Inferi Take Over Diagon Alley: Closed to ALL Witches and Wizards
By Rita Skeeter
Dear readers, this reporter must, unfortunately, bring you some more bad news. Earlier this morning, there has been a mass outbreak of Virus Z in Diagon Alley. The DMLE Aurors on scene were overwhelmed by the Inferi and have perished. Shop owners have locked down their houses with heavy, impenetrable wards and are closed for business. Gringotts Bank has closed their doors for the time being. This reporter has risked her lives to get more information for you, esteemed readers, as to alleviate some of your pressing worries. Sadly, the Goblins have refused entry to anyone, and refuse to give any witch or wizard access to their accounts. Any gold or assets held in Gringotts are now property of the Goblins. This reporter has asked for a statement to help clear up the gross injustice; the Head Goblin of Gringotts, Ragnok, has delivered: "You imbecile Wizards, always killing each other off in the most unfortunate ways. Our relations with you are over, we won't be killed for your stupidity."
For more information about Virus Z… go to page 3
For a list of bank alternatives on the Wizarding Continent… go to page 5
Harry slammed the Daily Prophet on the ground and put his head in his hands. Behind him, Hermione was in tears, crying silently, and Ron was holding her, attempting to calm her down with hushed words. The trio were outside on the grounds, on what should have been a nice, Autumn day. However, they didn't admire the colorful leaves on the trees, the bright sun shining down upon them, or the giant squid flopping around the water, waving its tentacles back and forth. Nothing was beautiful about today; there had been another Inferi attack.
TLoT
Two weeks ago, during a particularly tricky Transfiguration class involving a chair-to-spider transformation (where Ron had conspicuously asked for a bathroom break), the surprisingly shaky voice of the Headmaster was heard throughout the entire school:
"All teachers please escort your students to the Great Hall. I'm afraid classes must be cancelled for the day."
Some students were chattering amongst themselves excitedly, classes have been cancelled after all. Others had heard the Headmaster's worried tone in his announcement and were sporting expressions of mixed curiosity and anxiety. Never before had the Headmaster made a school-wide announcement during lessons. Hermione guessed that he used a variant of the Sonorus charm mixed in with a rune cluster that would expand the sound waves' range… oh now was not the time to be thinking about such things, she admonished herself. Something was amiss in this whole situation, and she could not wait to get explanations from Professor Dumbledore.
Harry, on the other hand, was more concerned than her friend. He knew Dumbledore more than anyone here, except probably McGonagall and Snape, he thought. The man had a carefully constructed facade of joviality and slight insanity, what with his beginning of year speeches and wardrobe choices. However, Harry had seen Dumbledore at his pinnacle, during the latter's fight with the Dark Lord Voldemort in the Ministry atrium just a few months ago. The man was no senile fool, but for him to be breaking his façade meant that something was clearly wrong. Oh, if only Harry knew how right he was.
Harry and Hermione followed the crowd, led by Professor McGonagall. Everyone was still loudly chattering amongst themselves. Harry tried to get Hermione's attention by calling her name, but the crowd was too loud. He, then, nudged his friend and mouthed 'Ron?' with a questioning look on his face.
Hermione started worrying, she had forgotten that their other friend wasn't with them.
Right on time, Ron exited from a door as they passed the second-floor corridor and he made his way to his two friends. He pushed and nudged people out of the way, ignoring their grumbling, until a spot between Harry and Hermione was freed up.
"I was killing time in the girl's bathroom with Myrtle. Merlin knows she's mental, but prefects don't check for people skiving off class in there, and I'd rather spend a whole two hours with her than deal with… spiders", said the ginger boy whilst visibly shuddering from his last afterthought.
"Yeah so what do you think about Dumbledore's message mate?", asked Harry.
"Dumbledore's message? Did he Owl post you?", said Ron confusedly.
"Honestly Ronald, didn't you hear Professor Dumbledore's voice resonating throughout the whole school?", added Hermione. God, sometimes he was thick.
"Oh… so that's what it was. I don't know you bloody witch, Myrtle had started singing during that time, and I thought I heard a weird noise, but brushed it off. Thought Myrtle was going baritone in her old age", joked Ron.
