Chapter 10
Another Christmas, Another Catastrophe
The atmosphere in the room was dense; no one wanted to either speak or move. Deep breaths could be heard through out the dining hall. Within moments, Harry saw someone faint and people spread a circle around that person. Harry noticed that it was Mrs.Weasley.
Dumbledore came up to her and kneeled at her side, as did Mr.Weasley. He pointed his wand at her and muttered something, at which she opened her eyes.
"Arthur, get her to the nearest bedroom and make sure she gets some rest," he said.
Mr. Weasely helped his wife up, who was still looking rather faint, and walked her out of the room.
The Weasley children, Harry, and Hermione, all exchanged nervous looks. Professor McGonagall was still trying to comfort Cilia, who was sobbing into her shoulder.
"I suggest that you make your way upstairs," he motioned towards Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the others. "I trust that you have already eaten."
Harry whirled around and was closely followed by the others. As soon as Mark, who had been instructed to go with them, walked out and Hermione shut the door, however, Harry pressed an ear against the door, but he heard Moody growl, "He meant now, Potter!"
Harry scowled and began to climb the stairs. Hermione appeared at his side.
"Harry, is there something that you'd like to tell us about your grandmother?"
"She's part-banshee," he said.
"No kidding," said Ron sarcastically. "And I thought she was a mermaid when she made all of that wailing noise."
"So it's true, then," said Hermione. "About the prediction, that is."
"Must be," said Harry, who was trying hard not to think about it.
"That's horrible!" she exclaimed. "Poor Dumbldore - I never thought I'd actually say that..."
"When do you think it's going to happen?" asked Neville.
Harry gulped. He didn't want it to happen. Dumbledore's decisions had sometimes angered Harry, but never to a point where he would not feel terrible if he died. Dumledore was the only one that Voldemort ever feared and, if he was gone, Harry wouldn't know who to turn to...Sirius was gone...his parents were gone...he couldn't let this happen...
"Are they always right? The predictions, that is?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Hermione. "Banshees are supposed to be ancient fairies of mystical powers, you know. They cannot cause death while predicting, but they definitely sense it. When there's a large chorus of them, like what just happened down there, it means that someone of great importance is going to die...I don't know much about them, but I remember reading something of the sort..."
"And there's no way around it?" asked Harry.
"No," said Hermione. "A banshee can curse a family by constantly following them and predicting the deaths of the members, and there are shunning spells against it, but, once it's predicted a death, that's it...there's nothing you can do about it..."
"What sort of powers do they have?" asked Ron.
"I don't know," said Hermione, shaking her head. "But they're not to be fooled around with. I think that, if it is in their desire, that they can cause their Screech to be fatal...They can also fly, as you can tell, and I think that solid objects such as walls and even some spells aren't an issue for them. It's awful that Voldemort has them recruited...no good can come from that, I can say..."
They went inside of one of the rooms and Harry began to pace. Before he knew it, he was screaming.
"WHY NOW? WHY? DUMBLEDORE'S STAYED ALIVE FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG? AND HE JUST HAS TO DIE NOW? WHY?....why?....why?..." Harry felt tears falling to the floor from his eyes.
Hermione had opened her mouth to say something comforting, but even she had no response to his question. Harry could see tears swimming in her eyes as well.
No one said anything. Harry saw Mark shivering and looking around the room, not seeming to know which way was up or down.
"Maybe - maybe this is a good thing," said Hermione. "Maybe this means that the war will be over sooner than we know - "
"Oh, come off it, Hermione," yelled Harry. "This is the Maneosioan War, for crying out loud! It's not some kiddie battle! People are dying! And Dumbledore, damn him, just has to be one of them, doesn't he?"
"It's not supposed to be like this..." she said, gasping for air and pulling Harry into a hug.
"I know...I know..." Harry mumbled into her neck.
Harry looked around the room and saw Neville with his hands in his pockets, kicking the floor with one foot; Ron with his hands folded behind his neck, starring into the ceiling; Luna gazing thoughtfully into the middle of nowhere; Mark now ceasing to look rather nervous, but still appearing to have a rather large headache; and Ginny sitting cross-legged on the floor with her cheeks resting in her palms.
