Chapter 24: Of Fire and Finding
***********************Hogwarts/Hogsmeade******************************
June 4, 2005
Harry looked down at his trunk setting at the foot of his bed, pulling a small bag of coins from it; he started to close it only to stop with a jerk. Fully reopening the trunk, he ran an appreciative hand over the smooth sheath of the Gryffindor sword. I know Moody, always be prepared. Mad-Eye will probably kill me, but I just don't feel normal carrying a three foot sword on my back as I walk down the street. Harry thought with a mix of wistfulness and guilt.
"Coming Harry?" Hermione's clear soprano came from down the stairs.
"Yeah, Mione, just getting some galleons" Harry replied closing the lid and heading rapidly down the stairs to meet his friends.
Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna were all waiting for him along with the rest of their age mates, Ginny pointedly tapping her foot impatiently. "About bloody time, mate," Ron growled from beside Hermione, though with a wry smile on his lips.
The day had dawned beautiful and sunny on this Saturday afternoon. For the most part everyone was on fine spirits. Finals had ended the day before, and students would receive their grades in the next week, before they went home on the 13th. As a special treat, a late-year Hogsmeade weekend had been announced and every Hogwarts student as going, even the all of the prefects, as Dumbledore had had teachers stand in for the two that would have been on duty, which by pure coincidence happened to have been Ron and Hermione. Even the 1st and 2nd years were permitted to go under the close supervision of several volunteer prefects. Dumbledore had called it a field trip to get around the parental note. The carriages were so packed that multiple shifts were required to get everyone to the town. A fact that inspired Harry to reveal the secret passage to Hogsmeade that led to Honkeydukes basement to the rest of his friends that hadn't already known of it, basically, Ginny, Luna, and his and Hermione's roommates. An act the prompted the asking of just what else Harry knew that they didn't. He just smiled and headed off down the passage whistling.
Everyone was in a joyous mood actually with the exception of Harry, Hermione and Ron. Harry was still trying to deny to himself, what he had started to realize at the start of the year, he was in love with his best friend, that the fact that his heart had stopped when she came in to the Burrow, battered from an attack at Christmas on her and her parents had crystallized his feelings. Lately that fact, had kept him up just as much as the nightmares. However, it was paradoxically his loyalty to her that kept him from revealing his feelings. He was still convinced that anyone who dared love him would die, heck just being his friend was dangerous enough, witness the attempts on Ron and her lives this last semester. Every time he had almost convinced himself that he was wrong, that he should confess his feelings, he would wake up seeing her lifeless body on the ground from the events of a year ago. Even Lupin had not been able to convince him to tell her, though the puppies comment would reverberate in his mind at the oddest times.
Hermione for her part, also had admitted the feelings she had for him to herself and even directly to Ginny, but she hadn't to Harry as she was afraid that he wouldn't return them. She also woke with nightmares, but hers either featured giant glowing yellow eyes, or a purple slash of a spell, or occasionally a certain black-haired figure lying facedown in a pool of his own blood. When the last came, she did not sleep again that night, and sat up shivering in her bed. The humorous part in all of this was that if either her or Harry would just admit their feelings it would be all over but the fireworks. A fact that had at least three betting pools going, of which, the teacher's pool was getting particularly large. After all to everyone but those two it was so obvious it was laughable.
To everyone except Ron that was; Ron still had not picked up on the signals that his two friends were broadcasting, but in his case it was probably a case of him being intentionally blind. He had just attempted to ask Hermione out not that long ago, only to be turned down disastrously. Fortunately, for his continued existence at Hogwarts, no one else had been in the Library in earshot that weekend afternoon so the incident hadn't spread, and Hermione for her part acted like it hadn't happened.
Harry and the rest took their usual table in the back of The Three Broomsticks, and sat chatting to each other about what to do on this unexpected weekend. The Weasley twins were already thinking of expanding to Hogsmeade as a second franchise when they graduated in a week, so as to move their wares closer to their primary target customers, the students; they were planning on looking for locations. Ron and Ginny said they would go with them. The rest, basically were going to just hang out with their friends, and just possibly, get hammered enough to have to be carried back to the castle.
"Harry," Hermione said softly, snapping Harry out of a quiet reverie. He had been staring off into space for a minute or two; of course he didn't say that she had been the focus of his thoughts despite his best attempts to dampen them.
"Yeah, Mione" Harry responded almost distractedly. Ginny glanced over from where she was sitting with Neville; they weren't quite a couple but kept dancing on the edge. She noticed immediately, the nickname, that somehow only Harry seemed to use, and the fact that Harry immediately snapped to when she said something, even if he was distracted.
