With Susan and Amelia's help, Harry was fine again within a few minutes. Susan held a cool cloth on his forehead and rubbed circles between his shoulder blades to reduce his stress. Most of the guests at the party had never seen Harry get one of his visions and were either excessively concerned, or nervous.
Amelia immediately went into the cool command mode that made her the effective leader that she was. She said, "Aurors, Azkaban's been breached. The dementors likely have defected. Connie, get to headquarters. Do not send any Aurors there at this time. There are no prisoners held there that are worth anyone else dying over. Be prepared to respond to dementor attacks along the northern coast. Send teams of four if you have to go someplace. Becky and Ben, I hate to break up such a wonderful party, but people probably should be getting home."
So ended the best birthday celebration that Harry had ever had. He thanked everyone for coming and survived crushing hugs from the Weasley women. He reminded the people from the DA to practice their patronus forms if they could. He told Ron that he'd see him in the next few days.
When the Grangers nervously got ready to leave, Harry found Hermione and said, "Susan and I will pick you up tomorrow at eight."
McGonagall and the other professors came to say their goodbyes. Minerva said, "I tried firecalling Albus a minute ago. He must have heard and left already."
Hagrid said, "He probably went t' Elgin and Wick to see if them dementors turned up. Nasty creatures if I say so myself. We'll talk to him tomorrow."
Amelia walked over to Harry, gave him a hug and said, "Thank you for telling us. Your warning about the guards may help save lives tonight. I need to get to the ministry building. Michelle, can I trouble you to make me a portkey to the entrance and then get Susan and Harry home? I'll call you if I'll be late. Please stay inside until it is light out."
Ben conjured big sacks for Harry and Neville to put their unopened birthday gifts into. Harry said, "Mr. and Mrs. Abbott, I had a great day here today. Thank you so much for hosting this and having me."
Becky replied, "You're very welcome Harry. Feel free to stop over anytime." She looked at him for a moment, hugged him and said, "Happy birthday."
Ben shook his hand and said, "You're a good man, Harry. Take care of Susan and Amelia."
Harry replied, "I promise, Sir. Good night." He thought of Freedom and a moment later the little phoenix appeared. Harry asked, "Can you take the three of us and this bag back home?"
The little phoenix hopped onto his shoulder and a moment later they had vanished.
When they appeared in the kitchen a moment later, Michelle remarked, "That was amazing! There was none of the spinning sensation that you would get with a portkey, just a warm breeze."
Susan added, "It is pretty neat."
Michelle hesitated for a moment and asked, "Mr. Potter, what did you see tonight?"
Harry opened bottles of butterbeer for the three of them and began, "I saw the dementors sort of form up into a formation and they just took off and floated away from the island. There were more than I'd ever seen before. Then Riddle and five others arrived by portkey. A half minute later, they had killed the guards and started unlocking the cell doors. Then the vision stopped."
"I kissed you and you stopped shaking," suggested Susan.
Harry looked into her eyes for a moment and replied, "Thanks."
"How many dementors did you see?" asked Michelle.
Harry thought about it for nearly a minute and replied, "More than the first time they attacked me; probably twice as many. I'd say two hundred."
Susan looked at him and asked, "You were attacked by a hundred dementors? When?"
"At the end of third year."
Not wanting to stray from the topic, Michelle asked, "Are you certain that they arrived by portkey? They didn't come on some kind of boat?"
"No. It landed them there and glowed blue for a second. It was come kind of chain or cord."
She nodded and replied, "Okay, thanks. I need to leave for just a minute or two. I'll take the floo. Don't let anyone in."
… --- …
When the Weasleys got back, and Molly and Ginny had gone to bed, Ron asked his dad, "What's been going on the last month?"
Arthur knew that this conversation was coming and sat his youngest son down in the family room. He poured himself a glass of firewhiskey and a smaller one for his son and told him what he'd heard and read.
When he finished, Ron said, "So in the course of two weeks, Harry nearly got blown up in Diagon Alley, and somehow saved Hannah Abbott. A day or so later, his relatives got burned to a crisp. By some miracle, he wasn't there at the time, but was at the Ministry where he saved Susan and Director Bones from two Death Eaters. He killed them in some kind of duel, and somehow got Director Bones to the castle hundreds of miles away and saved her life. A few days later, he and Susan are in Ollivander's where they stopped Snape and Malfoy from kidnapping Mr. Ollivander. Harry captured Malfoy, and Snape got himself killed by one of the aurors. Then he got some kind of huge reward from the Minister. Is that about it?"
