Chapter 21 - A Visit from the Headmaster
As they chatted happily, walking back down the corridor to pack up their things, Harry was in a state of utter turmoil. The bubble of elation at being granted the rank of Auror had subsided, to be replaced by an intense feeling of dread. Although Harry knew he could relax for a few days, he also knew that he was now rapidly approaching his battle with Voldemort. Ron seemed to understand what Harry was feeling, and he put a bracing arm around his shoulders.
"Come on Harry, no need to be upset on a day like this," he said briskly. "It'll happen when it happens." Harry nodded appreciatively at this statement, vaguely recalling Hagrid having used similar words several years previously.
Harry packed his bags, brightening slightly as he checked his calendar, which had a note on it for the weekend approaching. "Hogsmeade Weekend." This cheered Harry greatly, an opportunity to see all his old friends and classmates, the D.A and the Quidditch Team, but particularly Ginny.
Harry pointed the date on his calendar out to Ron, who smiled broadly too. "Excellent. Maybe we should surprise them after err… "visiting" Zonko's?" He smiled even more broadly, and Harry couldn't help but smile too.
Less than an hour later, the five of them had finished packing and saying their goodbyes, and were stood up in the lobby with Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kingsley greeted his son affectionately, before shaking hands with the others.
"Follow me," he said, smiling at them. He led them around the hall towards the chute entrances, but this time he led them to tube number nine. "You'll never have been here before, and you're not going far into it. I'll go first, and then you will use the floo fire to go to the Leaky Cauldron."
Kingsley entered the tube and then, one after another, the group gradually followed the chute up. Harry emerged last, into an ornate hall way that reminded him somehow of Hogwarts entrance hall. Kingsley indicated the floo fire on the right.
"The others have already gone through, Harry," he said, smiling. "I'll join you there this evening, but Tom will show you to your rooms upon arrival. Floo powder is on the mantelpiece." He smiled once more, before turning around and departing back down the chute.
Harry picked out some floo powder and threw it into the fire. Pulling his trunk tightly in beside him, he spoke clearly into the fireplace.
"The Leaky Cauldron!" with a whoosh, Harry felt the now familiar sensation of being sucked down. He witnessed countless grates whistling past him, on what felt like his longest floo ride ever. He shut his eyes until finally the swirling sensation slowly and he felt himself tumbling forward out of the fireplace. He thrust his suitcase in front of him as a prop, and managed to stay vertical. He opened his eyes to see Tom, keeper of the Leaky Cauldron, in front of him.
"Mr Potter," he said, grinning toothily at Harry. "Welcome back. You're room is just along this corridor." Without another word, he took Harry's suitcase and started off down the corridor, down which Harry could see Ron waving.
"I'm in here," Ron called indicating a room on one side of the corridor. "I think you're directly opposite."
Harry smiled. "Not got rid of you yet then?" he said, laughing. Ron laughed too, before retreating into his room.
As soon as Harry got into his room he settled down to write a letter to Malfoy. He instructed him to lure the others towards the end of town where Harry's house lay in Hogsmeade, at about two o'clock, and said that he would see him soon. He strapped the letter to Hedwig's leg, stroking her back absent-mindedly.
"Take it to Malfoy, okay?" he said, as she prepared to leave the window. "Get it to him quickly, but you can take your time coming back, I know you haven't been out in a while." Hedwig hooted appreciatively, before turning and wheeling out of the window and into the afternoon sunlight.
Harry lay back on his bed to relax for a moment, but then he heard Ron's voice from outside the door. "Harry? You in there?"
Harry laughed. "You can come in." The door slowly opened and Ron stuck his head around the door. "Fancy going for a wander down Diagon Alley? Reckon Florean will still get you free sundae's?"
Harry smiled. "Yeah, he might. Plus we can see if there are any new brooms available."
Harry and Ron spent the day wandering Diagon Alley with Charlie. Aaron and Lucy had gone off together, (now officially declared as an item), and the other three took the opportunity to enjoy an ice cream sundae in the rare November dusk sunlight. It had been barely three weeks since they had left Hogwarts but to Harry it felt like a life time.
"Hey!" Ron exclaimed suddenly, breaking Harry's thought chain. "Lets go see Fred and George!"
"Your brothers?" Charlie said, smiling with enthusiasm. "The joke shop guys?"
Harry nodded at him. "They're the ones! Just don't accept anything they give you…" Harry and Ron laughed as they rose from their seats. They all headed slowly down Diagon Alley, enjoying the freedom from studies. The lurid sign for "Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes" appeared around the corner.
