Ch 6: Arrival at Grimmauld
Arriving at the bus terminal still well before dawn, there weren't many taxis to choose from, but neither was there a heavy demand for them yet or snarled traffic in the streets. Harry flagged a taxi down, and continued his journey with Moody. At the head of Grimmauld Place, they got out, paid the driver, and turned to walk down the street. When they got between number eleven and thirteen, Harry took a deep breath and thought of number twelve.
As before, the dirty house seemed to push the other homes aside as Harry and Moody strode to the porch and opened the door.
"You know they're going to kill you, don't you? Especially Molly," growled Moody.
"I would be surprised if they didn't," grinned Harry a bit nervously.
As Harry crossed the threshold, the dark hallway brought back memories of last summer and Christmas, memories of when Sirius was still around.
"So, the prodigal son has returned home. Had your little fun, have we Potter? Are we still moping about, feeling sorry for…" snarled the portrait of Phineas Nigellus.
Moody tensed for an explosion and watched as Harry tensed, too. Taking a deep breath, Harry slowly relaxed himself and replied in a calm, controlled voice.
"Yes, I have been moping a bit Professor Nigellus. And I admit that I still feel terrible about the death of my godfather and your great-great-grandson. But, I don't believe there is any shame in grieving for him. Now…"
"No shame in grieving for the death of the blood traitor?!?!" screamed the picture of Sirius' mother. "I've been celebrating his death for weeks. And I owe it all to you, you filthy Mudblood lover, you freak of magical nature…" As her voice gathered momentum the hallway door to the kitchen opened and out filed one seething wizard and a very angry witch, followed by two very concerned teenagers. When they heard the vile taunts and insults being hurled at Harry about himself and the death of Sirius, they froze, anticipating the explosion of anger Moody had feared earlier.
Nobody spoke as the picture continued to rant and rave. After ten minutes, she seemed to pause for breath, though as a picture she really didn't need to.
"Are you quite finished Mrs. Black?" Harry's quiet voice asked. She paused, seemingly stunned by his lack of reaction. "I want to make sure you get it all out of your system, because you will never say…another… demeaning …word…about …my …godfather…again."
Everyone stared first at Harry, then at the portrait, then back at Harry in amazement. The lady in the portrait appeared too startled to respond.
"Very well, then." Nobody saw more than a blur as Harry whipped out his wand and pointed his wand at the hanging portrait. Harry spoke quite clearly the words "Silencio Vox," and an orange light from his wand struck Sirius' mother right at the base of the throat. She gasped, and then began to scream, but the tense stillness continued. Drawing the shades once again over her portrait, Harry looked back to Phineas Nigellus.
"Before we were so rudely interrupted Professor Nigellus, I was about to ask for a small favor."
"Yes, Mr. Potter," replied Nigellus with uncharacteristic politeness.
"Would you please notify Professor Dumbledore that I'm here? I'm sure that he and a great many others have been very concerned tonight. Thank you," asked Harry politely.
As he turned from the now vacant picture of Nigellus, he was bombarded by questions. At that exact moment, he felt a peculiar sensation in the left pocket of his jeans. To the surprise of everyone there, his pocket began to stretch and expand. The pocket broke apart at the seams and Harry had to quickly jump back to avoid getting his foot crushed by the rapidly growing school trunk. With a thud, it fell on the floor and silenced the crowd momentarily. Harry gazed at it and then back at his ripped jeans.
Looking around at the shocked expressions Harry mumbled, "I guess the shrinking powder wore off." Bits of laughter began to erupt from around the room, breaking the earlier tension.
In a tone that brooked no dissent, Molly ordered Harry to take his school trunk upstairs and change into some new pants. She announced that she would start breakfast. Ron offered to help carry the trunk, but Harry declined and instead pointed his wand and commanded, "Locomotor Trunk."
Hermione hissed, "You can't keep using spells like that Harry. The Ministry will nail you for underage use of magic again this year."