"I want to go get some souvenirs for my parents. Want to come along?" She asked with a hopeful tone.
"Sure, Her..." Harry broke off as suddenly his scar burned...a lot. Voldemort or his forces were here NOW! Harry jumped up and grabbed his wand, startling the Gryffindors for a second, but they all drew without him even asking. Harry glanced out the door than back at the now anxious group. "We need to go...right now" Harry led the group quickly out the door, Neville as the last one up hurriedly threw a handful of change on the table as he went. Eyes followed the young wizards out, but no one else moved yet, though several members of the DA from other houses were starting to get up.
"I don't see anything Harry," Ron said in a cautious tone as they reached the street. He might be annoyed at Harry for some reason he didn't realize right now, but he still trusted him. As if Ron's question was a signal, a great black shadow passed over the group. Looking up a great black dragon was passing overhead, a rider on its back. Harry would later swear he could see the rider give him an evil grin even through the Death Eater mask he wore. With a huge breath, the dragon spit out two enormous fireballs, both at least five feet across.
"GET DOWN" Harry screamed. The students and several other wizards in the street dropped unthinkingly to the ground as the twin fireballs hit Honeydukes and Zonkos almost simultaneously. Both stores detonated, throwing wood, glass, and most horribly of all, small bodies, yards away.
"OH MY GOD!" Ginny screamed as she and the rest of the onlookers instantly realized that the majority of the customers at this hour would be the 1st and 2nd years that Dumbledore had let out as a special treat. Harry turned to Hermione who had fallen at his side to see her really pale face, but she just shook her head at him, she was functional. Harry clambered to his feet, pulling her along with him.
Behind Harry the rest of the students and patrons of the Three Broomsticks had pilled out of the bar. Harry glanced and saw that he had most of the DA present, and if there ever was an issue for the DA to act on, it was probably this.
But before Harry could get them organized, Fred yelled, "GET DOWN" and everyone dove back to the ground as another fireball hit the street several yards away, knocking several of them through the air and battering Dean to unconsciousness with the concussion. With a sudden realization, Harry felt weirdly calm, after all this was probably what he had trained for all these years, if Voldemort and his fiends wanted to start something here, on what was practically Harry's home pitch then so be it. Harry started snapping orders, "Ginny, Neville get Dean under cover and get back here, Everyone else, LETS SLAY A DRAGON, on its next pass, I want you four over there," waving to Padma, Cho, and a couple of more Ravenclaws Harry didn't know, "To fire conjunctivitis curses at it's eyes, everyone else, fire either severing charms if you have a shot at it's neck or limbs or otherwise fire reducto blasts at its wings. OK HERE IT COMES...FIRE"
A veritable storm of spells erupted from the scattered members of the DA, Harry did notice that Padma and Cho's blinding spells did hit perfectly. The remainder of the spells smashed the Dragon's wings, crushed its ribs and tore one of its legs off. As Charlie had told Harry almost three years ago, dragons were resistant to magic, but when thirty or more full power spells hit the same dragon at the same time, it might as well have been a bunny rabbit.
It fell from the sky, cartwheeling tail over snout as it hit the ground, crushing several houses as its corpse came to a rest. The Death Eater rider went flying though the air only to land with a sickening crunch against a stone wall. The group erupted in cheers, except for Harry, and taking his clue, the rest of the Gryffindors, they just started scanning around for the next threat. That had been too easy, notwithstanding the lives that had been undoubtedly had just been lost in the stores, and besides Harry's scar was burning even more now. As a rhythmic booming was heard, the rest of the students fell silent, the booming sounded as if an army was on the march, an army of something a little bigger than them.
Almost as if she knew she was needed, Hedwig appeared though the flames and settled on Harry's shoulder. Good Girl Harry thought quickly. "Anyone got a scrap of parchment, and a quill?"
*********************Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts*********************
Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office talking quietly to Remus and Tonks. They had come up at his request, he was considering having them help with DADA next year and he was feeling them out to see if they would agree. He wasn't yet sure about the rest of his plan for covering the class for next year, for that, he would have to wait and see.
"Sure, Albus," Lupin replied, waving his hands expansively, "I would love to teach a portion of the class next year, I have always enjoyed teaching, and besides," He added with a slight, false grimace at the witch next to him, "I would enjoy my own quarters here, I mean Nymphadora's snoring is driving me batty."
