CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
THE MUGGLE PROTECTION PROGRAM
The familiar dull ache that Harry had experienced on each occasion that Voldemort was near started to fill his head. He looked around at those assembled and turned his gaze on the judge who had been presiding over the proceedings.
"As I was saying," He said quickly. "Under the laws of the Ministry of Magic, you are each sentenced to immediate death. Aurors, if you will."
Harry and Hermione watched in Horror as the Longbottoms withdrew their wands and used the killing curse on Bellatrix Lestrange and Rodolphus Lestrange. There were streaks of green light from the stands and Crabbe, Goyle, and Umbridge met a similar fate.
Not needed for the rest of the trial, Dumbledore ushered Harry, Hermione, and the rest of the Order out the door.
Two dark figures suddenly apparated into the room with loud pops and before anyone could react they screamed in agony before they fell to their sides dead.
"What happened?" Hermione asked with a terrified look on her face.
"The wards on the room keep people from apparating in and out of the room." Albus Dumbledore said quickly. "We had a safe path with a preprogrammed portkey. The wards kill anyone who tries to get in or out without permission."
Harry looked at the masked faces and shuddered violently. "What?!" He asked incredulously. "It's Crabbe and Goyle juniors!" He stared blankly at their withering forms.
"How can you tell, Harry?" Hermione asked as the Longbottoms and Kingsley shot out of the room.
"I'm looking right at their faces!" He gasped as Dumbledore started to pull him and Hermione out of the room.
"But, Harry, they're wearing -" She said when the commotion in the room escalated.
"SOMEBODY STOP HIM!" The judge shouted.
Harry turned around to see an empty seat. The seat that Peter Pettigrew had just occupied was vacant of its occupant.
"How did he get past the wards?" Dumbledore asked curiously as he glanced around. Pettigrew was nowhere in sight.
Harry looked to the ground and found rat droppings trailing out of the now open door.
"He transformed!" Harry said anxiously as he pointed to the trail that the obviously frightened Wormtail had left behind. "He's out in the hall!"
"You should find the closest safe apparition point and get to safety, Your Honor." Dumbledore yelled over his shoulder. "Put the confessions on record before they can be silenced!"
Not really needing the warning, Harry noticed that the judge and jury had already started vacating the room out the back door.
"What are we going to do about Wormtail?" Harry asked as he was shoved from the room. "We can't let him get to Voldemort!" He reached to his forehead and pressed angrily against his scar which had only been increasing in pain and pressure over the past few minutes.
"We can't worry about that now, we need to get you and Miss Granger to safety." Remus said quickly.
The group was now standing in the long hallway that eventually ended at the lifts. Kingsley and Dumbledore started in that direction and Harry attempted to follow. He was stopped as a pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in the opposite direction.
"What are you doing?!" He pulled against the grip angrily. "We need to get out of here, that's a dead end!"
"Nonsense!" Moody grumbled back. "This is another way that will buy us some time! Now come on!"
Harry turned around and watched as Hermione was pulled through the wall at the end of the hallway by Tonks as if they were stepping onto the platform at nine and three quarters. Harry wasted no time and quickly followed the group through the secret passage.
As he stepped into the cramped hall on the other side of the gateway, Remus turned and muttered something under his breath. A beam of orange light shot from the end of his wand and struck the passageway's entrance. With a slow sizzle, the light eventually spread over the opening and within a few seconds the way back was sealed.
"Nobody should be able to follow us from that direction." Lupin said quickly. "Now we need to get up top before they decide to blast the entire building to rubble."
That was all the incentive the small group needed and they preceded as quickly as possible under the conditions. The passage was rather dark and slick with moisture. There were large growths of mold and mildew splattering the walls, floor and ceiling and the years of disuse had let nature take its course. The path lead slightly upwards and with all the loose rock and slime, it started to become a slow, arduous process.
"Whoa! Hold up!" Moody called from the front of the line.
Lupin wormed his way to the front. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong ... at's wrong ... rong ... ng ..." His voice echoed back.
Harry made his way to the front and looked in awe at the size of the gaping fissure in front of them.
"What are we going to do now?" He asked incredulously.
"This passage was meant to keep pursuers from following and killing anyone who was fleeing down this way." Moody replied matter-of-factly. "There used to be a roped off ledge that lead around this crevasse, but the rope's long since decayed. This way's never been used before."
"Ok, here's what we do." Lupin interjected. "Everyone tie their cloaks together and we'll use that as a makeshift rope. Everyone is to stay in contact with it and we'll work our way around the gap."
Hermione shook her head. "Honestly! Why does everyone have to do things the hard way?"