All of them were affected by this, and all of them were thinking the same thing, Harry could tell - why Dumbledore? and who was next?...
"So what do we do?" asked Neville.
"Do? What can we do? You heard Dumbledore: Don't act no matter what happens," said Harry in an annoyed tone.
Suddenly, Luna seemed to be conscious of something and lowered her head, placing her hand on her forehead.
"No - no - it can't be," she mumbled.
"What is it, Luna?" asked Ginny, curiously.
Luna's knees weakened to the floor.
"He knows," she breathed.
"Who knows?" asked Harry urgently. "What are you talking about, Luna?"
"I - I have to go," she said rather abruptly and, getting up, ran out of the room. Ron wanted to follow her, but Harry stopped him.
"Don't - I don't think she wants us to go after her."
Ron looked at Harry, then at the door through which she had left, and nodded.
"What do you think happened?" asked Hermione.
"I dunno," said Harry.
A few moments later, Cilia came bursting into the room, wearing a sunken expression.
"Harry? Harry, dear?! Oh, you're here. Good. Listen, something's happened. Azkaban - it's been attacked!"
"What?!" all of them said at once.
"Yes; the Death Eaters have gone free! Oh, this is terrible!"
"How did this happen?" Harry asked her.
"I don't know. Mind you - to overcome aquapaths!" she was shaking all over.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Hermione.
"Of course! It just happened! The Order has been informed immediately!"
"Are you in it now?" Harry asked.
"Naturally, I'm not an official member considering the fact that I'm leaving in January - "
"What? You're leaving?" said Harry.
"Oh, dear. I cannot stay at this time. Do you not understand that I could easily be recruited by You-Know-Who because of the banshee gatherings that will be taking place? It is something that my subconscious mind is a part of and something that I cannot control. That's why I must leave...."
"I see," said Harry.
"But I am staying for Christmas, so all is well," she said, though her voice was clearly depressed.
"How could all be well?" spoke Hermione in a shrill and teary voice. "They've gone back to Voldemort (there was a sharp intake of breath), haven't they? And if aquapaths - aquapaths, for heaven's sake - have been overcome, then his army must be more powerful than even we can imagine!"
"I'm sorry dear, I don't know your name," said Cilia, patiently.
"It's Hermione Granger," she said, still breathless.
"Granger - yes, right. Well, all I can say, Hermione, is that we must wait for any further instructions. From what I can understand, You-Know-Who's decoyed an attack on Hogwarts so that no one would suspect Azkaban! He is clever, the fool!"
"So does anyone know what happened?" asked Harry.
"Not yet! I told you, it just occurred!"
"Luna - do you think she knew?" Harry asked the others.
"I don't thinks so," said Hermione. "It seemed like she was talking more about a person, didn't it?"
"Yeah..."
Cilia looked puzzled between the two of them.
"Hogwarts is still being watched," she said, finally. "But I'm sure that you'll be able to be back in school after the break. I wouldn't recommend it to Dumbledore, of course, but I suppose he knows what he's doing..."
"EMERGENCY MEETING," came Moody's voice that rang through the room.
"Oh - that's for me. I must go," said Cilia. She turned around. "Try to not go anywhere. If you can, stay in this room until further instruction is given, you hear me?"
They nodded and watched her disappear behind the door.
Harry tried hard to not look any of them in the eye. If Azkaban had been attacked, that meant that there were barely any boundaries that could stop Voldemort and his army. And what, just what would happen if he did attack Hogwarts?
Just then, Harry nearly fell to the floor as Melificent came whizzing past him through a crack in the door and under the bed.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Here, kitty. Here, kitty, kitty," Ginny called her from under the bed, but she didn't come.
"Where's she been?" asked Harry. "I haven't seen her for a while? Have you?"
"No," said Ginny. "Fleur said that she might have been out hunting or something."
"That's a weird cat, I tell you," said Ron.
"I thought you liked her," said Hermione with a smirk.
"Well, she's not as bad as Crookshanks," he replied and she threw him a disgusted look.
There was a long silence.
"Now what?" Neville sighed.
"Now, we wait," said Harry in a slightly quivering voice and fell on the couch. "Exploding Snap, anyone?"
