chaser and the same pairs would have to work together to score five goals.
Ginny was obviously the best of the 8 students trying out, having grown up in a house
obsessed with Quidditch, but the third spot for seeker was more difficult to determine.
While Lucien flew well he didn’t seem to always be completely in it, then there was a
fourth year girl named Simone who could barely make the turns but somehow managed
to pull off a trick play even Ron hadn’t seen before. The others were somewhere in-
between Ginny and Lucien skill wise, so Harry decided to not make any decisions about
the players until he’d talked to Katie about it.
Up next were the beaters, and seeing how they didn’t have any beaters Ron and Harry
decided to try out the kids together.
“Okay, well next up is beaters; we need two top-notch ones to make sure Slytherin
doesn’t beat our arses next month. I figure with Kirke an Sloper gone we need some
people who know a little bit about the game first off so they can…” but Ron was cut off
mid sentence by a familiar voice from behind the group.
“Great, well looks like we have some fresh meat for the grinder,” said the voice.
“We don’t mean that literally, or do we I can’t remember after the last time I got hit. Do
you Fred?” the characteristic voice of George Weasley chimed in.
“How could I? If you don’t remember I got hit so hard Madam Pomfrey had to glue my
nose back on, along with turning my head back the right direction!” Fred said as he
stepped out from between the crowd of beaters.
“Oh quite correct, I guess I must’ve been hit pretty hard also,” George said hitting his
head with his hand dramatically as they came to a stop in front of Harry and Ron.
Ron was first to respond, “What the bloody hell are you two doing here?”
George stepped back in mock offence, “Why how dare you ask such a thing!”
Fred stepped forward, “Aren’t your two bolder and more dashing brothers allowed to
check in on their ickle Ronnikins?”
Ron had grown more confident, but not enough to turn bright red at his brothers’ teasing.
“Alright shut it both of you before I hex you black and blue.”
Right at the same time Fred and George both pulled out their wands a red flash came
crashing into the twins.
Collapsed on the ground with Fred and George was Ginny attempting to hug both of
them at the same time.
Fred and George both stood up pulling their sister with them, Ginny pulled back smiling
at the unexpected but welcome sight of the twin’s faces. “What are you two doing here, is
everything alright?”
“Yes, yes,” Fred said.
“Everything’s fine, we just thinking to ourselves wouldn’t it be great to help our dear
friend Harry Potter out?”
“Help me out how?” Harry said apprehensively, usually their antics ended up in an
explosion or change of figure.
“Well we heard that you were having beater tryouts and figured to give you a bit of a
hand,” Fred said enthusiastically.
“Yeah, who better to scout for new beaters than the best, most modest, Gryffindor has to
offer?” George added.
“Really? That’s brilliant guys; I can’t tell you how much this is going to help! I mean Ron
and I could’ve probably chosen two people but now we have someone who’s played the
position to really run them through their paces.” Harry said happily, then paused for a
moment, “does Dumbledore know you’re here?”
“Are you insinuating we would have broken in here?” George cried.
“Preposterous! We flooed right into Albus’ own fireplace, he seemed very happy to see us
back.”
“Wouldn’t say that about Filch though,” Ron said, smiling now at hearing his brothers’
reason for coming to school again.
Fred slung his arm around Harry’s shoulder and smiled at the crowd, “Do you reckon we
should start? Looks like we have loads of people to go through.”
“Yeah! I guess I’ll just let you two take control of this part, Ron, Katie, and I will watch.”
Harry announced the change in the try outs then turned it over to Fred and George.
The Caucus Mountains, Russia
“Lucius,” the Dark Lord hissed as his servant stepped inside the dimly lit chamber.
Malfoy dropped to one knee bowing his head deeply, “Master, I have prepared everything
as you have instructed. We can strike even tonight if you so wish.”
“The house is unprotected? I do not want to risk my servants on a task where I will loose
them. Not yet at least…we are too few in number.” The Voldemort’s usual malice seemed
to be mixed with glee also.
“Yes, my lord, the Order does not expect us to know this information. On the issue of
servants, McNair and Severus are working on that as we speak. It will not be long until
we are at our full strength once again.” Malfoy spoke with the determination only a truly
devoted person could have.
“Very well Lucius, strike tonight. Do not leave anything alive, and if you loose anyone I
will be most displeased.” His burning red eyes grew in intensity as he spoke.
Malfoy stood up, bowed and rushed out of the door to prepare the attack.
Harry’s Quarters, Hogwarts
Ron, Katie, Harry, Fred, and George had been up in Harry and Ginny’s room for the
better part of the day after tryouts had been completed. They had been discussing who to
choose for the open positions. The twins’ tests had proven to be quite effective, not only
showing who wouldn’t work but highlighting the skills of those who were possible
candidates; among those was Harry’s old roommate Dean, who flew quite well and was
now the topic of discussion.
“I don’t know Harry, he can fly but will he be a good match for the other beater? I mean
these two players have to work together flawlessly, and I’ve heard that Dean is
sometimes a bit…abrasive.” Katie said after a long discussion of his great broom skills.
“I know Katie, he can come off that way, but I think that if we give him the responsibility
it’ll straighten him up and make him work in a group better.” Harry said as he munched
half-mindedly on a biscuit Dobby had brought up earlier.
Ron rubbed his temples and laid back in his chair, “So, are we agreed on Dean?”
“Yes already!” George said, “and with him we’ll stick Colin. He flew fine and can take
orders. I honestly didn’t see anyone better than those two.”
“George is right. I think that if you can get through Dean’s rather thick skull that he’s
supposed to work as a team he should work out.” Fred added.
“I agree,” Ron said.
“I second that I guess,” Katie spoke and raised her hand as if to vote.
“Well I guess that solves our beater shortage, Dean and Colin it is. I think I’ll out that
Lucien kid on as a backup just in case, maybe he’ll get better.” Harry said to Ron who
was writing the names down on a piece of parchment to post in the commons. “So Katie,
Chasers…who do you think we should pick?”
“Well Ginny is a given, she was by far the best flier,” Katie said matter-of-factly, “but for
the other spot I’m having trouble figuring out. I guess it’d have to be either that Simone
girl or Dennis Creevey. Although I don’t know if it’d be good to have both Creeveys on
the team.”
“I agree with Katie about Ginny, but to tell you the truth I think having both of them on
the team might make them try harder. You know sibling competition and all?” Harry said.
“I don’t want to sound like the brother but I agree with you two on Ginny, she really was
the best. And I think Harry’s right, I know when I was playing with you two I always
tried hard to impress you. I think it might be a good choice.” Ron said then picked up
what had to be his twentieth biscuit and ate it in once bite.
“Well I’m glad you’re enjoying those biscuits Ron, so unless you think we really
shouldn’t have Dennis on the team I think we’ve found our chasers,” Harry said clapping
his hands together. “So now if you’d finish up that list I’ll go down to the commons and
put it up. It’s past midnight so I don’t think there’ll be too many people around.”
Magnolia Road, Little Whinging, Surrey
It was past midnight when the street lamps started to wink out one at a time down the
entirety of Magnolia Road. Soon the entire street was swamped in darkness and several
loud cracks echoed down the dark street.
In the middle of the road stood five dark hooded figures, each one had a white mask
covering their faces. The whole group only remained motionless for a moment then
moved quickly to a nearby house.
Two of the death eaters raised their wands and cast what appeared to be a shimmering
blanket over the small two-storied house. The other three cloaked figures walked slowly
through the shimmering curtain and approached the door.
One of the three raised their wand and slashed it downwards. The door exploded inwards,
shards of it going everywhere. There wasn’t any noise however, and the curtain around
the house lit up when pieces of the door hit it. The three death eaters ran into the now
smoking entrance way and out of sight.
Moments later the window in the top right corner of the house lit up deathly green for a
moment then slowly faded away.
The two death eaters holding up the shield now lowered their wands and waited for the
other three to come out of the partly destroyed house. In the top windows flames
appeared, lapping at the glass. After all five were outside they simultaneous raised their
wands and shouted Moremordre! A serpentine figure appeared in the sky, winding itself
around a grinning skull. All above the now blazing house.
The middle death eater tore off his mask, his silver hand glinting from the only source of
light, the flames.
Wormtail let out a shrill laugh and disapperated, along with the other four death eaters.
Gryffindor Commons Room, Hogwarts
“Harry! Harry! Come on mate, please wake up! Fred, go get McGonagall, George, Katie
help me hold onto him before he hurts himself” Ron shouted as he struggled to hold
Harry’s hands down lest he hurt himself with his flailing.
A moment earlier he, Harry, Katie and the Twins had been posting the Quidditch picks
when Harry all of a sudden grabbed at his forehead and dropped to the floor.
Ron knew right away that this wasn’t the normal ache and pain, Harry had never blacked
out before. Ron tried to shake him, tried to get him to snap out of his convulsions but
nothing seemed to help.
Both George and Katie were struggling to hold Harry still, each one was holding onto one
of his legs with everything they had. All of a sudden Katie yelped and pulled away, “Ow!
He shocked me!” A second later George and Ron had the same reaction, forced to let go
because of the sharp stings they received every time they grabbed hold of him.
“Bloody hell, his magic’s going haywire!” George cursed once again attempting to grab a
hold of Harry.
“I don’t thinks it’s going haywire I think it’s trying to protect him because he can’t do it
himself.” Ron said.
Finally, after trying several more times to grab hold of his friend, Ron saw it wasn’t going
to work for them to hold onto him he stood up and pulled out his wand, “Sorry mate,
gotta do this for your own good.” Ron then shot a stunner right at his best friend’s chest.
Instantly Harry fell limp, his eyes rolling back into their sockets and his legs and arms
dropping to the floor.
“Harry! Where are you Harry? Ron, where’s Harry? I felt something happened to him, is
he okay?” Ginny was shouting, half hysterical as she ran into the commons room. When
she saw the limp form of Harry on the ground she broke into tears as she crumpled to the
ground.
Ron came over and lifted his sister off the ground, whispering to her. “Gin, shhhh, he’s
alright, he’s alright. I had to stun him so he wouldn’t hurt himself. He was having a fit.
I’ve already sent Fred to go get McGonagall; she should be here any moment.” Ron
rubbed his little sister’s back softly, trying to calm her down.
A moment later, true to Ron’s word McGonagall came striding into the commons in her
nightgown. “Mr. Weasley, where is Potter? Is he alright, what happened,” she then came
around the couch and saw the motionless Harry “Merlin! Is he alright, why is he
unconscious?”
“I had to stun him professor, he was having a rally bad fit and we couldn’t control him,
his magic kept shocking us every time we tried to grab onto him. I didn’t know what else
to do,” Ron said, his face much paler now that the adrenaline had worn off.
McGonagall looked stunned but nodded and then pulled out her wand and muttered
rennervate. Instantly Harry shot straight up, his eyes snapping wide open.
“Professor! He…he…she…gone…Massey…Wormtail…fire…where’s Dumbledore…
Joy…why?...Voldemort killed…gone…” Harry sputtered randomly his body going limp
once again.
McGonagall’s face paled considerably a moment after Harry had gone unconscious again,
realizing what Harry had just told them. She spun to face Ron, Ginny, Katie, and the
twins. Ronald, go get the headmaster, the password’s Runts. Fred, George you tow get a
hold of Madam Pomfrey, tell her to hurry, then go immediately find Severus and tell him
to got o headquarters and alert the others. Ginevra , Miss Bell, go find both Miss Granger
and Miss Massey and bring them down here immediately. McGonagall then turned again
to Harry and lifted him up gently brushing the hair away from his eyes and scar.
“Professor, what happened? What did Harry mean?” Ron asked nervously, still unsure
why Harry’s random sputtering had to do with McGonagall’s intense alarm
“I believe Harry has just witnessed Pettigrew murdering Joy Massey,” McGonagall, all
colour from her face gone now.
Chapter 37: Repercussions of War
Magnolia Road, Little Whinging, Surrey
The house was little more than a pile of ashes when the Order members finally apparated
to the home of Joy Massey. It had only been several minutes since Tonks had received a
message from Dumbledore and scrambled the group of members at Grimmauld Place.
Tonks, Hestia Jones, and Lupin stood outside the now smoking shell of what used to be
the Massey’s house. Above it hovered the Dark Mark, appearing and disappearing as the
smoke wreathed around it.
Tonks’ eyes filled with tears as she watched the house fall apart with her new found
friend in it. Lupin placed a hand on her shoulder and simply watched as the fire continued
to surround the house.
“We need to tell Albus what happened. He’ll want to figure out how they got through the
wards,” Hestia said quietly. They both nodded and a second later all three of them
disapperated from the street to the sound of approaching fire engines.
Headmasters’s Office, Hogwarts
Harry sat completely motionless in the large red chair in front of Dumbledore’s desk. He
hadn’t said a word since he had been taken up to the headmaster’s office by McGonagall.
The images of what he had just seen flashed through his mind, the fire, the flash of green,
Joy falling to the ground, everything. What unsettled him most however was that he
hadn’t seen it through Voldemort’s eyes, he had watched the entire murder occur through
the eyes of Joy. Harry shook his head violently trying to dislodge this new, horrible
experience from his mind.
“If you do that much longer you might really shake everything out,” Dumbledore said
softly walking out of an adjacent room Harry had never been in.
“I’d rather not have anything in my head instead of this! I see bloody everything, I saw
them kill her, I was in her mind! I’ve seen Arthur almost get killed, I’ve seen Sirius get
killed, and now this! I can’t do it anymore, I just can’t! Give me a memory charm,
obliterate me, here use my wand. You can just say it was an accident” Harry shouted
shaking harder, tears now falling down his face.
The space around him crackled as if in an electrical storm, blue sparks were jumping
from him to the metal objects around the room. The portraits of the old headmasters were
shouting various warnings to calm down some even fled their frames. His face showed a
mixture of desperation and immense sorrow, tears were streaming down his face as he
tried to hand Dumbledore his wand.
Although the rest of the room was in chaos now, some of the headmaster’s instruments
were now starting to emit loud whistles or glow brightly, Dumbledore himself sat
perfectly still in his chair, acting just the same way he had done months ago when he had
told Harry of the prophecy.
