This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter 2
"Like, He's Dead!"
It was almost supper when Harry took a seat beside Hermione along the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for dinner. Like them, everybody else was looking forward for the delicious menu that lay ahead. Food was always tasty in Hogwarts that everyone always managed to have at least two helpings of everything, but no one seems to get fatter than they already were either.
"There's Ron!" Hermione said when she saw him walking slowly among the last group of students entering the Great Hall. "Oh, no. He looks very miserable…"
Harry thought miserable was a mild word for "total wreck" when Ron finally reached his seat. "You all right there, Ron? You look horrible."
"I'm so depressed I couldn't even fall to sleep…"
"Sleeping on your problems won't help solve them, Ron," said Hermione sternly. "You gotta face the music sooner or later! I mean if you didn't play the practical joke none of this would have ever happened!"
"Yeah, thanks for the inspiring message, Hermione," Ron said sarcastically.
Led by Draco Malfoy, most students along the Slytherin table sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" that was meant to torment him more and not to be friendly. A loud bang from McGonagall's wand told them to keep quiet, and they did, but not before they rang with derisive laughter.
Dumbledore was seated on his usual seat on top of the Hall with his purple robes standing out whatever color of garments the teachers were wearing. Harry saw that he was very relaxed and was beaming as he looked around all the students merrily eating their supper. Harry had a horrible impression that he didn't seem to care about suspending someone tonight. Then, someone with jet-black robes crossed Harry's eyesight - who else, but Snape - and stopped to whisper something on Dumbledore's ears. The Headmaster frowned and nodded impatiently at Snape without looking at him like he was irritated at something. Harry guessed Snape may have reminded him of the meeting tonight, and that gave Harry the strong urge to run up the Hall and kick Snape very hard at the shins. Dumbledore might truly be regretting beforehand that such a meeting will have to take place as scheduled, and that was a good sign, he hoped.
Ron didn't eat as much as he usually does, but at least Hermione's persistent wheedling helped stuff up some food in his stomach. Harry had a strong feeling all of this effort might prove useless later, as Ron is always susceptible of throwing up during extreme stress.
After dinner was officially over, all of the students went up to their dorms. The cheerful atmosphere along the way was not helping Ron though. Students kept talking about their plans for the next day or week, and some even approached Harry to give him some encouragement for the upcoming Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. For someone who was about to be suspended or worse, expelled, hearing such things will only make things more miserable.
Harry wished that Fred and George Weasley were around in the common room as he waited for Hermione to escort them to Dumbledore's office. The twins' antics would have surely helped cheer up Ron, but they were still serving the last stretch of their detention by scrubbing up the Greenhouses for Professor Sprout. Ginny Weasley was beside Ron and kept on blushing when Harry looked at both of them. She was talking to her brother very soothingly; bless her. At last, the portrait hole opened and Hermione climbed in, but she wasn't alone. What made Ginny scream was seeing what was behind Hermione - two tall and robed figures with their hoods up holding what looked like a long sickle. Hermione wheeled around and shrieked as she backed off a few steps. Everyone in the common room stopped what they're doing and fell silent, all eyes transfixed on the unexpected visitors. After a long pause one of them spoke very dramatically.
"Are we late for the execution?" said one of them.
Ron's eyes became round with anxiety, but thankfully Professor Sprout came behind the two robed figures not a moment too soon. She removed the hoods and everyone laughed when they saw Fred and George's identical faces show as soon as the hoods fell down. Professor Sprout didn't wait more than a second and grabbed both twins by the ears.
"I recognized you both at once when I saw you tip-toeing behind Miss Granger, Weasleys! I've been looking all over for you because you didn't report for detention tonight! Out! Out!" snarled Professor Sprout.
The two twins just grinned and whimpered with pain when Professor Sprout led them out of the common still holding them by the ears. Ron was doubling up with laughter with Harry and Hermione. "They don't really disappoint, those two," said Harry.
Minutes later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in front of the stone gargoyle leading to Dumbledore's office. "Cherry Lollipops," muttered Hermione, and the gargoyle slid to reveal a passageway. "You're not supposed to hear Dumbledore's password, Harry, but I think it's alright this time…"
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry replied and he turned to Ron. "Well, I guess this is it, Ron."