"What do you mean?" Moody asked with a huff. "You have a better idea?"
Hermione's chest puffed in pride as she detailed her plan. "There's no need for us to risk ourselves that way." She said with a wave of her hand. "We can just make our cloaks rigid and float across the gorge."
"You are indeed one of the cleverest witches I've met." Remus said with a smile.
Harry looked at Hermione with a grin. "That's Hermione for you." He said with a chuckle.
Hermione blushed at the complements and laid her cloak on the ground. She stepped on it and pointed her wand at the fabric. "PETRIFICUS CLOAK!" She said and then with another wave of her wand said, "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" Using her wand as a sort of steering wheel, she lifted off the ground slightly and sat on the rigid fabric. After a few minutes of coaxing, she and her cloak were safely on the other side.
Harry followed next and one by one, they all made their way across the black pit to the continuing escape tunnel. Harry took Hermione in his arms and gave her a quick kiss when he landed.
"Brilliant idea, Hermione!" He said with a bright smile. "I'm proud of you!"
"What is there to be proud of, Harry?" She asked with a blush. "Both of those are basic spells."
"For someone who doesn't like flying, I'm surprised that you didn't lose it when you floated over the pit." He said with a grin.
Hermione paled instantly. "I-I hadn't given it much thought." She admitted looking gingerly over the edge into the inky blackness below. She shivered slightly and stepped back from the ledge.
"We should move up a little so that the others can fit." Harry said as he nodded towards the others floating their way. Hermione nodded quietly and with their cloaks back to normal, the couple moved a few meters further ahead.
"Moody, where does this tunnel lead?" Harry asked as he scanned in front of them. "There's a flight of stairs not too far away."
"Bloody hell! How can you see that?!" Moody asked incredulously. "That's a good hundred meters or more of pure darkness!"
"Well, I have a few abilities from my animagus form." Harry said sheepishly. "One of them is improved vision, though I couldn't see the judge and jury back in the hearing room."
"That's because they were masked by a part of the astral plane." Mr. Longbottom spoke up for the first time. "It keeps their identity safe during a trial."
"It wasn't until after the rebirth of Voldemort that they started using the new masking magic." Lupin said as he touched down. "The only way to see them is through astral projection and the hearing room is guarded against that."
"Among other things." Moody said gruffly. "Let's get a move on we're not far from the exit."
"Where do we exit at?" Hermione reiterated Harry's question.
"Not too far from the Floo network and safe apparition points." Tonks said as they made their way to the flight of stairs. "It might not be a good idea to use the Floo network if the jinx in Colorado is any indication."
"It might not be a good idea to apparate either." Harry added. "If wards can be placed on a room, they can be placed anywhere, right."
"Harry has a point." Lupin agreed. "The only way then would be by a secure portkey and Dumbledore is the only one that can use that charm at the moment."
"Looks like we'll have a fight on our hands." Moody grumbled with a hint of anticipation. "Right, we're at the stairs. There is a trap door in a small room at the top. This room is the security guard's office and the security desk is just outside the door."
"If we can disillusion everyone, we could stand a better chance of not being seen." Harry said absently as he took hold of the banister and started up the stairs.
"I like how you think, Harry." Moody said with a grim smile as he tapped Harry on the head and muttered the disillusionment charm. He followed suit with Hermione and Tonks and Remus and the Longbottoms took care of the rest of the group. Soon, the small band were rising towards the trapdoor and the volume of the fight increased as they rose.
"It sounds like the entire Auror division is up there ..." Tonks whispered as Moody gingerly opened the trapdoor and looked up.
"Coast is clear." He said in a loud whisper. "Lupin, Tonks, you two first. Then Harry and Hermione and the Longbottoms and I will take up the rear. Head to the back of the room!"
Each of them followed their orders and after a few quiet moments Harry found himself in the dim light of the security office. Nobody was there and the door to the main lobby was wide open. The pain from Harry's scar had increased dramatically once he was out of the trapdoor and he fell to his knees.
Breathe deeply. Clear my mind of emotion. Step into the recesses of clear and rational thought. He recited the mantra of occlumency and found that the pain quickly subsided to a dull ache.
"Everyone here?" Moody whispered from just in front of Harry.
The remaining six of them confirmed their presence and waited quietly for Moody to give the ok to move out. "It doesn't look good." Moody said when he returned. "Voldemort and about fourteen Death Eaters are still fighting out there."
Harry snuck to the doorway and peered out into the lobby. There were around twenty Aurors taking cover around the outskirts of the room. Death Eaters had collapsed a part of the ceiling and were using the resulting debris as cover. Hexes were flying all around the room, there were purple streams of light, a few killing curses had destroyed the newly rebuilt fountain in the center of the lobby and Voldemort was waiting patiently in the center of it all.