Harry was now completely out of breath, his anger now having died down to gaping sobs.
He tossed his wand onto the desk and slumped back into the chair. After another moment
of only Harry’s sobs breaking the silence, Dumbledore spoke in his usual calm voice.
“I know how hard it must be to live with these memories, every time you have another I
see you age; not in appearance, but in your eyes, in your actions. This war is causing you
to have to grow up much faster than anyone, especially me, would have liked you to have
to; but you cannot forget the past. You must never forget it, from there you will draw your
strength, from the people you love and from everything you’ve witnessed in your life.”
Dumbledore gave him a sad smile, “you will have to be even stronger now, because you
are the only person Emmaline has to look up to now.”
At that moment a knock came from the door behind Harry, “Enter.” Dumbledore said, his
face showing his grief. “Remember Harry, you must be strong. Your friends rely on you,
and you rely on them. If one person falls, so will the others.” The headmaster said quietly
as McGonagall entered the room with her hands guiding a shell shocked Emma into the
room. Behind them entered a crying Ginny, and behind her Ron came in holding a
weeping Hermione.
The moment Emma saw Harry sitting in the chair she burst into tears again and ran to
him. Harry held his arms out and picked her up holding her tightly. He had never been
hugged when he was sad before he and Ginny had been bonded so he was somewhat
unsure what to say; instead he just kept hugging her. Slowly Emma’s crying slowed until
she was just occasionally weeping.
Harry sat her down in the chair and kneeled down so he would be the same height as the
little girl.
“Is my mom…is she…De…de...dea...dead?” Emma whispered in-between breaths.
Harry had no idea what to say, he knew she deserved the truth but it was so hard to tell
someone their only parent was now dead. With a sinking feeling he realized that if the
war continued to escalate like it was Emma would be just the first of many children to be
told they no longer had a mother or father…or both. He finally just nodded, his muscles
at first seemed to refuse to do it but finally he managed.
At this simple movement Emma burst into tears again, wrapping her arms around Harry
even tighter than before. They sat there for what felt to Harry to be hours, no one said a
thing, the only noise was coming from everyone’s sobs. Finally Emma pulled away from
Harry. Something had changed in her eyes, there was sorrow, horrible sorrow in them, but
there was something else that simmered just below. It was difficult for Harry to place but
he could have sworn it reminded him of the same look Ginny had the night she learned of
the prophecy.
“Emmaline, perhaps you would like to sit down, I know how much this hurts. I have
always found crying is one way to sort through one’s problems, Merlin knows I have
done it one more than one occasion. What happened to your mother was tragic, this
whole war is tragic. I promise you this though, no harm will come to you, I promise.”
Dumbledore talked quietly, soothingly, but something about his sentiments struck Harry
as apathetic. It seemed, and many times Harry found was true, that the headmaster was
more concerned with the war itself than the victims.
“Sir, with all due respect, I don’t think that you are the person that should handle this”
Harry started, his magic simmering once again. “Let her stay with Ginny and I tonight,
she doesn’t have to sort through anything tonight, let her be sad. Just for one night, you
never let me do that, you always have placed something else on me when the only thing I
needed was some time to sort through things. And this wasn’t tragic, this was a mistake!
The wards you placed around Joy’s house should have stood up to any attack they threw
at it. I know it’s true also, that’s all I’ve been studying for the past three weeks. They-
should-never-have-gotten-inside-that-house”
The room fell into silence once again, this time it wasn’t from sorrow though, the office
had taken on an unsettling tenseness with Harry’s drastic change of mood. McGonagall
stood in the corner her jaw slack from Harry’s forceful statement towards the headmaster.
For his part Dumbledore remained as stoic as ever, not making the tiniest sign that he had
heard Harry’s statement, instead he stared right at Harry, his twinkling blue eyes piercing
Harry’s emerald green ones. For a moment it seemed time had stopped, no one moved, no
one even breathed. A growing charge could be felt in the room, the torches somehow
grew brighter, flaring in their sconces.
Hermione yelped when a small spark of magic jumped from Ron’s arm to hers. This
seemed to break Harry out of his staring contest with the headmaster. The torches
returned to normal and the office lost its charge. Everyone, McGonagall included
breathed a sigh of relief.
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, looking visibly tired, as if his age had finally caught
up with him. “Very well, Miss Massey you may go with Harry and Miss Weasley and
stay there with them. I am available whenever you are ready to talk.”
Emma nodded, her sobs having stopped during Dumbledore and Harry’s argument. Harry
took her by the shoulder and led her over to the door. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione
followed suite, none of them saying anything while they left.
The door clicked shut, leaving McGonagall and Dumbledore alone in the office.
McGonagall was the first to talk.
“Albus, would you care to fill me in on what just happened? I though you and Potter had
fixed things since the summer?”
Dumbledore waved his wand and conjured a pot. He poured two cups of tea in silence as
McGonagall waited patiently. “I am afraid some cuts run too deeply to be healed. You
know he was right about the wards, about how it was my fault. I did something wrong,
something that shouldn’t have happened. I can’t understand it was a complex set of
wards; nothing should be able to break that, not even Tom. She entrusted her wellbeing to
me and I betrayed it. Now Harry witnessed another person become an orphan just like
him.” The headmaster spoke all of this in a slow clam tone, staring intently at his cup of
tea.
McGonagall was stunned, this was the first time she had ever heard Albus say he had
made a mistake in her life, it appeared that even he was being worn down by this horrible
war. “Albus, he is just a child, it is difficult for him to deal with so much. You do
remember the last war, everyone lost so much; including you. Let him be for the moment,
he needs friends more than controllers right now.”
Dumbledore looked up at McGonagall for the first time since the students had left. “I do
remember the last war, I can’t forget it. All I want to do is protect Harry from his future,
from his fate…” Dumbledore stopped once again, he had yet to tell McGonagall of the
prophecy but it appeared that now would be the moment, “I am afraid I haven’t told you
the whole story of why Harry is so troubled right now. You do know how Voldemort went
after a prophecy concerning Harry last year?”
“Yes, and it was destroyed when Longbottom dropped it.”
Dumbledore sighed, then stood up and went over to the chest holding the pensive, “well I
am afraid that is where the truth separates from what is common knowledge.”
Harry and Ginny’s Dorm, Hogwarts
The sitting room was deathly silent, only the crackling of the fire interrupted the late
night silence.
Harry, Emma, and the others had stumbled into the room fifteen minutes ago and already
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had drifted off to sleep where they lay. Ginny had curled up
next to Harry, her head was now nestled gently on his shoulder. Hermione and Ron had
fallen asleep on the couch next to him, Ron holding Hermione in a protective embrace.
Emma was sitting next to Harry, holding onto his hand with both of hers. They now just
stared into the fire, entranced by the licks of fire, coiling around the wood and up the flue.
Harry’s eyes were glazed over; he was going over everything he had just done in the
office; from blaming Dumbledore to shocking Hermione. His life was slowly getting
more and more complicated, he had come to a startling revelation in his rage though. He
had realized that everything relied completely on him; the whole future of the wizarding
world was now at his feet. Unlike Voldemort however he did not relish the notion of
having the whole world at his mercy. Now Emma was his responsibility, if he hadn’t
befriended the little girl Joy wouldn’t be laying dead in a burning house.
He looked over to Emma who was toying fretfully with the edge of a blanket, her tears
had stopped but Harry could clearly tell that she was still shocked by the loss. He knew
exactly how it felt to loose the only person that mattered to him, the one person who was
like a father to him, so now he had reached a conclusion that he would do anything in his
power to take care of this girl.
Emma noticed that Harry was now looking down at her and she let go of the blanket and
stared back at him. Harry wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer, holding her
in a one armed hug. “Harry?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I help?” Emma said cryptically.
“Help with what?” Harry looked at Emma’s eyes; the same strange look was there again
one that reminded him startlingly of Ginny.
“Can I help you kill him? I want to help you kill Voldemort…he killed my mom. I don’t
have any family anywhere, I’m an orphan!” Emma said, the first part said with resilience
but then breaking down into sobs again.
Harry hugged her again, whispering, “Shh…shh…you’re not alone, you’re not an orphan.
You have me, and Ginny, and Hermione, and Ron and Lupin, we’re you’re family and we
won’t let anything happen to you. I know you want to kill him, I do too, I don’t want
anything bad to happen again. I don’t know how to kill him, but when I do I promise I
will make sure I stop him. I promise I will stop him from hurting anyone else” he spoke
with a certain amount of force, but mainly out of love for his newfound sister, she and
Ginny were the two reasons he had not gone crazy this summer. Every time he was on the
edge of snapping there was always Emma or Ginny to drag him back down onto a firm
footing.
Emma looked up at Harry and knew he wasn’t lying, he really meant what he was saying.
Without saying another word she nodded, smiled faintly, then rested her head on Harry’s
other shoulder closing her eyes. A moment later Harry fell asleep also, his dreams a
welcome respite from the horrible world surround them all.
The Caucus Mountains, Russia
Voldemort cackled with glee, a man dressed in rags was writhing on the floor below him,
his limbs kicking out in agony as Voldemort applied curse after curse on the poor villager.
The man, a peasant, had stumbled accidentally onto the Dark Lord’s base and was now
paying the price for his ‘luck’.
Voldemort, upon unlocking Salazar’s hidden library deep within this castle had found
numerous dark books filled with hexes and curses he had never even imagined possible-
this man had become his guinea pig. There was also one spell, a set of spells to be more
exact that had sent the Dark Lord into this sadistic laughter, it was the one he and his
servants had been searching for ever since he had returned. Voldemort finally delivered
the killing curse on the spent corpse of the poor peasant as Lucius walked into the
chamber.
“Lucius, this news had better be pleasing, I have found some new spells I am quite fond
of” the Dark Lord fingered his wand lovingly in his bony hands.
Lucius bowed down before him never looking up, “Lord, the attack was successful, the
spell performed as you said it would. It was as if nothing was there, I wouldn’t have
imagined it possible if I hadn’t seen it.”
“Well done Lucius, you please your lord. I now have the power I need to throw that fool
Albus off his pedestal. You are excused. Instruct Tippet to come in, I have some new
spells I want to show him” as Lucius bowed and exited a smile formed on the Dark
Lord’s serpentine face
Headmaster’s Office, Hogwarts
McGonagall sat down heavily into the chair adjacent to the headmasters. She had just
heard the prophecy that she, and everyone else believed to be destroyed. She now
realized the immense, crushing burden Albus had placed on Harry. She doubted that even
as an adult she would have been able to handle such a prophecy- to kill or be killed. She
shuttered as the words rang through her head.
“Now you see the immensity of what Harry must deal with, there is a very small group of
people who know the prophecy. Myself, Harry, Ginevra, and now you, we have decided it
to be wisest to maintain this secrecy for as long as possible. There is another problem
though, what you have heard is the entire prophecy. Harry and Ginny have only heard the
first part” noting McGonagall’s look of shock he explained, “it was another piece of
foolishness on my part, one I am having trouble dealing with. I would have told him
tonight, but I did not think it appropriate to have to place even more burden on him than
what is already there.”
“Albus! You must tell him, he must know everything. How could he trust you if you
continue to keep things, things he deserves to know, away from him? If you do not tell
him soon I will, I do not like undermining your authority but he is my student also and if
our world relies on him then I will do my best to arm him with the knowledge he needs.
Tell him Albus, or I will” McGonagall stood up and exited the room without another
word, leaving a conflicted Dumbledore to contemplate the tiny floating figure of the
young Trelawney reciting the prophecy:
…Power the Dark Lord knows not. – Although he is the bearer he will not be able to
wield it alone. Four companions he shall gather; one in love, one in family, one in
brotherhood, and one in compassion.-The one in love, their inner fire will guide his
passion.-The one in family, their boundless knowledge will rein his instinct.-The one in
brotherhood, their grounded faith will steady him.-The one in compassion, their
boundless admiration will strengthen his resolve.-Fire, Air, Earth, and Water will blend
to one and bring light when the veil of death is raised high once again.-But beware,
although as one they are strong, alone each will fail. There is a fifth whose repentance
they must accept for if not, the bearer will be overcome. To end the darkness one must be
willing to light the torch…
Trelawney’s voice cracked and slowly faded as the image once again fell back into the
shimmering pool of the Pensive.
Chapter 38: Harry’s Admission
The Great Hall, Hogwarts
The next day in the great hall was unsettling to say the least. The news of Joy’s murder
had spread in the usual way around Hogwarts meaning nearly every person in the school
knew about the incident by that morning. Emma, Harry and the others had slept in late
that day; McGonagall had taken care of alerting all the teachers of their absence. When
they did finally come down to the Great Hall they did so with great trepidation.
Harry had remembered what it was like when the papers had written something
ridiculous about him so he knew to be wary of how people would react to this news;
Emma, not to mention himself, was too shaken up to deal with that kind of attention.
Because it was nearly noon the tables were empty but everyone knew that lunch would
begin in a little under and hour, so if they wanted to avoid a commotion they would have
to eat quickly.
While Emma appeared to be normal there was something in the way she acted that had
changed, mostly to those people who had spent time with her. The cheerful smile she
always had plastered on her face was now gone and she moved with a certain amount of
lethargy.
Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Emma all sat down at the Gryffindor table and picked
up some of the scraps of food that were still on the large platters sent up by the house
elves; it was mostly pieces of toast or some bacon.
“Come on Emma, you need something to eat, you’ve been up all night,” Ginny said
coaxingly, trying to pass her a plate with some toast on it.
Emma just shook her head and looked back down at her lap sullenly.
“Emmaline, you need to have something or else you’ll just wither up. You need some
food, how else are you going to manage DA lessons?” Hermione added, trying to take her
mind off her loss.
Emma once again shook her head, not bother to look up this time. “Just let her be, give
her time to think” Harry said, in a seemingly angry tone. “All you want is to be alone for
a while, no matter how badly other people say otherwise, trust me on this…” and he left
it at that, taking another large bite out of his cold toast.
Ginny took Harry’s hand supportively, he had told her many different stories about his
first few days at his Aunt and Uncle’s home this summer. Every one of them had to do
with him falling to pieces, sometimes laughing manically, other times contemplating
suicide. She had learned something profound from his stories; the mind was a fragile
thing when it was hurt, and it sometimes just needs to reorganize to deal with the new
pains it has.