Arthur sat for a few seconds and sipped the liquid from his glass. He set it down and answered, "Yes, that's about it. Oh, he took his family seat at the Wizengamot and from what Moody told me, he's dating Susan Bones."
Ron declared, "I used to be jealous of him and his fame. He can have it. He gets into more firefights with Death Eaters than all the Aurors put together."
"Harry has been a good friend to our family, Ron. I'm glad that you're beginning to see your own glass as half full." The thin man stood and patted his youngest boy on the shoulder and said, "Goodnight, Son."
"Goodnight, Dad."
… --- …
Harry and Susan got up early the next day and were waiting at the table for Amelia to come down. At 6:30 she did, and greeted them. Harry handed her a cup of tea and a glass of pumpkin juice for Susan.
Susan asked, "Auntie, how did it go last night?"
Amelia replied, "Harry's vision was spot on. The portkey that they had used had been stolen from the Auror office yesterday afternoon. Connie and Anna are looking into that. Eight guards and the supervisor had been murdered at Azkaban. There were no sightings in northern Scotland of the dementors, but it would be fairly easy for them to hide in that part of the country."
Smidgen finished the toast and brought them each a plate and a bowl of oatmeal. Amelia asked, "What plans do you two have for the day?"
Susan answered, "Michelle is helping me at seven. We're having Hermione Granger over for the day, and Harry has training later in the morning."
Amelia looked thoughtful for a moment and asked, "How old is she?"
Harry replied, "She's sixteen. Her birthday is 19 September."
Amelia said, "I spoke with her and her parents for a few minutes yesterday afternoon. They seem like nice people." She conjured a form wrote on it a moment and said, "Ask her to have her parents sign it and send it into the Ministry with five galleons. If your plans change, please let me know. Be careful today."
Harry replied, "You too. We'll see you for dinner. Do you want to see if Freedom would take you to the ministry?"
Amelia answered, "I'll be fine. Thanks for offering. If you can wait, we'll go through your birthday gifts after desert."
Susan said, "Bye Auntie. Have a nice day. Love you."
Bones replied, "Bye you two. Love you too." She threw the red powder into her fireplace and a moment later was gone.
… --- …
An hour later, Minerva and Flitwick sat at the staff table reading the Daily Prophet. It seemed like Harry's vision had been right. Azkaban had been emptied and the dementors were missing. Minerva inquired, "I wonder if Albus had found them yet?"
Flitwick replied, "I hope so. He must have been searching for them all night."
Just then, Winky the house elf came to the table. She seemed to be nearly hysterical.
"What is it, Winky?" asked Flitwick, who seemed to get along better with the houselves than his transfiguration colleague.
"Professor Dumbledore," choked the little elf in between sobs.
"He's not here," admonished McGonagall, impatiently.
If possible, Winky started wailing even louder. Finally she blurted, "Professor is dead." She tugged at Flitwick's arm and said, "Winky's show you."
… --- …
Meanwhile Harry and Susan had arrived in the back yard at the Grangers. Hermione was sitting out at their round garden table with an umbrella, reading a book. Not hearing the Knight Bus, she looked up and was startled to see them. She said, "Hi Harry, good morning Susan." She saw the little red and yellow bird and asked, "Harry, is that a phoenix?"
The little phoenix hopped onto Harry's forearm and he nodded saying, "Freedom, this is my friend, Hermione. Hermione, this is Freedom."
Hermione looked at the golden and scarlet bird and replied, "She's beautiful. May I touch her?"
Harry answered, "That would be up to her, but I think she would let you."
Hermione stroked the bird for a moment and declared, "She's amazing."
Susan watched Hermione talking with Harry for a minute and took the form out of her pocket. She announced, "You should have your mum sign this and send it to the ministry with five galleons. When we get back, maybe Hedwig would fly it in for you."
Hermione looked at it for a minute and her eyes grew wide. She asked, "Are you serious? I'll be right back. She and her mum came back a minute later. Hermione said, "Thank you, mum. Oh, take a look at Harry's phoenix."
Emma was getting ready to go to work, and had her lab coat on. She looked at the little phoenix in wonder and observed, "Remarkable. Will Hermione really be allowed to use magic this summer?"