"Hermione, we used lots of spells last year helping Mrs. Weasley clean this house and nobody got into trouble. Besides, this is one of the best protected places I know. If I can't practice magic here, I won't be able to anywhere. And believe me, I need to practice." Several of the adults shot him an odd look when he said this, but they continued into the kitchen as Ron and Hermione followed Harry and his trunk upstairs.
Once he settled the trunk on the floor of the bedroom that he shared with Ron, Harry was nearly thrown over backwards as Hermione grabbed him in a huge bear hug. Just as quickly she stepped back holding his arms tightly, looked him right in the eye and screeched, "What on earth were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed!" She then burst into tears and fled from the room. Harry and Ron just looked at each other, stunned.
"What on earth was that about?" asked Harry.
"Barking mad, if you ask me, mate. She's a girl, remember? We're not supposed to understand them. Anyways, let's go grab a bite to eat before they execute you. You do know they're going to bloody kill you, don't you?"
"Yeah, I know. Have they decided who gets to go first or do they have to wait until Dumbledore gets here?"
"I don't think even he can save you from my mum."
"Yeah, I know. Let's go." Sighing heavily, Harry squared his shoulders and walked back out of the room.
As they walked down the hall, Hermione left her room sniffling quietly and fell in behind them. Pausing at the kitchen door, Harry took another deep breath before pushing it open. Grim looks met him from around the table as he moved to sit down. Before he could seat himself, though, there was a burst of green flame in the fireplace, and Dumbledore stepped out, followed by a very tense McGonagall and a very angry Tonks.
Though his blue eyes twinkled ever so slightly, Dumbledore's face remained extremely stern. "I trust that there are some excellent reasons for your actions tonight, Harry. Needless to say, you have caused us all a great deal of worry. You know how important it is for you…"
"Yes, yes, I never forget how important I am to the wizarding world," interrupted Harry bitterly. Pausing for a moment and gathering his breath, Harry continued in a different tone, "I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean it like that. It has just been a very long night and I'm surprised you came and…"
"Of course I came, Harry. You know how much I, how much we all care for you. That is why we are all so disturbed by your actions tonight."
"I know you care, sir. But I thought you might be afraid of Voldemort trying to…" at this, Harry paused, looking around the room, not wanting to express aloud his fear that Voldemort might try to possess him again.
"I think Voldemort learned his lesson last time, Harry. It's a very difficult spell, one that would require his immediate presence to attempt again. I do not believe he will attempt that again so long as you can feel what you did last time. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I think so. And I'm glad you're here. If everyone would please sit down, I'll try and explain about last night." As everyone began to take a seat, a low, nasty chuckle was heard and through the door burst the Black house-elf, Kreacher.
"Ah, I thought I heard the return of the old Master's favorite," muttered the elf, "but Kreacher knows the old Master will never be returning. Kreacher made sure of that, yes he did." Once again the assembled group froze, sure this time Potter would explode with fury at the treacherous house elf responsible for Sirius' death at the Ministry of Magic.
On the other side of the table, Harry grabbed the back of his chair until his knuckles turned white. His face grim, Harry moved to the other side of the table to confront the small elf before speaking out loud. "Did you know that Sirius had altered his will? No, probably not. You should know that upon his death, the entire Black estate and fortune was transferred to me. This house, with all of its items and its servant, now belongs to me."
With a slight tremor of fear, Kreacher gazed at Harry for the first time.
"Harry, you can't own a house-elf. It's not …"
"Hermione, let me take care of this," spoke Harry with a cold voice.
"You're not going to…to hurt him or kill him are you? He's just a poor…"
"No, I'm not going to kill him. Though he deserves it for what he has done. And he's not crazy, either. He knew exactly what he was doing when he betrayed Sirius to his death. No, I've got something else in mind for Kreacher. Come here!" his voice boomed in the kitchen. Hermione looked frantically around at the adults, afraid Harry might do something terrible, but they just watched, unsure what he was planning.