Harry squeezed her hand back, he could feel his heartbeat in his hand, and as usual it was
beating at the same time as her own. They had discovered this several days ago after
Quidditch match where even though Ginny hadn’t been playing her heart was beating as
if she was playing just as hard as Harry was. Everyday they seemed to uncover more odd
quirks that the bond had. Today she had awoken only to be enveloped by a throbbing
grief that she somehow innately knew was not only hers but Harry’s.
“What’s the matter mate? Are you okay?” Ron asked concernedly, he knew how badly
Harry had been hurt by Sirius’ death and was nervous that this might have put him over
the edge.
Harry looked up from his plate and smiled sadly, his eyes showing the same pain that
Emma had. “Yeah mate I’m fine, are you okay?”
Ron almost had to laugh, the typical Harry, always worrying about everyone but himself
“I’m getting by” he replied.
Harry smiled again, he knew Ron was just trying to be the faithful friend he always had
been. The pain he was dealing with however wasn’t only due to Joy’s death, it was the
prophecy. For the past week he had been anguishing over the right way to tell them about
the prophecy. He had kept it secret from him friends, his family for too long now. It was
beginning to tear him apart from the inside. Dumbledore gave you permission, just do it!
I can’t they will become too protective, they’ll treat me differently, I won’t be their friend
just “their duty.” What the fuck are you thinking Potter! Of course they’ll be your
friends, they’ve been through just as much as you have, wake up and smell the roses, one
way or another they’ll eventually figure it out. Just tell them now, it will help you, and it
will let them help you. FINE, I’ll do it, happy?...Silence.
Harry looked up again from his plate, squeezing Ginny’s hand for reassurance. “Um,
guys, I have something I need to tell you. I’ve been keeping it secret for too long and its
driving me nuts. Can we go somewhere private, somewhere no one will overhear us?”
Harry said finally, as he said it he knew there was no going back now, he was going to tell
them about his fate.
Ron looked nervously at Hermione and his sister then answered, “Sure Harry, what about
the Room of Requirement?”
Harry nodded, saying nothing else. He then stood up and, still holding Ginny’s hand as if
it were his last hold to solid ground, took Emma by the shoulder and walked with them
out of the Great Hall up to the Room of Requirement.
Room of Requirement, Hogwarts
The room was small, just big enough to fit all five of them comfortably. There was a large
fireplace and a table with some tea and biscuits already on it.
When they all got situated Ron talked first, “What’s going on Harry, you’re starting to
freak us out. You’re not in trouble are you?”
Harry was didn’t saying anything for a little longer, but then he finally spoke after
figuring out just how to say it. Ginny was still right next to him, she knew what he was
trying to do and wanted nothing more to say it herself, but she also knew that he had to
do it himself.
“Do you remember who the prophecy that the Death Eaters tried to take this summer was
about?”
“Of course, it was about you and Voldemort, but Neville dropped it. No one heard it over
the fighting either” Hermione said matter-of-factly
Harry sighed, gathering his strength for what he was going to tell them, “well that’s right,
no one heard it, and that was supposed to be the only place the prophecy was held. But
someone else had heard it when Trelawney made the prediction Dumbledore was there in
the same room.”
Hermione and Ron’s jaws dropped at the same time, just as Harry had guessed they
would, he continued on so they wouldn’t say anything. “Well the night we came back
from the Ministry Dumbledore told me what the prophecy was. He told me not to tell
anyone about it, not even you guys; but I can’t stand it anymore, its been chewing me up
inside. If any of you don’t want to see it you can leave, but if you do stay you have
promise not tell ANYONE about it, not even talk about to each other; Voldemort would
do anything to figure out what the prophecy says. Are you sure you guys want to hear it?”
“I promise,” Emma said, the only one who actually said anything, both Ron and
Hermione nodded their heads still too shocked by this revelation.
Harry pulled his wand out and performed the same spell Dumbledore had done that night
with Ginny.
The faint image of Trelawney appeared suddenly of the middle and began to talk in her
otherworldly voice. The one with the power to…
Malfoy Manor, Outskirts of London
Draco stepped out of the fireplace and dusted his expensive silken cloaks off. He had just
came from the Dark Lord’s castle and had received his new orders, do nothing, wait for
my command. That was all Lord Voldemort had told him, to just wait for his signal and be
ready to go.
Draco had been freed from his holding pen at the ministry by a raid last night by the
death eaters that coincided with the murder of the muggle mother Joy Massey. Draco
couldn’t remember a time when he was happier to see the face of the snivelling rat called
Wormtail than last night. When he returned home he was greeted by his father and then
promptly told to go prepare for a trip to Blauroc Castle for his debriefing by the Dark
Lord himself.
Draco limped back to his room and tossed his mask onto his bed. He pulled off his robes
and then his pants. His right leg had completely turned a dark purple, and there were
sores that were oozing dark blood, he winced looking at it in the mirror. It seemed even
harsher when compared to the sickly pale colour the rest of his skin was.
The Lord had not been pleased to hear of his expulsion, but did seem intrigued to learn
that Potter had decided to take a fancy to the filthy bloodtraitors the Weasleys’ only
daughter. The rest of his body had been spared abuse due to that piece of information.
Give me a chance, I will prove myself Lord, I will kill Potter myself. His proclamation
echoed in his own ears, it had amused the Dark Lord, amused him. The Malfoy pride had
welled up inside of him, he had to restrain himself from speaking out, it would have
meant certain death if he had.
“You will be mine Potter, one day…” Malfoy muttered to himself as he limped off to the
bathroom to try and staunch the bleeding.
The Room of Requirement, Hogwarts
Harry straightened as the prophecy died down…Power the Dark Lord knows not. –
Although he is… he had never heard those last two words before. He was sure of that
because he had played it back over and over in his mind, analyzing everything, trying to
find a way it might not be him; but he had never heard those words before.
“Why is it stopping, it sounded like there was more,” Ron asked wide eyed, he was
rubbing Hermione’s shoulder comfortingly as she cried silently.
“There is…” Harry said suddenly with the suddenness only of someone who knows they
are being played. The fire glowed brighter as he stood up, and without any explanation he
marched out of the room, slamming the door shut so hard it snapped in two.
Chapter 39: Shattered Trust
Headmaster’s Office, Hogwarts
Dumbledore sat at his desk filling out paperwork for the Wizengamot when he was
interrupted by one of the portraits near the door. “Albus,” the portrait of a large man with
a rather feeble attempt at a beard began, “the Potter boy is coming up the hallway to your
office and he doesn’t look happy. Felt like he nearly singed my frame when he walked by.
Thought you should know.”
“Thank you Bringsfeld, I am afraid he may have discovered what I was preparing to tell
him” Dumbledore stood up from his desk and moved over to retrieve the pensieve from
its cupboard.
At the same time that the headmaster was doing that Harry had arrived at the two stone
gargoyles that marked the office’s entrance. Harry never lost his stride, instead of
stopping to give the password the door snapped open with such a force that a crack ran up
one of the stone pillars on the side. He took the spiral steps two at a time, having to stop
because they did not rise fast enough for his pace, when they finally did reach the top the
door, much to his surprise, was already open.
Harry continued walking forward; the torches flickered wildly as he walked into the
room, Dumbledore’s office crackled with the huge amount of magic Harry was throwing
off in his anger. “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME THE WHOLE PROPHECY?” Harry
shouted as he entered the office; but before he could continue his rant his eyes fell to the
now recognizable floating image of the young Trelawney.
…Power the Dark Lord knows not. – Although he is the bearer he will not be able to
wield it alone. Four companions he shall gather; one in love, one in family, one in
brotherhood, and one in compassion.-The one in love, their inner fire will guide his
passion.-The one in family, their boundless knowledge will rein his instinct.-The one in
brotherhood, their grounded faith will steady him.-The one in compassion, their
boundless admiration will strengthen his resolve.-Fire, Air, Earth, and Water will blend
to one and bring light when the veil of death is raised high once again.-But beware,
although as one they are strong, alone each will fail. There is a fifth whose repentance
they must accept for if not, the bearer will be overcome. To end the darkness one must be
willing to light the torch…
Harry fell silent as he heard the second part of the prophecy echo into the room. It
seemed to magnify as it went on, her voice growing louder and louder as Harry heard
more of his fate be told by a person whom had predicted his death every several months
for years now. Yet he remained silent, everything in him wanted to push the pensieve off
the table and storm off but the words somehow stopped him from doing anything. Her
voice died out and the pensieve flickered out once again. Harry was speechless, he had
come in here to fight Dumbledore but somehow he was now sitting in the chair unable to
even look at the man.
“Albus, you have been completely dishonest with me, you have put me and my friends in
danger numerous times, you have made Emma an orphan, and now you have lost my
trust. Even with all the things you had done to me I still trusted you completely, I
believed you knew what you were doing. But now, now you have thrown it away, and
what for? You just wanted to keep another bleeding part of the prophecy secret from me!
I will take classes from you, I will listen to your announcements, but I will not take any
more of your advice, all it has done has brought us all grief. Now I’m going to go back
down to my room and tell explain to my friends what the prophecy they just heard is all
about. Good afternoon Headmaster.” With that Harry stood up, and walked down the
staircase.
Harry walked out so quickly he didn’t see the tear run down the headmaster’s face or the
look of absolute sadness of his old weathered face. The professor pulled out his wand,
touched it to his forehead, and with a quick yank the memory of the conversation dropped
into the whirling pool.
Offensive Light Magic Classroom, Hogwarts
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were lined up outside the door to the training room as they
waited their turn to go through the new setting. Moody had changed it from the
Department of Mysteries to Diagon Alley due to a recent increase in Death Eater
sightings around the area.
Hermione and Ron stood together behind Harry who hadn’t said anything all morning.
They were all emotionally and physically exhausted from yesterdays events.
The day before Harry had told them about the prophecy and then subsequently stormed
out of room after some unknown revelation. He came back half an hour later and
explained what had just occurred in Dumbledore’s Office. He was still so upset that the
room trembled every so slightly, it took the combined efforts of Emma holding his hand
and Ginny running her hands through his hair to calm him down. Finally he told them
that there turned out to be another part that he hadn’t known about until just now and
recounted word for word what it had said.
They had passed the rest of the day in the room, discussing what it could mean and what
they could do to help him. Hermione had headed straight for the books, scouring
everything she could find that mentioned prophecies. Ron meanwhile worked on some
new plans he and Harry had discussed earlier about organizing the D.A. during battle. He
had started reading several muggle history books Hermione had sent in by her mom and
dad, and he was now devising his own strategy to fit the D.A. size and skill.
Harry sat on one of the couches with Ginny and Emma asleep around him. He was
staring at a piece of parchment on which Hermione had written out the entire prophecy,
making sure to charm it to turn into a quill whenever anyone but Harry touched it. His
lips moved silently, going over the words relentlessly, probing the depths of its meaning,
and trying with all him might to find a way to prove it wasn’t him the prophecy talked
about. Yet no matter how hard he tried he knew that it was unavoidable, with the second
part of the prophecy it now cemented the fact that it was indeed him.
Hermione had been the one who made the revelation of course, after listening to the
prophecy only two times she pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing. What
she came up with in the end scared them all.
Four companions he shall gather; one in love, one in family, one in brotherhood, and one
in compassion.
Hermione had written the one line of the prophecy in block letters and below it,
scratching things out every once and a while, was a list:
One in love: Ginny
One in Family: Me
One in Brotherhood: Ronald
One in Compassion: Emma
They all stared at it for a while, then Harry picked it up and threw it in the fireplace. “No
one can know, if anyone figured out you were part of the prophecy you’d be in even more
danger than you are right now. Please don’t tell anyone, I don’t want to be responsible for
anyone else dying.” He begged, his eyes showing the immense load that was weighing
his very heart down.
Ron stepped up to him and looked him right in the eyes, not blinking as he stared into the
deep red of his eyes, “we promise mate. Looks like we’re in it together now, we’ll need to
stick together I reckon.”
Harry let out an exasperated laugh, no matter how serious the situation, Ron managed to
get Harry to smile, even if it was just a quick grin. “I reckon so, but I promise I’ll never
let you guys down. You mean too much to me.”
“POTTER!” Moody barked from inside the doorway. Harry snapped into reality, looked
back at his friends and entered.
Waiting on the other side of the door was an exact replica of Diagon Alley, the door he
entered from was the morphing brick wall he was all too familiar with. The place was
bristling with activity, and Moody and Shacklebolt were nowhere to be seen. Harry drew
his wand and began to cautiously walk down the cobblestone street.
The usual order of random witches and wizards were all around him, bustling to and fro
from all manner of stores. This varied greatly with the last time he’d been to Diagon
Alley and there had barely been a single person out in the whole area.
He passed by Quality Quidditch Supplies and Flourish and Blotts slightly amazed by the
stunning recreation Moody and Shacklebolt had created. He had just finished eying an
assortment of Quidditch robes when something in his periphery caught his eye. He turned
around to see two black hooded figures marching purposefully down the street, their
wands already drawn; they were heading right for him.
Harry raised his own now, aiming it right for them, his pulse rising as he caught a
glimpse of blonde hair from inside one of the hoods.
In a flash the two figures pulled off their hoods to reveal white masks, one of which
Harry knew instantly to be Lucius Malfoy. Harry whipped his wand, not uttering a word,
only drawing it across in a slashing motion across the two Death Eaters. He followed that
with another silent spell, jabbing his wand straight out towards the two now motionless
figures, both of which crumpled to the floor in what appeared to be more than one piece.
Harry then spun around and jabbed his wand sharply at a man behind him. A massive
hole appeared where the person’s stomach would have been, the spell had been so strong
it had carried through him and through the door of the store behind the man. As Harry
spun around again spotting the fourth Death Eater the entire simulation froze, and started
to flicker slightly.
As Harry came out of his adrenaline rush he could feel his heart beating rapidly, and
could feel what could best be described as an electric charge coming from all around him.
It was as he realized it was coming from him that Moody and Shaklebolt stepped out of a
nearby store.