Tonks turned back to him, an eyebrow raised. Today, she had her hair its natural black, however it was long, curly and hanging down her back. Even though she was a metamorphamangus, she normally only changed her hair, even though she could totally change her appearance and voice. "Careful dear, or I'll show you batty, Ginny taught me her bat-bogey hex." Tonks delivered the threat in a dry, flat tone.
"Now, now, Nymphadora, we wouldn't want that, I assume that you also will take the position if Arthur agrees to base you out of here?" Dumbledore asked her with a grin, to which he received a nod, even though she was still looking annoyedly at Lupin. As Remus was reflecting on his sins, or at least his chances of sleeping on the couch, a tapping was heard at the window. Dumbledore got up with a smile, crossed to it and there found a dark brown owl wearing a Ministry tabard. Still smiling, he took a note from the owl and read it quickly:
Albus,
For some reason, floo communication is not working to Hogwarts or Hogsmeade; I sent an owl, even though it is slower. Over the last night, several attacks by Death Eaters have been reported in Great Britain, France, Canada and the States. So far the attacks have been of a scale that allowed them to allow no survivors. This seems to be a return to the terror attacks that first Miss Granger and later the Order dissuaded him from earlier this year; I suspect that he will go for bigger targets in the morning. I would suggest pulling all of your students in under cover just in case, I don't think he would attack Hogwarts, especially if you had time to get ready for him. If you are attacked, you are on your own for now, as all available forces are responding to attacks around the globe, the nearest free forces are in America and they are covering a couple of targets that He would like to hit. All Aurors and other ministry forces are either at the Great Britain attack sites or are covering Gringott's, as an informer has given us word that He might try to hit there.
Kingsley
Dumbledore looked up to relay the information, but before he even opened his mouth, a second owl swooped directly in the open window. Hedwig settled on the desk directly in front of him, almost frantic if an owl can be such, as she extended her leg. Dumbledore's heart leapt to his throat as he hurriedly took the note:
Professor,
We are currently under attack at Hogsmeade, at this time we have taken down a dragon, however the dragon caused several casualties before we could stop it. A DE guided the dragon, we are hearing loud marching coming right now, send backup and medical help. I will try to use the DA to hold of the DEs until we can get the underclassmen clear, however both secret passages to Hogwarts are unusable, the Shrieking shack is out of reach, and Honeydukes is, destroyed. Failing that I will attempt to hit and run to get as many clear as I can.
Harry
"Remus, Tonks, get everyone and get them here now!" Dumbledore shouted, "Hogsmeade is under attack, and there's no help available but us. Harry says he'll hold them off as long as he can, As soon as you can get everyone, make a portkey and follow me. FAWKES" Fawkes flew to his shoulder and they both disappeared. Remus and Tonks shared a shocked glance then they sprinted out of the office screaming as they went.
*************************Hogsmeade*******************************
The thunderous marching had been trolls, a lot of trolls, followed closely by at least 40 Death Eaters. Harry had immediately seen that they couldn't hold this position and had started pulling as many students back toward the carriages and towards Hogwarts as he could. He knew that by the road to Hogwarts it was almost 3 miles, but straight, it was only a mile, if only Honeydukes hadn't been hit...WORMTAIL, he knew about the passage. Oh well, I'd rather go down as a lion, than a lamb. Harry thought sadly as he looked over at Hermione, Sorry Hermione, Ron... Mione if only I'd had the balls to tell you.
As he completed that thought time for thinking was past, with a sudden series of cracks, the Death Eaters that had been following the trolls apparated into the middle of the students and started firing. Almost immediately there were casualties, Ernie McMillan and Zacharias Smith fell dead, victims of Avada Kedavra curses. Harry fired a stunner at one of their killers but he disapparated away as quickly as he had appeared. As Harry turned looking for another target, he was tackled from the side knocking him down, a yellow bolt passing over him and his savior.
"Watch it, dammit, Harry" Hermione growled, firing a stunner at a Death Eater that had just apparated in front of them. Harry rolled back to his feet in a smooth motion, for once not sparing her a glance, but looking out for the people that were trying to kill them.
As the Death Eater fell, Harry returned the favor, kicking another in the knee, dropping him to the ground and stunning him in the face. The DE had run up behind Hermione and had been aiming at her back. "Damn it Hermione, get clear, I'll draw them off." Harry snapped, with a mix of concern and exasperation. Harry looked up and started sprinting towards the Hogsmeade stables, about one hundred yards away. From there it looked as if he could cover some of the DA members that were caught out in the open fighting for their lives.