The bushy-haired witch harrumphed at her friend's statement, and retorted, in an annoyed tone: "Well, at least this bloody witch is aware of her surroundings and does not skip class for any reason."
Ron was about to talk back angrily, but Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder. When the ginger boy turned his head, he saw Harry give a quick shake of his head. Getting the message, he bit his tongue and carried on walking in silence. Some fights were just not worth it, or possible to win against teenage witches.
Harry, meanwhile, was hiding a smirk. For the past two years, he had noticed his two friends bickering more often and more seriously than before. It was quite obvious they had latent feeling for each other, well obvious to everyone except them of course. Dean, Seamus, Neville and he had a bet on when they would start dating. Personally, Harry thought he was a clear winner for the 10 chocolate frogs when the future couple would start dating during Christmas break.
Eventually, the group reached the Great Hall. The students all sat down at their respective house tables and were waiting impatiently for the Headmaster to start talking.
As Harry was looking around the Hall, he spotted a girl staring right at him. He stared back. For a few seconds, the girl did not realize that Harry had caught her stare, thus their staring contest continued. However, as soon as it started, the girl quickly looked away, pretending to talk to a classmate of hers on her right. Harry had never seen her in the school before, but, then again, he didn't really keep tabs on anyone other than his friends and Gryffindor housemates. Long, blonde hair, green eyes, a surprisingly satisfying symmetrical face. As the girl looked away, he spotted the Slytherin crest on her robes. As soon as he noticed the green snake on her robes, he decided it was time to look away. Contrary to popular belief, he did not hate anyone on the basis of their houses, it just so happened he disliked Malfoy and all of his friends, and it just so happened they were all Slytherins. But this girl was unknown to him; he found himself momentarily intrigued.
But as soon as the unknown girl captivated his attention, the Headmaster started speaking, and his interest was forgotten and buried in the spacious Hall.
"Students, teachers, ghosts, and paintings", started the Headmaster, with the most serious tone the students had ever heard him use. "I have some terrible news to share with all of you. Forgive me for pulling you from your educational pursuits, but, alas, the issue which I am about to reveal pertains to more pressing matters. I shall, as the muggles say, cut to the chase. St Mungo's Hospital has fallen. A virus outbreak of sorts has affected the patients and the faculty inside, turning the victims into, as much as it pains me to say this, Inferi."
The entire Hall was silent, you could have heard a quill drop. No one knew how to react to this piece of news, or how to process this at all. The first and second years were torn between being paralyzed with fear, or shaking in silent tears. The older students were just befuddled and looking around, trying to make eye contact with their friends to see if they had just heard the same things they did.
Albus continued, "Dark times lie ahead of us. However, this does not mean we cannot find the light and fight for it. Investigations and researches are being conducted to discover the origin of this peculiar virus. You are safe at Hogwarts; no harm shall come upon any of my students while I am here. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved in the near future. But, in the meanwhile, we must be very cautious. We do not know anything about the virus or the Inferi, and we must be careful. As such, Hogsmeade visits are, temporarily, cancelled. Owl post will become prohibited as well. Nothing will go in and out of the school wards for some time."
The students came out of their stupor and started angrily expressing their thoughts on those restrictions. Most students were concerned for their families: "How will we contact our families? Mum and Dad will be worried sick. We don't even have a warded home!". Others were disappointed at the lack of future Hogsmeade visits: "But I have a date with Rebecca Smith next weekend at the Three Broomsticks!".
Albus raised his wand, and out came a loud bang; "SILENCE", he yelled.
"I know this is not what you like to hear, and that it hinders many of your future weekend plans. But I must insist on those restrictions, they are for your own safety. As for the parents, the DMLE will send out some of its finest Aurors, Hit-Wizards, and Curse-Breakers to secure Wizarding Britain and ward it against the Inferi. You need not fret, it will be taken care of."
One brave student did not heed his call for silence and was not impressed with his answer and wanted more, "Professor. You said St. Mungo's has fallen. Were there any survivors?"
