11. Toad in the Hole
Early Christmas morning Harry, Hermione and Solomon stood in a circle, holding hands, in the middle of the sitting room of Grimmauld Place. Hermione was carrying a small bag with its strap over her shoulder. In it was the crystal pyramid, which they assumed was the only real object they could use to communicate with the golden lights. Harry took a deep breath, closed his eyes and imagined himself in the corridor of the Department of Mysteries. With no sense of movement at all, they were standing outside the barred and locked door to the room deep in the ministry building.
"Well done Harry, I wasn't sure you'd be able to get this close, I had expected the Ministry would have been better protected," said Aegis, "still, we will make use of all the advantages we have." He looked quickly up and down the empty corridor. "What about getting into the room Harry? If you can peragate to the other side of the door, with a bit of luck the alarms won't go off. I'll stay here and guard your back."
Solomon slipped a little way down the corridor and into the shadow of another doorway. Harry kept a tight hold of Hermione, worked his magic, and moments later they were inside the room. The glass ball was as before, with the thousands of golden lights lazily moving around inside.
"OK, what do we do now?" said Harry.
"Well there was absolutely nothing in any of the books I looked at about this," she said, "so I guess we try the pyramid."
Hermione took the crystal out of the bag and held it in front of her. As she had done on the top of the Tor, she tried to push her mind into the pyramid. It was much easier than the last time, the crystal accepted her immediately and she was drawn into its depths. The whispering voices were clearer than they ever had been, she could hear the instructions they were giving her, but could not act on them because she suddenly found she could not move. She listened again, and then she understood what was needed.
"Harry," Hermione's voice sounded distant, "Could you pick me up, I want to be closer to the ball."
Although the request was a bit strange, Harry had sense enough to understand that he was not party to everything that was affecting Hermione. So he did as she asked, with one arm behind her knees and one under her arms, he picked her up as easily as one would a child. Cradling her in his arms like that, he took a step towards the ball.
"One more Harry"
He complied, but then he was distracted, as from the corridor outside, came the sound of shouting and the discharge of spells. Harry was tempted to turn away from the ball but Hermione said in her dreamy voice.
"One more Harry"
Hermione's body was now pressed against the surface of the ball and the lights inside were moving frenetically. The noises outside rose to a crescendo and culminated in a very loud BANG, which made the doors rattle on their hinges.
Hermione was quite unaware of all this commotion, and said, "One more Harry"
This was pointless, they couldn't go any further forward, Harry leaned himself and Hermione against the ball while he thought, and he felt the glassy surface give. He almost fell forward and to stop himself falling he instinctively took a step. It was like wading through deep water, he could feel the glass holding him as he slowly passed through it, then with a POP he and Hermione were inside the ball and the lights had stopped moving.
Hermione woke from her dream state and gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek, then whispered in his ear, "It's OK now, you can put me down."
As he did so the doors behind them flew open and the room was suddenly full of wizards. The wall of glass between Harry, Hermione and the room made all the noise out there sound muffled, but it didn't prevent them from seeing clearly. Through the doors they could see that the corridor was a mess, bits of masonry and wood from the panelling were strewn across the floor. Lying against the far wall, his head covered in blood, was Solomon; he didn't seem to be moving.
Harry dragged his attention to the wizards in the room. There were, maybe, ten of them, standing in a loose circle; some were swaying on their feet showing the signs of the recent battle and of being of re-enervated. All were covered in dust. Closest to him, separated from him only by the glass wall, was Dolores Umbridge.
She was obviously shouting, but her voice was no more than a murmur, she looked so comical her mouth opening and closing and hardly making a sound that Harry almost laughed, then he remembered Solomon and he scowled at her. He pointedly turned his back on her and looked to Hermione. He could see the worry in her eyes for Solomon but he knew they must finish this now. He would worry later.
"What now?" he said to her.
Hermione shrugged her shoulders.
'No plan Harry, I'm surprised at you.' A voice sounded in Harry's mind that was so familiar and although there was no reason for Harry to ever hear that voice again he wasn't surprised.
'Sirius, thought it was you I heard before,' Harry looked around for the source of the voice, "where are you? Do you know what is going on?"
From the mass of golden lights one floated forward and stopped in front of Harry's face.
'Yes, but not here, we need to leave before your ex-Headmistress starts throwing things.'
'Err…OK but how?'
'You and Hermione,…Hi Hermione,' Sirius threw the thought in her direction,… 'should be able to use your special method of apparating. Give it a go and we'll hitch a ride.'