"No Harry," But she was too late, Harry was already engaged in a running wandfight with what looked to be at least half of the Death Eaters present. Dodging around to make herself a harder target, she looked for the rest of her friends.
"HERMIONE" she heard a shout and turned to see a hand waving at her from behind some cover. Breathlessly, she ran and jumped over a low wall taking shelter behind it, joining Ron, Ginny and Neville where they were crouched exchanging fire with the Death Eaters. Hermione could see where several Eaters had already tried apparating behind them, they were laying unconscious or dead behind them, and right now she didn't have the time to care.
She glanced around the wall and saw that Harry had taken shelter in the stone doorway of an old barn about one hundred yards away, she also saw that several of his pursuers were laying on the ground between here and there, as if in a trail to mark his progress. "HARRY" she shouted across to him, but he didn't hear her, as she got up to run across, Ron pulled her back down.
"Damn it Hermione, He'll be ok, he always is." Ron snarled only pausing long enough to snap out counter spells. Hermione glared at him, but started firing back herself, taking her sudden frustration with one of her best friends out on those who really deserved it.
MEANWHILE.......................
On the other side of town Dumbledore and Fawkes appeared. Dumbledore looked around and immediately felt like crying. He could see perfectly well the fires burning in at least half the town by now, and the two houses that were crushed when Harry and his troops took down the first dragon to open the battle. Overhead, two more dragons were circling, and the army of trolls was smashing houses and businesses as it came ever closer. He looked over his shoulder and saw clearly the multicolored bolts of his students fighting for their lives behind him, but he could not go to them yet, Remus better get here soon, because this may drain me too much.
With that thought, Dumbledore turned back to the Trolls, which were now less than fifty yards from him. Let's see a hundred trolls to the front of me, Death Eaters behind, Kipling eat your heart out. "Fawkes go!" Fawkes took off from his shoulder and streaked like a flaming red arrow at the trolls. Where he passed, trolls fell to the ground blinded or unconscious from a blast of song in their ears at full power, they were dark creatures after all. But there were far too many for the Phoenix to stop them all, this would require his direct involvement. Dumbledore strode to within twenty yards of the horde and stopped. Looking at the obvious leader he had more skulls hung around his neck than any of the others. A sudden wind started up as Dumbledore regarded the threat, "GO HOME, YOU SHALL NOT PASS," he thundered, fury from the threat to his students underlining his voice.
But the trolls were either too stupid or too overconfident to stop at this warning, the leader merely grunted something that loosely translated as "Die old man," and started walking arrogantly towards the great wizard. Dumbledore just shook his head at the temerity and glanced down as if to see his shoes were tied, as he looked back up his eyes started to emit a pure white light, and he transferred his wand into his left hand. With his right now free, he slowly drew a long gleaming sword from beneath his robes. Bringing it up, the emblem of Hogwarts could be seen, with the motto, "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus" inscribed down the length of the blade. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he reopened them the length of the blade started glowing with a bright blue flame.
"THEN SO BE IT" Dumbledore responded, and with his words what ever glass in the surrounding windows that hadn't already been broken, shattered, fragments flying outward. He took a deep breath and moved...The leader of the trolls didn't stand a chance, his head and several bodies of his lieutenants were falling before the after image of Dumbledore cleared their eyes. Dumbledore moved in a blur, everywhere he passed Trolls, or parts of them fell to the ground. At the same time he was using the Headmaster's sword, his wand was firing spells at trolls too far away to reach easily. Finally only twenty of the original one hundred were left. Dumbledore paused, took a deep breath and then a single step, to which the remaining tolls took flight, running as fast as they possibly could for the horizon. Dumbledore let them go, he was not as young as he once was and his students were still in trouble.
As he turned to go to them, one of the two remaining dragons, grounded heavily in front of him and with an exhalation, a huge wall of flame headed toward the Headmaster. In an instant he reversed the sword, jammed it into the ground and crouched behind it. The dragon's breath hit the sword, and like water around a bridge piling, the flame went around the sword and Dumbledore. Dumbledore with a grim smile, stood, and flung the sword though the air at the dragon. The whirling sword acted as if it had a mind of it's own, and like a magical buzz saw, neatly lopped off the dragon's head in a spray of blood, and returned to his outstretched hand. Dumbledore casually stunned the Death Eater riding the dragon as he fell from his now headless mount and disapparated to his students on the other side of town.
