DISCLAIMER: Alas, we own nothing…unless JKR would like to share with us.
A/N: Who's been making us so happy? All of you wonderful reviewers, that's who! You guys rock. Here's an uberchapter as a thank you.
Chapter 14 - A Sirius Matter
The room fell silent at Tonks' statement. Remus said in a voice filled with emotion, "Love, it's alright. I'm here. You're just having a bad dream."
"No!" Tonks responded adamantly. Her eyes never left Harry's. She seemed to be speaking directly to him. "I saw him! It felt like we were talking for hours…he's trapped and he doesn't know how to get out. We need to help him. Sirius is confused. He said that things, that people aren't the same…that they keep changing." As she finished speaking, she was wild eyed and nearly hysterical.
Madame Pomfrey exclaimed, "That is enough! All of you, out of my infirmary! I will not have you jeopardizing the health of Nymphadora or the baby!"
Tonks' face swiveled to face Remus as the Mediwitch's words reached her ears. "Remus, I'm sorry…I needed to find the right time…"
As a dazed Harry and his companions were shooed out by Poppy, Hermione whispered to him, "Harry, we need to talk."
Professor McGonagall stopped to face her students. "I think that we have all had quite a bit of excitement today." She nodded to Fred and George and continued, "You two will need to let your parents know that you will be remaining here to aid Professor Tonks. Aberforth will help you get your things together and moved into the school. Severus, I believe that you have a common room to decontaminate. Mr. Potter, I will find an appropriate place to keep the item that you left in my office. Enjoy the rest of your day." She turned on her heel and abruptly began to walk down the corridor.
Draco, seeing the look that Hermione was giving Harry, immediately said, "Blaise, how about popping down to the kitchens for a snack then a game of wizard's chess in our dorm?"
Blaise agreed and the two began to say their goodbyes, agreeing to meet with everyone later to discuss the next D.A. meeting. When the two newest Gryffindors left, Hermione said to Harry, "Tell everyone to meet in my dorm in an hour. There are some things I need to get." She ran down the long hall without glancing back.
"Harry, mate, you O.K.?" Ron questioned. "Tonks just had a dream. You heard Remus."
Harry smiled reassuringly at his friend and addressed the group, "Hermione called a meeting. She said to be at her dorm, in an hour." Turning his gaze to Luna he asked, "Have you heard from your dad yet?" As she nodded, Harry continued, "Get the letter and we'll go through it then. I need some time to myself so…I guess I'll see all of you at the meeting." He walked away slowly, Tonks' words replaying through his mind.
"Get yourself together, Harry", he told himself. "You know it's not possible …you saw him fall through the veil.'
Before he realized it, Harry found himself at the portrait guarding his dorm. 'Maybe I'll just go in for a minute, for some quiet time.'
As he entered the room, he noticed that the door to Draco and Blaise's new room, Ron's old one, was open and he could hear their voices carrying out to the common room. Intrigued, he slowly crept closer to the open door, in order to hear more clearly.
"Blaise, there has got to be a way. Not all of them are evil, you know that." Draco said.
"I know that. But most of them will not want to go against Nott. He's strong, Draco. And, as we both know, he fully supports the Dark Lord." Blaise answered.
"Don't say that." Draco reprimanded.
"Say what?" Blaise asked.
Harry could hear Draco's sigh as he answered. "Blaise, I'll share with you something Potter told me. Don't call him 'The Dark Lord'. It gives him power and respect that he's not entitled to."
"Sounds like something that Granger would say." Blaise noted.
Draco answered dryly, "It probably was. I bet Hermione would have an idea. Maybe we should ask her to help us. I don't want to see Millie and some of the others get hurt if we can do something about it. They'd be great to have on our side, in the fight against the Lunatic Lord and his band of merry servants."
Blaise sputtered in laughter before saying, "You know, perhaps the sorting hat wasn't too far off with Hufflepuff. Your surprising even me with this show of loyalty."
"Blaise, you prat, now you sound like Hermione." said Draco.
"That's another thing that I wanted to talk to you about." Blaise began carefully. "So how is it that you fell for Gryffindor's own brainy princess?"
Draco burst into laughter as he asked, "You, you think that I'm in love with her? This is priceless!"
"You're not exactly hiding your feelings mate." Blaise declared. "You're always flirting, or staring at her, spending time with her. I swear, Weasley is purple whenever you're in the vicinity!"