Shuffling forward, Kreacher presented himself before Harry. "Acknowledge me!" commanded Harry.
"Harry, please, don't…"stammered Hermione.
In a flat, cold voice Harry responded. "Hermione, let me handle this." Turning to look at her sad face, Harry softened. "Please. Trust me."
Turning back to Kreacher, he demanded. "Who am I?"
"You are my new master, Master Potter."
"Very well. I wish to give you something."
"Clothes?" squeaked the elf, "Stupid master wants to give Kreacher clothes? But maybe we can go back to…"
"No Kreacher, not clothes. I want to give you this bracelet."
"Jewelry?!?!" A look of horror covered the house-elf's face. "Nooo!!! Not jewelry!!! NOOOOO!!!" Frantically, the elf looked about for some way to escape.
"Stand still!" commanded Harry. "You know the significance of the gift of jewelry, then?"
"Yesss. Please master. Kreacher will do anything. But master must not give him jewelry. Please, nooo!"
"If you had not betrayed Sirius, then I would not be in a position to give you the bracelet. If you had not tried to betray everyone within the Order, I would not give you the bracelet. But since you know no loyalty to your master, present or past, you are no longer welcome as my servant. Though this gift of jewelry frees you from my service, it does not free you from my commands. You are never to speak or communicate in any way anything you learned, saw, or heard within this house or anything about myself or any person who has been within this house. You are to communicate nothing about the Order of the Phoenix, its members, or its activities to anyone else in any manner. Am I perfectly clear? AM I CLEAR?" roared Harry.
"Yes, master. Perfectly clear," came the sobbing response.
"Your new master, should you find one, will know perfectly well by the bracelet you wear that your service may be only temporary, that I can call you back to my service anytime should I wish it. So should you wish to serve either the Malfoys or the Lestranges," Harry spat out the names, "they will know that you cannot be completely trusted with their secrets. After all, your duty to me, through the gift of the bracelet, will always prevail over their claim on you. Should I wish to recall you, my claim on your service could be used to force you to divulge all of their secrets. Now receive this bracelet as a gift." Kreacher whimpered as if the approaching bracelet was going to brand his skin. "Now be gone traitor. May you find a new master more suited to your evil nature." With a final whimper, Kreacher disappeared from the room with a sharp pop.
Harry's shoulders slumped and he returned to his chair. He gratefully accepted the cup of cocoa that Molly pushed in front of him, but did not look up. He did not feel like meeting anyone's eyes right now.
"Harry, why were you so mean…I mean couldn't you have…"
"Couldn't I have what-left him here to betray us as well? Hermione, he tricked all of us and helped cause Sirius' death. Given the chance, he would do the same to every one of us. What was I supposed to do, lock him up in a cupboard somewhere? Wouldn't that have been more cruel? This way, he may eventually find a new master, and our secrets here are safe from further betrayal. I didn't mean to be cruel, but I did what I felt was for the best. It wasn't just out of revenge. Please believe me, Hermione."
"I…I do, Harry. But how did you know about the jewelry? I've never heard of that." Other mutters around the room indicated nobody else had a clue, either. Except for Dumbledore.
"Well, I asked Dobby about it. He was the one who told me. I knew when I inherited this place that I had to do something about Kreacher. I didn't want to risk letting him betray someone else. And…and I was afraid that if I didn't get rid of him, I might kill him myself." The last sentence was spoken very low in hopes that nobody would hear, but everybody did.
Molly spoke up then. "Breakfast is just about ready. Why we don't all have some and save any further discussion for afterwards."
Harry looked up gratefully again at Molly and mouthed thank-you. He then returned his eyes to his now full plate and tucked in, not raising his eyes to make contact with anyone else and not feeling like talking either. Uncomfortable chatter surrounded him throughout the uneasy breakfast. Harry appreciated the few minutes the quick breakfast gave him to recompose himself after speaking with Kreacher. He knew that it was very important to make himself understood following breakfast.