They entered the shop, and were almost instantly greeted by Fred and George Weasley, both grinning like lunatics.
"Ron!" Fred said, beaming. "Harry! What are you doing here? Not skiving off are you?"
"Oh I hope they are," said George, grinning too. "Mum would've caused such a fuss…"
Harry laughed. "I wouldn't want to see that! No, we've finished."
The twins laughing stopped abruptly. "Finished?" said George incredulously.
"Already?" said Fred in the same tones. Harry nodded at them. "That's brilliant!" Fred said, clapping an arm on Harry's shoulder. "When was this?"
"Just this morning," said Harry, before going on to tell the twins of the events of the last few weeks. The twins took to Charlie well, closing the shop slightly early before the five of them headed for the Leaky Cauldron for drinks.
"So, it was all a test last night?" George said, scowling slightly.
"Yep," Ron replied, looking brighter having ordered his lunch. "All a con."
"Evil," said Fred, though he was grinning. "Sounds like you did well." Suddenly though, his face turned serious. "Do you know what's happening now?"
"Not really," Harry said truthfully. "We're to come here for the night to relax, but I suspect we'll be hearing from your father or Kingsley or someone soon enough." Harry very much knew who he thought that "someone" would be. Throughout his life he had learned to expect that Dumbledore would be the one to steer him towards difficult tasks, and he had no illusions as to who would do it now.
As the evening progressed, George and Fred updated them as to Voldemort's public standing. Harry and Ron listened in dismay as to his swelling ranks and frequent attacks. Harry was relieved to learn that Hogwarts and the Ministry had been left, but the Aurors had been having trouble controlling the Dementors coming across from Azkaban.
After this slightly grim conversation, Fred and George both yawned simultaneously. "Sorry, we had an early start…" Fred said apologetically.
"That's alright," Harry replied, noting that he himself was also feeling a bit tired. "Maybe we should all – Hedwig!" Harry sat up alertly as Hedwig wheeled in through the window and landed on the table in front of him.
"Blimey, she didn't take long did she?" Ron said incredulously. "You only sent her this morning!"
Instantly, Harry noticed that she was carrying two letters. Harry took them both off and opened the nearest one as Hedwig happily pecked away at Harry's leftovers.
The first letter was a short reply from Malfoy, saying that that was great and he'd see them tomorrow. The second had a very familiar style of handwriting, that Harry knew to be Dumbledore's. He read it to the group.
"Dear Harry,
May I be the first to congratulate you on your completion of your training. Not even I thought that you would complete so much in such a short space of time, but you have always gone beyond my expectations. Pass my congratulations also onto Ron and the others.
However, pressing matters are at hand. It is my wish that tomorrow morning you are up and waiting outside the Leaky Cauldron at six o'clock tomorrow morning. Stick out your wand arm, and take the Knight Bus back to Hogsmeade. I will be waiting for you there.
On another note, you may be wondering as to how Hedwig returned so fast? Let me just say that, due to the importance of this letter, I gave her a bit of a hand.
Regards,
Albus Dumbledore."
Harry sighed deeply. So it had come to this. Harry was well aware as to what these "pressing matters" would be, and knew that his time to face Voldemort was rapidly approaching. Telling Fred and George he'd see them again, he bade the others good night and went to sleep. His dreams were full of black dogs, and more than once he awoke after falling off his broomstick.
Just before six o'clock, Harry was awakened by a booming voice that he recognised. "Harry… Harry…" the voice seeped into his consciousness, before Harry opened his eyes to see Kingsley Shacklebolt standing over his bed.
"Good morning Harry," he said, his deep voice rolling around the room like quiet thunder. "It is time for you to get up. I will go and awake Ron."
Harry yawned as he pulled on his clothes and tiredly packed all his things away. In what felt like no time at all, he was outside in the cold, the other four with him.
"We can talk more on the bus," Kingsley said briskly, sticking out his wand arm. With an enormous bang, the purple Knight Bus shimmered into view, squealing to a stop in front of them. "Get on," Kingsley said, edging them forward, glancing around all the while.
Harry recognised Ernie the bus driver, but the attendant was not the Stan Shunpike he'd got to know as Neville Longbottom in his third year. Harry was secretly grateful for this, something told him he wouldn't be able to get past Stan's keen eyes and loud mouth again.
They sat down in seats at the back of the practically empty bus, Kingsley speaking to Ernie quickly before settling down. "I've had a word with the driver and bumped us up the queue. Like previously, Dumbledore wishes you to arrive as quickly and safely as possible." Harry nodded.