"That's what is supposed to happen." Draco calmly replied. "Listen, when Snape first saved me, I was a mess. She wouldn't let me hate myself. Hermione showed me that I need to fight for the future that I want, not spend my time wallowing in how stupidly I acted in the past." He paused before continuing, "You know how I am with girls. They're a convenience. She's more than that to me. I actually feel like she's my family, a little sister that I need to look out for. More than anything I want her to be safe and happy. I will do anything to get that for her."
Blaise questioningly asked his friend, "Then what's with the love-sick puppy routine?"
Draco chuckled before saying, "Well, regardless of what I think of him, Weasley is what would make her happy. I thought that he needed a bit of a push in the right direction. What way is better to do that, then let him see the guy he loathes, making time with the girl that he himself fancies?"
The two began to laugh as Harry thought wryly to himself, 'Even when he's trying to do something good, he's a sneaky bastard. Maybe he's not such a bad ally after all.'
Harry realized that he needed to get out of there and up to Hermione's dorm before he was late for the meeting. He quietly made his way to the door and headed to see his friends.
When Harry arrived, he found everyone waiting for him. He sat and noticed the anxious look on Hermione's face. "Mione, I know you want to talk, but first, Luna said that her father answered her letter. Let's get to that first." He turned his gaze to Luna, letting her know that the floor was hers.
Luna pulled out the letter, as if brandishing a sword. "My father has checked every relic in our possession, both in our house and our vault. Absolutely nothing has been moved or disturbed. Every one of them is accounted for. It looks like the only possession of Rowena Ravenclaw's that is missing is the queen from the story I told you. The chess set is quite beautiful you know. Sapphires and bronze. Ravenclaw's colors. It sits in the Great Room of my house. Did you know that each of the founders had their own sets made of jewels and metals, in their colors? Those are the only sets of that kind ever allowed to be made. That's why we were never able to replace the queen in our set. The other pieces wouldn't accept anything but the original. Maybe we should get a niffler to help us find it. They do love shiny things."
The group, unsure of how to respond, turned to Harry. He promptly began, "Alright, Hermione. You look on the edge of your seat. What have you discovered?"
"I have been working on something since we first came back. I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure if it was true. But now…" she trailed off, looking at Harry.
"Spit it out, Mione." Ron contributed.
She pulled out a large, old text accompanied by innumerable rolls of parchment. "Harry, I don't think that Tonks was dreaming. From what I can tell, Sirius isn't dead."
Immediately, questions were being thrown at Hermione.
"You mean Harry's God father?" Neville asked.
"Is he still singing in that band?" Luna questioned dreamily.
"How?" queried Ginny.
"If he's not dead, where in the bloomin' hell is he?" Ron wanted to know.
Hermione answered quietly, "I'm not sure, Ron. It's complicated."
Harry remained stoically quiet as he stared at Hermione. After a moment, he said, "You need to explain, Hermione. Is he really alive? How? Where is he? How did you come up with this idea?"
"Harry," Hermione started, "Do you remember the second night back here? We were in Professor McGonagall's office and Dumbledore's portrait asked you if you had told us what he had said. He specifically looked at me and mentioned a veil, confusion and a serious matter. I knew that he was referring to Sirius and the Department of Mystery, but I needed to make sure that I was right before I told you. I've been researching the veil every spare minute and I think that I might be on the right track."
She laid the text and parchments on the table as she continued. "Unfortunately, there is little known about the veil and what is known, is written in an obscure variation of Latin. From what I have been able to translate, the veil is not a place of death, but rather, the earliest known type of wizarding prison. It hasn't been used in a thousand years. But, if there is a way in, then there has to be a way out."
Harry knelt before his friend, "Mione, what can I do to help? I need him back. I'll do anything."
The others offered their help before Hermione said, "Old magic imprisoned him, we're going to have to use old magic to summon him. We need to know more about the veil. I don't know enough about it to create a spell to release him. If we knew what was on the other side, maybe. But until we figure it out, he will stay trapped there."
Harry stood abruptly and walked out of the room.
In the realm of his own mind, Harry wondered why Dumbledore had never tried to rescue Sirius. From his words to Hermione, he obviously knew that there was a possibility of saving him. 'Just like him to let us try and figure it out on our own. Why couldn't he have told me something, anything?'
