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Chapter 11
Doubt and Trust
Sephany Dell was rather embarrassed at the gathering of people around her bed in St. Mungos. She was sitting up now and apart from a long scar near her throat and one crushed hand still encased in a holding spell while the bones regrew, she was physically recovered. Mentally she still felt rather fragile but being a tough character she was ignoring that and anxious to get back on duty.
Moody had been here before twice but was back with Dumbledore and McGonagall to pay his respects. Tonks was there most of her free time, usually chatting endlessly with Seph but now stood back near the door to give the others a chance to talk to the patient.
Harry and Ginny were there. Ginny gave Sephany a long sustained but gentle hug. "Bless you Sephy!" she whispered so nobody else could hear.
There were heaps of get well cards, flowers and so on. Tonks had bought her a giant teddy bear that was waving at the group while it read a copy of the Daily Prophet. The newspaper contained a prepared statement about the incident in which Sephany Dell was attacked by death eaters, fought them off valiantly, and was already back at work. There was no mention of Harry. There were piles of books for the young woman to read while recuperating and not many hours when someone was not visiting her so she wouldn't get too bored.
After fifteen or twenty minutes, Moody and Dumbledore had drifted away to talk by themselves and Harry glanced at Ginny who then murmured "I'll be back in a few minutes." and she went over to Tonks for a chat.
Alone with Sephany, Harry said, "Sephy, there are no words I know that can ever be enough to thank you..."
Sephany smiled at Harry, "It's my job. I should not really have let you get into that situation anyway. Pretty good spell though huh?"
"It was brilliant!" said Harry, "but I'd rather have been fighting by your side... Look, if there's anything I can do, anything at all..."
"Then we'd both be..." Sephany broke off then continued, "Yes, listen, I've been trying to get one of those peaked, back-sloping hats that some of the aurors wear - you know, to keep off the rain. It ruined my hair. What on earth did I look like? But I can't find navy blue anywhere..."
Harry stared in disbelief then, realizing she was just mischievously breaking the tension, he laughed aloud, drawing funny looks from the others in the room who had been expecting tears. "You crazy lady! I'll get you one. I'll get you the best damn hat Diagon Alley can provide." Then they were both laughing and chatting like before the incident.
Hearing the laughter, Moody and Dumbledore glanced across at Harry and Sephany, then Dumbledore continued what he had been about to say. They were talking in loud whispers turned away from the others.
"Alastor, I have to ask you..."
"You don't need to Albus. No matter what, I trust Dell absolutely. Her integrity has been always been of the highest standard, impeccable, perfect."
"Does that not seem strange? Almost too good to be true. But I'm not too concerned about her loyalty. She had Harry at her mercy. No greater prize; no higher assignment to override that if she working covertly for Voldemort. No, but if she's not fully human then I'm thinking more of some other agenda that might compromise..."
"She is the genuine article I tell you. I have worked with her for years. There is no question. Now you mention it yes, it is extraordinary. She is extraordinary. You know our tests. We even test the tester to make sure there is no deception. I've even asked others to test me for illusion tricks! She is for real. No, she is not perfect in all ways. She is learning; she makes mistakes like everyone does especially when young. But her instinct for trouble is incredible. Harry said he saw only an arm raised on a distant shadowy figure and Dell reacted - over-reacted Harry thought. But Dell knew. I don't know how but she knew."
"But perhaps..."
"No," Moody instantly understood Dumbledore's coming objection, "it was not a setup. Her reactions really were that good throughout training. Tests she could not possibly know except through a higher magical sense. There is nobody I would rather have at my right side in the field - at least, once she is more experienced. That said, she should never have been left on her own. We failed her. It could not have been helped I guess but if there had been two plus Harry, the three of them might have held off the enemy long enough and Miss Dell would not have had to endure..."
"Albus," he continued, "she was still very naive when she joined us after leaving Hogwarts. Too innocent to have any other devious agenda of her own. I could tell her heart was to serve the cause only."
"I accept your judgement, Alastor. I just had to be sure."
Moody paused in deep thought.
"Something else?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yes, those devices we found - the pointers are aligned precisely together. Those boys, those Slytherin boys, Godber and Brisking. They would say nothing. After many hours we began to use legilimency. They fought well. We got almost nothing. Their training is astonishing. They must have been trained continuously since they were small."
"What did you find out?" asked Dumbledore.
"Only that the devices do indeed seem to work like portkeys in tandem but without any means of detecting them. They transfer one person at a time right through any magical wards without alerting anyone. They could send fifty death eaters into Hogwarts without anyone knowing."
"Seems impossible." said Dumbledore. "Has anyone actually got them to work yet?"
"No, Albus. They are so complex we cannot yet even see how to operate them let alone how they work. We cannot create new counter-spells and wards until we know how the devices work."
"If they have made those they can make a hundred more. We shall have to be vigilant." said Dumbledore.