I am not J.K. Rowling, and I do not own Harry Potter (although I do own a copy of all the books and movies), and am certainly not making any money off of this. I'm writing this purely because I enjoy it, and I hope you do too.
A Sirius Matter
Chapter 36 - Coming and Going
"Another boring task we can't really see," complained Ginny, as she, Neville, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Luna were sitting in the stands staring at walls of shrubbery that Cedric Diggory had just entered.
"This time, I came prepared," said Hermione as she pulled a book out of her bag. "I have others, in case you'd like to read as well."
Ginny took a book, but that was all. Luna had a copy of the Quibbler with her. None of the books were about Quidditch, so Ron wasn't interested. Neville had brought a book on plants with him. Harry, however, was too busy looking around the stands with a worried expression on his face to notice Viktor Krum entering the maze.
"Harry," said Hermione softly, "Do you really think that Voldemort's going to attack here?" She indicated the dozens of aurors stationed around the area. Even the Minister of Magic, Patricus Vehosia, was confident enough that he was there (surrounded by aurors).
"No, and that's just it." He sighed. "Everyone thinks he's going to attack here, but he's not." He put a hand on his scar. "My scar is twinging a tiny bit."
Her eyes widened. "What? I thought that Occlumency…"
"It's not hurting. It probably would be, though, without it. I know he's doing something, and it obviously isn't here where most of the aurors are. Maybe I should…"
"No," she hissed emphatically. "Whatever advantage that dropping your shields could give you is not worth it."
"I hope you're right."
"I am," she said, just before Fleur Delacour, firmly in third place, finally entered the maze. She finally got Harry to take an Advanced Charms book from her.
-
They sat there reading for about an hour until finally Cedric Diggory emerged the winner, with the Triwizard cup held high for all to see. His father was the first to congratulate him, hugging him tightly before his mother joined them. Harry's group, along with most of the audience, was on their feet cheering.
Just as the cheering was subsiding, Patricus Vehosia walked up in front of the crowd of happy faces to make a speech. He performed a Sonorus spell on his throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to declare Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts to be the winner of the Triwizard Tournament." There was more cheering as the champion, still holding the cup, approached when the Minister motioned him up. Vehosia pulled a sack out of his pocket. "As you know, there is a prize for this event, and it is my honor and privilege to present it to this hardworking young man who has shown us…"
At that moment, the Minister stopped speaking and was looking above the crowd. Everyone followed his gaze to see an eagle owl that seemed to have an injured wing was flying toward, who had recognized it as a Ministry owl. It slowly and awkwardly made its way toward the recipient, who untied the letter after handing the sack of gold to Cedric. "Could the gamekeeper come take this owl and see what's wrong with it," Patricus said as he unrolled the scroll.
As Hagrid made his way up, the Minister muttered a magically amplified, "Oh no." Hagrid silently took the owl and walked off. Patricus then looked at the concerned crowd and took a deep breath. "It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that `You-Know-Who' has just taken control of the Ministry building, so we are, as of this moment, a government in exile."
Dumbledore, who'd been watching all of this silently, now walked up to Vehosia as he performed a Sonorus charm on himself. "Not quite exiled," he said, "if the Minister will agree, I'd like to offer Hogwarts as the temporary headquarters of the Ministry of Magic."
"I appreciate your offer, Professor Dumbledore, and graciously accept it." He then looked around at the crowd. "Just because You-Know-Who has taken over a building does not mean he controls the country."
Someone from the crowd shouted out, "But his has control of the Ministry's resources, like the Department of Mysteries, Magical Transportation, and…"
"SILENCE!" said Dumbledore, ending the talking that had begun as the scared people began to panic. "You're right," said Albus. "We will have to be much more careful, and I'd suggest you stop using detectable means of travel if you believe yourself to be one of Voldemort's targets." Most of the crowd shuddered at the name. "However, things could be much worse."
-
The next week was spent with the surviving members of the government making their way to Hogwarts, where the third-floor corridor that had once protected the Philosopher's Stone was set aside for their use. The term was over, and the students were just waiting around for their grades. Harry thought that the mood of the school had been subdued since the end of the tournament, and he certainly understood why. People were scared, especially when the `Howler' reported all the casualties at the Ministry. About fifty bodies were casually thrown outside. Others were missing, including Percy Weasley and his boss, Dolores Umbridge.
Harry and his friends were very glad to see Arthur Weasley arrive at Hogwarts - they'd been worried about him since the Ministry was attacked. Even though Ron and Ginny had gotten a letter that he was alright, it was still better to see for themselves.
"Luckily, I wasn't there at the time of the attack. I was chasing down Mundungus Fletcher for selling some jinxed plates to a muggle. By the time I'd gotten back, there were Death Eaters guarding the entrance. Luckily, I saw them before they saw me and apparated home. A lot of good people weren't as lucky as me." Arthur hung his head down for a moment in silence before continuing. "I hope Percy's alright. He hasn't contacted us. Molly and I immediately removed the Burrow from the Floo Network, and we've had special wards put around the house to protect it, should Death Eaters come to call."