As spells shot towards him, he'd simply wave his wand and the spell would disintegrate into nothing. An orange bolt hit the wall above the doorway and exploded causing Harry to jump back and bump into Moody.
"Moody, it's me!" He whispered hoarsely when he felt his friend's hand wrap around his neck.
"Blast it!" Moody said as he shoved him to the back of the room. "Stay back there and don't move until I give the say so!"
Harry heard the aggravated man's unique footsteps pound towards the front of the room.
"Harry! Are you ok?" He heard Hermione ask from his right.
"Yeah, just spooked, that was a close hit on the wall." He admitted as she gripped his arm and nearly cut off the circulation in it. "Ease up a little on the grip, Hermione." He said calmly as he put his hand on hers. He felt the grip loosen a bit.
"Sorry." She said quickly.
"Get your wands ready." Moody said from the front. "We may have a distraction here in a few seconds."
"What kind of a distraction?" Harry asked.
"RIDDLE!" Dumbledore's commanding voice echoed in the lobby.
"Ah, if it isn't the old codger I used to call teacher." They heard Voldemort laugh in his high, cold manner. "What brings you out of hiding? Keeping Potter safe are you?"
"Harry Potter is not at the Ministry, Tom." Dumbledore said calmly as he easily deflected several spells cast by Voldemort's followers.
"Nice try, old fool!" Voldemort spat. "I can sense his presence as easily as he can mine." He scanned the room. "But for some reason I can't lock onto his exact whereabouts. Where have you hidden him?!"
"I haven't hidden him, Tom." Dumbledore said as he took a step forward and deflected a curse back upon its caster who immediately ran about madly as flames leapt from his body.
"Well, I see you haven't." Voldemort said with a smile as he stepped closer to Dumbledore. "Ah, I see that the wards have been modified to keep apparition from happening within the Ministry as well ... Poor, poor Crabbe and Goyle. I guess they've gone the way of their fathers by now."
"Using children to do your dirty work now, Tom?" Dumbledore spat with disgust. "And here I thought you couldn't sink any lower than the snake you are!"
"Snake? I guess you could say that!" Voldemort whipped his wand to the fore and shot a blue beam at Dumbledore who easily redirected it at Death Eater on the far side of the room. The spell caused the man to scream in agony as he imploded on the spot.
Dumbledore returned with a spell of his own which Voldemort easily deflected but instead of hitting an Auror it inadvertently rebounded off a wall and struck a Death Eater that was sneaking up behind Hogwarts' headmaster. The man fell into a fit of laughter and was soon so out of breath he could only pant in desperation before passing out.
Voldemort advanced swiftly and whipped his wand over his head as a familiar green light began to glow at its tip. Dumbledore was the quicker and cast a disarming charm on the wand and sent it sailing across the room. Before he could recover, however, Albus was disarmed himself. Harry rushed to the door and saw that Wormtail was indeed the voice he heard. He looked towards the lifts and saw the worthless sneak disappear into the rubble again.
Everyone gasped as Voldemort rushed the aged wizard and slammed into him with his shoulder, pitching Albus Dumbledore to the ground unceremoniously. Not one to be beaten so easily, he got to his feet much more swiftly than anyone would have anticipated and caught the Dark Lord in the chin with a haymaker.
"It's over, Riddle." Albus said as he slowly walked to the dazed Dark Lord. The surrounding fight had stopped to watch the spectacle unfolding in the center of the immense room.
Harry watched as Voldemort regained his composure and started to get to his feet. Dumbledore reached out for something and Fawkes appeared out of nowhere and dropped his master's wand to his waiting hand.
"I don't think so, old friend." Voldemort sneered and pulled a dagger from his sleeve. Before anyone had registered what had happened, the two combatants were intertwined and Voldemort was laughing maniacally as he stabbed his opponent several times with the long, silver dagger.
"NOOO!" Harry shouted. With speed that he was unaware of, he ran across the room and tackled the Dark Lord to the ground and kicked the dagger from his limp hands.
"Professor!" He shouted as he ran to his mentor's side and cradled his head in his hands.
Dumbledore looked into Harry's worried eyes and smiled gently, the twinkle in his eyes fading. "It's going to be alright, Harry." He said softly.
"Ah, and now we have the savior of the wizarding world ..." Voldemort hissed mockingly. "Two birds with one stone. You couldn't have made it any easier." He laughed mercilessly as a robed Death Eater with a silver hand returned the Dark Lord's wand. Peter Pettigrew retreated with a shaking arm and prostrated himself at the edge of the battlefield.