It was at this moment that Harry flashed back to the morning of his birthday and something that Remus had said to him. "It seems that he left you his Pensieve, containing memories he thought would be important to you…".
Dumbledore's Pensieve. He hadn't given it a thought since Remus had presented it to him. Harry felt hope surge through his body, perhaps Dumbledore had left him a clue after all. He raced to his dormitory hoping to find the answers that Hermione needed.
He crashed into Blaise as he ran through the common room. With a quick, "Sorry," he entered his room and closed the door, leaving a very perplexed Draco and Blaise in his wake.
Harry reverently removed the Pensieve from his trunk and crossed his fingers as he prodded the shimmering liquid with his wand. 'C'mon there has to be something here.'
He saw glimpses of the memories he had viewed with Dumbledore the previous year. Images in the basin flowed before his eyes, until he stood rooted in his spot, at the face that lay before him. A beautiful face, with long, flowing red hair and startlingly green emerald eyes.
"Mum," Harry whispered. "Why would he leave me this?" Before his rational mind could object, Harry entered the memory.
"Albus, I have to talk to you. There's something at work that might be useful to us." the soft, determined voice of Lily said.
"My dear Lily, I know that you have the best of intentions but I cannot allow it. You are an Unspeakable. You are bound to not discuss your work." Dumbledore replied.
"Ethics be damned! I will not allow a madman to ruin the lives of so many. Albus, Harry was born in the right timeframe, to fit the prophecy. How long will it be before Voldemort comes after us? Or Frank, Alice and Neville? I don't want anyone to be hurt. Please, Albus." Lily declared passionately.
Harry stood in awe seeing the determination of his mother. This was a woman that you didn't want angry with you. At this thought, an image of Ginny entered his head and brought a smile to his face. 'I guess I am a lot like my dad. We do have the same taste in women.'
"So be it, my dear, if you are sure." Albus relented.
"I am," Lily responded. "I'm sure that you have heard of a place in the Department of Mysteries, known as the Death Chamber. There is an artifact there that has been assigned to me. It's become a pet project, especially since no one else has any interest in it. I have not shared any of my findings with anyone, until now."
She paused for a moment and Albus leaned closer, knowing what he would hear, would be of great significance.
"Albus, the veil in the chamber, it's not a passage to the afterlife as most assume, it's actually a gateway. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. You know that Azkaban has been in existence for hundreds of years, but, did you ever wonder where criminals were put before its creation? The veil is a type of prison. Early wizarding society did not want to kill those who broke its laws. Minor offenses were dealt with by fines, confinement or exile to the muggle world. The greatest wrong-doers were sent through the veil. It did not kill the individual, but sends them catapulting through alternate realities."
"Alternate realities? Lily, events are set. They cannot be changed." Albus stated.
"That is not fully correct." She responded to the elder wizard. "For every action we take, every decision that is made, there is a choice. Alternate realities, different planes of existence, they can reflect what life would be, if a different path was followed. This creates an infinite amount of possibilities to send a person. But, they were clever about it. A person sent through the veil, is only able to remain in a reality for a short period of time, about one week, before they are cast into yet another plane. This would not allow an evil individual to be in one place long enough to continue their deeds in another realm."
"How do you propose we use this?" Albus inquired.
"Couldn't we send him through the veil? He would be sent to other planes for the remainder of his lifetime. There is no ritual to restore a person to this world. His followers could never get him back. A person would have to create a spell, based on invoking powerful and ancient blood magic. I don't think there is a witch or wizard alive who could figure out how to integrate the different aspects needed, performing the spell at the most powerful time and finding the necessary, willing people that would be needed." Lily asked.
"Child, that would only serve for Tom to spread his hate throughout many other places, which could have a lasting impact on each society he encounters. He may not be able to gather the support that he has here, but he is powerful enough to cause suffering to many on his own. This Tom, belongs in this reality and it will be our responsibility to bring about his downfall." Albus responded.
"I know." Lily started, "But Albus, I'm desperate. I need this to be over. Harry needs a normal life. I don't want him to grow up fearing for his life every time we leave the house."
"Lily, we will keep him safe. I love you as if you were my own daughter. I give you my word, that I will do everything within my power to keep him from harm. Go home to your husband and son. They need you and you need to be with them."
There was a haze and Harry felt himself pulling out of the memory, with only the thought of finding Hermione as quickly as possible in his mind. He immediately headed for the library, knowing that she was bound to be immersed in research.