Harry wasn't quite prepared for what happened next. The golden lights descended on him much as they had on the Tor, but now they were really here, not an image and they were heavy. As they settled on him his legs began to sag the weight was truly incredible, but Harry held on and carried the load. He slowly turned to look for Solomon. He was being dragged away by a couple of wizards and he looked in a bad way. Harry thought he saw his legs moving so he was still alive, and he hoped he would be alright.
Umbridge came into his field of vision, her eyes were popping out of her head and she had gone a very peculiar colour. Harry gave her a look that would have stopped a rampaging Hippogriff in its tracks, and then he felt Hermione put her hand in his and they were gone.
Hermione thought they would find themselves back at Grimmauld Place, but she was wrong. Instead they were standing in a very pretty garden belonging to a small white cottage. On all sides gently rolling grass-covered hills isolated the cottage from the surrounding countryside. There were no signs of habitation apart from this one dwelling; the cottage could have been the only one on the planet. Even in the depths winter the garden was pretty. Snowdrops were showing and even the odd daffodil was poking its head above ground, though not brave enough to flower. It may have been late December, but it was warm enough for a day in spring.
The lights left Harry, and he breathed a sigh of relief as the weight left his body, and he watched them as they whirled around the garden before settling on and amongst the plants. Harry thought they looked rather like Christmas tree decorations, twinkling in the sunlight, it made him smile.
Hermione didn't take her eyes off Harry, something was affecting him, it was making him relax and he seemed so happy as he looked around the garden. Then it suddenly occurred to her what it might be.
"Harry where are we?" she asked, fairly sure of the answer.
He smiled, "Godrics Hollow, great isn't it?"
"I think it's beautiful."
'Err…sorry to interrupt you two, but this place tends to distract people when they first come here, we need to talk, err...well think or whatever' came Sirius' unmistakable thought.
Harry and Hermione seated themselves on a bench under the bare branches of a willow tree. The single golden light hovered between them.
'So what gives?' thought Harry. 'And why are you here?'
'Well it's not very complicated so I'll try and explain,' Sirius' thoughts paused while he worked out the best way of describing the almost indescribable, 'when I passed through the veil I met someone and we had a little chat. I was given the choice to continue with my journey or to return to the sphere to wait with the others to help you. Naturally I chose to help, so here I am, a sort of go between.'
'Between who, or what, Sirius?' thought Hermione.
'Between Harry and the souls of the dead.' It was clear they didn't understand. 'The little golden lights.' was thought by way of explanation. 'that is what they are.'
Hermione furrowed her brow, 'I would have thought that there would be more of them,' she thought, 'you know, so many people have died, there can't be one here for each of them surely?'
'No my dear you're correct, as usual, these aren't the souls of all the dead, these are the souls of Voldemort's dead,' Sirius' thought held the promise of more information.
'But why are they still here? Why haven't they moved on as you could have?' was the mental question she asked.
'Let's see where to start?...OK have you heard of the Inferius?'
'Yes,' thought Hermione, 'they are the living dead, people that Voldemort has killed but somehow he keeps their bodies alive.'
Harry could feel he was going to lose the thread of this conversation.
'That's right, just like those kissed by the Dementors Harry,' Sirius thought to him, trying to keep him in the discussion, 'alive but empty. Now it is assumed that the Inferius have no soul. Well actually they have a tiny infinitesimal piece of soul left, which is why they can be controlled. The little golden lights are the rest of those souls, but because there is this little bit missing they can't continue their journey. They will help you defeat Voldemort, because he has something they need. He was the one who created them but he doesn't know he has done it, you can stop him Harry, but they have the power to destroy him utterly.'
'The power he knows not' thought Hermione.
'Yes lass you could say that, Is it significant?' Sirius asked.
Then the implications began to dawn on Harry 'I don't have to kill him I just have to stop him?' It was the one thing that had always worried Harry; he had killed once before, but it was in the heat of the moment and it was unintentional. He couldn't imagine the hate you would have to build up to use the killing curse. Now hopefully he would never be in that position. He was so relieved and both Sirius and Hermione could feel the happiness as he realised he would not have to become likeVoldemort in order to defeat him.
'That's it Harry' reassured Sirius, 'once he is stopped then they will help you, I'll tell you how……………'
By the end of the afternoon both Harry and Hermione could see a glimmer of hope in their efforts to rid the world of Tom Riddle.
As they stood to go the light that was Sirius Black gave them one last thought. 'We will stay here until we are needed, then all you have to do is call. Hermione can use the pyramid to do that. We can be with you in seconds.'