"Now I can finish what I started, Potter!" Voldemort hissed as he raised his wand once more.
"HARRY!" Hermione screamed from across the room as the killing curse once again filled the air.
Harry raised his wand but was too slow, the green light and whoosh of air erupted from the Dark Lord's wand, its path true.
"Forgive me James!" A shout came from the least expected person in the room. Peter Pettigrew threw himself in front of the killing curse and took the full brunt of the spell in the chest and fell lifeless at Harry's side.
Without hesitation Harry shouted "EVANESCO!" and pointed his wand at Voldemort. The Dark Lord cursed as he was engulfed in the energy of the spell and with a pop disappeared from the room.
With their master gone and the betrayal of Wormtail, the other Death Eaters made a break for the closest exits. Aurors withdrew from their protective cover and ran them down with petrifying and slowing spells.
Hermione and Tonks came to a skidding halt next to Harry and their fallen friend.
"Professor!" Hermione cried through the cascade of tears flowing from her cheeks. She began casting the healing spells she knew but as she did each one slid off of the wound like water on a freshly waxed car and the bleeding increased.
"It was a cursed dagger he used." Dumbledore whispered quietly. "Spells won't work."
"There has to be something!" Hermione said desperately and Harry saw her go into her research retrieval mode. Her lips pursed and her eyes began to flicker back and forth as if she were reading pages in a book.
"My dear girl." Dumbledore said with a weak chuckle. "You merely need to look above you."
Hermione snapped from her recall and looked up. She smiled as she remembered what had happened with Harry and the basilisk during second year and again during the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
Harry looked up as well and smiled. "Fawkes!" He shouted happily.
The phoenix landed next to the group and quickly bent over the open wound in his master's chest. With a few dozen well placed tears, the blood loss lessened and the wound sealed completely.
"I'll need some time to fully recover, but at least I'll still be around to guide my students a while longer." He said with a weak laugh. Harry helped his old friend into a seated position.
"Are you sure you'll be alright, Professor?" Harry asked tentatively. "Didn't you say that it was a cursed dagger?"
"I did, Harry." The wizened wizard said seriously. "Healing charms worked in reverse, but as always, Tom seems to have forgotten about the healing powers of phoenix tears."
"We should get to the rendezvous point as soon as possible, Albus." Lupin said grimly. "Not only for your sake, but for Harry's as well."
"Yes." Dumbledore said with a smile. "That was another interesting use of the vanishing charm, Harry. I wonder where he ended up."
Harry looked around. "I'm not sure, I was thinking Hell at the time, but I don't think the spell is that powerful."
His comment received a few strained chuckles out of his comrades and he helped his mentor to his feet.
"I can't believe that Pettigrew did that." Hermione said as she looked down at Wormtail's lifeless body.
"He had a wizard's contract with me." Harry said grimly. "I can see just how powerful they can be."
They made their way to the Floo network where Albus retrieved a long length of rope that was used for a queue from the floor. After a gesture of his wand and a muttered charm he held it out for everyone to take a hold of.
"I have some business to take care of with the Department of Mysteries and will join you shortly. The portkey will deliver you to the rendezvous." He said quietly. Looking at Harry he put a calm hand on the young man's shoulder. "Thank you for my life, Harry."
Before he could respond, he felt the tug behind his navel and was quickly lifted from his feet and pulled through the swirl of wind and color he had become familiar with. He felt Tonks and Moody bouncing off his shoulders and after what seemed to only be a few seconds landed deftly in the front hall of 12 Grimmauld Place.
"Harry, Dear!" Mrs. Weasley called as she bustled over to her son's best friend, catching him in a motherly embrace. "Is everything ok? Where's Albus? We heard what happened at the Ministry and we all came here!"
"Hermione?!" Robert Granger exclaimed as he walked to them from the kitchen.
"DAD!" Hermione shouted and ran into her father's arms. "Where are Mum and Diana?!"
"They're in a bedroom upstairs getting some rest." He said grimly. "Would you meet me in the second bedroom in the hall, your mother and I need to talk to you."
Hermione looked worriedly at Harry but nodded silently. "I'll be there in a few minutes." She said quietly.
Her father nodded and brushed past everyone and then stormed up the stairs.
"Mrs. Weasley." Harry said tentatively as he watched his girlfriend's father stomp up the stairs. "Do you know anything about this?" He indicated the retreating form of Mr. Granger.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know." She admitted sadly. "He's been avoiding us since we've gotten here."
"Sorry." He said quietly. "Professor Dumbledore had to go to the Department of Mysteries for some business. Voldemort was turned back and we got the confessions."