He ran past Madame Pince and saw Hermione sitting at her favorite table, eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. As if feeling his eyes on her she looked up. Concerned by his breathless state she started, "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything yet. Until I knew if I could…"
Harry unceremoniously interrupted her, still gasping for breath, "Dumbledore…Pensieve…my mum…come with me."
She followed his lead and they headed back to Harry's room. When they arrived he pulled her into the memory with him.
They emerged almost an hour later, Hermione with a wide grin on her face. "Harry, I think your mum gave me the answer. Of course there's still the matter of the other two…but we'll deal with that later. Oh, Harry! I know this will work. I just need some time to make it fit together."
"Hermione, I know that if anyone is capable of doing this, it's you." Harry stated, the joy in his voice was infectious.
"We can't tell anyone about this yet, Harry." Hermione said. At Harry's questioning look she continued, "This is old magic. It's powerful and we don't want anyone trying to stop us. The less people aware of it, the better. I'll keep working on it, but we have to be discrete. Somehow, I can't see Professor McGonagall allowing us to stroll into the Ministry, to perform an unknown spell on an obscure item. For now, how about some of that normalcy your mum was talking about? Everyone wanted to go down to Hagrid's."
Harry happily said, "Then let's round them up and go see our favorite Professor."
Harry and Hermione immediately set out to find their friends and adjourn to Hagrid's. The walk down to his hut was filled with speculations of how to destroy the recovered horcruxes. The group arrived at Hagrid's doorstep, slightly deflated from the barrier they were facing regarding the horcruxes.
"So, where do we go from here?", Harry wondered out loud. "I mean, we only have one more horcrux that we need to retrieve before my final battle with Voldemort. We have absolutely no leads as to where this queen can be, and no verification as to whether or not it even is a horcrux. What if we're looking too far into things? Maybe it's something else…", he trailed off, frustrated at their predicament.
"What do you mean, only one more to retrieve?", Neville asked, confusedly. "We still need to get Nagini, too, before You-Know-Who can be killed."
Luna looked at Neville, and answered, "That's true, but there's no way that we can get near that snake of his before then. From what we've heard, Voldemort always keeps her very close. I suppose he needs to keep an eye on her at all times. If she were to die, let's just say of old age, for arguments sake, Voldemort would want to know about it to in order to replace the horcrux that would be destroyed with her as she perished. That's why it's so unorthodox to use a living creature as a horcrux….. They're not immortal."
Hermione beamed at Luna approvingly as Ron knocked on Hagrid's front door. Harry noticed that there were no traces of the fire that had ravaged his friend's house, all those months ago.
He wondered, briefly, why Hagrid had not decided to have any improvements made on his small residence, but almost immediately brushed the idea from his mind. Harry knew that Hagrid was a simple man, and would always be happy as long as he had the basic necessities: an oven to cook rock cakes, a jug of mead and an armful of potentially dangerous, and sometimes illegal, creatures. So, when Hagrid appeared at the door, with tears streaming down his face,
Harry immediately feared the worst.
"Well", said Hagrid, "Ain't this a great surprise! All o' me favorites comin' a see me all at once", he jabbered, ushering the six students into his hut. As they all took seats, Hagrid's eyes fell upon them and he burst into a new fit of tears, collapsing into a chair at the head of his table.
Ginny and Hermione ran promptly to his side, and put comforting arms around his overly broad shoulders.
"Hagrid, what's the matter?", asked Ginny, consolingly.
"The matter? Nuttin' at all. This has just been the best day o' me life", Hagrid exclaimed, happily, raising his head to grin at his young friends.
There was a collective sigh of relief from Harry and his friends. They certainly did not want anymore problems to confront them that day.
"Well, tell us all about it", Harry grinned, leaning back into his chair.
"Yeah, we'd do well with a few good stories right about now", Ron agreed.
Most people would have taken Ron's comment to mean that something was terribly awry in the world. But, not Hagrid. He, at that moment, was too overjoyed to notice the contemplative looks on the group's faces.
"Well", began Hagrid, "It all started with a tappin' on me window early this mornin'. I opened it up, an' in flew one of em owls belongin' to the Ministry, carrying a note and a parcel. It took a bit o' time fer me to figure out that I'd finally been cleared of all those charges about the Chamber, all them years back. It seems Dumbledore, great man he was, had been fightin' for me since way back then. Merlin bless 'im. Took the bloody fools fifty years, but they're finally realizing that nuttin' else bad ever happened 'round me, and I ain't been making no trouble. Bein' a professor and all really helped me out. Wit all them passin' scores on the OWLS fer the past four years, they said that Dumbledore's character references finally held some weight. Point bein', I'm able to have a wand again", he blubbered, through tears of happiness.