After finishing his breakfast of eggs, ham, toast, and cocoa, Harry waited for the sound of eating and talking around him to subside. Glancing up, he saw that everyone was finished, and simply waiting for him to begin. Most of the angry looks had been replaced by concern mingled with curiosity. Dumbledore's eyes seemed to be twinkling more than before, but perhaps that was his imagination.
"Well, first, let me-uh-apologize to everyone for frightening you. If I could have thought of another way, or warned you of my plans, I would have done that before I left. But I needed to do something. I-uh, oh-where should I start??? Well, after Sirius' death I didn't know what to think. I just couldn't believe it. Once again, someone very close to me had died. And it was all my fault. Well, I felt like it was all my fault. And that's all I've been able to think about. And when I'm asleep, it's worse. I've been having these nightmares. It's like I can see a vision of the final battle with Voldemort, and everybody is there and…and…and you're all dead. I can't save you. I can't save any of you." Looking around the table, he noticed how most winced at the mention of Voldemort's name and looked at everyone for a moment, but one by one, everyone but Dumbledore dropped their head, unable to maintain eye contact with the terrible look of sorrow in his eyes. "The worst thing is that when I try to do something, Voldemort just laughs and asks `Is that the best you can do? Haven't you learned anything?' and then he just laughs at me. And I feel like there should be something else I should have done, something else I should have learned-but because I didn't everything is lost. Everything! All of you, everyone I know and care for, the whole magical world as we know it is over because I can't defeat Voldemort."
"That's complete nonsense, Harry. Nobody expects you to save the world. You're only…" spouted Molly.
"Then why does Voldemort keep coming after me? Why did he try to kill me as an infant? There must be something, some hidden talent I have that he's afraid I'm going to use against him," countered Harry.
"Harry, I'm sure you realize that these dreams are probably sent by Voldemort, that he's trying to keep you off balance, trying to trick you once again," offered Dumbledore. "You know he only speaks in lies and deceptions."
"More like half-truths, Professor. I've been very lucky in every encounter I've had with Voldemort. No, wait," continued Harry, anticipating their arguments and raising his hand. "I have. Nobody knows that better than I. And one of these days, my luck is going to run out. But in the dreams, I think Voldemort revealed more than he meant. He kept mocking me for not having learned more, for not having developed more skill. But I didn't realize that at first. All I could focus on was failing you, all of you, of the additional deaths that I had been unable to prevent. No, please, let me finish. And then late last night, or early this morning I guess, now, after another one of those dreams, I happened to turn on the TV. It's a Muggle box that shows moving pictures. And I ended up watching pictures of a terrible war fought in the Muggle world about fifty years ago that was fought throughout the world. Many parts of it reminded me of our own struggle against Voldemort. There was this man named Winston Churchill…"
"Ah Winston. One of the finest, and bravest men I have ever met," sighed Dumbledore.
"But he didn't actually fight…and how do you know him?" sputtered Harry.
"Oh Winston fought in earlier wars. But he faced much more dangerous enemies later in life, in the time you saw him." A slight smile worked its way over Dumbledore's face. "He faced bureaucrats, politicians, and public indifference. Formidable foes, those, and nearly unbeatable. It was a dark decade for both the Muggle and magical worlds. Many of us helped when and where we could," he finished mysteriously, with another sparkle in his eyes.
Struggling to overcome his shock, Harry continued. "Churchill led Great Britain in this war, as I'm sure most of you know, when it looked like all hope was lost. But he rallied his countrymen and urged them to keep on fighting, to never surrender, to continue to fight no matter the odds. And the tide eventually turned. But it came at great sacrifice. As the war dragged on, the soldiers got younger and younger for all the sides."
He looked over at Ron. "Most of them weren't more than a year or two older than us. And they were scared, I could tell in the pictures. But they fought. They fought! They didn't wait for the enemy to come to them, but they went out and fought them. And I guess that's the best way to explain why I left."