Time flew by so fast and so emptily that Harry wished it rather stay still. Luna had returned and Hermione was eager to speak to her, but Mrs. Weasley told them that she was feeling rather ill and to not bother her. Harry's patience was ready to jump of a fifty-foot cliff any day now since they had received no further information on Voldemort or what had happened that day in Azkaban. He had not seen Dumbledore since the day of the prediction and he had the feeling that he was avoiding Harry again. Melificent, on the other hand, seemed to be sticking so close to Harry that he soon found himself constantly tripping over her as she ran around his feet. He often hoped that a large black dog would show up and scare her away, but he knew that it was not possible...
Christmas was only several days ahead and Harry and the others were asked to help Mrs. Weasely set up decorations around the lighthouse. She told them that they would have a rather unusual company for Christmas, but Harry couldn't think of anything any more unusual than being surrounded by thirty-some Order members, a werewolf, a part-banshee, a part-veela, the Evans, and the Weasleys all under the same roof.
On Christmas morning, Harry awoke to find Ron and Neville already pulling off their pajamas and putting on some proper clothes.
"C'mon, Harry! Presents, you know! And I dare not imagine all the food!" Ron said excitedly.
Harry grinned and got dressed. They walked outside and got knocked into Fred and George, who were also in a hurry to get downstairs.
"Watch where you three are going, will you?" said George furiously, rubbing his head.
"Yeah, I've seen more alert people that were Petrified," said Fred.
"Sorry," Harry mumbled. "Why don't you two just Apparate downstairs?"
"Can't" said George angrily. "This place was built by the founders of Hogwarts, wasn't it? I'm sure Hermione's quoted it one time too many: can't Apparate or Dissapperate on the grounds."
"Oh," said Harry, "right."
They made their way downstairs into the hall where they were all supposed to meet and Harry found himself staring into what seemed a dome-shaped ball room with a huge Christmas tree that bore miniature fairies that twinkled merrily amongst the shining orbs that hung from it in the center. Piles and heaps of gifts lay under it and he watched as illuminating lights encircled the room on the walls alongside boughs of holly and mistletoe. Simply the sight of the room rose Harry's spirits, not to mention warm welcomes from people who Harry hadn't seen in a while.
He could clearly make out two large forms of Hagrid and Madam Maxime. Hagrid had bent over to give her a kiss on the cheek under the mistletoe, and, seeing Harry, he raised his hand in recognition.
Harry walked over to them. Madam Maxime was wearing a bright red dress, which made her stand out more than ever, and Hagrid was wearing a black suit, which Harry thought was much better than wearing a bright red one to match her because then they would have unmistakably resembled St. Nicolas and his wife.
"'Lo there, 'arry, 'Appy Christmas!" said Hagrid. "'Aven't seen yeh in a while. Buh I suppose you've been rather busy what with the, er, problems that 'ave been going on, eh?"
"Yeah," said Harry.
"Shame yer not takin' me class anymore. Buh, then again, I s'pose it would be more useful to concentrate on Defense and Charms...'Arry! By the way! Yeh'll never guess what, 'arry! Me and Olympe, 'ere, are enganged!"
"That's great!" said Harry, who felt extremely happy for Hagrid. "Congratulations!"
He thought for a moment, staring at the two of them, who were beaming, then said, "And what about the - er - about Grawp?"
"Oh, he's doin' along just fine," said Hagrid. "Still needs a bit 'o trainin', 'o course, buh Dumbledore's allowed me to keep 'im in the Forest. And Beaky's been stayin' with me as well, 'o course."
Harry nodded at him, grinning.
"Ah, there's Dumbledore now. We'll meet up with yeh later, 'arry," said Hagrid and led Madam Maxime across the hall.
Harry soon ran across another unexpected guest who was none other than Mrs. Figg. She scurried over to him wearing green slippers and a red robe.
"Harry! Good to see you! I was so glad when they cleared you last year! I know I wasn't too convincing during the trial, but the important thing is that you got off, right?"
"No, you were fine," said Harry. "Thanks for that, by the way."