*********************By The Three Broomsticks*****************
By this time, the efforts of the DA members, primarily the Gryffindors, to delay and stop the Death Eaters, have allowed the vast majority of the students, especially the surviving 1st -3rd years to gain the carriages, which were even now speeding towards the safety of the school. Padma, and Cho were now unconscious among others, lying on the ground behind the stone wall where Ron and Neville had braved a hail of fire to pull them back under cover. Ginny was leaning heavily on Neville, her arm was shattered, bones protruding from the skin, but she was still fighting.
Neville for his part was bleeding from a cut to his head from the same reducto that broke Ginny's arm, but he just shook the blood out of his eyes and kept going. Harry had used his forward position to cover several DA members that had been caught out in the open to get back to cover. He had sent them back to cover the carriage evacuation, so now there were only about ten or so DA members still fighting, though those ten had accounted for at least thirty Death Eaters lying on the ground, dead or not, it didn't matter.
Hermione suddenly looked across to where Harry had gone to shepherd back the other DA members. He was gone, apparently having to have had to retreat inside the building. "HARRY," she screamed but received no answer in return. As she watched the doorway where he had vanished from her sight, her heart in her throat, two things happened that made up her mind to go to him. A fireball from the remaining dragon smashed into the building collapsing part of it and setting it on fire and at least ten of the remaining Death Eaters entered the building in pursuit of Harry. Hermione jumped up and started to run only to be grabbed by Ron again.
"No Hermione" Ron pulled at her arm, trying to keep her behind the wall with the rest of them.
She shook him off, "I have to Ron." Her expression as she looked at him communicated the depth of her astonishment at him trying to stop her from going to the aid of their mutual best friend.
"Why" Ron asked confusedly, though he should know.
"Because I love him" And with that statement of simple fact, Hermione sprinted to the now burning building that Harry had disappeared into, to be either Harry's guardian angel or his avenging one.
********************Hogsmeade Stables*******************************
Harry had taken shelter in the doorway of the stables; the cover of the stone doorway had allowed him to cover the retreat of the DA members caught out in the open. He had sent them back to the carriages as he ran past even though he knew that he might be dooming his friends, as they would now take the brunt of the action. His heart broke, especially at leaving Hermione there in the fire, but he knew she and Ron wouldn't dream of leaving him or the others even if he ordered it.
Taking a blizzard of incoming fire, Harry was forced to retreat back into the stables, only to find his only exit was the one he had come in. He gathered himself to try to run back out the door to run for it, when a huge blast hit the roof, knocking him from his feet and into unconsciousness for several moments. When he came to, three things were immediately apparent, the building was on fire, he had no wand, it had fallen from his hand, and he was surrounded by ten Death Eaters, soon to be twelve. He could see his wand on the ground almost at the door. I wish my sword were here instead of in my room, and they'll just cut me down if I transform. Unfortunately though he had learned conjuring much ahead of schedule, it was still beyond his powers to summon objects from behind the wards of Hogwarts, though he could do it once he was within the school itself, a fact that did little to help him right now.
A tall, thin pale-haired man swaggered over to stand over Harry. Looking down on him, "Aw, Potter, so this is how the great hero ends, on his arse in horseshit, in a burning building." Lucius Malfoy drawled. "I will enjoy the company of your mudblood friend when we take the school, or is she out side right now with the rest of your useless friends?" Harry gritted his teeth but remained silent, determined not to let a Malfoy get the better of him.
"But I want her Lucius." Bellatrix pouted from beside him. Malfoy grinned at the image, but did not respond to her.
"Now, Potter, normally I would stay and help, but I have other places to be this night, I believe that our Master is expecting us to invest Gringott's this night, and as much as I would like to, I'm afraid that my comrades here will just have to do, to kill you. I'm sure the Dark Lord will understand. Kill him, and when he is dead show the mark for all the world to see," with that last, Lucius and Bellatrix disapparated away.
With the wands of all ten Death Eaters on him, Harry slowly rose, he would be dammed if he let these scum kill him on his knees. As he was waiting for the sudden green light, the situation changed rapidly. "STUPEFY" two bolts of red light flashed out from the doorway. Hermione came though the door, her hair blowing gently in the wind from the fires blazing in the walls, the light from them glinting in her eyes. "HARRY" she shouted and tossed his wand to him, stunning another Death Eater on the way.
As her eyes crossed his, what he could see in them suddenly both shocked him and reinvigorated him. In an instant he knew why she came through the flames, and that he was through denying it to himself or to her. Suddenly he had all the time in the world to grab his now slowly falling wand. Later, Hermione would tell him that his eyes lit up bright blue at that moment, and he started to move in a blur. Harry caught the wand in his right hand, and as quick as he could think it; three of the Death Eaters were lying stunned. Almost as one Harry and Hermione swiveled and blasted two more Death Eaters, who fell in slow motion to Harry's eyes. Where the hell are the other two, OH SHIT...as Harry's glance caught the last two lining up on Hermione from behind.