"Yeah," said Ron. "I think I've become too numb to feel more horrified anymore - I'll live."
Hermione smiled and said "Harry and I'll just be out here, Ron. Don't worry, everything's gonna turn out okay, I know it."
"You'll be fine," Harry said.
But before Ron could take another step further, Jack Chadron called, "Mr. Weasley, wait." Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned in the direction of Jack Chadron's voice and watched him get nearer. The Head Boy, however, glared at Hermione.
"What's Mr. Potter doing here, Hermione?" he asked. "I thought you heard what the Headmaster said. He said he didn't want Mr. Potter in his office for this meeting."
Hermione wanted to answer "I heard that from you, not Dumbledore" but decided against it. "Harry won't be inside the office at all - he'll only be outside the corridor with me, sir," she reasoned quietly instead.
"Don't get smart with me, Hermione," snapped Jack Chadron. "You very well know the rules that prefects should be accompanied only by another prefect, not an ordinary student."
"Ordinary student, huh?" Harry thought. Then this Jack Chadron isn't what he's thought up to be, and he has at least a drop of prejudice against most of the students.
"…especially in front of the Headmaster's secret entrance where only prefects can know about the password?" Jack finished.
"I've been in this office lots of times, Jack, and I swear I didn't hear Hermione say the password at all," Harry lied to help Hermione get out of trouble. He'd actually been in the office more than three times in his five years in Hogwarts, but he remembered well enough Dumbledore's favorite password was Cherry Lollipops.
Hermione, however, talked again. "With your permission, sir, I request for an exception to that rule, sir, just for this one occasion - Harry, Ron, and I have been best friends ever since…" she immediately stopped talking when Jack Chadron quickly, almost arrogantly, raised a hand.
"We're late for the meeting, but, yes, perhaps I'll allow an exception for tonight," said Jack, not hiding his disapproval. "Come, Mr. Weasley, I'll bring you to the Headmaster now."
With a last look at his two friends and a reassuring glance from him, Ron followed directly behind Jack Chadron to the passageway. Harry and Hermione wanted to see him at the very last moment possible and followed the stone gargoyle as it closed. Before it shut completely, both of them thought they saw Jack Chadron stop and turn around with his hand outstretched to Ron, as if to ask something from him, but they didn't mind that at all. As soon as Harry was certain the stone gargoyle was closed enough that they won't be heard from inside, Harry hissed, "What was he upset all about?" Hermione just shrugged.
They just stood there silently in the dim corridor for a couple of minutes, and both somehow failed to think on what to talk about. "Let's go find a seat somewhere," said Harry at last. They found a stone bench just along the corridor a few feet from the stone gargoyle and sat down.
And they sat there for a few silent moments until Hermione started to talk. "I wonder what's going on inside there right now. Do you think Dumbledore will really suspend or expel Ron tonight, Harry?"
Harry thought for a moment and said, "Probably not. He seemed not to like the idea, though, I can feel it." A few moments silence went by again, and Harry couldn't fight the urge to ask Hermione about Jack Chadron once more. "Hermione, please be honest, was the Head Boy ever been that strict to you back there?"
"Not that I remember," Hermione replied. "He's never been this way with me at all. We've always been getting along pretty well, you see, he's usually been slack with the rules, said that some rules didn't agree with how he'll handle things while he's Head Boy. That's why most of the prefects like him. Why, Harry?"
"Nothing, just a funny feeling."
"Like what?" asked Hermione, laughing a little, but she'd never find out as Professor McGonagall rounded a corner and came walking towards the Dumbledore's entrance. Before she could reach it, she stopped in front of her and Harry.
"Miss Granger, Mr. Potter. What are the two of you both doing out here at a time like this?"
"We're just waiting for Ron until the meeting's over, Professor," replied Hermione for Harry.
"Waiting? You mean the meeting's started already?"
Both kids nodded and they looked at each other and back to McGonagall again.
McGonagall lips became thin. "I hope I've heard correctly from Professor Snape what time the Headmaster wanted the meeting to start…I couldn't be too late, am I?" Without waiting for Harry or Hermione to answer, she briskly walked towards the gargoyle, muttered the password, and disappeared as soon as it closed again. Harry and Hermione looked at each other again and they both shrugged.
