Chapter 7: Aftermath
*****************************Hogwarts**********************************
August 31, 2005
8:45pm
The members of the Order that had escaped the day's ordeal, at least physically whole anyway, evacuated everyone and most everything to Hogwarts. Both Harry and Dumbledore were literally radiating energy, making the small hairs of the other magic users present stand on end. In the end it was decided that Hogwarts was the safest site that could be found, and hence that was were they had gone.
The faculty of Hogwarts, along with a mostly repaired Tonks, Moody, Lupin, Fred, George and Bill were waiting in a muted Headmasters office for Harry to return from Gryffindor tower, where he had gone to check up on Hermione and Ginny. The gadgets were silent, and the portraits, who normally with this many people in the room would either be yelling unwanted advice, or else feigning sleep to listen into a conversion, were now all awake, but curiously quiet waiting for an accounting of today's events. Even Severus Snape was quiet as if even he didn't have the heart to make a snide comment on this day. The Weasleys were even paler than their normally fair skin, but were holding up well for the moment. Remus was standing over Tonks, who was sitting down in one of Dumbledore's overstuffed chairs before his desk. His hands were on Tonks' shoulders and one of hers was on top of his.
Harry and Ron entered the room accompanied by the grinding of the Dumbledore's guardian stone gargoyle as it settled back into the doorway of the office stairs. Ron looked sallow as he crossed to sit with his brothers, almost falling into the seat between Fred and George.
"Hermione and Ginny are in bed," Harry stated without preamble to the room as he tiredly took a seat, perching on the edge of Dumbledore's desk. The Headmaster was sitting behind the great oaken edifice with his long fingers steepled together, surveying the gathered members. "Luna is with them, I felt it best that they be together instead of taking Mione on up to the Head Girl's room."
"Quite right Harry" Dumbledore turned reluctantly to Tonks. "Nymphadora, now that you are whole, more or less, please give us a report." He leaned back in his chair, looking over the top of his half-moons at her.
Her eyes downcast, Tonks started her report. "We apparated into the back yard as the wards on the house prevented our popping into the house itself. We walked into the front room and then into the kitchen. Hermione was calling for her parents and no one answered. When we walked into the kitchen, as we looked down the hall, we could see Hermione's mum lying unmoving on the floor in the downstairs bedroom." She hesitated to catch her breath and with a reassuring squeeze from Lupin she continued. "Before we could do anything we were surrounded by Death Eaters. Albus...Lucius Malfoy was there. I remember he said hello mudblood and then he said something like leave Potter a message and he walked out like it was beneath him to deal with us himself." She paused and met Harry's eyes, "I'm sorry"
Harry's eyes were slightly glowing blue, he took a deep breath and calmed himself and with a blink his eyes had returned to their natural green. He said nothing however, and just motioned for Tonks to continue. "We were both caught flatfooted, neither of us had our wands out, but then Hermione, did a Harry."
"What?" From several folks at once, even though many of the people here had been present when Hermione had performed similarly before. Harry and Dumbledore however remained silent at the news, Dumbledore had expected something like this while Harry had felt the residual energy coming off her so similar to his own as he took her to the tower.
"Yeah," Tonks continued quietly "Her eyes lit up like Harry's do sometimes and she blasted two of the Death Eaters though a wall with a wave of her hand. She stunned three more before I got my wand out even though I never heard the incantation or saw her draw her wand; it was just there. Then I got one with a stunner, I took a reducto and got smashed up. Somehow, we were able to fight our way out of the house and apparate to the mansion. Right as we got clear Hermione got hit; I guess it was only a stunner, cause she just passed out. The Death Mark was over the house, but I don't know if she saw it."
"She did", Harry interjected grimly, flashing back to moments before, remembering all too well the muttering Hermione had uttered in her sleep. His stomach sank at the thought, of what she had been forced to witness.
"Oh bugger," Tonks whispered as she turned a little green.
"Quite right" Dumbledore said, "I have heard from Arthur at St. Mungo's that Molly will be fine physically, though the spirit is harder to heal. This is a dark day indeed, for us all."
"We should hunt them down now" Ron suddenly interjected. "Harry had the right idea at the mansion, cut them down like dogs." He started to get up as to take action, but was jerked back into his seat by George, with a sad shake of his head.
Minerva looked over at her Prefect sadly, "That is what HE wants Mr. Weasley" responded the previously silent McGonagall though she didn't have the heart to glare.
Dumbledore sighed, feeling his age, "Everyone please go to your rooms and get some rest, I have locked down the castle and commanded the defenses to their highest level." That comment by the headmaster was met with raised eyebrows among the staff, for the defenses of Hogwarts at full cry were lethal and had not been brought to that state for hundreds of years. Indeed of all the Professors, only Dumbledore, and in his absence, McGonagall could command such a thing. As the rest of the people present filed out, down the stairs, "Harry, Minerva, please stay a moment." Harry glanced at Lupin and motioned with his head at Ron, Remus silently agreed to help Ron to the tower, and Harry turned back to Dumbledore.
"Harry, two things, first as Head Boy you will need to meet the train at King's Cross tomorrow. Due to today's events, similar to last year's ride home, you are authorized any measures that feel are necessary to help secure the train. However this is not a hunting license, you are not to settle vendettas." Dumbledore finished, looking straight into Harry's eyes, as serious as a heart attack.
"But" Harry replied, for he knew in his heart who was at least partially responsible and that they would be on that train in the morning.