And, with that, Hagrid stood and walked over to a counter. With shaking hands, he opened a rather large box, and removed what was inside. As he did, the group jumped backwards, as if to avoid being poked in the eye from a wand they assumed would be the size of a tree branch.
Instead, the size of their friend's new wand looked as if it had been made for Professor Flitwick. Harry was sure that it couldn't be any longer than six inches, smaller than his own. And, against Hagrid's great size, the poor wand seemed rather pitiful and obsolete.
"I was expecting something a little bit bigger", said a confused Neville, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Nah", said Hagrid. "It's just about the same size as me old wand. They say that the size of a man's wand never changes, once he's reached his magical maturity".
"That's right", Hermione chimed in. "It's not about the size of the wand. The importance lies within how the wizard uses it." She promptly blushed as Ron, Harry and Neville sniggered, immediately realizing the innuendo she had just implied. "Oh, grow up", she huffed.
Hagrid, ever oblivious, ushered them all closer to him. "I've got to tell ya somethin' secret, if ya can all manage to keep yer mouths quiet about it". The students edged closer, eager to hear the undisclosed information. "Me old wand, that they snapped all them years back…. I've been keepin' it in me umbrella all these years." Hagrid sat back into a chair, triumphantly.
Harry and his friends desperately tried not to laugh, as it had been painfully obvious to all of them where Hagrid had kept the broken pieces of his old wand. They all managed to keep straight faces, despite a few sets of shoulders shaking from suppressed giggles.
"Wow", said Ginny, with fake-awe. "I can't believe that we didn't even notice. Very clever, Hagrid."
"Well, don't go telling' anyone. Wouldn't wand me new wand taken away for me bein'
underhanded wit' me old one", Hagrid said, seriously.
"We'll never tell a soul", said Harry. The others nodded in agreement.
"So, anyway", Hagrid concluded, "I still need a bit o' brushin' up, but at least I'll be able to do some magic out in the open again."
"Well, congratulations Hagrid", said Hermione sincerely. "We always knew that you were innocent. It's refreshing to know that everyone else finally realized it, too".
Harry summoned a large jug from the corner of the hut, along with numerous cups and mugs. After he had poured everyone a drink, he raised his glass and said, "To our friend, Hagrid, and his new wand. May it be used in good health and happiness."
"Cheers", was the unanimous reply, as they all took a hesitant sip.
Hagrid burst into a fresh round of tears, and gathered the group into a bone-crushing hug.
For the next few hours, Hagrid and the students spent the time discussing the other events of the day, including making him aware that Tonks had an unfortunate 'accident' and that she would be helped out for the rest of the school year by the Weasley twins. This information threw Hagrid into peals of laughter, and the rest of the group joined in, thoroughly tipsy from only a few sips of the mead. Hagrid, in a moment of clarity, quickly used his new wand to perform a vanishing spell upon the alcohol in their glasses, replacing it with Sulger's Sober-Up Solution.
"What er we doin' here?", Hagrid asked, drunkenly. "Lettin' you kids drink on school property. No more o' this until you've all graduated, ya hear? We'd all be kicked outta here quicker than a hippogriff chasin' a ferret."
"How is Buck-- er, Witherwings?", Harry asked.
"Aw, he's great. Happy to be home. Out huntin' at the moment. What I'm itchin' to see is the new beauty that'll be stayin' wit' me from now on. None o' ya are in me classes no more, but I'll let you know when he gets here. Real exciting' stuff."
There was a moment of silence, undoubtedly filled with horrific images of what gruesome creature this 'new beauty' would be.
"Alright, I see yer all dyin' to hear. He's an Erumpent", Hagrid said, excitedly.
Everyone except Luna turned to Hermione for an explanation. Eyes wide, she gave them a definition:
"The Erumpent is a large, grey African beast that is easily mistaken for a rhinoceros. It's thick hide repels most charms and curses. It has a large, sharp horn upon it's nose which can pierce everything from skin to metal, and contains a deadly fluid which causes anything injected with it to explode", Hermione recited, with a faraway look in her eyes.