"Oh, what's to thank me for," she said, brushing off the comment. "If Mundungus - ah, there he is, Christmas morning and he's already as drunk as a dog - hadn't left his post, none of this would have happened! Oh, well, I suppose what's done is done, eh?"
"Yeah," said Harry.
Harry also found himself greeted by Professor Flitwick, his Charms teacher, with his wife, who's size took Harry aback considering the fact that she was about five feet taller than her husband. He saw Tonks in deep conversation with Charlie, and Bill kissing Fleur in the corner. A greater and greater number of people began to arrive, some of which Harry had seen before, while others that he had never met in his life.
He watched as Lupin, Kingsley, Professor McGonagall, Cilia, and a number of other members were crowded to the side and laughing about something.
Harry was amazed that something had finally arrived that could take him mind of the war, and it had apparently done the same for others as well.
Mrs. Weasley suddenly hurried over to him and whispered urgently, "Harry...Harry dear! Go upstairs and put on your dress robes. I told Ron and the others to do the same! There's going to be dancing, you know!"
"What?" said Harry. "But I don't have any - "
"I bought you some new ones dear. I hope you don't mind - I took the key to your vault from your desk when I left to Diagon Alley one day."
"No, I don't mind at all. Thanks"
"Alright then. Better hurry up. Go on, dear."
Harry made his way up to his bedroom and saw Ron and Neville scampering around and pulling on some dress robes.
"Why didn't you guys tell me anything?" he asked.
"'You were constantly talking with someone, mate," said Ron. "Didn't want to be rude and interrupt."
"Oh, yes it would have definitely not have been rude of you when I would have been the only idiot not wearing dress robes!" he said.
"Sorry," said Neville.
Harry found a small package on his bed and unwrapped it to see dark green dress robes that had a golden interior and rather fancy buttons along the front. He quickly changed into them and joined Ron, who was wearing some much nicer robes than he had last time, of a dark red color, and Neville, who was wearing dark blue robes, and stepped outside.
They were just lucky enough to meet the girls, who were walking downstairs and looking more stunning than ever.
When Harry saw Hermione descending, he felt the lock on his chin loosen and the dying desire to stare at her crawl into his eyes. She was wearing an elegant light pink dress robe and her hair was designed in delicate curls. Harry had been staring for so long that he hadn't even realized that she was now standing right in front of him.
"Harry? Are you alright?" she asked in a slightly amused tone.
He suddenly woke up and said, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. You look beautiful. Happy Christmas!"
She blushed and said, "Happy Christmas! You don't look so bad yourself."
Harry offered her his arm, which she took, grinning, and he looked around at Ron, who was staring mindlessly at Luna. She was wearing a light blue dress robe and had her hair back into a pony tail. He then saw Neville, who had Ginny clinging to him at his side and wearing a soft orange dress robe with her hair in a bun, blushing furiously at the idea of being accompanied by the same girl twice in a row.
Harry had just turned to take a step down the stairs, when his foot accidentally met a hissing Melificent and he was sent gliding down several steps, getting up, and rounding at Ron's sister.
"Ginny! Will you get this idiotic cat away from me, for heaven's sake?" he yelled at her.
"Come here, come here," she said to the cat, who was still hissing, and was unwillingly picked up by Ginny.
Once she was restrained, they made their way carefully downstairs and into the hall. Taken aback, Harry raised his eyebrows as he noticed that it was nearly full. Fortunately, he recognized all of the people that occupied it to either be members of the Order or some kind of relatives.
As Harry led Hermione into the gold-polished ball room, an elderly man nearly ran up to him and grasped his hand, shaking it hurriedly.
"Mr. Potter! Heard so much about you! The name's Aberforth! Ah, and Miss Granger," he said taking her hand and kissing it with his bushy beard brushing against it, "another legend." Hermione blushed. "Happy Christmas!" he said and she returned the greeting.
"Happy Christmas! You're Professor Dumbledore's brother, aren't you?" said Harry.
"Yes...yes....in the coming of events, as you may know, I was asked to see to him...Never in his right state, Dumbledore, but he is my brother...Nothin' you can do about the blood in your bones, eh?"