Albus looked at the slightly trembling boy who was waiting for an answer. The Headmaster had no choice but to tell the truth, although he wished he did not have to, especially to this boy who has already suffered so much.
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Longbottom."
People in the Hall audibly gasped as if one, then sported grim looks; the enormity of the situation just hit them. A lot of wizards and witches have died today. That was hard to grasp.
But for Neville, not only "wizards and witches died". Two that he held very dear to his heart in particular were gone forever. Although he hadn't been able to hold a single conversation with his parents for the past 15 years, he still loved them dearly. Now, Neville was orphaned.
The boy slowly got up, took one look at the Headmaster, then turned around and exited the Great Hall, slamming the large double doors with a resounding bang.
Of everyone in the hall, only some of the faculty and Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny knew the truth. Alice and Frank Longbottom had been long-term residents of St. Mungo's up until today, tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange and other death eaters.
Ginny quickly got up, and told the rest "I'll go after him."
Harry nodded knowingly, and Hermione and Ron put their heads down.
The rest of the hall was shocked as such an aggressive display by the usually shy and unassertive Neville. Albus, determined to take away the attention from the unfortunate child, continued: "As I said before, classes are cancelled for the day. Prefects, please escort your fellow house members to the common rooms, our esteemed house elves shall deliver your food up there. I am of the idea that a more comfortable setting will be useful to you all to process this news."
Recognizing a dismissal, the student body got up and made their way to the Hall doors to reach their respective common rooms. It was a testament to how lost in her thoughts Hermione was that she didn't react about the house elf comment the headmaster made, she never truly gave up on S.P.E.W.
TLoT
Coming back to reality, Harry realized he was still on the grounds with Hermione and Ron. The past two weeks have been terrible, unsettling, and anxiety-filled. The day after the Headmaster announced the first Inferi attack, Neville Longbottom had disappeared from the castle. The entire castle had been searched twice-over; no traces of him were to be found. The girls, Hermione and Ginny, had cried for two days after that. Ron and Harry were just at a loss for words, and silently hoping their mate was okay wherever he was.
His back aching, Harry changed the position in which he was sitting. As he leaned on his right side, Harry lifted his gaze up towards Hagrid's hut.
Early this morning, Professor Dumbledore had placed emergency wards surrounding the entirety of Hogwarts. A shimmering silver dome covered the castle and the grounds. The Headmaster assured the students that no entry or exit could be attempted by anyone. After Neville's disappearance, he did not wish to lose any more students. Additionally, the emergency wards provided security against the looming threat of the Inferi. They hadn't reached anywhere near Hogsmeade or Hogwarts, but one could never be too careful in these times…
The ward lines started just after Hagrid's pumpkin patches. The Forbidden Forest was completely closed off; although some students have spread rumors of seeing a contingent of centaurs and unicorns escorted to a hidden area behind the Whomping Willow. Presumably for their security. Harry thought it made sense; they were allies to Hogwarts after all.
After a while, Hermione had stopped sniffling and made her way to the extremities of the ward. With a newfound determination and focus, she started analyzing the wards, with a series of diagnostic spells. Hermione's way of dealing with stress and anxiety was to lose herself into studies and magical theory.
Ron just sat there, under the shade of a tree, staring at the Forbidden forest. The only thing that gave his stress away was the nervous twiddling of his thumbs.
Harry, starting to feel suffocated in this massive, warded dome, was about to call Hermione and Ron to go inside to grab some food from the Kitchens, when, suddenly, he spotted a figure… outside the dome?
It took him a second to realize the implications of someone being outside the dome. Without calling his friends, he ran towards the unexpected figure with a newfound hope. Maybe it was Neville coming back from Merlin knows where.
As he reached the edge of the dome, he could clearly see who was outside. To his shock, it was not Neville outside that was waiting outside the wards, it was a girl.
Suddenly he remembered the intriguing, blonde Slytherin he had noticed two weeks back.
How in Merlin's name did she manage to trespass the dome, when Dumbledore himself assured not even he could exit?
Please review about what you would like to see in the future chapters. Story idea inspired by The Last Of Us.