“What spells were you using Potter, we didn’t hear any incantations” Moody asked, his
real eye looking at him as the other examined the dummies.
“I used a stupefy, a reducto, and was going to use a leg locker when you ended the
simulation sir” Harry said, he was still breathing heavily from his encounter.
“Well it wasn’t us who ended it, it’s frozen, just skipping around because of the magic
that you expelled” Kingsley said.
“What magic, I mean I did a couple of spells but this didn’t happen to any of the other
students” Harry asked.
“Well the other students weren’t glowing when they were fighting,” Moody said in a tone
that sounded like a mix of awe and confusion.
Chapter 40: Turmoil in the Ministry!
Quidditch Pitch, Hogwarts
A month had passed since Harry’s last encounter with Dumbledore and things had calmed
down somewhat with the passage of time. Since Joy’s murder everything had once again
gone quiet, it seemed that Voldemort was biding his time in this war, he would not be
rushed.
At the moment Harry, Ron, and Ginny stood together along with Katie, Dennis, Dean,
and Colin. Inside the dressing room the dull roar that was the hundreds of cheering
students seeped through the door. It was the first Gryffindor quidditch match of the
season and everyone’s nerves were on edge due to the fact that it was against Ravenclaw
who had beat Slytherin in their first game of the year.
Harry picked up his broom as he heard the announcers, Fred and George, who were going
to be there anyways decided to take up the position, call out Gryffindor! The others
followed suit, Dennis, Dean, and Colin were all spectacular shades of green, each of them
outdoing the next.
“Relax guys, you’ll be fine. Just watch out for their new beater, Hanley, he’s a brute.”
Ron said helpfully, his pre-game jitters now were only in the form of an upset stomach,
“also, don’t get knocked out, that is always bad for the team.”
Harry kicked the door open to the roar of the Gryffindor fans, he jumped on his broom
and shot of into the middle of the field. Above the roar he could make out the twin’s
trademark voices as they discussed the teams.
“The outstanding…”
“Amazing…”
“Miraculous…”
“Gryffindor seeker and team co-captain, that, next year every premiere league team will
be trying to recruit.”
“HARRRY POTTER!!!”
“Next is the Weasley powerhouse, Keeper and co-captain Ickle Ronnie…”
“and our favourite chaser Ginny! Behind them come the new kids to the team…”
“Colin, the new beater, and Dennis, the chaser…”
“And behind them come veteran Katie Bell and another new beater Dean Thomas!”
The team flew a lap around the field and formed a half circle next to the Ravenclaw team
and Madam Hooch. As usual she went through the rules and made the captains shake
hands. Then they split apart and got into formation for the start.
As Harry lazily circled around from up high he noticed that there were dozens of Aurors
positioned around the stands and the teachers seemed to have dispersed themselves more
evenly than usual around the stands.
This made sense to Harry. Silence in someway could be more damaging than any action.
The lack of news of action for nearly a month by any of Voldemort’s followers had made
everyone slightly paranoid, and it was becoming more and more obvious that the ministry
was close to snapping. Fudge had been mishandling everything, instituting random laws
that seemed to come from mid air. Harry and everyone else seemed to know that it would
just be a matter of time before he either resigned or was voted out.
Harry looked up and saw Cho Chang on the other side of the field. She had been
attending the D.A. meetings and was always kind to him, but for some reason he sensed
that there was some resentment for going out with Ginny. She didn’t know about the
Heartbond but he assumed it wouldn’t make much of a difference to her. He shrugged it
off, his muscles tensing as the box was kicked open and the snitch shot out of it. He
managed to follow it for a little until Dennis shouted “behind you!” and he had to duck to
avoid a well aimed bludger.
For forty minutes the game continued at a pace that seemed to be almost in fast forward.
Everyone was playing excellently, both sides gave as good as they got. The most
shocking thing was that although they were playing at a fever pitch the score was
remarkably low; it was only 40-30 Gryffindor. Ron was catching everything they threw at
him and the Ravenclaw keeper, a second year named Erin, was matching his saves.
Harry watched as Ginny snatched the ball and Katie, and Dennis flew along side her,
covering her sides from bludgers.
“And Ginny has the quiffle!” Fred shouted.
“Looks like there might be a chance to get a point here” George added.
“and they split apart, Ginny going up, Dennis going down, and Katie going straight.”
“I’ve never seen a play like this before, don’t know what they’re planning”
Harry watched in guarded enthusiasm as he watched the play that Ron and he had come
up with go into action. Just as planned they had split apart, Ginny now atop the other two
holding the quiffle, now came the hard part though.
Ginny shot up, but as doing so dropped the quiffle. The keeper moved up to block Ginny,
then realizing her mistake went down to block Katie who had caught the dropped ball,
only to realize to late that she too had dropped the ball and now it was Dennis who had it.
He threw it hard to the right goal and it sailed in perfectly.
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!! Dennis scores his first goal as a chaser for
Gryffindor.”
“The score is 50-30”
Harry resumed searching for the snitch, knowing that this game really depended on him
catching it soon or else they might loose the lead. He glanced over to Cho who seemed to
have though the same thing and was now looking much more intently. He looked
frantically for twenty minutes until he finally saw it hovering right in the middle of the
field, practically hovering there.
He didn’t care about Cho seeing him, she was further away and she only on a Nimbus
2000. He tucked into his broom, urging it forwards in hopes of catching it right there.
In the back of his head he could hear Fred and George’s commentary, “And it looks like
Potter has seen the Snitch!”
“Look at him fly, he must be going at least 110 miles and hour right now!”
“Cho is behind him though, and seems to be keeping up, she’s not out of the running
yet!”
Harry covered the hundred yards quickly, he stretched his hand out preparing to catch the
snitch that was darting back and forth. With one last burst of speed he pushed forwards,
and lunged at the gold ball, grabbing its wing and pulling it in towards him.
“POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH!”
“GRYFFINDOR WINS, 200-30!”
Harry was instantaneously mobbed by the team, Ginny getting there first and kissing him
soundly before the rest surrounded him. They were too occupied with celebrating to
notice the commotion going on in the commentators box.
“And this is Harry and Ron’s first win as captains”
“I’m sure it will not be their….”
The voice died out and was replaced with a much deeper voice, one that everybody knew.
“Everyone, please go to your house common’s immediately. Do not panic, there is not an
attack but we need to ensure that everyone is here. So please head to the common’s and
continue your celebrations there.” Dumbledore’s voice echoed throughout the arena, no
one said anything for a moment then quickly started to file out of the stands and rush to
their dorms.
The players followed suit, flying to the main door and hurrying to the dorms. Harry,
Ginny, and Ron however flew over to the commentator’s box and landed.
“Professor, what is going on?” Harry asked, interrupting his conversation with Moody.
“Harry, you and the others should be going to your rooms, it is not safe,” Dumbledore
said.
“Sir, remember about not having any more secrets. Tell us what is going on, we’ll figure
out anyways.” Harry said in a deeper more commanding voice than usual.
The headmaster seemed to think it over for a moment then spoke, “From the spotted
reports we have been receiving that was a coup-de-tat at the Ministry a few minutes ago.
Oh don’t worry it isn’t Tom or the Death Eaters, it appears that some of the members of
the Wizengamot were displeased with the way Cornelius Fudge was handling matters and
decided to overthrow him.”
“More like throw him out” quipped Moody, he seemed quite pleased with the news.
“Yes, well either way we decided in this time of political turmoil it would be a good idea
to remain in the castle until the dust settles.” Dumbledore said, “Now if you would come
with us into the castle I would like to seal the doors for tonight.”
Great Hall, Hogwarts
The news of the coup had spread everywhere. That was the only thing being discussed
the next morning at breakfast. There was little information on what had actually occurred,
and what they had heard was distorted horribly due to its constant retelling and
elaboration.
At one point Harry and the others heard a story depicting a giant flame breathing demon
dragging a screaming Fudge out of his office and into the main hall where he was
barbequed.
Many of the students were also afraid that something might have happened to their
parents in the turmoil. A huge amount of people had someone in their close family who
worked in the ministry.
Needless to say when the owls flew in this morning there was much more commotion
than there usually was. Hermione twiddled her thumbs nervously as she watched the
delivery owl glide over to her seat. It landed softly and hooted. Hermione tore the paper
out of its grip and stuffed the two knuts into its pouch.
In the nearby vicinity everyone crowded around her as she unrolled the paper. The front
page was typed all in huge purple capital letters.
FUDGE FORCIBLY SACKED!
MINISTRY IN TURMOIL
WIZENGAMOT ANNOUNCES NEW INTERIM MINISTER
HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
AMELIA SUSAN BONES
Chapter 41: Merlin’s Heroes
D.A. Meeting, Hogwarts
The room of requirement was bustling with activity as the entire D.A. settled into chairs
arranged in the magically enlarged room. This was to be the night where the different
groups were split into their command squadrons. Harry and the others had been taking
notes as the different groups and last night they had worked out six different squads, each
one with two offensive fighters, two defence, a runner, and a medic. Upon Ron and
Hermione’s learning of the prophecy they had changed it somewhat due to the new piece
of information that was if the D.A. was really going to fight Death Eaters then they would
probably be doing it to give Harry enough cover to fight Voldemort uninterrupted.
They had fought over the new change in strategy all of last night, Harry not relenting
until after Hermione had explained that the D.A. now finally had a purpose, and that they
had all willingly signed up to help fight Voldemort. This way they were actually helping
to put an end to him once and for all.
Harry looked up from his seat at the front of the group, Hermione and Ron were chatting
anxiously as they reviewed the squad assignments. Ginny was next to him, she was
chatting with Neville about a new healing charm she’d learned from Madam Pomfrey.
Harry looked at his small, beaten up watch and stood up deciding it was time to start the
meeting. As soon as he started to get out of his chair the room went silent, everyone here
was eager to hear their new group assignments. They would be training with the every
week now instead of their larger group.
“Okay guys this is the big night, we’re going to split up into the squads. Before we do let
me say something, and I know it sounds a bit like I’m channelling Moody but bear with
me…This is your family, these are the people you’re trusting your life to, you have to
learn to work as a group or else you will fail. Dumbledore told me once that Tom’s best
weapon was spreading chaos and distrust; he is right. We need to stick together, there
really isn’t another way that we’ll be able to do anything to stop Voldemort or his
cronies.” Harry surveyed the group then looked over to Ron who had the list.
Ron nodded, then stepped up, “Righto, well all that stuff Harry said is right on, the people
we’re about to pair you with will be the people who’ll watch your back out on the
battlefield. Now each squad will have a colour that will be their squad sign, each squad
will also report to either Hermione or I. Now let’s get started…” Ron unfolded the
parchment and began to read off the group assignments. No one said anything; there were
no moans of discontent or cheers of happiness. Harry realized for the first time that the
people in the D.A. were not kids anymore, they were adults; young people forced to grow
up in a world that held innumerable uncertainties. The groups started to form as Ron read
off the list and pointed to where they should meet. Soon everyone had been split into
their individual squadrons and were talking eagerly amongst themselves. Harry stood up
held up his hand for quiet and then started talking, “Great, well these are your squadrons,
like I said you will have to learn to trust them, you have to learn to work together.” He
looked down at his watch, “Well it looks like we have a little bit of time for some
questions or comments. Anyone…?”
There was a small amount of commotion in one of the groups, a moment later a young
Hufflepuff was pushed up front by the group. He stuttered for a moment trying to find out
what to say. “I…well we I guess…we think that we should get a new name for the new
D.A. I mean we’ve changed everything else why not the name, also that way we can talk
about it without people know what we’re doing.”
The group nodded in approval, so did Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. “I think that’s a
brilliant idea, it makes sense also, we’re not just a training club anymore. Does anyone
have any good ideas for names? Just shout them out.”
“Potter’s partners!”
“Tom’s nightmare!”
“Harry’s Helpers!”
“The Kid Brigade!”
“Hogwarts’ defenders!”
“Merlin’s army!”
Hermione wrote all of them down, and by the end there was a list of about twenty
different names.
“Well looks like we have a big selection, I’ll read them off again and raise your hands for
the one you like the most.” Harry read them off, to his surprise “Harry’s Helpers”
received the second most votes with “Merlin’s Heroes” getting the most. “Well it looks
like you guys liked Merlin’s Heroes the most. If that’s the one you like then it is official,
we will now be known as Merlin’s Heroes.”
“Okay well that’s all guys, have a good weekend and we’ll set the meetings for each
squad on the coins this Sunday so keep an eye for them.” Ron said dismissing the kids.
Harry turned around to face his friends and was grinning.
“What’s going on Potter, why do you have that huge grin on your face like it’s your
birthday?” Ginny teased, tickling him on his ribs.
“I’m smiling because for the first time since I’ve heard the bloody prophecy I think that
we might be able to do something about it.”
The Ministry of Magic, London, England
To say that the ministry was in chaos would be an understatement. Right now the only
thing that had any form of regularity were the random yelling matches that were taking
place in the hallways as Madam Bones took control and expelled all of Fudge’s cronies
with people she trusted.
Half of the offices were completely shut down to these purges and paperwork had now
started to simply pile up outside of the closed office doors. There was also an increased
Auror presence throughout the ministry that the Wizengamot had ordered as they
declared the coup. Everything had been turned upside down, and Madam Bones was
having trouble reining things in.
Dumbledore walked down the hallway flanked by Lupin. They were heading for a
meeting with the new Minister of Magic to meet about the new government and the
protection of the Ministry itself.
Dumbledore and the others walked up to the Minister’s office, the door was wide-open
and huge stacks of papers and scrolls were falling off of the secretary’s tables. From
inside the office there could be heard a commotion echoing around the room. “Donald!
Where the Merlin are those draft papers? I set them down for just a minute and now
they’re gone. I need those damn papers Donald before the headmaster gets here!”
Dumbledore smiled and walked into the office, “I am afraid we will have to do without
those papers Amelia.”
The minister’s frazzled head popped out of the office and smiled, “Oh I hope you did not
hear that Headmaster. Please come in, come in. Hello Remus, how are you?”
“I’m doing very well Minister, how are you holding up?” Lupin asked kindly.
“Well you can tell its not going as smoothly, Fudge left us with little to go on. And please
call me Amelia, I am just doing this for the people.”
