Chapter 4: Confrontations
Six hours later it was a very sore and tired Hermione Granger that found herself sitting across from a very livid Alastor Moody. "Well girl care ta explain to me what the bloody hell happened tonight." He growled at her his magical eye whizzing about in it's socket in testiment to his fury. "You were on a reconnisence misson and I have a burned down ware house and about thirty prominent Witches and Wizards at St Mungos now you and I know this lot were there as Red Dragons but all the damn proof is gone so I want to know what happened."
Hermione sighed and looked at her boss trying to find a way to put into words everything that happened tonight. "I suppose the best place to start is that Draco Malfoy is alive and seems to be high up in the ranks of the Red Dragons."
"How is that possible you and that pompus ass Weasely left him to die in the temple!"
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know how Mad Eye." She gently rubbed her sore cheek as she looked at the floor. "You have to remember we only have Rons word that Malfoy died in the temple, I had been stunned remember."
"What else happened lass."
Slowly Hermione recounted her story explaining to Moody everything that had happened from the point she'd seen Draco Malfoy to the warning she had recieved from the cloaked wizard. Moody looked at her seriously. "Do you have any idea who this mystery wizard is?"
For a brief moment those emerald eyes she saw flashed across her mind before she shook her head to clear it of the image. He was dead not matter what she saw last night Harry Potter died seven years ago. "No Alastor I don't, but who ever he is he's powerful, all i saw him do last night was cast Elemental charms sometimes several at once."
Shaking his head Mad eye Moody sighed. "Well the damage is done I suppose, you had better get out of here Granger cause you look like hell."
"Thanks Alastor, but your no spring chicken yourself you know." Standing she exited his office heading towards the area seperated for Apparating and Disaprating and heading for her home.
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Ron sat in his study lost in thought when he heard the swoosh of someone using a Portkey to arrive at his home. After the earlier shock he takes no chances and draws his wand and pulls open his study door to come face to face with a very familiar individual. "What are you doing here?"
Pulling his hood down a very ragged looking Draco Malfoy scowled at Ron Weasely. "The meeting was attacked." He pulled the tattered and charred robes off throwing them at Jerkins the house elf before turning back to Ron. "Your bloody Mudblood friend Granger was there, but there was someone else there as well."
Ron scowled. "This was a simple congregation how could it have gone so wrong, who else was there Malfoy."
Malfoy looked at his feet trying to find the right words to describe what he saw. "In the old text refering to the Well of the Worlds was their any mention of a guardian, a figure calling himself Gaia's chosen or Gaia's champion?"
Ron frowned trying to remember what he had read before. "No theres nothing, is this whats got you so worked up, some Wizard shows up claiming to be a bloody hero chosen by the spirit of the earth and you are ready to quit!?"
Malfor shook his head angrily. "You don't understand, this man was powerful, more powerful than You know who and, and I think it was Harry Potter..."
He trailed off in silence as he saw the thunderous look building on Rons face. "Potter is DEAD!" Ron started to rant. "I know he's dead because I killed him he hasn't come back he didn't survive it's just someone playing tricks on us, probably Granger."
"Why are you getting...." Malfoy trailed off and looked at Ron studying him briefly. "You've seen him haven't you?"
Ron snarled and back handed Malfots face knocking the blonde to his knee's. "No but someone was here in my House earlier...left behind a gift." Reaching into his pocket he removed the glasses and drops them on Malfoys lap. "I killed Harry bloody Potter, I'll kill how ever is impersonating him." Turning his back he stalks back into his study. "Get up you sniveling worm it seems we can wait no longer we move onto phase two of our plan tomorrow."
Picking himself off the floor all Malfoy could do was glare murderously at his Masters back before he too entered the study and closed the door behind him.
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Albus Dumbledore prided himself on his ability to not let event get on top of him, to keep his suprise in check and to make sure he always had the upper hand in any discussion. Thats why when he walked into his study at Hogwarts he was extremely suprised to find a young man carefully browsing through his private collection of muggle novels he carefully schooled his features to hide his suprise. "Would you care to explain how you managed to get in to my study young man?"
Without speaking or turning to face the Headmaster he continued to study the books on the shelf and shrugged slightly. Suddenly Albus got his second suprise as Fawkes leapt from his perch and slowly circled the small room before landing lightly on the strangers out stretched arm and the figure finally spoke. "Hello Fawkes."
Dumbledore sat down heavily on one of the over stuffed arm chairs as the voice cut through him rendering the great head master speechless.
"You know Professor you really might think about becoming a little more original with your passwords." The young man turned to face his old head master and his emerald green eyes eyes met with Dumbledores sparking blue.
Albus tried to find the words but for some reason his mind just refused to cooperate and a garbled mess was uttered. "What, How, Not Possible, Harry?"
Harry Potter flashed his former mentor a crooked grin. "Hello Albus its been a while." Shrugging his shoulders and brushing a some of his wild black hair from his eyes. "I bet you have some questions, but we are waiting for one more person to joy us." Glancing at the clock on Dumbledores fire place he silently counted under his breath. "Three, two, one."
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It was a very frustrated Hermione that apparated into her flat in muggle london. Without even breaking stride she made her way from the hallway to her bathroom stripping off her soiled robes as she went, before turning on the shower and spending the next 30 minutes underneathe the steaming hot water washing the remnants of tonights confrontation from her body. Wrapping a towel around herself she made her way into her bedroom and stopped when she saw a wand lying on top of her bed. Her breath caught, it was chipped and cracked but she knew that wand on sight, it was Harry's.
With shaky fingers she slowly reached out and closed her fingers around it and was shocked when she felt a familiar pull behind her navel and felt the rushing wind of port key travel. She cried out as she landed on plush carpets and lost her balance and fell forward onto a figure in the room. She could feel his muscular body against hers and she flushed, stammering an apollogy she looked at his face and her flush drained from her features as he chocolate brown eyes locked with emerald green ones before flicking up to his fore head and seeing a very familiar scar there. "Harry..."
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Harry was trying to keep his concentration whilst in the back ground he could hear Dumbledore chuckling. "Um....Hermione why are you only wearing a towel?"
TBC...