"AVA...AHHH" The two were on his left, Harry's wand was in his right, instinctively he snapped his left hand towards the two, and a wave, of something, smashed them through the wall and into the street outside. With this action Harry dropped to one knee for a second, this was draining, for now, some small voice said inside.
As Hermione ran over to him he stood. For a long moment they stared at each other, framed in the burning building and then Harry drew her into a fierce hug. "I love you, too Mione." Harry said softly to her, his eyes now back to his normal emerald. Hermione just nodded into his shoulder, the need for words was now moot. "But for now how about we leave the burning building huh?" Harry asked and got a small smile in response. Taking her hand they turned and ran out, leaving the Death Eaters to burn.
Harry and Hermione erupted from the burning building, wands ready, only to find the battle basically over. The Death Eaters had made a stupid tactical error, they had sent half of their remaining number in after Harry, and with that, and the sudden arrival of Remus, Tonks, Moody, and McGonagall, all fresh and rather peeved, the Death Eaters were now out numbered. And as icing on the cake, an instant before Harry and Hermione escaped the stable, Dumbledore had appeared having defeated the army of trolls and one of the dragons on the other side of the town. The five remaining Death Eaters, that were still alive and conscious just threw their wands down, it was over, and they knew it.
Harry and Hermione walked past the five, now pushed into a huddle in the middle of the street, and the Death Eaters visibly cowered. Dumbledore noticed the reaction and looked more closely at his two students. Suddenly he could see why, even though Harry's eyes have returned to green, any magic user could tell the power coming off in waves from him. And to a lesser extent, for now, Dumbledore realized with a shock, from Hermione as well. Well Tom, Dumbledore thought with a mixture of emotions as he surveyed the aftermath, the board is set. Our king and queen have taken their places. Harry walked up to Dumbledore, Remus and Tonks wandered up a moment later having seen to the prisoners.
Harry sat down on a low wall next to where Dumbledore was standing, Hermione perched almost touching him on one side. Ron came over and after giving him a peculiar look, plopped down next to Harry on the other. He didn't yet know Harry returned Hermione's feelings, but it was obvious to everyone now, including Ron, just how she felt about Harry. Harry looked at his Headmaster, his Mentor, his General, and much more, "I guess you got my message" he quipped quietly. At that moment, Hedwig swooped down from the sky, and settled on Harry's shoulder, her talons wet with what appeared to be blood; she evidentially had been defending her home too. Harry reached up and petted her absently.
"Yes, I did, good job Harry." Dumbledore responded, also quiet, not really a whisper, but more of a tone of exhaustion. With the exception of the late arriving Remus, Tonks, Moody and McGonagall, the rest were drained, Harry and Dumbledore especially.
"Didn't help them" Harry replied as he glanced over at the rescue efforts beginning at Honeydukes. As he watched, McGonagall, and Moody combined powers to lift away debris from the building, revealing the shattered bodies of several students. Neville, and Seamus, were holding back tears as they silently levitated the bodies out. As the body of a little girl passed Tonks, she let out a wail, recognizing the little girl as a 1st year Gryffindor she had helped tutor in DADA. Tonks collapsed to the street, crying softly, all of her Auror shell burnt away in that instant. Lupin gently picked her up and led her away, back to the carriages and the castle. Harry watched them go with a lump in his throat; Hermione dropped her head onto his shoulder. "I wasn't fast enough." Harry finished bitterly, his voice still soft, in respect for the dead if nothing else.
"No Harry you are wrong." Dumbledore replied firmly, looking down at him. "Those children are dead, for many reasons, because their Headmaster thought he'd give them a treat, because the Ministry was more concerned with Gringott's than its children" he said the last with a uncharacteristic bitterness, "but most of all because a madman thought he could terrorize us into letting him win. Harry, Tom Riddle is the one who will go to Hell with this anchor on his soul along with so many others, not you." Dumbledore took a breath, his eyes haunted, "Harry, I need a report on what happened."