"Blimey", said Ron. "Where do you plan on keeping him?"
"Professor Abe is teachin' me a few spells that'll transform a part of the Forest to imitate it's natural environment. The Ministry is havin' Tonks keep an eye out fer 'im, when he gets here", Hagrid replied.
"Of course", said Luna. "It's hide, horn and the Exploding Fluid are all considered dangerous, tradable materials. They're bound to be concerned about it being taken by the enemy. They're very strict about importing foreign, magical creatures", she stated.
Ginny stood up and said, "Well Hagrid, it's been fun catching up with you, but I'm exhausted. Be sure to visit Tonks up in the hospital wing. Thanks for having us."
The others stood and yawned their agreement. Hermione, with an ever-inquisitive look on her face asked Hagrid, "How long do you think it will take to train the Erumpent, after he arrives?"
Hagrid look thoughtful. "Well", he answered, "Ya can never tell what an animal will be like 'til ya meet 'em. I won't know 'til then."
"Well, let me know as soon as you do", Hermione said. "Have a great night Hagrid".
Everyone followed her lead and headed out the door when something struck Harry.
"Hagrid", he asked. "How is it that you were able to get a new wand? Mr. Ollivander has been missing for months, along with all of his wands. Has he been found?"
"No, haven't heard nuttin' 'bout him. Dumbledore told me awhile back that Ollivander had a room full o' spare wands, fer each person he'd sold one to", Hagrid replied.
"That explains it", replied Ron. "I was wondering how he was able to fit me with a new wand so quickly, after mine had broken second year."
"Good to know", said Neville. "I'm surprise that my dad's wand lasted as long as it did".
"Not so good to know, actually, seeing as how he and his entire inventory are missing", pointed out Ginny. "Harry, do you think that Voldemort wanted to find your--"
"Gin", Harry interjected quickly. "I love you to death, but if you give me something else to worry about, I'll go nutters."
"Speakin' o' wands, again", Hagrid said, reaching behind his door. "This is fer you, Harry. I won't be needin' it anymore. Seems fittin', since you were the one who helped to find out the truth."
Harry looked down in his hands, and saw that Hagrid had given him his infamous, feminine umbrella. He wasn't sure what to say, so Harry simply nodded his thanks to his enormous friend, and began walking to the castle, hearing Hagrid's calls of goodnight for most of the walk.
"Why so quiet, Hermione?", Harry asked, as they were approaching the Head Girl's Dormitory.
"I'll tell you inside", Hermione replied mysteriously.
Everyone else (except Luna, of course) exchanged glances, wondering what about their visit had caused such a pondering expression to be present on their brilliant friend's face. They scuttled inside quickly, closing the door behind them and turned toward her for the answer.
"An Erumpent! I can hardly believe our luck! It's the perfect solution!", Hermione squealed, jumping up and down excitedly.
Harry threw his new umbrella to the nearest couch, and looked around at Neville, Ron, Luna and Ginny. The other men, along with Ginny, were obviously as confused as he was. Luna, on the other hand, was smiling knowingly.
Ron took the moment of silence to do an impression of Hermione for the rest of the group. "Oh Merlin, it's wonderful", he cried, jumping up and down, in mock excitement. "Hagrid's getting yet another creature that could possibly maim and torture the lot of us. I can't wait until he asks us to help train it."
"Well, we'd better get to help train him", Hermione said with a smile.
"W-What?", Neville stuttered, looking positively faint.
"Oh, I think I see. It's all coming together now", said Ginny, awed. "The horn."
"Right", said Luna, more focused than usual. "The horn can pierce anything, even metal. And, when it pierces something, that something explodes. But, the Erumpent has such a thick hide -"
It all came together for Harry. "That it's protected from the explosion", he concluded. "So, how accurate do you think we can teach him to be?"
"Well, of course I'll have to do some research", Hermione said, rolling even her own eyes at the ridiculousness of repetitive catchphrases. "We'll need to find out how quickly they can charge, and at what speed they normally run as they are attacking. It would do us a world of good to learn about some muggle arts before training him. Maybe archery, fencing… even lancing. They're all based on precision and aim."
"We could incorporate those techniques into the D.A. meetings", Harry agreed. "Then it wouldn't look suspicious to anyone if we were practicing around Hagrid's."
Neville and Ron exchanged looks of confusion. Luna looked at them pitifully, and said "We're planning on training the Erumpent to destroy the Horcruxes."