“Thank you, I will Amelia, should we get started now?”
They went into the office and Dumbledore conjured two chairs amid the piles of papers.
“Well Amelia, first off I would like to thank you for volunteering for this rather loaded
job. I know that I can’t stress to you how important that the ministry stay strong in these
dire times. I am hoping to find a way that the Order may be able to help you maintain
some sembalance of control here at the ministry.” Dumbledore said, at the same time
conjuring a pot of tea and three cups.
“Thank you Albus” Amelia said, accepting the cup, “I couldn’t agree more about the
importance of protecting the ministry. Although I just don’t know how to do it, even with
the Order helping we are still dangerously thin on protection. Vol…Voldemort simply
marched in here this summer, and that was with a fully functioning, although inept,
government. I simply cannot see how we are to stop him Albus, from the reports we’re
receiving he’s gathering a huge amount of supporters…some say more than the first
time.”
“That is precisely why we must present a strong, unified front, if we cannot manage to
bring the ministry back to full force I am afraid that we may not be able to stop him this
time. I do have a solution to the security problem however, unfortunately it will mean
moving out of your office for several days.”
“Of course, of course, I want to ensure the safety of the workers and the government.
What are you planning?”
“Well I was hoping to use Remus to oversee the fortifications, seeing as I will be needed
at the Wizengamot to repeal many of Fudge’s antiquated acts. I’m not sure you know this
but Hogwarts has the largest house elf population in England and they possess the perfect
skills to help secure this building.” Albus said smiling as Dobby appeared next to him
with a flash.
Chapter 42: The Archive
Nicholas Flamel’s Office, Hogwarts
“Again!” He shouted and threw another spell at an exhausted Harry.
Harry barely got his head around when he saw the next spell shooting towards him. His
wand was laying on the ground several meters away, not enough time he grimaced to
himself. Harry panicked and threw his arms up in front of him to try to stop it from
hitting his face. He squinted his eyes shut and waited for the impact of Flamel’s spell.
None came, all he heard was a crash and the tinkle of broken glass. He lowered his arms
cautiously to find Flamel staring at a broken tea kettle next to him.
“Very good Harry! Very good!” The old wizard said clapping his hands together. “You
almost got me that time, barely managed to bounce the spell away, unfortunately the tea
kettle doesn’t appear to have fared as well. Do you know how you conjured that shield
without your wand Harry?”
Harry shrugged, waving his wand causing the broken teapot to rebuild itself. “I ‘dunno, I
guess you caught me off guard. I was pretty desperate, all I thought to do was to throw up
my arms so they would take most of the hit.”
“Well it worked, your magic reserves seemed to have kicked in when it knew you were in
trouble. Professor Moody told me that this has happened with you during some of the
more intense training sessions you had?”
“Yep, but those were different, it wasn’t a shield, most of the time I either can just cast
really strong spells with my wand, or, well I start glowing.” Harry said as he twiddled his
wand in his hands. Over the past weeks Moody and Kingsley had been increasing the
difficulty of the courses as Harry became better and better at controlling his new found
power. Dumbledore had been told of the development but had stayed away from the
young boy, not daring to anger him any further than he already was. He had left Harry’s
training in the hands of Nicholas Flamel.
“These things are not at all different, in fact they’re all caused by the same thing, the
Heartbond. I would not be surprised if your friends started to gain a greater aptitude for
certain branches of magic just as you are. I have been fortunate enough to read some the
older texts in the Hogwarts vaults that are miles below us right now. In one of these
tomes I found a study done by an ancient philosopher about the Heartbond. It took me
quite a while to find the proper charm to translate the ancient Gaelic but when I did it
filled me in on a lot of things that I think you’d be interested in. I’m afraid the charms
placed on the vault wont allow any of the manuscripts to be taken out but if you wanted
to we could go down there so I could show you what I’ve found.”
He nodded vigorously, “That’d b brilliant! When do you think wed be able to go? I’m
free right now.”
“Well I have a class a little later but if you really do want to we can head down there right
now, let me just grab a cloak, it gets cold down there.”
A moment later Harry followed Flamel out of the office and through a confusing maze of
stairwells and hidden pathways. Several moments later they were standing in front of a
wall in a hallway Harry had never even thought existed. There was something odd about
the hallway they were standing in. From what Harry could tell every square inch it was
covered in miniscule writing, it was carved deep into the stone yet the letters and words
flowed as if it were written in ink.
“If you’ll stand right behind me I’ll open up the archives. Oh and Harry, it would be best
if people did not know that this place existed, much of what is kept here is believed to
have been destroyed. It is one of the few things we have to keep ourselves in the race
against Voldemort.” Harry nodded solemnly and Flamel smiled. He waved his wand in a
complex motion infront of him the only noise coming from the swishing of the wand. As
he continued this motion, gradually speeding up, a light seemed to emanate from the
walls. Only as Harry watched more intently did he realize that the light as actually
coming from the letters themselves, each one slowly growing brighter and brighter. Soon
the whole hallway had turned from poorly lit to overwhelmingly bright. The intensity
died down, but the hallway was still covered with the glowing words. When Harry knelt
down to inspect what they said he realized that it wasn’t in English, in fact he struggled to
find a single word that was recognizable.
“This writing’s in Gaelic too, Salazar Slytherin had the Chamber of Secrets, Godric
Gryffindor had the Archives. Albus only found it a few decades ago, he stumbled upon it
after hearing an ancient portrait babble on about it. Now just take a step back so the door
can open,” he said gesturing but never taking his eyes off the wall in front of him. He
raised his wand once again and ripped it straight down. The effect was immediate, the
wall snapped open, the two sides of the wall slamming against the adjacent walls with a
snap!
Nicholas smiled and walked into the hallway, torches burst to life in front of them.
Neither of them said a word as they proceeded, the reached a seemingly endless spiral
staircase which Flamel motioned to. Harry set his foot down on the stone step and it
immediately began to drop, but Flamel was already on behind him so he had no choice
but to stay on. The stair did not fall away, it simply started to glide downwards guided
around the centre post by and invisible hand; it was a wizard’s version of an escalator. So
they began their descent into The Archive.
The Ministry of Magic, London, England
Hundreds of miles away the ministry was the farthest thing away from the peaceful
reverence Harry and Nicholas had just entered into. Under the supervision of Lupin the
ministry was undergoing a complete overhaul security wise. The house elf’s had assumed
the job of construction workers.
There was also the now near constant influx of new prisoners being transported to what
was supposed to be the temporary holding pens. Due to the overthrow of Azkaban these
were the only secure holding pens that the ministry had the use of. The house elves were
working feverishly on constructing a new one but even the best estimates held the
completion of it to be a few weeks out. At the moment two Aurors stood guard outside of
the main entrance, each one was next to a panic button that would close down the entire
area until Dumbledore could come and unlock it.
Today the two guards were very tense due to the new prisoners they had just received.
Less than 30 minutes ago they had gotten two top priority prisoners, both of which had
been captured by the Aurors last night after they had tripped several wards around
Gringotts. The holding pens were now completely closed off as an added precaution. The
two guards were too absorbed in their own nervous thoughts that they didn’t notice the
slight flicker of the torches around them and the black robed figure approaching them
with a steady gait.
Within moments he was upon them, neither had a chance to say a thing, their windpipes
being crushed by and invisible hand. Both dropped to the ground paralyzed. The figure
whipped his wand out of his cloak, holding it gently in one of his pale white hands. Using
a spell he had just been taught Lucius moved his wand gracefully, practiced, a moment
later the metal door simply melted to the ground. He smiled, the Dark Lord always
knows.
He performed the same spell on two more doors, finally reaching the actual holding pens.
There were shouts of glee, clapping, sobs, Lucius ignored them all; time was short. He
spun around finally locating the two prisoners he needed, one was a small rat of a human,
another a taller lankier figure. “Wormtail, I can’t say I’m surprised you managed to find
yourself in prison, this is the fourth time the Dark Lord has had to rescue you?”
“Second!” He spat, dusting his tattered robes off with his silver hand, “are you going to
get us out of here or not Lucius.”
Malfoy continued as if he hadn’t heard Wormtail’s jibe, instead he stared right at the other
figure as he continued, “Mr. Fudge, yet another person I love to see in prison. You were
caught with Wormtail I assume, trying to regain the Dark Lord’s trust? Earn some
recognition?” He straightened his hair out, then drew his wand on the former prime
minister. “I am afraid the Dark Lord no longer requires your service, yet you know too
much, that is why he has sent me here, good-bye.” And with that Lucius waved his wand
yelling avada kedavra at the same time. The old man slumped to the ground of the prison
floor, lifeless.
Lucius waved his wand again and the metal bars melted to the floor, “Come Wormtail, let
that be a lesson to you to never lose your value.” With that the two Death Eaters marched
out of the holding pens and into the main entrance of the Ministry.
No one noticed the two dead guards until ten minutes after Lucius and Wormtail had
marched out of the building.
The Archives, Hogwarts
Deep below Hogwarts silence reigned supreme. The entire caver echoed with each of
Harry and Flamel’s steps. When they had reached the ground level the entire room
illuminated itself. Harry was thunderstruck. In-front of him were millions of books on
huge soaring metal frames, each frame was held up by huge metal chains that ascended
into the blackness above. The enormity of the archives put the library to shame.
“These, Harry, are the great Archives of Godric Gryffindor, collected from all over the
wizarding world. No two books are the same; many are thousands of years old. The one I
want to show you is over here, it’s on the table so we can actually read it.
Harry followed the professor to one of the ancient drafting table that lined the hallways
between the shelves. On it was a massive leather bound book, each page was
painstakingly written in what appeared to be gold in. Each word glittered in the light of
the torches. The first page had Heartbond embossed gaudily on the cover, underneath it
was the author’s name, Bruadair Fionnlogh.
“From what I can discern it is around three thousand years old, and actually is a firsthand
study on the Heartbond and its effects on a couple who it is set upon. So far all I have
been able to gather is the last name of the couple: Dubhshlaine. As for why they received
the bond I am not sure but it is well documented. From the first few chapters I’ve
managed to read it would seem that you and Miss Weasley are in the begging of the
middle stages of the bond, you have long passed the necessity for proximity, and from
what you have told me you can occasionally feel each other’s emotions.
I think that you are in the stage of magical growth, both of you are gaining strength with
your spells, some it seems you can even do wandless. As time goes on it should grow.”
Flamel turned to the next page to a covered in a diagram of what appeared to be the four
elements surrounding a single white point.
“What is that?” Harry asked intrigued by the drawing and its somehow familiar
symbology.
“Oh that, well lets see, it says The Five Elements.” Flamel scratched his head, “That can’t
be right there’s only four…”
“Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire, we’ve learned them during potions for balancing potions.
I’ve never heard of a fifth,” Harry asked, running his finger over the white spot in the
middle. “Wait! It says something, its in silver ink so it’s hard to see. Lumos!” He said
moving the wand right to the spot.
At first it was difficult to see but it slowly appeared as his eyes adjusted to the intense
light. It was a single word, written in beautiful cursive with silver ink. It was a word
Harry recognized from the earlier pages. It was Dubhshlaine “I think I found the last
name of the couple who was being studied. It is Dubhshlaine right? Any idea what that
means?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know that much Gaelic but let me try the charm I’ve been using on it.”
He pointed his wand at the parchment and gave it a simple flick. The Gaelic handwriting
seemed to drip off of the page and was replaced with English. Harry lowered his wand
once again to the paper, this time the Name hit home, he felt as if he’d just been hit in the
gut. As he stumbled away Nicholas leaned inwards, using the light of Harry’s dropped
wand to read. The flowing silver script now read Potter.
Chapter 43: Lockdown
Hogwarts, England
Harry had just gotten out of the Archive and was heading upstairs to show the others the
diagram he had gotten when he heard a huge roar from the Offensive Light Magic
classroom.
“THEY GOT AWAY! THEY WALKED INTO THE MINISTRY? WHO’S
DEAD?...BLOODY HELL!”
Harry could recognize the distinct yells of Mad Eye Moody all the way down the hall and
rushed to the classroom to figure out what had happened.
Inside the room it was chaos. Moody and Kingsley were in the middle of what was
supposed to be a class. On the far side of the classroom however there was a rather
harried looking Auror whose head was poking outside of the fireplace. Moody was now
running, or doing the best he could, across the room to get his cloak to go to the ministry.
The kids had never seen Moody this angry and were all cowering in the corners.
“Professor what’s going on? PROFESSOR!” Harry had to shout over the commotion, still
neither of them recognized he was there, “MOODY!” he shouted in a last ditch effort to
get Mad Eye to hear him before leaving. It worked and he spun around on his wooden
leg.
“Professor, what is going on? Who’s dead,” Harry asked as he shoved his way through
the mass of 2nd years.
“Can’t talk Potter, I’m needed at the ministry. Talk to the headmaster I’m sure he can tell
you.” Moody limped past him to the fireplace.
Harry bristled; even now he resented being kept out of the loop when it came to the war,
especially when it most concerned him. “Moody, tell me what happened or I’ll just go to
the Ministry myself.”
Moody turned around and stared at him, both his eyes were focused on him, his jaw was
slack. Behind him Harry could hear the children whispering in wonder. Harry, confused
at the sudden lull in the commotion looked around until he saw one of the children
pointing at him. He looked down at his hand.
It was glowing. More precisely, he was glowing. Just like the last time he was radiating a
golden glow from his skin. As he stared at his hand his heartbeat and breathing returned
to normal, and the glow started to fade away.
After another moment of silence Moody regained his composure and turned for the fire.
He tossed some floo powder at the fireplace and stepped in, barking “Ministry of Magic!”
Harry shouted to stop him but he was gone, Kingsley was standing at the other end of the
room getting his cloak to leave too. “Kingsley, do you know what is going on?” Harry
asked, slowly inching towards the fireplace.
“Sorry Harry, like Moody said, you should ask the Dumbledore if you want to know
what’s going on.”
Harry shrugged, reaching the hearth of the still burning fireplace, “The headmaster
doesn’t tell me anything anymore. I won’t be long, and don’t worry…I know how to
handle myself.” With that Harry grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it in the fire.