At the looks of horror around him Harry held up his hands and continued. "Don't worry, I don't plan to go and try and find Voldemort today and fight him. But I'm tired of hiding at the Dursley's. I'm sick of spending my entire year at school waiting for one of his attacks and worrying about what he's planning to do to me and the rest of the wizarding world. It's about time I did something. If there is something about me that scared him enough to try and kill me as a baby, I have to find out what it is and use it to defeat him."
"When I left the Dursley's, I wasn't running away and it wasn't just some silly prank. I left because it was no longer helpful to be there. Look, I understand that I'm supposed to be protected there, but there are more important things than my safety. So I left and came here for two reasons. First, it was the best place outside of Hogwarts that I could think of where I could practice magic. Second, all of you are here, at least part of the time. And that is crucial, because I have an enormous favor to ask of you." Harry looked around at the table, everyone hanging on his every word. "I want you, no-I need you to help train me. Help me discover whatever talent I have that Voldemort is so afraid of and help me develop it into a weapon to use against him and defeat him once and for all. Please."
The kitchen exploded into confusion as everyone began to talk at once. Looking around, Dumbledore quickly hid a smile before waving his arms for attention. "Please, please. If I may…" He waited for the commotion to subside. "I imagine we all have slightly different opinions of Harry's comments."
Turning directly to Harry he continued. "I hope you realize both the size and the danger of the task you hope to undertake."
"I do, sir, and am ready to do it," replied Harry hopefully.
"No, Harry, I don't believe you understand the full magnitude of the burden you wish to bear, at least not yet. But you have already carried far heavier burdens than anyone your age should ever be expected to bear. I do not doubt for one moment either your courage, your determination, or your ability to develop those hidden talents of yours. In addition, you have the finest of friends to support you in your efforts." Dumbledore paused to glance meaningfully at both Hermione and Ron. "And Harry will need all the support you can give him. Together with these friends, Harry, I would like to offer you any assistance I might be able to give. I would be happy to continue your Occlumency training, as well as helping you develop any other talents or skills that we might discover and which might prove useful."
"Albus, you can't be serious. Harry is far too young for this. This is probably just what You-Know-Who wants-Harry to get a few extra lessons and try and seek him out in battle so he can kill him," protested Molly.
"No, Molly. I believe the last thing on earth Voldemort wants is for Harry to seek additional training. I believe Voldemort has greatly erred in sending these nightmares to Harry. Harry's courage has never failed him in the past. Nor does it do so now. No, Voldemort made a grave mistake, trying to frighten Harry with terrible nightmares. Instead of breaking him, I believe Voldemort has only managed to make him stronger." Dumbledore looked directly into the grateful eyes of Harry as he finished.
As Dumbledore finished, Professor McGonagall spoke. Glancing briefly at Dumbledore, then over at Harry she announced briskly. "Well, if Albus believes this is the best course of action, then I, too, will assist how I can. I will offer you additional training in Transfiguration, should you desire it, but be warned, it will be much more difficult than my classes at Hogwarts." Harry's face blanched only slightly at the threat of additional homework.
Looking over at Moody and Tonks, who both gave shallow nods, Lupin cleared his throat and said, "Since it appears we will no longer need to spend time on guard duty at the Dursley's, we might as well spend our extra time giving you DADA lessons. But they won't be easy. And you're going to pay for your little escapade last night."
Harry quickly bowed his head to hide his smile. Raising it, he looked around gratefully at all of his friends gathered around the table. Noticing the looks of concern on both Hermione's and Molly's faces he spoke. "Don't worry, I'll be careful. I don't want to do this, believe me. But this fight has to be fought. Evil must be opposed and defeated. And if I can somehow help turn the tide, then I have to do my best to help. I can't just hide, or stand aside and do nothing, or hope that somehow things will work out for the best. I have to do something. Please try and understand. Please." Hermione simply nodded and bowed her head. Harry didn't notice her tears because Molly quickly crossed the room and wrapped him in a huge hug.