"Oh, brilliant!", "Nice one!", said the two, in realization.
"I think we should wait until he gets here before mentioning the idea to McGonagall", said Harry. "With our luck, we'd get her hopes up and the bloody Ministry would change their minds about allowing it to be here". Harry smiled, thinking how wonderful it would be if the plan worked. There would be no need to risk the safety of any Order members when destroying the rest of the Horcruxes.
"Well, it's good to have a plan", stated Ron, flopping down onto a couch. "Oi! Just what I needed!", he cried, jumping up. "An umbrella up my bum."
Everyone laughed, and Ginny said, "Don't worry, Ron. We'll all have better aim, soon enough".
Ron grabbed Hagrid's umbrella and shook it at Ginny, with a menacing grin on his face. "I'll show you aim", he said laughingly.
But as Ron brandished the not very threatening, pink umbrella, his eyes popped open in surprise as the tip flew off and the feminine accessory fell to pieces on the floor.
Harry laughed and said, "Looks like Hagrid got a replacement wand just in time", and started to pick up the pieces. "Easy enough to fix", he said, pulling out his wand.
"Wait", said Hermione. "Look at this, it's filthy. At least clean the years of mud and grime off of it."
Harry looked at the pieces before him, and sure enough, the many bits of wood, fabric and metal were covered thickly in rust and tarnish. Harry muttered a simple cleaning charm and almost fainted at what he saw. Lying on the ground was a bronze and blue colored chess queen, with sapphires for eyes, frozen in motion.
"It can't be", Ginny gasped.
But, it was. They had found Ravenclaw's queen.
A/N: Convenient, huh? Give us a few days to polish up Chapter 15.… then you can find out how she got in there. Oh, and the Erumpent definition can be found in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", a JKR charity book.
mthukral :Thank you for reviewing. We hope this Sirius thing turns out as well as we hope it to.
The Valar: We're glad that you find it appealing. Thank you for leaving us that encouragement. We love reviews.
Blackness Angel: Thank you for reviewing. We're glad to have apparently made you go insane during chapter 5. Lol. And, you managed to pick out almost all of our favorite lines. Awesome! In our experience, lips can swell either a lot or a little, depending on the intensity of the kiss. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter.
NotAWriteryet: We're glad you're enjoying it, and appreciate that you reviewed. You rock.
Fredy: Wow, thank you for calling us talented. If we ever meet in person, we'll sing and dance our rendition of "It's a Hard Knock Life"….. now that's talent. Actually, no… we're pretty bad at Annie songs. But, thank you for reviewing.
Broadsword: Thanks for always reviewing and for your constant advice and ideas. You're the best.
Bookyboo: Thank you so much for your reviews. There are most likely more than just a few little stretches (-Achoo- Oh wow, I sneezed and a horcrux appeared. How convenient). Lol! But, we're glad you're enjoying it, nonetheless.
HeatherRiddle: Thank you for apprising us about the situation concerning us using the word apprise too much. You're right. I've apprised my split personality of the situation, and we'll work on that. ;0) Fred and George ought to be a fun addition, although they're very hard to write. We're elated about it though. Crud, we said elated again. We appreciate that you point out our overused vocabulary, though. Keep that up, because we never noticed until you said it. Our thesaurus needs a workout, apparently. Wow, I just reread this, and I really do sound like a schizophrenic, don't I? Thanks for reviewing.
Pegasusbabi: Sirius is trapped in Limbo and we're going to attempt to rescue him. Keep you fingers crossed. Thanks for reviewing!
Magnificent the Destroyer Lord: Nice penname. Don't EVER be concerned about consuming our review page. We love hearing what people think. Well, except when they think that we suck. Then we just cry a little. By the way, BEST COMPLIMENT EVER! To answer your question, no relation to JK Rowling. We wish we could roll around in her bank vault wearing sticky suits, though. That would rock. Thanks for reviewing.