Harry looked at that wavering golden light, 'Are you happy Sirius?' he made no answer, but in his mind Harry could see him smile.
…………………………………
They were back in Grimmauld Place by early evening and now Harry knew it was time to worry about Solomon. They didn't know if he had been badly injured or where he was. Had Solomon been well and in full control, neither of them doubted he would have been back by now. They couldn't think that Umbridge would have anything like the power to hold him.
Typically, and possibly because it was Christmas Day there were no members of the Order passing through the house, so there was no one to help. Both of them tried thinking at him, they had used that method of communication many times before, but even with the power of Hermione's Tear and the pyramid they couldn't find him.
They were just about to give up for the night when Harry thought it was getting a little foggy in the sitting room. He looked up and gave Hermione a nudge and drew her attention to a mist that was forming in the middle of the room. It solidified and out of it stepped Lady Niniane followed by a very agitated large black dog.
"Where is Solomon? Compass is most unhappy, it not like Solomon to leave him for so long," she sounded rather cross.
"We don't know, we've tried, but we can't find him." Harry said, then he and Hermione launched into a tale of the day's events.
When they had finished Lady Niniane said nothing but reached into her robes and took out what looked like a wand, but as she held it in her hand it grew in length and thickness until it took on the proportions of a staff, as long as Lady Niniane was tall. The material that made up the shaft was almost transparent but held within it was something that was moving, it sparkled with this movement and gave off a dim electric blue light. The head piece of the staff was a golden pentagram, Harry had seen only one like that before, it nestled in the mind of his girlfriend and Harry had been the one who had made it.
"This is the staff of Avalon," said Lady Niniane, "if Solomon is alive, and there is nothing to suggest otherwise, then this will find him. Come hold the staff."
Harry and Hermione reached out and gripped the staff with Lady Niniane; she was holding it upright in front of her, with both her hands. As they made contact they left the sitting room of Grimmauld Place, they were only moving with their minds, but the speed with which they travelled left Harry breathless. Their minds flitted from place to place in a blur, stopping only for an instant, and then moving on again. To Harry it was very like the sensation of a trip on the Knight Bus, exhilarating but nauseous.
Suddenly the movement stopped. They were in a small room with two occupants. One was tied in a chair, blood still covering his face, while the other walked back and forth barking questions and occasionally stopping to pour potion into her captive's mouth. Solomon was hurt and drugged and Delores Umbridge was pumping him for information.
"Do you have the location Harry?" asked Lady Niniane.
"Yes Ma'am."
"Then go and bring him to me." It may have been a request, or an order, but it didn't matter; nothing was going to keep Harry from getting Solomon back. Harry stepped back from the staff and took Hermione by the hand and they were gone. They didn't appear in the room, but in the narrow dark passageway outside the door.
Harry kept his voice low "You stand over there on the other side of the door, when I blow it wait until I've lured Umbridge out, then go to Solomon. I'll come back when I've dealt with her."
Hermione nodded, she felt so proud of Harry, he had learned his lesson. Now he thought before he acted, and once the lesson was learned, he used it to its full advantage. Harry stood by the door, drew his wand and cried 'Bombarda'. The door vanished in a flurry of splinters, and Harry saw Umbridge, in the corner of the room picking herself up from the floor.
Faking a voice close to panic, Harry yelled at Solomon, totally ignoring the fact that he was tied in his chair. "Hurry Professor, get up, we must get away now, I don't think I can beat her, come on, run, run."
Umbridge recovered herself quickly and smiled, like with Snape it was not a pleasant sight, "Oh no Mr. Potter, your Professor isn't going anywhere, and soon you can join him, I'm sure you have lots to tell me," Umbridge said with glee, "you didn't imagine I would post a 24 hour guard on the department after your last little escapade, did you Mr Potter? your mistake," she was trying to goad him, "planning, that is what is important, Mr. Potter; I plan everything, unlike you, and that again is your mistake, Mr Potter."
Harry backed away from the door and down the passage away from Hermione's hiding place. Umbridge bustled after him, cooing at him to stop and not run away.
"Well if you won't stop, I will have to stop you. 'INCARCEROUS'. "
The spell shot from the end of Umbridge's wand straight towards Harry. One flick of his hand and the spell was deflected to one side to crash harmlessly into the wall.