Kingsley moved to stop him but he was too far away. Harry stepped into the tickling
flames and shouted, “MINISTRY OF MAGIC!”
Arithmancy Classroom, Hogwarts
Hermione had just finished calibrating her calculations and was arranging the final
weight on her scale using he wand to levitate it gently into position. “Almost there, come
on…” she muttered to herself, her tongue sticking out in concentration. The small
platinum weight moved onto the top of the pile and settled, finally calibrating the precise
scale.
Hermione looked up from her work with a smile, she raised her hand to get Professor
Vector’s attention. “Professor I’m do…”
The rest of the sentence was drowned out by a loud alarm bursting to life in the
classroom. The claxon wailed through the room, bouncing off the walls and building
upon itself until it was just a numbing roar coming from the room. Hermione’s perfectly
balanced scale fell to the floor, scattering the dozens of small weights all over the floor.
Some of the students tried to run from the room but when they opened the door they
found that the usually ornamental suits of armour were now blocking the entrance with
their pikes and shields. The students turned to Professor Vector, but she looked just as
perplexed by the events.
The sirens stopped suddenly and the room returned to its usual silence, a moment later
the voice of Dumbledore took its place.
“Students and faculty, the alarm that just went off was a ward that was newly placed over
the school. It is designed to cordon off the school, making every level and section
impossible to breach. By going into lockdown we can stop the movement of potential
hostile figures. Do not be alarmed however at its employment right now, it was a false
alarm triggered by a floo transport. I apologize deeply for this rather…loud test of our
alarm system.” The voice stopped and the suits of armour returned to their usual spots
along the wall.
“You heard the Headmaster, it was just a test, now let’s get back to the measurements
needed for determining the magical properties of the thestral,” Professor Vector said
picking up parchment that had fallen off of her desk.
Hermione was sitting back down at her table when there was a loud crack to her left. She
turned to she what it was and came face to face with a large set of glistening eyes.
“Dobby?” Hermione asked, taken aback by his sudden appearance.
“Yes Missus Hermione. Dobby is here, was sent by Mister Dumbledores Missus. He
wants to see yous up at his offices. He told me that his favourite candies are mint
galleons.” Dobby bowed deeply then snapped his fingers before Hermione could ask a
single question.
She looked over to Vector for permission, she just waved her hand in dismissal.
Hermione crammed her books into her bag and rushed out of the classroom.
She dashed up the stairways rushing to Dumbledore’s office. She had a bad feeling that
the alarm and Dumbledore wanting to meeting with her had something in common.
As she spun around one of the corners she nearly ran smack into Ginny. “Ginny! I’m so
sorry I almost ran you over, where are you going?”
Ginny was completely out of breath, but managed to gasp out “To Dumbledore’s, Dobby
told me to go up there.”
“Dobby told me too, what do you think happened?” Hermione asked as they kept running
higher up to the Headmaster’s office.
“I have no bloody idea, but I did feel something weird right before the alarm went off. It
felt sort of like I was using a portkey except it wasn’t as strong. Mint Galleons” she said
as they finally reached the gargoyles flanking Dumbledore’s office. They bowed ever so
slightly and the door slid open and the staircase began to rise.
When Ginny and Hermione came to the office they found Dumbledore sitting there
drinking a cup of tea, the door was wide open and when they entered he turned around
and smiled softly. “Ah, Miss Weasley, Miss Granger, if you want to sit down I’m sure that
Mr. Weasley will be here…”
Ron burst up the stairway at the same moment, he clutched at his sides breathing heavily.
“Was’a matter?” He managed to get out.
“Well the alarm that went off just a few minutes ago was infact the ward that ensures
Harry is within Hogwarts boundaries. Kingsley just flooed up to me to explain that Harry
followed Professor Moody out of the castle through the floo system to the Ministry of
Magic.”
“Why would he do that? He knows better than to leave himself out in the open,” Ginny
said, touching her stomach slightly as she remembered the uncomfortable feeling right
before the alarm went off.
“Well there was an incident in the ministry this morning. Actually catastrophe is a better
way to describe it. It appears that several Death Eaters marched into the Ministry
unopposed and sprung several of their comrades from the detainment cells. There was
also a murder…” Dumbledore took another sip of his tea, “two new prisoners were
brought in yesterday, one was Pettigrew and the other was Fudge. Today the Death Eaters
only freed one prisoner, that was Pettigrew. Minister Fudge was killed. No, not by us
Miss Granger, one of the Death Eaters killed him in the cell.”
“Why was Fudge there in the first place, I mean no one liked him but was he Death
Eater?” Ron asked.
“Well he was detained by the Order when during a secret meeting with Wormtail in
Knockturn alley. Fudge was carrying several scrolls which contained sensitive security
information for the Ministry of Magic. That is the reason why I sent Remus and the house
elves to reinforce the ministry. The most troubling part of these events however is how
easily they were able to get into the ministry. I had placed the wards on the Ministry just
yesterday, some of them were stronger than the ones here at Hogwarts. Yet somehow,
they got through them. They weren’t destroyed, they weren’t moved; somehow the Death
Eaters just walked through them.” Dumbledore stood up stiffly from his seat and stared
out his window. For the first time in their entire time talking with the headmaster he
sounded genuinely worried. “I am afraid that we may be fighting a loosing battle.”
Chapter 44: Don’t Cry Over Spilled Tea
The Ministry of Magic, London
Harry walked out of the fireplace dusting off his cloaks with a wave of his wand. He was
the only person in the massive main entrance hall, it was illuminated just as brightly as
the last time he came here only the whole place seemed to be deserted. He hear the
echoes of what seemed to be an argument coming from one of the faraway halls.
As he approached it the shouting became discernable. It took him a moment but he
recognized it as the voice of Charlie Weasley.
“Yes Minister Bones, gone! We couldn’t fight because we had no damn idea that Death
Eaters could get through our wards; they weren’t put up by a two year old you know,
Dumbledore himself installed them!”
Harry walked into the hallway to find not only Charlie, but Mr. Weasley, the interim
minister Madam Bones, Moody, and the most startling of all, Percy. Percy stood
separated from the others and had a rather harried, stunned expression on his face. They
didn’t notice Harry’s arrival and just continued to talk.
“Charlie, you said that they just walked in? There wasn’t an attack, something they used
to shatter the ward?” Amelia Bones asked, fiddling her wand in anxiety.
“All I know is that only a dozen grunts of Voldemort’s managed to get into the preserve
and kill ten of us before we even knew what was going on. I can assure you that by the
time you do get permission from the Romanian Prime Minister to send Aurors there they
will be long gone, along with the dragons.” Charlie nursed a bleeding head wound with a
wet flannel.
Moody’s eye had been fixed intently on Charlie as he was talking but now it was back to
wandering and soon enough spotted Harry in the corner. “Potter,” he growled jerking his
head to the doorway.
Everyone swirled to find Harry standing in the doorway.
“Er, hi. Are you alright Charlie?” Harry asked awkwardly.
“Harry! What are you doing here? The Ministry is not safe right now, you must go back
to Hogwarts.” Arthur said, closing the gap between them quickly.
“According to what I just heard and what’s been happening for the past few weeks I don’t
think that really anywhere’s safe right now. I mean for all we know Tom could just break
through Hogwarts’ defences too.” Harry said defiantly.
“There is no way for them to get into Hogwarts Harry, you know that. Dumbledore’s only
added onto the wards, they are thousands of years old.” Percy said, speaking for the first
time.
“Yah, well I bet that Dumbledore wasn’t the first wizard to put wards up at the Dragon
preserve either, I mean Professor Binns told us that place had been around for hundreds
of years.”
“I’m surprised that you remember something Binns told you let alone that you listen in
that class. Either way Hogwarts is perfectly safe from any attack He-Who-Must-Not-Be-
Named throws at it.” Percy shot back.
“Potter, you need to leave. Ill lead you back to the fireplace,” Moody said grasping
Harry’s right shoulder firmly.
Harry shrugged it off and sidled to one side of the hall, “Not yet Professor. Minister
Bones, what happened? I heard something about someone being killed, who was it? Was
Voldemort here?”
Percy was the only person in the room to flinch at the mention of his name. “Typical,”
Harry muttered under his breath, glaring at Percy; Ron’s brother who had caused so much
anguish within the family.
“Mr. Potter, I know that your life has been affected by Voldemort more than probably
anyone else. I also know about your certain penchant for getting into what are best
described as life-threatening conflicts in the search for the truth. Therefore I am torn on
what to do. If I were to tell you what just occurred here and in Romania would you please
return to your school with all due haste?”
Harry nodded, he knew when to take a bargain and when to hold out. In this case he
decided it was probably the best way to at least figure out what was going on.
“Well from what we’ve managed to gather so far just a few hours ago there was a
simultaneous attack on both the Ministry holding cells here, and the dragon reserve.
Charlie believes close to a dozen Death Eaters killed ten of his colleagues where here two
guards were killed along with the former Minister of Magic.”
Harry started, “Fudge? Fudge was killed. Why was he in the holding pens?”
This time Arthur spoke, “Fudge was brought in with Wormtail earlier yesterday after
some Aurors broke up a meeting between the two.”
“He was not charged with anything,” Percy said rather feebly.
“Shove it Percy,” Charlie said, “well anyway Fudge was captured. And today they came
back and got Wormtail but killed Fudge. He probably lived out his worth, I mean he’s too
visible to do anything and has lost all his power. Malfoy couldn’t use him anymore so
neither could Voldemort. And at the same time another group came and sealed up my
research lab, I barely managed to get out before the whole place burst into flames.”
“Sounds like Voldemort’s finally putting his plan into action, or at the very least gearing
up for a war. The silence is over that’s for sure.” Moody added quietly. “Come on now
Potter, time to go before the Headmaster sends out a search party.”
This time Harry allowed himself to be led out of the room and towards the fireplace.
Moody pulled out a small pouch from his travelling cloak and poured some floo powder
into Harry’s hand. “Go head right back to the Headmaster’s office, I’m sure he’ll be
wanting to know what you’ve been up to.” He then turned around on his clawed wood leg
and limped away. Harry tossed the floo powder into the fire and stepped in.
The Caucus Mountains, Russia
“Do you have good news Lucius?” Lord Voldermort hissed as his faithful servant walked
into his chambers.
“I do my Lord, your plan worked flawlessly,” he said, stepping over the sleeping Nagini.
“Not only did we walk straight into the Ministry unopposed we managed to kill two birds
with one stone. Once again I have retrieved Wormtail for you, and we ran across another
piece of fortune. When we entered the cells Fudge was sitting at the back cowering like a
child.”
“Did you say goodbye for me?” Voldemort said, his face showing what could possibly be
a smile.
“Of course my liege,” he bowed low. “I have even more news, the additional attack today
was a success also. They should arrive here within the end of this week. Also our next
attack will be on the 24th, just in time for a little Christmas cheer.”
“Very good my faithful servant, you have pleased your master. What of your son though,
where is he on his new mission?” Voldemort asked, reclining into his stone throne by the
fire.
“I received a report from his just yesterday, it is difficult for to contact him due to the
distance and time difference. From what I have heard though Durmstrang is a very
different school from Hogwarts. They teach the dark arts, they instruct the students in
proper duelling, it is a school worthy of true purebloods. He should have no trouble in
gathering fellow students to the cause. He will not fail you my lord.”
“He better not Lucius, or else he will not be the only Malfoy paying the price of failure.”
Headmaster’s Office, Hogwarts
Harry arrived in a heap on the floor of Dumbledore’s office. He stood up quickly, dusting
his robes off quickly as he made for the door, not noticing the Headmaster, Ron,
Hermione, or even Ginny until he heard a small cough from behind him. He turned
quickly, stumbling backwards as he did so but managing to stay upright.
“Hello Harry, I was curious to see when you might notice there were others in the room”
Dumbledore said with a smile.
“Harry are you alright, you look a little shell shocked. Where did you go? I could feel that
you had left but I couldn’t figure out where to.” Ginny asked, standing up to offer him her
chair.
Harry waved her off, “I’m fine Gin’ just a little stirred up. I was at the Ministry with
Moody, Professor Moody, sorry. Turns out there was another attack on top of the one at
the ministry itself. The dragon preserve that Charlie works at was attacked also…don’t
worry he’s perfectly alright except for a little cut on his forehead. Seems that they
managed to strip the place of its wards too.” For the first time ever Harry saw what
seemed to be surprise on the headmaster’s face.
“Why would they want to break into the dragon preserve? I mean dragons are strong but
you can’t control them even if you could get them out.” Ron asked.
“There have been other things we believed to be near uncontrollable, the giants, the
dementors; yet somehow Voldemort has found a way to bring them into his ranks. I
believe that he has found a use for these dragons, did Charlie say how many were taken?”
The headmaster asked.
“No, apparently he had just arrived at the Ministry the same time I did. They weren’t sure
about what was going on.”
“Well I will have to look deeper into the actions of today. As for now I just ask you Harry
to have a little more restraint next time you think it wise to let your curiosity take you on
a field trip. The wards were set off today because of you passing through the floo,” the
headmaster saw Harry’s expression darken, “no, no Harry. It was not tracking you at all.
The reason the wards were tripped was because of the amount of magic that was going
through them. We already have discovered some of your rather unique powers due to
your rather large magic reserves and I am sure we have not seen the last of them. Now I
believe it is time for lunch, so if you will allow me I shall be going to the Great Hall.”
The headmaster stood up and the others followed suit. They followed him down the
staircase and into the hallway; there they veered off in the other direction to go to Harry
and Ginny’s room to talk.
Ron was the last in and as the door clicked shut behind him he burst out, “Harry, what in
Merlin’s name is going on right now. For the past months nothing has been going on, and
now all of a sudden it seems that Tom has found a hobby in breaking and entering. These
things seem too random to make any sense. First Draco escapes, then Joy is killed, then
Fudge is killed, and now they break out who knows how many dragons! All Hermione
and I have done today is try to find something to explain what he’s doing…” Ron paced
back and forth as he rambled on.
As Ron continued to talk a thought came to Harry. Maybe there is something in common.