The journey on the bus was over very quickly. Kingsley's definition of "bumped up" obviously meant straight to the top, as with a bang, they were rolling down Hogsmeade high street. It was still very early in the morning, but already shops were showing signs of life, their owners setting up signs advertising their wares. But Harry's eyes were drawn to the solitary figure stood at the end of the road, his flowing silver hair shimmering in the dawn light. The bus drew to a halt by him, and Harry and the others got out.
"Albus!" Kingsley said, extending a greeting hand. "Wasn't expecting you to be out this early." Harry looked at him quizzically, having told him before leaving about Dumbledore's letter.
"I love to be out among the birdsong," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling at Harry. This cryptic response did Harry no favours, but Dumbledore just smiled at him. "Code," he mouthed at Harry, and Harry nearly laughed, but decided against it. Dumbledore put a finger to his lips, and beckoned them to follow him.
He led the way off the high street and along towards the house, handing Harry a tattered piece of paper with familiar scrawl on it. As they drew alongside his home, Harry handed the paper to Aaron, Lucy and Charlie, who all read it, before reeling back in astonishment as they took in Godric's Hollow. Harry smiled before leading them up the driveway, Dumbledore putting the note back in his pocket. Upon entering the house, Dobby greeted him enthusiastically.
"Master Harry sir," we said, squeaking excitedly, "we is happy to see you sir!" Winky bobbed her head up and down next to him, almost hopping with pleasure.
"It's good to be home," Harry said laughing. "Could you prepare some breakfast? I think everyone's hungry!" Dobby yelped with delight before hurrying after Winky into the kitchen.
"Nutters," Ron muttered, as they all traipsed into the sitting room. Settling down into armchairs, the group trained their eyes as one on Dumbledore, who had sat himself in the lone armchair by the fireplace. He smiled down his crooked nose at them, his eyes sparkling behind his spectacles.
"Firstly, may I congratulate you all on your fantastic achievement," he said, beaming. "No one expected you to progress so far and so fast. You deserve credit, and you are all now, officially Aurors. This gives you the right, within limits, to seize wands, houses, brooms, and anything else you deem necessary to your mission. However, wanton use of this power will lead to punishment and can even lead to your Auror title being revoked." Dumbledore was silent for a moment, allowing this caution to soak in.
"But now we have serious matters at hand," he said, before turning slightly in his chair to face Aaron, Lucy and Charlie, who occupied the large sofa. "You three will be going straight to the Auror fortress near Azkaban. However you will not be put in harms way until Harry and Ron arrive." He turned to face Harry briefly. "Have you told them?" Harry shook his head and Dumbledore sighed slightly, as if Harry's answer was not unexpected.
"I will explain briefly for those in this room who are unaware of Harry's particular circumstances. Forgive me, for I cannot tell you everything, but I can tell you that Harry is the only person on this Earth who can kill Voldemort." The three of them reeled back in astonishment, their eyes darting from Harry to Dumbledore. Harry kept looking at the ground, shaking slightly.
"Please do not press Harry on this subject, as I'm sure you can appreciate the stress that this already causes him. But for now, you may leave." He smiled slightly. "I'm sure that you would enjoy taking your breakfast out on the patio in Harry's garden. Even at this time of year, it is looking rather wonderful."
Dumbledore watched them leave, all three averting their gaze from Harry. As the door closed behind them, Dumbledore slowly swung his chair around to face Harry and Ron. Harry was looking miserably out of the now rain-strewn window, the words "harms way" ringing in his ears. Did more people have to suffer for him?
"Harry…" Dumbledore said gently, his eyes unusually dim behind his bright glasses. "I know it is difficult, but guilt is something you must accept you shouldn't feel. You cannot help who you are, but fear and despair is something that Voldemort wants. We cannot afford to give him that luxury." Harry stirred slightly in his seat, his eyes shifting towards the wise headmaster in front of him. In the flickering fire light his age was showing through, his obviously wisdom and energy contrasted with his physical frailty.
"You will be happy to know that you will be allowed to see your friends today," Dumbledore said, his tone changing to one of slight amusement. "However, you must meet them, then bring them here directly. I do not want you to be out in Hogsmeade for too long. But before that, I must tell you both what it is you must do. You will be headed for Azkaban soon enough, but first, Arthur and I have decided there is something you must help prepare. With you two both developing into two of the most powerful wizards of your age, we would like you to work in the ministry, to develop a spell. You will be in the experiment chamber, and you will be working on a charm, or a potion, or an attacking spell, that will kill Dementors."
Harry gasped. "You think there is a way?"
Dumbledore smiled slightly. "No Harry. You told me there was."