"Harry, I've been getting the funny feeling you were sneaking out again to Hogsmeade," said Hermione after another five minutes of silence. Harry, to her surprise, just snorted and began to laugh. "Couldn't have too much fun, can you? What's so funny?" she asked suspiciously.
"The many times I slipped by just a few inches from you, Hermione," Harry said. "The last one was last night - I wanted to see how good a prefect you are…I pulled your hair for fun and Peeves just happened to pass by. Poor Peeves, he got the worst of you, really."
"That was YOU in the invisibility cloak!?!" she said shrilly and tried to reach both of her hands around Harry's neck to choke him. That only gave Harry a rich tickling sensation and they both had a hearty laugh.
"I always have a hard time with that prefect from Ravenclaw Jude Chamberlain," Harry continued. "He's got the nose of a niffler, and I think he smelled me when I was slithering out of the witch's hump. I panicked and got out but my cloak fell down the tunnel. I only had time to close the hump and get out of sight. I've got to get the cloak back someday."
"Not on my watch, you won't" challenged Hermione, wearing a nasty grin on her face that made Harry gently jab her nose tip.
"Okay, Prefect, two tankards of Butterbeer in Hogsmeade says I could get the cloak without being caught - make it four if you can catch me yourself!"
"You're on!" she said confidently and they both shook hands. Before their hands broke away, the stone gargoyle slid open and they both turned their heads in that direction.
Professor McGonagall strode out and stopped. She placed the tip of her wand near her throat and muttered, "Sonurus!"
"Harry, what's going on…" Hermione started but her voice was drowned by McGonagall's that was amplified many times the normal volume.
"ATTENTION! ATTENTION! ALL AVAILABLE TEACHERS GO TO THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE AT ONCE! I REPEAT, ALL AVAILABLE TEACHERS… AND MADAM POMFREY GO TO THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE AT ONCE! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!" McGonagall said. Then she muttered "Quietus" with her wand tip near her throat again and her voice came back to normal.
Harry and Hermione didn't think twice and ran towards the entrance. Before they reached it McGonagall took a good look at them. Harry saw her eyes were watering, and she seemed to as if she wanted to tell him and Hermione something, but her lips were trembling and no words came out of her mouth and she just ran back to the office.
"What the…" Harry said, and he felt Hermione pull him towards the office. When he got in, what he saw made him think something was really wrong, but his mind didn't register he was seeing right away because of the confusion. Ron was slumped chest down on the floor, apparently stunned. His wand lay on the floor beside him. About ten feet from him Dumbledore was behind his desk and his head was slumped on top of a piece of parchment on the desk surface - his right hand was loosely holding a feather quill. And his eyes were open in an odd way.
Jack Chadron, meanwhile, was standing beside Dumbledore. He was silent, and his wand was pointed at Ron. McGonagall reached the Headmaster and tried to wake him.
Harry and Hermione instinctively ran and knelt down beside Ron and checked on him. "Ron, Ron! Are you alright…Ron?" Harry said as he turned him over. "What happened, Jack?" Harry demanded. "What happened?"
Jack, however, was still standing there on the same spot, in silence. His eyes were looking daggers at Ron's limp form, with cold fury drawn in his face.
A few running footsteps at the entrance announced the arrival of more teachers. Snape was the first one to enter followed by the tiny Professor Flitwick. Snape went straight to Dumbledore as soon as he saw him. "What happened here?" he said while making big strides toward the desk. "Minerva!"
"Oh, no!" gasped McGonagall. "I think the Headmaster's dead!"
"What?" everyone else exclaimed.
At last, Jack Chadron spoke, his voice shaking. "The Headmaster was writing an expulsion note on his desk when Mr. Weasley took out his wand and performed the Death Curse on him, Professor Snape. I had barely time to take my own wand and Professor McGonagall stunned him first, but it was all too late! Too late!" Jack was positively crying now and sank down to the floor.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other in shock. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Harry thought could Ron have been that desperate to keep himself in Hogwarts as to kill Professor Dumbledore? It was totally absurd.
Madam Pomfrey, the Head Nurse, arrived. Snape urgently called on her to check on the Headmaster. As she was doing so, Snape turned to McGonagall who was shaking from head to toe. "Is this true, Professor?"