Umbridge was not one to be put off lightly, 'IMPEDIMENTA', 'STUPEFY' 'PETRIFICUS TOTALUS', all sped down the passage and all received the same treatment. Harry could see her will gathering 'CRUCIO' she cried and Harry knew she meant it, but he was in no mood to let her get the better of him, and the unforgivable curse faired no better than any of the others. He deflected it and it disappeared down the corridor, screaming as it went.
It began to dawn on Delores that maybe she had made a mistake, she was not dealing with the same Harry Potter she had dominated in his fifth year; this was quite a different creature. Harry stood quietly now, he had seen Hermione go into the room to Solomon. He gazed with contempt at the bloated corrupt witch in front of him. He hated her for what she had done to him in the fifth year, for what she had done to the school and the Headmaster, and now for what she had done to Solomon. He thought of all the things he could do to this poor excuse for a human being. Perhaps this is how you had to feel, Harry had never hated anyone this much, he knew now what he could do, and only one thing was appropriate.
"You forgot one thing, Delores," Harry said in a chilling voice, "people change."
He summoned all his power so that the energy began to crackle around his head, he lifted his wand and he could now see the fear in her eyes. He cast the spell which hit her square in the chest, it lifted Delores Umbridge off her feet and she crashed down on her back. She lay there, still, with her eyes wide open, but they were eyes that were blank of all comprehension.
Hermione had rushed to Solomon's side as soon as the way was clear. She looked anxiously at him, and then the relief flooded through her. Although there was a lot of blood the cut on his forehead, though long, was not deep. The two bottles on the table gave testament to the fact that he had been given some Veritaserum, and a sommulus potion that would have caused enough drowsiness to prevent anyone from using their magic. By the way it was hanging, Hermione thought, Solomon had broken his arm as well.
The sounds of the one sided battle in the passageway caught her attention. She heard Umbridge's spells and the detonations as Harry deflected them. Then she could feel Harry gathering his magic, it was almost as if he was drawing power from the air around him, it was an immense amount of power. NO, he couldn't do that, not even to that awful woman. Voldemort may be legitimate target but Umbridge didn't deserve that, not from Harry. Hermione scrambled to her feet, rushed towards the door as Harry spoke.
"OBLIVIATE!" he cried, and all Delores Umbridge's memories vanished from her mind for ever.
Then he was standing in the doorway and Hermione threw her arms around his neck and pulled him to her.
"Oh Harry. Oh Harry. I thought you were…" she hesitated.
"Going to kill her?" he smiled, "I thought you knew me better than that."
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to doubt you. You built so much power I thought…."
"Yeah I know, but she's not worth that." he gave her a bit of a sideways look, "I can't say it didn't cross my mind though," he looked over her shoulder at Solomon, "how's the old man?"
"I think he'll be fine, but we ought to get him home."
Seconds later the three of them were back in the sitting room of Grimmauld Place and Harry and Hermione gently lowered Solomon onto the sofa. Compass was overjoyed to see him and cavorted around the room wagging his tail and barking fit to burst. Lady Niniane took one look at her beaten and very drowsy son and began to summon the nimbus limen.
"We'll take him to Avalon, the healers there will set him right," she considered the two youngsters, "you had better come with us and spend the remainder of Christmas with your mother and father, I am sure they will be pleased to see you."
She was of course referring to Natalie and David Granger, and she was correct in her assumption. The Grangers were ecstatic to see them both. Hermione's parents hadn't expected to see either of them until after the end of the school year, and to be truthful were very worried that they may never have seen them again. Hermione's reunion with her mum was rather tearful, Harry and David tried to keep stiff upper lips but it was very difficult. Harry loved the closeness of his adoptive family; this was what he was fighting for, the chance to live in peace and harmony for the rest of his life.
Much later Harry was sitting on the side of Hermione's bed; they were talking while she was brushing the tangles out of her hair. Once she had finished she climbed on the bed and Harry snuggled down beside her. He had only meant to stay a few minutes to wish her a good night, but in each others arms the events of the day caught up with them, and they both fell asleep.
David Granger on his way up to bed glanced through the open door of Hermione's room. He stood there looking down on the pair of them; they were so peaceful and so deeply asleep; he didn't want to disturb them. He walked to the bed and pulled a blanket up to cover them, then turning to leave the room found his wife standing in the doorway, with tears falling freely down her face. He smiled sadly at her, then took her by the hand and led her to their room; both of them had a hope deep in their hearts that their children would be alive to stay with them next Christmas.
a/n The chapter title is a reference to an English culinary delight, which has little connection with the story other than Delores Umbridge's facial features.
Solomon.