Harry answered, "As soon as the form gets stamped."
Hermione handed Harry two notes and said, "I don't have any galleons. Harry, can I exchange some with you?" There was a pleading look in her brown eyes.
Harry dug into his pocket and pulled out a handful of the golden coins, smiled and replied, "Here's ten. We can settle up later."
Hermione was practically hopping on one foot. She asked, "Could we possibly stop at the ministry first?"
Susan shook her head and declared, "We told Auntie that we would come straight home."
Harry felt his bushy haired friend's impatience and thought about what he was asking for a moment. Freedom hopped on Hermione's shoulder and a moment later she had vanished in a flash of flame.
"What happened?" questioned Emma, amazed at what she'd just seen.
"She'll be back in a minute or two. Phoenixes can transport people that way. You can go miles in just a second. She's at the ministry in London by now." Susan looked slightly annoyed.
Emma Granger had an inkling of what was happening and attempted to diffuse it. "You and Hannah arranged a lovely gathering yesterday for Harry and Neville, Susan. Everyone that I talked with was happy that you invited them. Thanks again for including us. They're lucky guys to have such considerate girlfriends."
Whatever was bothering Susan passed and she smiled and replied, "Thank you, Dr. Granger. It was fun to see everyone and meet some new people. Did you get to meet Hagrid?"
"My, yes! He told me about raising unicorns and some sort of half horse half eagle creature that can really fly."
Harry smiled and said, "They would be Hippogriffs. Hermione and I rescued my Godfather, Sirius, on one. It was so cool." He found that he was starting to be able to talk about good times with Sirius and not feel so bad.
Susan knew that he was getting over his grief and she said, "Harry does have a knack for having interesting adventures with his friends."
Just then Hermione flashed back with Freedom. There was a look of sheer joy on her face. She blurted out, "Oh, thank you, Susan. Please be sure to thank your aunt, never mind, I'll send her a note myself. Harry, your little phoenix is remarkable. She took me right to the proper place in line."
Harry looked at Susan, nodded and she suggested, "Breathe, Hermione. Show your mum a spell or two then we'll get going."
"Oh, good idea," admitted Hermione. She took her wand out pointed it at the big rock in the back garden and said, "Wingardium Leviosa." The rock rose a few feet in the air and she moved it around the air a bit and set it back down where it was.
"Outstanding!" said Emma. "Was that hard to do?"
"Heavens, no," answered Hermione. "We learned to do that in the fall of our first year. Watch this." She transfigured the rock into a baby elephant. It looked around for a bit and walked over to them.
"Amazing! Did you learn that when you were in first year too?" asked Emma.
"No," admitted Susan, impressed at what she'd seen. "We haven't had that in class yet."
"I've done a bit of reading ahead," admitted Hermione. She changed the elephant back into the rock and returned it to the proper spot.
"We should go now," announced Harry. "It was nice to see you again, Dr. Granger."
"I'll be home by dinner time," said Hermione. "Have a nice day, Mum. Love you."
"Enjoy your day. It was nice to see you again Susan; you too Harry. Bye." The three of them held hands and freedom hopped on Harry's shoulder. A moment later they were gone.
… --- …
They reappeared in the back yard at Welshpool a second later. Michelle was sitting at the umbrella table having lemonade. She said, "Hi Mr. Potter, Susan. Hello, I'm Michelle Wood. You must be Hermione Granger. I saw you yesterday, but didn't get a chance to introduce myself. Harry, are you doing your training this morning, or taking the day off?"
Harry replied, "I'd like to do my training. Hermione, it only goes for about an hour."
"We'll do some stretching for a bit, then go for a swim. Don't worry about us," suggested Susan.
As Harry and Michelle went to the other side of the big open area, Hermione asked, "What kind of training does she teach?"
Susan replied, "She's a ministry hit witch that Professor Dumbledore assigned to watch over us for the summer after Auntie was attacked. She's amazing to watch and work with, but I've been sore everyday since she came here. I never did any physical conditioning before this summer. I've been sore in places I didn't even know existed," she admitted.
"You look great though," observed Hermione with a bit of envy in her voice.
"Did you bring an exercise outfit? I'll show you some of the stretches," offered Susan.
"Yes, it's in my sports bag said Hermione. I brought a swimsuit too."