Charlie said the Death Eaters walked straight through the wards, so did Moody about the
break in at the ministry. The wards failed every single time, they weren’t destroyed they
just didn’t work, that has to be it. “Hey guys, I think I found out what all these attacks
have in common. Charlie told me today that the Death Eaters were able to just walk
through the wards like they didn’t even exist. I think that’s what is going on. I’ll eat my
hat if I’m not right that Voldemort has found a way to get through the wards without
using brute force.”
“But they were put up by Dumbledore himself, I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s doing
when it comes to setting up defences,” Hermione chimed in.
“But suppose that Tom did find a way, that means that he practically has a key to every
locked or warded place. Nothing can stop him from just walking onto campus now and
challenging Dumbledore to a duel.” Ron said nervously.
“Have you still not read Hogwarts a History? You’re reading every war book I can find
but you won’t read about the school itself. It says that there are not only wards around the
school that each headmaster is required to add to; there is also much deeper magic at
work, it comes from the elements themselves. It protects the school and its occupants
even when the other forms of defence are down.” Hermione said, quoting from the book
almost word for word.
“Well if that’s true then I guess we don’t have to worry as much about the school, but
what about everywhere else. I mean anywhere that is believed to be protected is probably
wide open now. Ron I think it might be a good idea to step up the squadrons’ training
schedules to twice a week, just to make sure that they’re well trained before we all go
away for Christmas break. Ron, you, Ginny and I have just less than two weeks to try and
give them as many defensive skills as possible. Meanwhile Hermione could you and
Emma look for any information of what could possible even remotely succeed at
breaking through wards?”
“Sure, but I doubt I’ll find much on it. Good wards are thought to be invincible. Maybe
you could talk to Flamel about it. I’m sure that he’s probably heard of something over his
lifetime” Hermione said as she stood up to get started.
“Yeah I guess I will, I’m meeting with him tonight before Quidditch anyways.” Harry
said.
“We’ll see you at dinner then,” Ron said then followed Hermione out of the door.
After they left Ginny went into the bedroom and sprawled out on the bed, she rubbed her
eyes and yawned.
“Tired?” Harry asked as he walked into the room too.
“Yeah, my whole body is sore from Quidditch and leaning over books for too long. This
year is a lot harder than I thought it would be.”
Harry sat down on the side of the bed and collapsed next to her. He rolled over sideways
so he could look her in the eyes. “Well I promise it’ll get better. Anyways you’ve got me,
‘Mione and your brother to help you out.” He brushed a tangle of red hair out of her face
and poked her nose playfully. “Gotcha!”
Ginny giggled and poked him back on the nose, “Gotcha back!”
Harry laughed as she started to tickle his ribs, causing him to erupt in laughter. After
finally begging for mercy Ginny stopped, still laughing at from Ginny’s relentless
tickling attack.
“I give up please just stop tickling me. You have found my weakness!” Harry said
breathlessly.
“Fine, I am in a good mood, I will let you go,” Ginny said in a mocking superior tone.
Harry sat up on the bed, “I will not go, not until I have defeated you.”
“How do you plan on doing that Sir Potter? You do not know my weakness.”
Harry smiled wolfishly as he got closer to her, “Oh yes I do. I’ve known about it for a
while.”
“Well then what is…” Ginny was interrupted as Harry kissed her. As they laid back in the
bed and the kiss deepened Ginny knew that he had indeed found her weakness.
The Archives, Hogwarts
Harry was once again deep inside the chambers of Godric Gryffindor’s archives. Tonight
he and Flamel were researching deeper into the diagram that they had found earlier. So
far they had turned up very little except due to the overwhelming size of the archives.
Flamel was still trying to find out how the books were indexed so they could find a way
to at least guess where a book on a certain topic might be located.
Harry returned to their table with another stack of promising documents. He unrolled the
first one and started to read. It was about some arcane system for carving stonework from
what he could make out from the drawings. He sighed and placed it aside. Opening the
next leather bound book he saw an intricate drawing on the front page but using the
translation charm he was disappointed to learn that it was a history on some obscure
wizard of the 1200’s. Groaning and rubbing his light starved eyes he tossed that book on
top of one of the other innumerable stacks.
Flamel came out of the adjacent aisle with another stack. He too looked slightly
exhausted and sat down heavily in his seat. “How about a cup of tea Harry? I’m starting
to get a little overwhelmed by all this reading.”
Harry nodded in an agreement, “sounds great, let me try something though.” Harry stood
up clearing a spot on the desk. He rolled up his sleeves and ruffled his hair. Closing his
eyes he raised his right hand and then closed his fist tightly. He heard a stifled gasp and
then a large crash of metal on stone. He opened his eyes and saw Flamel standing up out
of his chair trying to whisk several books out of the way of a progressing puddle of hot
tea. Harry pulled out his wand and shouted evanesco! The puddle of teas disappeared, but
so did the table causing the piles of books to crash to the bottom.
“Oh-ho! Well there, looks like we had some tea there for a while. Very well done Harry, I
haven’t seen anyone your age be able to perform any semblance of controlled wandless
conjuring. This is certainly another one of your newly developing traits. Would you care
to try some more of it?”
“Sure!” Harry was eager to but was afraid that after the last little fiasco Flamel wouldn’t
want him to do anything more. “What do you want me to do? I haven’t tried anything but
I’ve been picking some examples of how to do it in these books we’ve been reading.”
“It seems that is an added benefit of having to manually search these books. Even I have
been finding small bits of information I haven’t even heard of before. Let’s see for
starters why don’t you make us a new table?” He stepped back and nodded
encouragingly.
Harry once again closed his eyes and balled up his fist. This time instead of envisioning a
tea kettle he imagined the old table back where it was. He could feel the magic going to
his fist and then exiting. He opened his eyes to see the table flicker in and out of
existence then completely disappear. His shoulders slumped.
“Harry that was spectacular, for you to even bring such a thing into existence, for
however long a period shows that your powers are growing. The only thing its lack of
staying powers tells us is that you need to continue to train your magic reserves. That
means you will need to start using your magic as often as possible. Just as muggles train
for races by doing small bits of exercise over a long time period to build up stamina so do
you.” He waved his own wand and a new table appeared and the books settled themselves
back into their towers.
As Harry was sitting back down he remembered telling Hermione and Ron that he’d ask
him about the wards. “Um sir. I know this is a little off topic and all, but today I went to
the ministry and heard Mood… Professor Moody and Charlie Weasley talking about how
the Death Eaters just walked through the supposedly impervious wards. I was just
wondering if you know what could be doing this?”
“I won’t lie, I’m surprised you haven’t asked me this earlier. The simple answer is no,
there is no possible way that he could be breaking into these wards. But the problem with
that statement is that it is inherently wrong. It has become an accepted belief that wards
are invincible, meaning nothing it is set to deter can get inside of it, that is not entirely
true. What a ward does is use an opposite but equal magic force to repel any opposing
magical force, in our case Voldemort. That means that if he pushes against the ward’s
magic it will push back just as hard thus resulting in a cancelling effect. Now there is not
evidence saying that someone or something can get through a ward, but I do know that
there is a division of the Department of Mysteries working on just that. I suppose that
there could be a very remote chance that Voldemort has beat them to the punch and has
found a way to disrupt the shields’ functionality. If so then he has just stripped us of one
of the few defences we have left to use. But come now that is enough dismal talk right
now, let’s get back to work on some of that conjuring!”
The Room of Requirement, Hogwarts
Harry walked into the room last, locking the door behind him. All of Merlin’s Heroes, or
just the Heroes, as it was now being affectionately called, were assembled in the room
divided by squadron. They had only been training in their individual groups for less than
three weeks but their improvement was very noticeable. Tonight’s meeting was about the
recent escalation in attacks and what to work on after returning back from the winter
break which was in only five days.
Ron walked to the front of the group, everyone fell silent. Ron had been growing more
and more credibility as the year progressed, he was starting to show quite a keen intellect
for military strategy. With Emma acting as his assistant he was starting to amass a huge
collection on military books and information. Ron was also starting to teach Emma chess
and she was starting to actually play against him, every time coming closer and closer to
actually beating him.
“Well everyone this is our last meeting before we go off for holiday break. I want to
remind you how important it is for everyone to practice. Even if you cannot use your
magic keep in shape, recite the spells, try and learn some new ones; but also have fun.
There is now a war going on and who knows, this might be one of the last peaceful
holidays we have in a while, so enjoy it. Now I think that Harry has a small gift for all of
you.” He smiled as Harry came up carrying a large wooden box.
He set it down heavily and reached inside pulling out what appeared to be a necklace.
“This is called a bloodstone.” He said holding up the pendant to show off the stone.
The necklace was a fine silver chain with a dark blood-red stone affixed in the centre of
the mouth of a blue phoenix. The stone seemed to consume the light around it instead of
reflect it, an inner radiance possessed it.
“This is not just a gift though, there is in fact some useful items to this. Just like your
coins these have a protean charm on them to alert you to anything. Hermione, Ginny, Ron
and I have the master ones that allow us to set dates or times, but all of them have a panic
mode that activates by you tapping it three times with your wand, this will cause all of the
pendants to warm and pulse. The figure is a phoenix, and the colour of the phoenix is the
colour of your squad.
I chose the bloodstone because of its slightly magical properties. While it won’t block a
spell it does absorb some of its power, which might actually save your life.
Please wear these all the time, if this requires you to put a cloaking charm on it do so, but
please wear them. If anything happens just send the panic message and we will try to do
something. Now if you want to come up in squadrons I’ll get you yours and then you can
all head out early,” Harry started to pull out small piles of small boxes each labelled a
certain colour.
It took a few minutes to distribute all of the necklaces but when they were finally all
handed out Harry went over to Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Emma who had been waiting
patiently on the side as the crowd died down. He carried with him four of the small
boxes.
“These necklaces are a little more unique, take a look” he handed each of them a box.
Each one was a small silver disk with five gems inlaid in it. Around the perimeter was a
blue sapphire, a red ruby, a pale grey amethyst, and a blackish cat’s eye, and in the center
a white diamond.
“Harry these are amazing! Where did you get these, I mean you didn’t tell any of us that
you were making these.” Hermione asked as she unclasped hers and handed it to Ron to
put on her neck.
Harry smiled, “well I’ve been working with Flamel on conjuring stuff and that’s how I
made the chains but everything else I had help with from Dobby. He’s pretty amazing at
metal work, claims his great grandmother was a goblin or something. Anyways, we’ve
been working every night for a little while. Do you recognize the discs from anything?”
He asked as he helped Emma put hers on.
“It’s from that piece of parchment Flamel gave you.” Ron said.
“Yep, I figured that with finding out how we’re actually represented as elements in the
prophecy we might as well use it for something.”
Ginny smiled and pecked him on the lips, “Thanks Potter.”
“Oy, get a bloody room, or at least stop snogging her in front of me.” Ron said flinching.
“Well I would have to say the same after seeing you and ‘Mione yesterday” Ginny shot
back. She had encountered them kissing in empty hallway that was the shortcut to their
room just yesterday.
Ron flushed and stopped saying anything. Hermione just laughed and took ahold of his
hand. “Let’s go Ronald we can go have a nice dinner.”
“Come on Emma, Gin’, we’ll go down also. I’m starving!” Harry said as he took Ginny
and Emma’s hands and walked out of the Room of Requirement.
Chapter 45: Doubt…
The Great Hall, Hogwarts
The Great Hall was filled with happy, chatting students as the room slowly filled up for
breakfast. Overnight the school had undergone its customary Christmas makeover and
now the hall was filled with massive blue spruces and garland. This year Flitwick had
enchanted the ceiling to fall from the ceiling. It would slowly disappear as it reached
lower down. Each tree was covered in thousands of icicles that clinked together with the
slightest touch filling the room with what sounded like bells.
Ginny was resting her head on Harry’s shoulder as they talked quietly and waited for the
others to show up. There was only four more days until school let out for winter break
and everyone seemed overly eager to go and see their families. After the Prophet ended
up writing on the several murders and break-ins, including Fudge’s, there was a certain
amount of constant paranoia that all students had adopted. And Harry saw that today was
no different when he heard the familiar screech of owls and noticed everyone stop what
they were doing to make sure they weren’t getting a letter. Harry however was hoping for
just the opposite and was relieved when he saw Hedwig’s telltale white plumage. She
circled the Gryffindor table once then landed gracefully on the table.
Harry gave her a piece of his toast from his plate and took the envelope from her beak.
Just as he hoped it was from Lupin.
Harry had realized after running into him at the ministry that they had barely kept in
contact over the last three months; feeling guilty for not talking to his godfather he had
written him a long letter explaining a lot of what had been going on at Hogwarts.
Opening the envelope Harry deflated seeing only a small amount of writing on the
parchment. But upon closer inspection he smiled, the text said Messr. Moony to Messr.
Potter. He instantly recognized it as a subtle hint to the Marauder’s Map. Harry tapped his
finger on the paper murmuring I solemnly swear I am up to no good. Just like the map the
ink spread from the small text to fill the page with Lupin’s words.
Harry,
First off good work on cracking the code, I was a little worried the hint would be a little
too vauge.
Secondly let me apologize for not writing to you, just as you said yourself, I have been
somewhat busy right now. With the war now going full force I have been forced to work
many more operations for our group than last year.
I’d like to say that everything is okay out here, I mean outside of Hogwarts, but as your
little trip to the Ministry might have showed you, it is not. The ministry is in utter turmoil,
and while Minister Bones is doing a great job I am more than a little nervous when it
comes time for the election next month.
Even with this spell I cant tell you what I’m doing right now in this letter in case it gets
intercepted, but needless to say it is of great import to everyone involved in the ministry.
I am glad to hear that you and Professor Flamel have been making some progress with
the intricacies of the Heartbond. I am even happier that you and Ginny have now grown
even closer together and that the bond did not draw you too close too quickly.
Now onto holiday break, if you get this the day I send it then tomorrow you’ll be heading
home. I will actually not be at Snuffle’s home, in fact no one is there as of now due to the
jarring breaks in our defences lately. So, I have already arranged for you and Emmaline
to head to the Weasley’s and I will join you there the next day. I have a feeling that you
will have no problem going with your Ginny, and you can also get some of your
Christmas shopping done.