"Er - right," said Harry, slightly confused. He knew that Moody had told him that he was strange, but even Luna couldn't measure up to him. He wore a saggy gray coat and had his beard tied in several places, with pieces of what seemed like stones and bones hanging at the tips. His fingernails were full of dirt and he wore an over-exited grin that stretched from one ear to the other, which made him look surprisingly young.
"I wonder if Daddy's managed to capture a Crumped-Horned Snorlack yet," he heard her say as she passed them arm-in-arm with Ron. Then again, thought Harry...
"Er, I hope so," Ron said.
Music had just erupted in the hall and Harry heard a shuffle of cloaks as they made their way to the center of the hall.
"Do you want to dance, Ronald?" Luna asked. "I know you don't like to, but I heard that dancing places a mutual bond between the body and the soul that can - '
"Er, right, whatever," said Ron and led her into the crowd that had already began swinging to the music.
"Shall we?" Harry asked Hermione.
"It depends," she said, beaming, "are you going to trip over your robes again?"
Harry laughed.
"No, I'll try not to," he said.
"Good," she smiled and they walked out into the center after Ron and Luna.
Harry had enjoyed himself in a manner that was much more gratifying than the Yule ball. The fact that Hermione was smiling up at him in his arms and that his worries were soon flooding away swam through his mind and the war was finally floating away until all he could think about was the gorgeous girl that was standing in front of him and the beautiful music that was in the background.
The euphony finally ceased and everyone applauded. Harry and Hermione, however, leaned in for a kiss...
"Ahem," came Ron's voice before their lips could touch. "She's supposed to be my girlfriend, remember, Harry?"
"Oh, yeah," said Harry, disappointed. "Sorry."
"So are we going to open presents now, or what? I'm starved," said Ron.
Ron, Luna, and Hermione joined Neville and Ginny and began walking towards the tree, but Harry was held back as Cilia approached him with a warm smile.
"Happy Christmas, Harry!"
"Happy Christmas, Grandma!"
"Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard that, eh?" she said, laughing. "Take a look at this."
She handed him a rather old photograph of what looked like two girls who seemed to be no older than Harry. They were laughing and beaming up at him and he noticed that one of them bore his unmistakable and quite unruly raven-black hair.
"Is that you?" he asked her, pointing to the girl on the left, who Harry noticed was exceptionally beautiful.
"Yes, that's me...And that there's Minie Gibson - Minerva McGonagall to you."
Harry looked into the background and saw that they were in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. It was definitely clear that many boys were staring at Cilia as she posed for the picture. He looked over at Professor McGonagall and saw that her original hair color was a very faint orange and she had full brown eyes that were twinkling from the flash of the camera; she looked so happy and unconcerned that Harry would have never guessed that the young sixteen-year-old girl would become the stiff and bossy Transfiguration teacher...
"You were both in Gryffindor, then?" he asked her, after looking at the badges that resided on their chests that were crested with a golden lion.
"Sure were," said Cilia. "The Sorting Hat took a while with me, though. It got confused between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and, to my most displeasure, even Slytherin."
"You were considered being putt into Slytherin?" he asked her, taken aback.
"Yeah...but that was partly because of the whole 'I'm part-banshee and must therefore love the Dark Arts' deal."
"Oh," said Harry. He had considered telling her that he was also nearly placed in Slytherin's House, but decided that it was better not to bother her at the moment.
"Well, best go and open your presents, now, dear," she said pushing him gently on the back towards the others who had already began tearing off the paper off of their gifts and grinning broadly at what they had received from each other.
Before he could react, however, Hermione had rushed up to him and grabbed him by the arm, carrying the gift that Harry had given her in her arm and dragged him out of the hall and into a nearby room.
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. "Thank you," she said. "I loved it!"
"I can tell!" said Harry, laughing.
Harry had gotten her a custom-made jewelry box that, when opened, played a joyous tune as a house elf, dressed in some proper clothes and wearing a hat along with a scarf, spun around in the center.
"I knew that you'd given up on spe - I mean, S.P.E.W., but I still thought you'd like it," said Harry.
"I love it!" she repeated, kissing him a second time.
Startlingly, however, Ron had suddenly burst into the room, opening the door behind which Harry and Hermione stood only to reveal heart-stopping screams outside that made Harry's blood run cold.