"I know, Harry. I know. You're just so young and you're like one of my own boys. This is just too much to ask of any one person. But I'll help as best I can. And I'll try not to cry too much. I know my sons hate that," Molly tried to joke.
"Thanks, Molly. It's OK to cry a little if you want to. That's what good mums do," he smiled back at her and she hugged him tighter.
As everyone moved to leave the kitchen, Ron's voice broke the silence. "If you're done smothering poor Harry mum, I've got a question for him." Molly broke away quickly, looking slightly embarrassed. "How on earth did you fool those three and get out of your house?" Ron ignored the angry glares he received from Tonks, Lupin, and Moody.
Suddenly embarrassed himself, Harry quickly looked at the ground to avoid eye contact with Mrs. Weasley. "Well, uhhm, I had some uhh-friends who sent me a few uhh-things that helped a bit."
"Those twins! When I get my hands on those two…"snorted Molly under her breath and moved quickly to the sink, pretending to begin cleaning up the breakfast mess. She was very quiet though, as if she wanted to hear more of the details along with everyone else.
"So what did you do with these things?" goaded Ron.
"Well, I figured that there were members of the Order watching me again this year like last year. I also suspected that Voldemort would have some people watching, but they wouldn't know where to be watching exactly. I have no idea how many Death Eaters he has now, or how effective they might be in watching areas. I figured if I did any spellcasting of my own, there might be a way for them to detect it, like the Ministry of Magic can. So I ordered some uhh-special magical devices that could do the spells I needed."
"Clever, Potter. Very clever," complimented Moody.
"And what would be the names of these uhh-special magical devices, Harry? I thought my list of specialty items from Weas…" with a glance at Mrs. Weasley, Dumbledore continued, "uhh…the various joke shops was the most up-to-date and complete, but I have failed to find any items that seem to match the effects that Lupin and Moody described to me." In complete shock, everyone in the room slowly turned to see Dumbledore glancing over a very thick scroll that must have measured nearly eight feet if fully rolled out.
"That is their new order form?" gasped a very white Molly Weasley.
"Why yes Molly. They're quite ingenius really. They sell the most amazing pranks and joke items. Why, when they were in school they did some of the funniest…" Dumbledore's voice stumbled as he received a very severe glare from Professor McGonagall. "Well, back to the point. As headmaster of Hogwarts, I find it very beneficial to stay abreast of the most current items offered by the various joke shops. Your sons run the best and most innovative, by far. I make it a point to keep a particular watch on their items, because for whatever reason, a good number of them happen to appear at Hogwarts." Dumbledore noted the look of pride in Molly's eyes that she tried to hide. "But Harry," he repeated, "I must admit that I, too, am very curious to know how you effected your escape."
"Well," continued Harry, still refusing to meet Molly's eyes, "first I needed to create a distraction so that I could slip off with my Invisibility cloak. I packed everything in my trunk and sprinkled some Sprinkle'um Shrink'um dust on it. It only works on inanimate objects and the length of time varies, as does the size it shrinks too. There are a lot of variables involved. I guess I was lucky my trunk didn't explode on me earlier while I was on the bus." A round of laughs followed.
"I snuck out of my room and gathered my aunt's broom and my cousin's trophy," Harry saw no need to tell them about the jokes on his uncle or cousin, though he would probably tell Ron later, "and returned to my room. I taped the trophy to the broom and then used the Splittin' Image." Noticing the looks around him, Harry explained. "The Splittin' Image is a little globe with two buttons. You stand in front of it, dressed how you want to be seen, and press one button, which captures the image. Then you push the other button and it creates a second image of you. Fre-uhh, my friends intended it to be used by students who wanted to make it look like they were in bed asleep so that they could actually be off-uhh, well whatever-I mean studying." Harry paused at the next round of laughs.
"Harry, this image. Is it corporeal or ethereal?" asked Dumbledore.