Now I need to send this now before it gets light enough for anyone to see Hedwig take
off.
Moony
Harry smiled and folded up the letter and placed it in his pant’s pocket, and kissed Ginny
on the cheek.
“What was that for Mr. Potter?” Ginny had never been kissed by him in such a public
place, but she was not complaining.
“Well it seems that Moony is stuck somewhere working for our friends, but he said that
Emma and I were going to go spend the holidays with you guys.”
Ginny beamed and kissed him on the cheek back, “Well of course you were. You didn’t
think I would let you stay at that house all alone. Plus, my mum would go mad knowing
that somewhere there were kids who didn’t get to have some of her food. Plus I think it’s
a good idea that Emma has at least a fun Christmas, it’ll be hard enough for her without
having to stay in Snuffle’s house.”
Ron came up from behind them holding Hermione’s hand. “Thanks for saving us seats
mate, I need to fill up before the big snowball fight.”
“Do you ever not fill up, Ron?” Hermione asked as she sat in the seat next to Ginny.
“Guess what Ron? Lupin just sent Harry a letter telling him that he and Emma are going
to go to our house for holiday!”
“Thas-gray-may!” Ron choked out in-between bites of toast.
“You should go tell Emma Harry, she probably need a bit of good news,” Hermione
urged looking down the table at the group Emma was sitting in. Everyone around her was
laughing and joking and it seemed that Emma was laughing too, but occasionally her
façade would break and her sorrow would become evident. For the past few weeks they
had tried everything to make her a bigger part of the group especially after the discovery
of the second part of the prophecy but she had insistently spent much of her time with
kids he own age. The had all agreed that if it helped her cope then they would let her be
with her friends, but they were always ready to come in and help her if she had am
emotional breakdown. For a 12 year old she was dealing with the loss of her only parent
amazingly well.
Harry approached Emma’s end of the table and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned
around with a small smile on her face although it was fairly easy to tell it was really a
masquerade. “Hiya Harry, what’s up? I can’t believe the decorations, I hope we get to
have ones like this.”
“Yeah these ones are brilliant aren’t they? That actually what I wanted to talk to you
about. I got a letter from Lupin telling me that we were going to head to”
“The Weasley’s house, right?” Emma completed cutting him off mid-sentence.
“Uh, yeah, exactly. How did you know that?” Harry asked taken slightly by surprise at
her rather quick response.
“I’ve been writing Moony every couple ’a weeks. He’s really funny to talk to and his
letters are long. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”
Harry was split between two different emotions; one of happiness for Emma that she had
found a person to talk to, and one of envy, Lupin was writing her but not him?
“Great! Well then make sure to be packed and ready to go tomorrow morning, the train
leaves really early.” Harry said lamely, trying to hide some of his disappointment.
“I’ve already packed most of my stuff up, I’ve had a lot of free time,” Emma said, her
cheerful façade slipped once again and Harry saw a young girl who was absolutely
terrified to be alone. But, once again, she recovered and plastered her smile back on.
Harry sighed but forced himself to smile, “Great, well we’re gonna’ have a little while to
go gift shopping when we get there so try and think of some things to get people.” Emma
nodded gave him a big smile and returned to her conversation with the other first years.
“Everything okay?” Hermione asked as Harry sat back down.
“Yeah, its just Emma is always forcing herself to be happy. I think that if she keeps it up
and never releases all that sorrow she might just burst. That’s what happened to me, and I
ended up inflating my dear old Aunt. At least she’s been writing to Moony.”
“Well that’s something Harry. If she’s writing him, even if it isn’t about her mom, she’s
able to talk to someone. That’s why I wrote in my diaries for so long. I probably still
would but Tom sort of scared me a little too much for me to be picking up a diary
anytime soon.” Ginny said comfortingly, trying to joke with him a little to get his spirits
back up.
“I guess it’s helping, I just feel somehow responsible for her. I don’t want to just leave
her abandoned like I was.”
“Harry Potter! Ginny said sternly, “Joy dying was not your fault! Voldemort, Lucius,
Bellatrix and the others are responsible for her death. None of these deaths are your fault
Harry, war is horrible I know, we’re in the middle of it, but you don’t need to blame
yourself for the whole bloody thing.”
Harry looked up at her with his deep green eyes then kissed her very briefly on the cheek,
and whispered, “thanks Gin’, I’m so lucky that I have you here to remind me why I’m
still fighting.” He then looked over to Ron and Hermione and clapped his hands together.
“Well then, who’s ready to go outside then? I want to make sure Slytherin doesn’t beat us
in the snowball fight.”
Harry grabbed Ginny by the hand and pulled her out of her seat and out to the snowball
fight.
The Holiday Feast, Hogwarts
“’Ello Harry, Merry Christmas!” Hagrid said as he shook the snow off his massive jacket,
“How are ya’ Ginny, Ron, Hermione?”
“Hagrid! What have you been up to? I haven’t seen you for a week?” Hermione asked,
dodging his flapping jacket at the same time.
“Ah, well that’s because I’ve not been ‘round, been doin’ some work for the headmaster.”
Hagrid bent down and whispered conspiratorially. “But it looks like I made it jus’ in time
fer the meal. I need to go talk to the headmaster but I’ll talk to ya afta’ words, I have a
present for you all.” He winked then walked up to the teacher’s table.
They saw Hagrid go up to Dumbledore and whisper to him, Dumbledore showed a brief
smile then patted him on the shoulder. Hagrid took his seat and Dumbledore stood up to
begin the feast.
“Only four months have passed in this school year and yet so much has passed already.
This year has posed us with many different struggles, but it was not unforeseen. This war
is now beginning in earnest, and before we sit down to our wonderful holiday meal, I
want to urge you to enjoy your break and cherish every moment you have with your
families; this is a season for cheer, so please, make the most of it. Now, enjoy your feast
and have a splendid holiday break!” He clapped his hands together, snapping some
energy back into the room that had been sucked out of it by his speech. A second later the
tables were filled with mounds of food; turkey, ham, roast beef, rolls, shepherd’s pie,
mince pie, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, and seemingly endless Butter Beer.
“Wow, the elves really seem to have outdone themselves this time. Isn’t the holiday feast
just a normal meal and the people staying at school have a big one on Christmas?” Colin
Creevey asked from across the table.
“Yeah, but I was talking to Flamel and he said that there weren’t going to be any students
staying over holiday this year, apparently our parents want to spend as much time with us
as possible. I guess Dumbledore just decided to make a big going away dinner because
there isn’t going to be a Christmas dinner,” Harry said.
“Well stop talking and start eating mate! It’s like we get two Christmas dinners in a
month” Ron said enthusiastically as he grabbed the nearest pitcher of Butter Beer.
“Yes commander!” Harry saluted jokingly in reference to his position in the D.A. and
grabbed the other pitcher.
The next hour was filled with jokes, laughter and sounds of cutlery scraping on plates as
for just a little while everyone forgot about the war going on all around them.
As the night wound down the plates and food disappeared and were soon replaced with
cups of hot chocolate for each person.
“I’ve always enjoyed a nice cup of hot chocolate before I go to bed on these brisk winter
nights. Now enjoy your drinks and finish, or for some I daresay, start, packing for
tomorrow’s train ride home. And remember to enjoy your break and spend this time with
your family and friends.” Dumbledore said his eyes showing both grief and nostalgia.
Some people stayed and chatted quietly while others did indeed go to their houses to
pack, Ginny and Harry were about to do the same when Hagrid appeared next to them
carrying what would at first glance appear to be a ball of newspaper. “Glad I caught ya
before you headed to bed, Merry Christmas ‘Arry” he said thrusting the package at him.
Harry took it and by Hagrid’s urges opened it. The ball of paper turned out to be the
wrapping on a leather wand holster.
“Wow, this is brilliant Hagrid. Thanks!” Harry said genuinely. The leather was deep
brown and had intricate designs and runes etched all across the belt.
“I was hoping ye’d like it. I have been talkin’ to Alastor, that’s Professor to you guys I
s’pose, and he said you’ve takin’ to duelin. I figured it’d be a good gift to get ye seein’ as
how you always seem to find yerself some kind of trouble.”
“It really is great Hagrid, and you’re right about the trouble, I just hope there isn’t much
more waiting for me. You’re going to stop by the Weasley’s for Christmas aren’t you?”
Harry asked.
“Of course, how could I miss Molly’s cooking. Moody and I have duty in the morning so
it will be later in the evenin’”
“Great, well I’ll give you my present then, I need to pick it up at Diagon Ally anyways.”
“Take care of yer’selves Harry, you too Ginny and you too Ron and ‘Mione. I gotta get
going, one of tha unicorns is about to have a foal so I need to make sure it isn’t too cold
for her” Hagrid said cheerfully as he pulled on his giant coat once again and headed into
the billowing cold outside.
“Well I’m stuffed and tired, I need to pack my stuff though so I think I’m going to head
up to my room,” Ron said giving a huge fake yawn and stretching his arms.
Hermione smiled at him for a moment then spoke suddenly as if just catching on, “you
know what, I have a lot of packing to do also. I have loads of books I need to return to the
library also. I think I’ll head up with you” Hermione said taking Ron’s hand, “’night
Harry, ‘night Ginny” she added then walked away with Ron up the stairs.
Ron looked over his shoulder about midway and then turned back and kissed Hermione
on the cheek as they continued upwards.
“Harry, did I just see my brother wink at me?” Ginny asked nervously.
Harry just smiled, “come on Gin’ I have loads of packing to do, and I need to go to bed.”
Ginny laughed at his impression, “well Mr. Potter maybe I can help you then, lets go and
see” she said in her most seductive voice and she took Harry by the hand and led down
the hallway to their room.
Hogwarts Express, Somewhere in Scotland
The mass of students on board the train seemed to be much more talkative than ever
before, it seemed even busier than the train ride at the start of term.
For their part Harry, Emma, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Luna were sharing one
of the compartments and were chatting cheerfully about anything and everything. They
were all still recovering from the prank that Emma had just pulled on Ron which
involved his hair suddenly completely disappearing from everywhere on his body and
being replaced with what appeared to be spaghetti.
“I would swear you’re a Weasley Emma, you’ve got the trickiness of my brother’s and
you can get away with it like my sis, plus you have my good looks,” Ron said, ripping
huge chunks of his spaghetti hair off.
“You’re right, except for the whole part about your good looks, and I think a cave troll
has better manners than you,” Ginny retorted.
“Well we’re working on that aren’t we?” Hermione said in a tone that seemed almost
maternal.
“Is that what were you two working on last night, loads of books right?” Harry asked
causing both Ron and Hermione’s faces to burn bright red in embarrassment. Luckily
they were saved any more embarrassment by the knock of the old witch who sold snacks.
The Caucus Mountains, Russia
“Wormtail, Lucius, remove the body and leave me be. I have work to do.”
Hogwarts Express, Somewhere in Scotland
Harry stood up to open the door for the lady, stepping over a precariously perched
chessboard and the maze of feet. He reached for the door and swung it open right when
his legs gave out completely. His momentum still going forwards he crashed into the
trolley of sweets and knocked it over. His head hit the edge of it tearing a large gash
down the side of his face.
The Caucus Mountains, Russia
More…Voldemort hissed as he poured all his malice into the connection between him and
Harry. Over the months he’d noticed it closing but felt that he owed Harry a little
reminder he had not forgotten about him. He focused his mind even more, making his
magic a fine needle, poking, jabbing, and prodding. He was dissecting Potter’s mind from
the inside. He heard the boy screaming but he also heard something else, another voice,
one he remembered from long ago.
“Weasley,” he hissed as he recognized the voice. Something was wrong with it though, it
was in Harry’s mind too, and it was growing louder.
Hogwarts Express, Somewhere in Scotland
“Harry!” Ginny screamed and jumped up out of her seat sending both Crookshanks and
the chessboard flying. She ran over to the now screaming and writhing Harry and took his
hand. “Harry! Come on Harry wake up, come on! Please come back, come on, open your
eyes.” She continued to shout to him, half hysterical half pleading. She had never seen
one of Voldemort’s attacks personally but she had heard enough about them that she
knew that was what was happening now.
She never let go of his hand as he continued to squirm on the floor, blood was now
flowing freely from the huge gash on his face. “I won’t let you have him Tom, let him go
this fucking second. He’s mine Tom you better leave him damn well alone!!!!” She
screamed as she gripped his hand even harder. All of a sudden a huge burst of pain came
over her, it felt as if she had just been hit a brick wall on her broom. She now heard a
voice though…
The Caucus Mountains, Russia
“It’s hopeless little girl, I WILL KILL HIM and then I WILL KILL YOU and your
ENTIRE BLOODTRAITOR FAMILY!” Voldemort now screamed outloud. He had been
just as startled when his connection broke into the red head’s mind too. Something was
wrong though, it wasn’t getting easier, Potter and the girl’s minds should be worthless by
now, but just the opposite was happening, it was getting more difficult to hold the
connection; the hole was shrinking ever smaller.
Hogwarts Express, Somewhere in Scotland
Ron, Emma, Neville, Luna, and Hermione all tried to pry Ginny off of Harry, or at least
stop her from shaking. She was now convulsing so badly that her arms were being cut on
the broken glass of the door.
“Stop it!!! Stop it!!! No, you can’t kill him you can’t, don’t!” She screamed even louder.
Ron pulled out his wand raising his arm to cast a stunning charm to try and stop the
connection. Hermione grabbed his arm, “NO! We can’t the connection is all that’s
keeping them alive right now, we can’t close it.”
Harry was now lying still in a growing puddle of blood, but Ginny’s movements were
growing even more chaotic. “Harry, come on HARRY!” She screamed the loudest yet,
her body going limp as the scream died. She fell ontop of Harry unconscious.
The Caucus Mountains, Russia
“HARRY!” Voldemort involuntarily shouted in sync with the girl and was thrown across
the room. His head hit the wall his skull cracked hard against a sconce, splitting it open.
His mind reeled from the after effects from what had felt like being hit with the cruciatus.
Tom lifted a hand to feel the cut, of course there was no blood, but the hole was sizeable.
For the first time Lord Voldemort felt something he hadn’t in the past three decades,
doubt.