Susan smiled at her and replied, "Okay. Let's go get changed."
… --- …
Hermione was astounded at the change in Susan over the last month. She was strong and had developed amazing flexibility. Together, they did stretches, sit-ups, leg exercises, and back exercises. Last summer, Hermione swam recreationally, several times a week and thought that she was in better than average condition for a witch, but she couldn't come near to keeping up with Susan, who seemed driven.
As they were doing their cool downs Hermione asked, "What has Harry been working on?"
Susan answered, "Hitting multiple targets, but I expect that he'll go back to work on his patronus charms after last night. Michelle has him working on strengthening the power that he's been putting into his spells. We'll be ready to take our apparition exams Saturday. He's been busy with his Wizengamot preparation. There're trials Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week."
Choosing her words carefully, Hermione asked, "Do you two take any time to just date and visit?"
Susan replied, "Yes, but every time we do something seems to happen. I was ready to snog him silly one morning when we noticed that Auntie had forgotten her lunch. Fifteen seconds later, he'd killed two Death Eaters and saved Auntie. She was hurt pretty badly, but he got her to help in time. A few days later, we had gone out for lunch and stopped in to see Mr. Ollivander and we got attacked again. In between, we try to go up to the top of Long Mountain and watch the sun rise when we can."
Hermione wanted to say something, but a moment later the fireplace lit up. Randi from the ministry called out, "Susan? Harry?"
Susan heard the call and said, "Excuse me, Hermione. There's a firecall. It's Randi."
Hermione replied, "I'll go get Harry. She walked over to the area where Harry and Michelle were working. As soon as Michelle saw Hermione she called "Visitors." She shut down the target trainer and motioned to Harry to turn around.
Harry did, saw her there and asked, "What's up? We were just finishing."
She answered, "There is a firecall for you and Susan. Someone named Randi is calling for you."
Harry said, "She's one of the administrators who works for Susan's aunt. I think she also does work for the Wizengamot." He walked inside and saw that Susan was crying.
Randi asked, "May I come through?"
Harry replied, "Sure. What do I have to do?"
She said, "This is a restricted access fireplace. There should be some white powder on the mantle. Toss a pinch in the fireplace."
Harry did and a moment later she came through.
Harry asked, "What's wrong?"
Randi answered, "I'm sorry to have to say this all at once, but I've got to contact quite a few people quickly. Professor McGonagall called a half-hour ago. Professor Dumbledore was found dead in the castle this morning. The Malfoy trial is being rescheduled for the afternoon of 6 August at 1 p.m. The Umbridge trial is still scheduled for the morning of 6 August at 8 a.m. You are scheduled to be a witness at that hearing." She handed him a piece of parchment that had the different dates and the specific charges for each case.
She said, "There is also a full Wizengamot meeting scheduled for the morning of Monday 5 August at 8 a.m. The purpose will be to appoint an interim head of the body. You should plan on arriving at my office no later than 7:00. Have you been fitted for the official robes yet?"
Harry replied, "No."
Randi replied, "No worries. Have you bought anything from Madam Malkin's lately?"
Harry answered, "Two weeks ago."
Randi smiled, "Good. She'll have your sizes on file. Read your papers over as soon as you can. There's nothing specific to do until Monday. I expect the memorial will be held Monday at 7 p.m. No one from the papers specifically knows where you are, so you shouldn't be hounded for interviews. Please let me know if you would be gone for any length of time like overnight, so I can reach you in case of an emergency. Do you have any questions?"
Harry asked, "What happened?"
Randi replied, "At this time there is no official word. His body is being examined. Gringotts has been notified, as have the board of governors and the minister. He will make an announcement on the Wizarding wireless at eleven. I'm sorry Mr. Potter, but I must be going. Please contact me if I can be of assistance." She pulled some red floo powder out of her pocket, threw it into the fire and a moment later, she was gone.
They stood there in silence for a minute and unconsciously merged into a group hug.
… --- …
The old scribe stood in silence at the news. He hadn't agreed with many of the actions that the old professor had taken in regards to Harry, and in fact, had been outwardly critical of the infant's placement and lack of follow-up visits, but he never questioned Dumbledore's intent.
As McGonagall sat weeping at the loss of a colleague, mentor and perhaps more, the old scribe knew that this was not the time to pass on yet another recommendation. He knew that there would be another time and another place.