Nataly S. Potter: Thank you for reviewing and for your compliments. We're hoping that the Weasley twins can bring a little humor back into Transfiguration. Wouldn't you just love to see Remus as a father? And Sirius trying to help him out, but only making problems worse. We totally can. Let's see if we can get him out of the veil alive, first.
jkg-vader: Yeah, we so weren't into how Rowling had Ginny react to Harry's breaking up with her in Book 6. Who was that girl? We didn't have Harry perform magic just to portray his good morals…. Attempting to follow the rules, for once. YAY! Another Snape is innocent supporter. We're also glad to see that someone wasn't upset that Vernon died…. We certainly weren't. JK Rowling said that Petunia's not a squib, so we worked our way around that comment. We love her and Snape together…. Imagine what their kids will be like (don't guess, you'll ruin it). The Umbridge dartboard was inspired by an actual dartboard that I (Jennifer) created with a picture of my husband on it when he gets on my nerves. The look on his face is priceless when he sees me using it, before he runs out to buy me jewelry. Gred and Forge are here to stay… we love them, as well. We also can't wait to see if we've gotten anything right. Maybe the RAB thing, but we doubt the Horcrux is actually around a goat's neck. By the way, you were the only person who caught the "Nothing little about Snape" comment. We're glad to have someone out there on the same wavelength. And, ahhhh…. The sorting hat. Yes a Gryffindor artifact, but not a horcrux. But, it's going to be very helpful in the next chapter after hearing the queen's story. We resorted Blaise and Draco just to prove to Harry and the others that they were actually similar to them. We don't really plan on having any house rivalries. More like the school vs. Deatheaters and their offspring. We read that JK Rowling refutes the idea of Neville/Luna, but they're just too perfect for each other. And don't call your notions of Harry's future cheesy, because we see the EXACT same thing! Well, send Ron-Ron (that's hysterical) our love. Hope you enjoyed your response being almost as long as the chapter. We can't wait to hear more from you.
Jason: We concur! There was never actually anything fun about goats, in our eyes, until Abe came along. They are pretty useful, aren't they? Thank you for reviewing!
miz-attitude: Yeah, Draco's turning into a big old Hufflepuff… hee hee. We don't think Sirius is really dead, so we're gonna try to reach behind the veil and pull him out. Let's see if it works. Thank you for reviewing.
HPBeatles: Thank you for reviewing… yeah, yeah, yeah.
Wolf's scream: Yup, there's a ton of hope for Sirius' return. We have a lot of real action in the next few chapters (since everything is always nuts outside of the Hogwarts' gates). Thanks for reviewing. We hope to hear more from you.
Pink Luvin Goddess: Poor Draco. He had to stoop so low as to threaten the Sorting Hat with a pair of scissors in order to not be in Hufflepuff. Tonks' pain that she went through will prepare her for labor and delivery (which will be in one of the last chapters of this story). Thank you for always reviewing.
Sarah: Thank you so much for reviewing. We love hearing from new people.
Mikachu: Oh wow! Thank you so much for all the nice things you've said. We like your way of reviewing. We like people who review, in general. We have almost 60 people on the alert list, and only about 20 of them have ever said anything. Which is fine, we guess….. Some people just don't like to write. As long as we know people are reading, we'll be happy. But, poor Filch, huh? Hee hee. Can you imagine how much grumpier Snape will be if Sirius returns and hears about his silk knickers. Oh, the horrors we have planned for Uncle Sevie! Well, we're happy to have not disappointed you, and look forward to hearing more from you.
Ima-Dreamer-Dude: We literally did a happy dance (it wasn't pretty, either). Thank you so much for saying all of those kind things, and for reviewing. We have a feeling that you and Jennifer will be having an ongoing dispute for the rest of the story ("Yes he IS hot", "Is not", "Is too", etc.). Poor Harry…. Imagine the side of Snape that HE saw? Ew. Anyway, we're looking forward to hearing more from you.
Bribbie: We celebrated big time when we saw our O! You're so invited when we get our celebratory ice cream cake. Lol. Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer.
Ced14: Don't ever worry for not reviewing sooner. As long as we hear from you once in a while, you're off the hook. ;0) Thanks for letting us know what you think.
Monai: Hmmmmm…. Maybe they SHOULD have a litter. Hee hee. Nah, we wouldn't do that to poor Tonks. We're glad you're enjoying it. Thank you for reviewing.
The Hour Before Dawn: Sorry sorry sorry for not updating sooner. We promise not to hold any chapters back, after the next one. We're just trying to break the quiet readers out of their shells (and win a bet with Jennifer's husband that we can get a certain number of reviews by the end of the year… lol). Thanks for reviewing!
WhiteTomb: Yay, we hooked you! That's so great to hear. Thank you for reviewing. We look forward to hearing more from you.