"There's nothing solid about it. You would still have to put pillows under the sheets and stuff if you wanted to slip out-I mean, that's how it was explained to me, I wouldn't know. It's just an image that is produced." Harry tried to ignore the loud laughs at his obvious lie. "I thought it might work well enough to make an image of me riding my broomstick, so I did that and stuck the ball in the trophy and taped it in too."
"Next time, make sure you use an image with you on your real broomstick, not some beat up hand me down broom from your aunt's closet. That's how I knew you hadn't left for real Potter-you weren't riding your Firebolt," suggested Moody and then added, "And there better not be another time, Potter.
"Uhh, yeah. I should have thought of that. Actually I was hoping you weren't on duty-I thought you would have known something was up when you saw me through the Invisibility cloak," replied Harry.
"I did, when I thought to look for you again after I realized that it wasn't you on the broom."
"But I thought with your eye…" started Harry.
"I can't see everything all the time, boy. Too many images for too long would drive me mad. I have to limit the amount of sensory input or I'd fry my brain. I'd end up madder than I already am," laughed Moody.
"But how did you get that old broom to fly without magic?" asked Tonks.
"Well, once I had an image of me flying, I used a Flaming Flying Floater. It's basically a modification of some of the fireworks the twi-uh, some students set off last year at Hogwarts," said Harry with a quick glance at Molly, who pretended to keep scrubbing pans. "The Flaming Flying Floater can be used to make any object, say a big pot, float in midair, and then fly with a huge burning trail behind it. It's basically a flat headed tube. You attach the flat head to whatever you want to fly, say the big pot, then you aim it, and then stand back out of the way. I just dismantled the flame part. I didn't think it would look too realistic if my broom was on fire."
"And who did you rob to pay our bus fare, Potter?" growled Moody over the rising laughter.
"Well, my friends advanced me a small loan and changed it into Muggle money for me. At Gringott's of course. They're not counterfeiters!" defended Harry.
"Of course not, Harry. Very resourceful. Very resourceful indeed," laughed Dumbledore. "Now you've had a very long night. Why don't you get settled in and get some sleep. We'll arrange some of our schedules so that you can start your new lessons tomorrow."
Suddenly, Harry felt very tired. "So we can get started tomorrow?" he asked excitedly.
"Yes, but I strongly advise you to go and get some sleep. You'll need it," grinned Dumbledore.
"All right, I'm going. Thanks for hearing me out." As he rose to leave, Ron and Hermione joined him. Their voices drifted back into the kitchen as they headed up the stairs.
"Harry, that was bloody brilliant. I couldn't believe…" laughed Ron.
"I couldn't believe you did that without telling anyone. You could have been killed you know. You know a pair of Death Eaters blasted your broom and the trophy, don't you. That could have been you!" berated Hermione.
"Really? Good thing I didn't actually send my Firebolt then, huh? What would I have done during Quidditch season?" Harry chuckled and Ron laughed loudly. Hermione's snort of disgust could be heard clear in the kitchen as well as her last words, "Honestly, you two. Is that all you ever think about?"
Back in the kitchen, Professor McGonagall muttered, "Well, at least one of them has some brains. I swear, Mr. Potter finds more ways to get into trouble…"
"Now, Minerva, don't judge him too harshly." Glancing up at Molly, Dumbledore continued. "Harry has excellent friends. Yes, Hermione seems to be the most responsible of the three, but he needs Ron just as much. Ron helps him let off the steam he needs to and take time to just have fun and enjoy life. Harry has never really had anyone who watches out for him like Hermione or someone to just have fun with like Ron. Both friends are crucial to him, and will become even more important to him with the additional burdens he will be taking up soon."
"Do you really think Harry is ready for all of this? He takes far too much responsibility for things as it is," asked Molly.
"Harry is old enough now to choose the burdens he will carry. If I could have given him an ordinary childhood and adolescence, I would have in an instant. But Harry has a vital role to play in the coming conflict with Voldemort. And the sooner we help him discover his role and prepare for it, the safer he will be Molly. Do not worry, I will be watching him even more closely than before."
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