Harry frowned, but with Hermione's silent support on the one side, he had the strength to do recount the tale. For some reason however, Ron almost seemed to get angrier as he sat there, but Harry just put that weirdness out of his mind for right now. "We," Harry said indicating the Gryffindors present, with a small wave, "had just sat down at the Three Broomsticks, and were drinking, when my scar started burning, as it does when Riddle or his forces are near. I grabbed everyone and we ran out into the street just as one of the dragons blew up Zonkos and Honeydukes. I saw the rider, and I swear he was smiling as he killed those kids." Harry choked with his last words and Hermione took his hand in hers. Ron saw her action, got up suddenly and walked away. Dumbledore perceived both actions, but Harry and Hermione were too far-gone to notice. Harry leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Any pretense was gone, burnt away in the fires of today. He went on a little woodenly. "Anyway, we."
"You Harry" Hermione interjected softly, as she gave his hand a squeeze.
"I got the DA members organized and we took down the first dragon. Hedwig appeared and I used her to get a message to you. While we were waiting we could hear something marching." Suddenly Harry started to get up, he had forgotten the thunderous marching.
"That has been taken care of Harry, it was a group of trolls." Dumbledore assured Harry with an inflection that told Harry that he had performed the taking care of; it wasn't until the next day that Harry would find out just how many trolls there had been.
"Ok...then we heard the marching, and suddenly forty or fifty Death Eaters apparated in on top of us. We umm lost Ernie, and Zack early on, some of us were close enough to these walls to take cover, and did so...About half of us were caught out in the open, so I ran over there", Harry waved vaguely towards the now collapsed stables "and managed to cover them so they could get clear. I sent all of them back to cover the evacuation to the carriages."
"That was quick thinking Harry, your actions and those of your friends got the majority of the underclassmen out, they are at Hogwarts by now and safe." Dumbledore replied trying to reassure Harry.
Harry, just looked like he wanted to laugh at that, considering all the times he wasn't safe at Hogwarts, but he went on anyway. "I was going to try to rejoin Hermione and the rest over here, but I was driven back into the stable. I remember an explosion and then I woke back up to have ten then twelve Death Eaters surrounding me. Professor...Lucius and Bellatrix were there, they commanded the Death Eaters to kill me and they left saying they had an appointment at Gringott's." Dumbledore just nodded at this, it confirmed what Kingsley had said in his note. Looking around at the other students, and facility listening in on his report, Harry said softly, "Professor can I talk to you privately?" Dumbledore signaled assent and shooed away the remaining spectators to Harry's report. He noticed with a raised eyebrow that Hermione didn't even start to get up nor did Harry even motion for her to get up, which confirmed even more his earlier thoughts.
"OK, Harry go ahead"
"I woke up surrounded and my wand had somehow ended up by the door, I thought I was dead, until Hermione came in and took out two with our wands, she tossed me my wand and we took out all of the rest. I..." Harry stopped as Hermione interrupted.
"You saw me and your eyes started glowing, love, and it seemed that you started moving really fast but for some reason I had no problem tracking you." Hermione put in with a somewhat confused air, Dumbledore however was not confused at all, and these comments just further confirmed his thoughts.
"That explains why it took a day and a half for the wand to come down," Harry replied with a forced laugh then went on seriously, "After we got all of those, we lost sight of the last two, I saw them just as they were about to curse Mione, and I just stuck out my hand and blew them through the wall, I guess." Harry finished confused, looking to Dumbledore as if to give him guidance.
Dumbledore however did not have any to give, not directly anyway, "Harry I'm not sure, I have suspicions, but not firm facts." Dumbledore sat for a moment, pensive, as if he were weighing a response in his head.
However by now, Harry wasn't the only one who was tired of half-truths. "What, that Harry is the Heir of Gryffindor?" Hermione responded, smart-arsedly as even her patience, honed by years of Ron and Harry, had its limits.
Dumbledore gave her a tired, half-arsed grin, though he too was hurting inside, especially as he saw Ernie's body being lifted onto a stretcher behind Harry. "Actually yes, Miss Granger, and that you are the Heir of Ravenclaw." Any other time Hermione's jaw would have dropped at that statement, as it was her eyes just got big; she was too tired for anything else. "I assume that you read the restricted portion that I added to your copy of Hogwarts a History, at Grimmauld place." Hermione suddenly knew that he was right, the facts fit, but how, she was a muggle-born? Harry at least was a half-blood.
"To answer the question you are undoubtedly thinking right now, whether certain people admit it or not, muggle-born is misnomer. Very few people on Earth don't have some Wizarding blood in them somewhere, Muggle-born just means that both of your parents were non-magic users, that is all, it has been corrupted over the years to mean other things." He looked up and saw the burning buildings, and that the sky was just now starting to get dark, and his few students were helping to the wounded and moving rumble all of them exhausted utterly. He saw Ron talking to Luna animatedly over to one side, then saw her throw up her hands and walk over to where Neville was sitting with Ginny while Pomfrey was working on her arm. Damn they did well, but this is just beginning not the end. Riddle never showed for his party.