"That's good," said Harry, thinking about how his and Sirius' house had been put under the Fidelius Charm. "My house is warded, too."
"And my family is staying with Harry and Sirius," added Hermione. They'd asked the Grangers to stay at Grimmauld Place until the end of the war, knowing that Voldemort now had access to Hermione's record - including her address. After hearing how bad the situation really was from Sirius, and knowing how Harry and Hermione had been attacked during their first date the previous summer before Voldemort had returned, they agreed and left their dental practice in an associate's hands. They were already moved into Black Manor. Harry had heard that many other muggle-born families were going into hiding as well.
-
The day before they were to leave Hogwarts, Dumbledore sent Harry a message that he wanted to see him, and so Harry found himself knocking on the door of the headmaster's office.
"Come in, Harry," said Albus as the door opened. "Good afternoon. Have a seat."
"Hello, sir." Harry sat in front of the desk. He had to stop himself from reacting to Dumbledore's `dead' hand. He still wasn't used to seeing it.
"Would you like a lemon drop?"
"No, thanks."
"Very well. We'll get to the reason I called you here. As you know, Voldemort now has control of the Ministry building."
"Yes, sir."
"That gives him many advantages. As you found out on your twelfth birthday, the Ministry can track magic done near underage wizards. They can also trace anyone using the Floo network, although they can't trace private networks." He sighed. "It also means that he now has access to all the information that the Ministry contains, including the prophecies in the Department of Mysteries." Harry had a feeling that he knew what Dumbledore was about to tell him. "You see, Harry, as you know, a prophecy was made about you before you were born. I've tried to keep it a secret so you wouldn't be burdened with it, but now that Voldemort no doubt has heard it, I believe that it's time you did, too. It says, `The one…'
Harry interrupted with a small smirk. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches....Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."
Dumbledore stared at Harry in shock. "How did you know?"
"My dad told Sirius, who told me at the beginning of last summer."
"I told James not to trust anybody with that information. I thought he'd only told Sirius that the prophecy exists." He then looked at Harry intently. "Voldemort now knows that you are not guaranteed to kill him, so he will assume that he will be able to beat you."
"He's been trying to do that for a long time, anyway," said Harry, "so I don't really see the difference."
"I suppose not. How has your training been going?"
Harry and Dumbledore chatted about the progress Harry and his group had made until they left the office at dinnertime.
-
The next day, the students were on the Hogwarts Express heading home. Hermione was reading the latest issue of the Howler while Luna was reading the Quibbler. Ron was murdering Neville in a game of chess while Ginny was trying to help her boyfriend. Harry was thinking about all the changes that had taken place in the past year. He smiled as he glanced at his girlfriend - he still had trouble believing that he'd been dating Hermione for about a year now. It seemed like only yesterday that he'd admitted his feelings for her.
A lot of bad things had happened this year - Voldemort returning was the cause of it all - but during this whole school year he'd had one thing he could depend on - the brunette sitting next to him with her face buried in a newspaper. He put an arm around her, causing her to look up at him.
"I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you," he said. "I'd have never made it through this year without you."
She smiled at him as her ears turned pink. "I'm the lucky one." She leaned closer and kissed him.
"Get a room," suggested Ron with a disgusted expression. "We don't want to see you…"
"You should pay attention, Ron," said Ginny with an evil grin. "You might learn a few things from Harry. I'm sure Luna would appreciate it if you stopped acting like an insensitive git all the time."
"I suppose I should pay attention, too," said Neville while Ron glared at his sister.
The redhead looked at her boyfriend. "There's always room for improvement, but I've got no complaints. But if you started acting like Ron…"
At that moment, the door opened, revealing the three stooges - Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Those three Slytherins hadn't given Harry much trouble this year since October, when Harry on one occasion and Ginny on another had totally humiliated them (*chapter 25*), and consequently, he'd been hoping that he wouldn't have to put up with them on the train. Unfortunately (for them), he was wrong. The only question was how much of his training to reveal. He quickly glanced at Hermione to see she was thinking the same thing. He turned his attention back to the visitors, deciding to use his wand.
"Well, if it isn't the Death Nibblers," he said with a smile. Harry's friends chuckled while the Slytherins glared.
"Laugh all you want, Scar-head. The Dark Lord's gonna display your corpse in the atrium of the Ministry before the summer's over."
Harry faked that he was shocked. "Are you trying to say that Rat-face is after me? I'd have never known it. Thanks for the tip." His expression hardened. "Now get out." He was pointing his wand at Draco now.
With a badly-misplaced arrogance, he sneered at Harry as he reached for his own wand. "I don't think so. I think we'll stay and…Ahhhh!"
At that moment, he was hit with boils from Harry's wand, bat-bogey's from Ginny, a leg-locker curse from Luna, and a tooth-growing curse from Hermione (the same one he'd used on her). He fell over. Crabbe was hit with the full body-bind from Neville while Goyle was spitting out slugs on Draco's head from Ron's hex. They got out of there immediately, with Draco knocking his bodyguards down as he hopped ahead of them. Hermione quickly scourified the mess Goyle had left and turned to the others with a neutral expression on her face. "When will they ever learn?" Everyone burst out laughing.
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