With great difficulty, as if she couldn't believe what she would be saying out of denial, McGonagall said "Yes, Professor, I stunned Mr. Weasley right after he performed the Death Curse. I - I can't believe a student could commit murder, even in front of me and the Head Boy. I'm afraid everything the Head Boy said was the truth."
"There's only one way to know for sure," squeaked Professor Flitwick, walking over and scooping up the wand from Ron's hand. "Is this Mr. Weasley's wand, Harry?"
He couldn't dispute that. It was undeniably Ron's wand, and Harry, with great difficulty, nodded. He couldn't believe he just did.
Professor Flitwick stretched out the wand and muttered, "Priori Incantatem!"
A ghostly green wisp of smoke spit out of the wand and terminated on a simulated form that was recognizably Dumbledore's. The form slumped exactly the way Dumbledore is positioned now, and the words "Avada Kadavera" were written in mid-air.
Upon witnessing that, and recalling McGonagall's testimony, Harry felt like fainting. But Hermione beat him to it. She suddenly collapsed, and Harry caught her just in time before her head hit the hard floor. Harry loosened her tie and fanned his hand over her face.
"He's alive! Just barely," announced Madam Pomfrey. "I'd better get him to the hospital wing quick!"
Every conscious head around the room snapped in her direction. The expressions on everyone's face were mixed. Some were still horrified, other's relieved, but Snape's still emotionless as he looked at the Head Nurse. Then Harry saw Snape conjure a stretcher like the Potions professor did near the Whomping Willow to carry him and Hermione in their third year, he recalled, and levitated the Headmaster's almost lifeless body on to it. The stretcher then started to move out of the office followed by Madam Pomfrey who kept saying "Out of the way, out of the way" to the growing crowd outside the office. Madam Hooch and Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy Department followed. However, Snape and everybody else who arrived at the scene first stayed behind.
"We must call on the Ministry of Magic to arrest Mr. Weasley for the attempted murder of Professor Dumbledore," declared Snape. "He must be sent to Azkaban."
Harry reacted suddenly without letting go of Hermione, who had quickly regained consciousness, but remained weak. "You can't!!!" he bellowed. "Azkaban? Without a trial?"
"You've already seen the evidence and heard the testimony of Professor McGonagall, Mr. Potter!" snarled Snape. "What else do you need to convince yourself otherwise?"
Harry didn't answer, and McGonagall said slowly, "Harry, I'm afraid the evidence is too overwhelming that Mr. Weasley indeed attempted to kill the Headmaster, and I think there is still one more left to establish a motive." She still looked as if she was in denial. She walked over to Dumbledore's desk and took the parchment with the unfinished letter. Here's what prompted Mr. Weasley to do that unspeakable act. She read the parchment aloud.
"Memorandum to all Teachers:
As of this day, Mr. Ronald Weasley has been expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All Teachers are advised not to accept the said student from all classes, and if Mr. Weasley is found within the grounds of the school after one day, he must be bodily carried out without any question and escorted to Platform Nine and Three Quarters at King's Cross Station unless otherwise this order has been cancelled by the undersigned.
Please be guided accordingly.
Signed: Albus Dumbledore"
"Well, I guess that explains it all, although this document is not binding yet as the Headmaster half-finished his signature." McGonagall continued, now regaining her composure. "As of this moment, as the deputy Headmaster of this school, I'm temporarily taking over Professor Dumbledore's place while he's incapacitated. I'll be issuing some emergency orders soon in order to maintain order after this terrible tragedy. I need the Head Boy, Jack Chadron, to assist me in all matters."
"Yes, Professor," replied Jack, and he glanced at Harry, who was staring back at him.
Ron began to regain consciousness. Snape quickly conjured ropes to tie Ron from behind. Harry quickly looked at Snape, who glared back at him and not saying anything. "Wha…what happened?" murmured Ron weakly. It took a while for him to fully realize his surroundings.
"You tell me, Mr. Weasley," said Snape menacingly. "I'm putting you under arrest for the attempted murder of Professor Dumbledore. We will call on Ministry Wizards to complete the arrest and you'll spend the rest of your life in Azkaban."