As Dumbledore completed his thought, proud of his students for once again pulling off the impossible, a series of loud CRACKS rang out in the square.
A series of cracks that almost got the Minister of Magic and at least twenty Aurors killed or at least stunned heavily. Arthur Weasley and all of the Aurors he could possibly spare had apparated almost instantly on receiving Dumbledore's owl. Dumbledore had been forced to use a relatively slow owl instead of the floo, it was blocked, or Fawkes, as he knew he would need him in the battle. Arthur would have been here instantly, except he had to stop to sack a undersecretary that told him that the safety of Gringott's was more important than "a few students half of them muggle-borns, anyway." The Gringott's attack never happened, only a couple of Death Eaters had shown up, Voldemort either had gotten word that the attack was expected or it had been a ruse, no one knew. After Arthur had decked the recalcitrant undersecretary, and not so calmly informed him that his own kids were some of those "few students" he had grabbed every Auror in earshot and apparated straight away.
Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore, and the rest of the light wizards lowered their wands wearily. Arthur waved at Dumbledore, and immediately went to Ginny, where Madame Pomfrey had just finished with her arm. Poppy got up to go check on Dean who was still unconscious though he was breathing ok. Arthur hugged Ginny, causing her to squeak like a large mouse and getting her blood on his robes, but he didn't care. "Are you ok, Ginvera?" Arthur asked quietly and getting a terse nod, he stood and gave the rest of his children hugs, talking to them each in turn, briefly getting a quick narration of the day's events.
Deep in his heart when he got Dumbledore's message, he had been terrified that he would be too late. As he glanced around, he saw the Death Eaters still lying unconscious or dead where they fell, and the Hogwarts dead over to one side, with several Aurors and students grimly standing guard over them. He watched with a heavy heart as another body was carried from the wreckage of Zonkos, and a tear escaped his eye. With a final word to his kids, he got up and went to Dumbledore to find out what happened.
Dumbledore was also tired; he just wanted to get this over, "Arthur, it was an ambush, I received Kingsley's owl too late, and I had allowed an unscheduled Hogsmeade trip as a reward to the students. I take full responsibility, I will turn in my resignation in the morning." Harry and Hermione who still haven't moved from the wall look up shocked, but Arthur shortstopped any attempt to shift blame.
"No Albus, I will not accept your resignation. As I've been told you have already told Harry, It's not your fault this is Voldemort's." Harry noticed that even Arthur had had the shake burnt out of him at the name. "Now my kids have told me some of it, how about I hear the full story."
"Ok the full story, but the quick version," Dumbledore replied to his friend. "Harry and friends were in the bar, and Harry felt the attack coming. Harry got the DA out here just as one of the dragons firebombed Honeydukes and Zonkos, that's where most of our casualties occurred I am afraid. They took out the first dragon and got a message to me. I sent you word by the fastest means I had available, I did not apparate myself to get you as I felt I needed to get here as soon as I could. I apparated into the other side of town, and stopped the trolls, and another dragon."
Hermione glanced over at Harry and mouthed silently, "Stopped the trolls, and a dragon?" Harry just shrugged as Dumbledore went on. "Back here the Death Eaters that had been with the trolls apparated straight here and fought the DA members, we lost several other students to them. Harry managed to get about half of his fellow upperclassmen back to cover the evacuation of the students to the carriages and Hogwarts." Harry and Hermione immediately noticed that Dumbledore had left out the part about the fight in the stable and were immediately grateful. "Anyway Arthur, if you don't mind I am going to get my students and faculty back to the school, I...have letters to write." Dumbledore picked up several pieces of wood that were lying on the ground and spread them out on top of the wall. "Portus" he cast over all of the broken boards. "Harry, take one of these and get your fellow DA members back to the school, I don't want to ask this..."
"We'll make sure it's safe Professor." Harry said softly to which several other DA members in earshot just nodded. Pavarti picked up her sister, and together they staggered over to the cluster of the four Weasleys, Luna, Harry, Hermione, Lavender, a now-awake Dean, Seamus and Neville. "Yeh, fucking lions" Harry muttered, then "On three" on three the portkey activated and they vanished, only to be dropped in the Gryffindor common room.
(A/N I actually have no idea why Harry said that other than the title of year seven, hint for ya'll. Next Chapter Ron responds.)