Molly Weasley smiled. "I'm sure we'll hear more about this during the Order's debriefing." She said off-handedly. "Could you come with me to the kitchen? Arthur and I would like to speak with you."
Harry nodded and looked to Hermione. "I'll be with you in a minute?" He asked quietly. Mrs. Weasley smiled and returned to the kitchen.
Hermione walked to her boyfriend and pulled him into a tight hug. "That was brave, Harry." She said in his chest. "But also stupid. What if Pettigrew hadn't jumped in front of the curse?!"
"Take your time, dear." She said as she went through the door.
"I know." Harry said quietly as he took in the scent of her hair. "I wasn't thinking, I saw Dumbledore fall and I couldn't let him die."
"That's admirable, Harry, but I wish you'd think before you jumped." She said into his chest.
"I'll work on that." He said quietly as he pulled back. "I'm sorry I worried you."
Hermione sniffed and smiled. "Well, you're here, through no fault of your own!" She added poking a finger into his chest. "But you better keep to that promise!"
"I will." He said seriously. He looked into her chocolate brown eyes and wiped the tear from her cheek with his knuckles. He found himself kissing her with a quiet passion that she returned readily.
"Hem-hem"
Harry and Hermione looked up at their best friend.
"I would tell you to get a room, but then I'd have images of it in my head." He said with a grin.
The three friends caught each other in a tight hug.
"I'm glad you two are ok." Ron said with a scratchy throat. "When we heard what had happened at the Ministry, Mum and Dad moved us here as a precaution."
"It wasn't easy." Harry said with a smile.
"It rarely is." Hermione chimed in and they all laughed.
"Well, I better see what Mum and Dad want." Hermione said quietly. "I've never seen Dad like this."
"I should see what your parents want, Ron." Harry said after he hugged Hermione before she disappeared up the stairs.
"They wanted me along too." Ron said with a smile.
Harry nodded and the two friends stepped into the kitchen.
"Harry, could you sit down, please?" Arthur Weasley said with a nod to the head of the table. Harry looked around at the entire Weasley family curiously. Everyone was there, except Percy, and Harry suddenly felt nervous as he sat down.
"No need to be nervous, Harry." Mrs. Weasley said with a motherly smile and a reassuring pat on his arm.
"You said you wanted to talk about something?" Harry asked tentatively.
"Yes, Harry." Mr. Weasley said with a gulp.
"You see, ever since you and Ron have become such good friends." Mrs. Weasley took over. "We couldn't help but notice how close you two have become."
"You've done so much for our family, Harry." Arthur said after his wife paused. "You've looked after Ron, saved Ginny, and saved me."
"You've looked after our family and saved us so many times, dear." Mrs. Weasley added.
"You would have done the same for me." Harry said quietly. "Ron as well ..."
"That's our point, Harry." Mr. Weasley said gruffly. "And it seems that we look out for each other as if we were family."
"What Arthur and I are trying to say, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley added quickly. "Is that we ... we'd like to adopt you if you'd like, that is."
"If you don't want that, we will understand, Harry." Mr. Weasley cut in quickly.
Harry looked at his best friend's parents then around at the entire Weasley clan. Each had a glint of hope in their eyes and they were waiting for him to respond.
"Y-you want me to be apart of your family?" He asked quietly. "You want me to be your son?"
The two older Weasleys smiled tentatively and nodded. "Along with everything that entails."
"Living at the Burrow, permanently?" Harry asked with a shaking voice.
"Only if you want to, Harry." Mr. Weasley said seriously as he put his hand on Harry's shoulder.
"When can we get the papers signed?" Harry asked as the tears started falling from his eyes and a wide grin spread across his face.
The entire room erupted in laughter and Harry soon found himself in the midst of another massive group hug. He had never felt as happy as he did now. He was with the woman of his dreams and finally had a family that cared for him and loved him as one of their own.
"We can have the papers ready and filed tomorrow, Harry" Arthur said with a wide smile.
Mrs. Weasley caught Harry in the tightest motherly hug he had ever felt. "Can't ... Breathe ... Mum!" He gasped in his best impression of Ron and the entire room erupted with laughter again.
"WHAT?! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!" Hermione's voice echoed throughout the house. Harry turned towards the door to see what the matter was but before he could reach it, he heard Hermione's footsteps rapidly approach the kitchen.
The door flung open and a teary-eyed Hermione flew into Harry's arms where she sobbed uncontrollably into his chest.
"Hermione? What's wrong?" Harry asked as he pulled her close and began to stroke her hair.
"Mum and Dad are going into the Muggle Protection Program." She sobbed. "They want to pull me from Hogwarts and take me with them!"