Harry saw that Ron was as confused as he was. Harry had the terrible impression that Ron was just pretending pretty hard to look oblivious about what's happened.
"Azkaban? Wh-why? What happened?" Ron looked at Harry and Hermione who was looking at him very weakly. "Harry, what happened? Why am I all tied up?"
"Do you remember anything, Ron, can you tell us exactly what happened here moments ago?" asked Harry calmly, hoping that he could tell a very different story.
"Yes, I think I was entering the office and I was talking to Professor Dumbledore right here. And…and…" Ron suddenly became confused.
"And what, Mr. Weasley?" asked Snape impatiently.
"I…I think I don't remember…"
"Ha! You think you can get away of such story, Mr. Weasley?" Snape spat. "You were caught red-handed performing the Death Curse on the Headmaster who's in critical condition now at the hospital wing…no less than Professor McGonagall and the Head Boy here witnessed the crime!"
Ron went pale. "I did? I-I didn't, Professor, I swear!!!" Ron pleaded. "The next thing I remember is seeing you all right here right now!"
"If it weren't for the fact that I heard you lie to the Headmaster today even for just a simple thing as a practical joke, I might have given you the benefit of the doubt, Mr. Weasley," said Snape angrily. "But you're the guilty one and the only thing left is for you to admit it."
"No…no…" Ron whimpered as he now realized the gravity of the situation. "Harry, did I really? I couldn't remember anything at all, you gotta believe me!" He was now sobbing.
"R-Ron, how could you…how could you?" Hermione said, her breathing getting uneven. Tears were now streaming down on her cheeks. Harry shook her gently once to stop her from talking.
"Hermione…did I really…I didn't…" but Ron stopped when Hermione turned away her cheek. "Harry? I can't remember anything. You got to believe me! Please. You're my best friend, right?"
"We'll work this thing out, Ron, we'll know that truth," Harry said. He quickly stared at Jack Chadron who was also staring back with his lips oddly thinning then relaxing back again.
"You'll be wasting your time, Mr. Potter, as the facts are undisputable now," said McGonagall. "I have to ask everyone of you to leave the Headmaster's office at once. Professor Snape, bring Mr. Weasley and detain him in the dungeons until Ministry Wizards will come and bring him to Azkaban."
Snape nodded and pulled Ron painfully up by the arms to guide him to the dungeons. Mr. Filch the caretaker helped Snape drag him.
"No! Not Azkaban…!" He looked at Harry pleadingly for help. But Harry could not leave Hermione alone who was still too frail to walk on her own.
"I'll talk to you later, Ron! I gotta look after Hermione!" Harry wanted to punch himself because he could not do anything for Ron in his darkest time. He could hear some angry voices as Snape and Ron got past a thick crowd of students outside.
"Mr. Potter, I must ask you now to leave," said McGonagall sternly, pointing at the door. Jack Chadron just stood there, as if he, too, made the order himself.
Out of Dumbledore's office, Harry walked robotically towards the Gryffindor tower while he carried Hermione, who was staring blankly ahead, in his arms, Some students along the way were madly asking him questions of what really happened in Dumbledore's office, but Harry didn't care to talk. He kept on staring and walking straight ahead.
The portrait hole was wide open as many students were talking inside and outside the common room. When they saw Harry and Hermione they all fell silent, and not even one of them dared to ask them questions. Inside, Ginny was crying hysterically as Fred embraced her. Not anyone, not even the Weasley twins could help lighten up the moment. Maybe they felt shame of their brother's actions, or grief out of Dumbledore's present condition. Harry didn't know. Or probably he didn't care. He only thought of Ron: His best friend for more than four years, and the one who saved him once from the Dursley's. The one who gave his life some color now locked up in the dungeon, and soon, if nothing can be done, he will be in dreadful Azkaban for committing an unforgivable crime. And he could do nothing to get him out.
The common room was still silent as everybody watched Harry place Hermione on the couch and sat down beside her. He didn't look at anybody else's eyes and stared up the ceiling for a moment or two, still unbelieving of the events that transpired in Dumbledore's office. Then he heard Hermione's small shaking voice call the name they has grown to love all these years.
"Ron," she whispered.
Harry didn't have to look at Hermione. It all came very spontaneously for them. They both hugged and broke down completely as if someone special had just died.