"No Harry, yes his father was one of the ones that killed Hermione's parents, but he was not there." Dumbledore responded evenly, even though in his heart he would have let Harry have his way if he could.
But Harry was not to be cowed, his love had just been attacked and her parents were even now lying dead in the castle infirmary, having been retrieved by a hasty pick up team, composed of himself, Lupin and Alastor. Harry's only conciliation was that the two Death Eaters that had stayed behind at the Grangers would bother no one ever again. "You heard Tonks, it was a message to me. No one else outside of the Order or the Weasleys knew we were together yet." He replied, his eyes dangerous.
Dumbledore replied patiently, though inside he was as torn up as the others, he unfortunately had had more experience at this than Harry or the others including Alastor. "Harry, you two have been in love almost since you met, you just didn't know it, everyone else did. As I was saying, behave; it may have not been him who facilitated that attack. Lupin and Hagrid will also be on the train, but it's your show as they say. Normally Hermione would be there with you, she is of course excused owing to the circumstances. Second, until you leave, don't leave her side, she will need you, now go."
The instant the last was out of his mouth he knew that that had been unneeded, there would be no power existent that would keep Harry from her side this night, much less the wards on the girls tower dorm, where Hermione was staying the night in lue of the Head student's suite that she would share with Harry for the rest of the year. And only Harry's sense of duty would get him to leave her, for however little a time, to ride the train back from King's Cross as was the duty of the Head Students. The sad fact was that if Hermione was even capable of rational thought when Harry left in the morning, she would demand to go with him, as her sense of responsibility was in it's own way as heavy a burden on her as it was on Harry.
Harry left out the gargoyle stairs, visibly holding himself from breaking into a run until he was out of sight.
Dumbledore watched him until he walked out the door, then continuing to watch the door he addressed the witch next to him out of the side of his mouth, "Minerva, I failed thrice, I should have had the Burrow and the Grangers protected better and I should have not let Hermione go out with only Tonks, and if I did I probably should have let Harry go with her. And if he had gone, Ron would have also been there. If that had been the case, I feel that none of Riddle's thugs would have left that place standing. I doubt even that would have saved the Grangers however; from all reports they were dead at least an hour before Hermione and Nymphadora arrived at the house."
"What about the attack at Grimmauld place? You would have been alone," McGonagall queried thoughtfully.
"Minerva as our students say, Please. They would have fallen just as quick as they did with the three of us, thought I might have left fewer bloodstains on Harry's carpet." Dumbledore turned from the door; rising he walked over to the window and looked out over the dark grounds.
"How did he find the Grangers, they were protected?" McGonagall asked softly, still slightly in shock over the day's events. In some ways this was even harder than the attack at Hogsmeade last year. She had lost students then, several of them, but in many ways the ones that had just left and the ones that even now were up in her house's tower crying or trying fruitlessly to sleep, might as well been her own grandchildren, though she would never admit it to them.
"I'm afraid that it must be the same way the Harry lost his, we have a traitor in our midst. Someone gave up their location and we lost more than Roger and Jane at the house, Harry didn't report it in the meeting, but Alastor and he found Emmeline and Secil dead at the scene as well. Two more members of the old order gone, now." Dumbledore replied, mournfully, his thoughts flashing back to a Halloween night sixteen years ago. With a great sigh he glanced out the window, the night was falling rapidly, just like his emotions. "I did not expect the lengths that Riddle would go to, just to attack Hermione's parents...but we could not afford to keep the level of protection on the Grangers that we had while Hermione was home for the weeks when she was home this summer. We just don't have enough people to cover all the targets adequately. And like chess, the object is to protect the most valuable pieces, sacrifices must be made...in the end, any of us are expendable, except Harry, and perhaps her..." Dumbledore grew silent, while McGonagall regarded him silently, pensive about the revelations Dumbledore had just revealed.
The question about the Grangers had reminded McGonagall of another factor, one that while difficult to discuss, still had to be dealt with. McGonagall had not been at King's Cross last June, but she had heard the tale, and she had heard Tonks' report on the happenings of this afternoon. "What will we do about Granger's new abilities, if she is truly able to perform powerful magic without a wand, like Potter and yourself? In her current state we may truly in trouble if her control slips, after all she nearly killed the Dursleys last June. Additionally, she is the one who keeps Potter under control, whether they know it or not. Without that balance to him, I fear for the safety of some who may stray over the line on their return to school. And what would happen if both were to lose control at the same time?"
Dumbledore just shook his head sadly in response, dropping his eyes to the floor for a long moment. Fawkes flew over from his perch and alighted on his shoulder, softly singing. Dumbledore petted him for a bit then he finally looked up, with a frustrated look in his eyes. "Minerva we both know that Draco Malfoy was probably the one who passed on the new realities between Harry and Hermione to his father and Riddle, but I cannot prove it. You, more than anyone, know how much those two and the Weasleys matter to me, and to you too even though you don't dare admit it out loud. If I could do so, you think he would be coming back to school and not on his way to Azkaban? I want you to talk to the other house heads for me. Impress on them, especially Severus, that we must keep a lid on things. Also have him relate that I am looking for an excuse to expel those who may follow Voldemort. Hopefully this will cause them to draw together so we can more easily identify those who are not involved in Voldemort's cause in Slytherin house."
A/N there ya go, Dumbledore's reaction. Next Chapter the lonely train ride back to school and Hermione's
reaction.