"Harry! Hermione! Get out now! We've gotta go! Run!"
"Ron, what the - ?"
But Harry was interrupted as he suddenly felt the creeping sensation of everything growing cold around him; the lights had gone out and darkness had surrounded them. Rattling breaths could be heard coming from around them. People were panicking and screaming. Several silver forms erupted out of nowhere and ignited the scenery so that Harry could visualize the dementors that were floating above them, hundreds of them.
"Ron, get the others; we need to find someone from the Order - Dumbledore, Lupin, your dad, anyone!"
"GINNY?! NEVILLE?! LUNA?! MARK?!" Ron shouted.
There was a loud burst somewhere and Harry saw an explosion of flames; this was the end...they were all going to die...
He whipped out his wand, but he did not see the use.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry shouted with the little of his might that he had left. A stag erupted from his wand, but there were more dementors than he had counted on. Beside him, a silver otter swam out of Hermione's wand and into the opposite direction where it chased away some more of them.
But it was no use -
"That's it! We're done for!" came Ron's voice.
Harry heard a great rumble of what sounded like water outside of the lighthouse and suddenly screamed, "RUN! UPSTAIRS! GO! NOW!"
He seized Hermione and tugged on Ron's sleeve and heard a great muffle of footsteps behind him. As they got nearer the top, the sides of the lighthouse suddenly erupted and Harry caught a glimpse of two piercing aqua eyes that lay between a glowing red-mane.
"Aquapaths!" he whispered. "Luna, can't you do something?" he said to her as he saw that she was standing next to him.
Luna whimpered beside him. "I-I can't Harry! There's nothing I can do - "
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY IT? YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THE POWER OR WHATEVER THE HELL YOU SAID, DON'T YOU?!"
"I...I..." Luna whimpered.
But Harry's attention was now focused below him where he saw what looked like another four aquapaths join the others and emit a roar that pierced Harry's brain. They swiped away the dementors with their bare hands, and Harry saw as several other Patronuses erupted from somewhere amongst all of the screams.
Someone had ran up next to them and Harry noticed that it was Lupin and Mrs. Weasley.
"FOLLOW ME!" she yelled at them and Harry and the others whipped around after them as they headed for the top of the tower to where their bedrooms where. The screams where still echoing through the house and the staircase was now shaking.
"HURRY UP! IN HERE!" cried Lupin above the noise.
They shuffled inside the room and Mrs. Weasley locked the door behind them.
"Harry, we have to get you and the others out of here immediately!"
The ground below them shook and Harry had the impression that the lighthouse was about to collapse.
"Get your things!" Lupin rounded at him.
"But what about the others - ?"
"He said NOW!" screamed Mrs. Weasley. Harry gathered his belonging along with the rest of them with such speed as he had never done before. His head was ringing so strongly and his scar piercing so badly that he could barely think properly.
"Where are we going?" he asked finally.
"Back to Hogwarts," said Lupin.
"Hogwarts? But that's not safe - "
"Enough!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Move! Let's go!"
She motioned them out of the room as they dragged their things along side of them. Harry kept walking downstairs, ahead of them, but noticed that the stairs had been cut short.
"Mrs. Weasley!" he cried.
"IN HERE!" she yelled and opened a door that could still be accessible through the side. Harry noticed that it was the same room in which Harry had talked with the Evans. Or was it? It looked all the same.
"Ready?" she asked.
"For what?" asked Ron.
"Concentrate on coming back to Hogwarts!" yelled Lupin.
"What - ?"
"JUST DO IT!" said Mrs. Weasley.
Harry focused his mind on being back in the castle and his insides suddenly did an unpleasant lurch. The echoing screams where gone and he opened his eyes; he was in the Room of Requirements.
"How the - ?"
"I'll explain later," said Mrs. Weasley.
"I want you to go into the Gryffindor common room and stay there until further instructions are given! Everything will be okay - "
"HOW?" said Harry.
"Just go," said Lupin and opened the door so that Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Mark, and Ginny could walk out of it, still hearing the screams ringing in their ears, only to be taken aback by a beige cat that ran past Harry, knocking him down for the third time.
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