Chapter 25
The day of the next Hogsmeade trip dawned bright and clear. The students of Hogwarts chattered in eager anticipation, and Harry, both nervous and excited for what was to come, was having a great deal of difficulty blending in with the cheerful and carefree crowd. He glanced up at the head table to see Dumbledore nonchalantly munching on a kipper. It was strange to think that tomorrow, that seat would be empty.
Breakfast continued as usual, and it was almost over when Harry heard two high-pitched shrieks. For a moment, he thought the attack had already started. Then he realized that was ridiculous; Tom couldn't have entered anywhere but the Chamber without alerting Dumbledore, and none of the Death Eaters could enter Hogwarts at all. No, this shrieking had come from Gryffindor's resident overly-excitable gossips, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, and it was not caused by a magical attack. The shrieking was directed at Hermione, and while Harry had no idea what could have caused it, he didn't have to wait long to find out.
"OH MY GODRIC!" yelled one of the two girls. "Hermione, do you know what that is?" Lavender pointed to an ornate golden box that the girl in question was removing from the leg of an unfamiliar owl. The box had something written on it in fancy lettering, but Harry couldn't quite read it, since the box was emitting a sheen of sparkling silver dust.
Parvati, not waiting for Hermione to answer, screamed "It's from Ophelia's Ornaments!"
Hermione, not understanding what the big deal was, asked "What's Ophelia's Ornaments?" Harry thought this was a perfectly reasonable question, since he didn't have any idea either, although the name sounded familiar for some reason.
Lavender, Parvati, and several other girls who had been drawn into the conversation by all the shrieking, including, to Harry's surprise, Ginny Weasley, looked shocked.
"How could you not know Ophelia's?" a blond first year girl finally got out.
"They're the premier jewelers of wizard Britain! They did the wedding rings for Mr. and Mrs. Fudge, and the Malfoys, and oh! I think Harry's mum and dad, and really everybody who can afford it goes to them. Of course, that isn't really very many people. Bill got Fleur a pendant from there for her birthday-just a pendant, and a small one, not even the necklace to go with it-and it cost him almost 750 Galleons!" Ginny exclaimed.
The other girls nodded solemnly, and Hermione blinked, taken aback. Harry had been using the moment of distraction to cast the spells that would find any nasty surprises hidden in the box, and found nothing.
"All right, so some bloke must really like you," Ron said, a bit grumpily. "And he wouldn't have spent all that money just for you to stare at the box. Open it already!"
Although the girls were a bit irritated at the bluntness of the statement, they were more excited to see what was inside. Hermione herself, though, had the same thoughts as Harry, and was hesitant. She caught his eye, and he smiled and nodded at her slightly, and mouthed "safe."
(Across the room, the sender of the gift, watching intently, did not miss this little gesture. He sighed, annoyed that the object of his affections still trusted Potter over him. Of course, he couldn't be too angry, since anyone who did wish the girl harm could easily have sent her a trapped present, hoping her suspicions would be lulled. He admired a girl who could keep her head enough to be cautious, even when receiving a very expensive gift.)
Hermione opened the box and pushed aside the tissue paper inside to reveal a set of four jewelled hairpins. The pins themselves were made of gold, with a beautiful ruby and diamond design at the end of each. As she lifted one gently out of the box so that everyone could admire it, she noticed a small brochure. "Stone-Swapping Self-Styling hairpins" it read on the cover. Hermione opened the little booklet and read aloud:
"Congratulations on your purchase of the Ophelia's Ornaments stone-swapping and self-styling hairpins! These are the only hair ornaments you will ever need. These hairpins can change the color of their gemstones to suit any outfit. To change the gemstone, simply tap it with your wand and say which stone you would like. For the witch who might need a bit of help with color-coordination now and again, or simply can't make up her mind, put on whatever you will wear with these hairpins, tap the gemstone with your wand, and say 'match my outfit.' The gemstones will automatically become the perfect accessory for your ensemble!
These hairpins are also self-styling! To use this feature, place one of the pins in your hair, select which style you would like, and say '(style name) presto!' These pins can create anything from a casual ponytail to a complicated formal updo! (A complete list of all the 200 hairstyles these pins can accomplish is included.)"
While the boys at the table had mostly lost interest during the lengthy description, the girls had only gotten more and more excited with each sentence. "Try it!" squealed Padma, who had run over from the Ravenclaw table when the excitement began.
"Yeah, try it, I want to see!" echoed the other girls.
Hermione set the pin she had been holding back down in the box, touched her wand to one of the rubies, and said "sapphire." Instantly, the gemstones on all four pins changed from a brilliant red to a deep blue. Everyone oohed and ahhed. Hermione picked one of the pins up, set it gently in her hair, and took a look at the list of possible hairstyles. "Down, straight" she said. It had taken her two hours and copious amounts of hair potion the last time she'd attempted to do that, so it seemed like a fitting test of the pins' abilities. There was a short glimmer, and then almost instantly, her hair was sleek, smooth, and perfectly straight, with two pins forming an 'x' on each side of her head. Harry had to admit that it was impressive magic, and ducked out to finish getting ready for Hogsmeade while the girls demanded more demonstrations.
HP/LV*HP/LV*HPLV*HP/LV*HP/LV*HP/LV*HP/LV*HP/LV*HP/LV*
Harry wondered about the town of Hogsmeade somewhat aimlessly. It was 11:00 a.m., and he'd been told to expect the attack at 11:30. Since he knew he was going to be attacked, he didn't see the point in making any purchases, as they'd just get lost, and besides, he'd be easier to attack and there would be less collateral damage if he was attacked outside. Although, as he passed Madam Pudifoot's, he did consider waiting the attack out there. He certainly wouldn't mind the destruction of that building.
Sighing, he decided that he didn't really have any good reason to hate the place that much, and he continued his wandering, taking a path that would lead him to the edge of town. It would be better to be out of the crush of students. Harry knew the Death Eaters had orders not to cause any permanent harm to any of the other students or townspeople, but some of them could be a bit...enthusiastic...at times. Better not to tempt them.
He had just made it to the very edge of the town, and was completely alone, when he knew the attack was about to begin. He heard the cracks of multiple people apparating, and if he had to guess, he would say it was about twenty-five. He smiled to himself. Yes, he did intend to let himself get caught, but he was happy that Tom had sent enough people that he could put on a good show in the process. It would be downright embarrassing to have to let himself get caught by only five.
"Well, well, if it isn't Mr. Potter, taking a walk by himself," drawled a voice that was unmistakably that of Lucius Malfoy.
"It's a shame Dumbledore hasn't taught him any better," chimed in a female voice that Harry did not recognize.
"Indeed. I had thought this might be at least a bit of a challenge, but it seems Potter has taken all the fun out of it," Lucius replied. "Oh, the arrogance of today's youth. Alas. Stupefy!" he suddenly yelled, pointing his wand in Harry's direction.
It would have been a direct hit, too, if Harry had still been standing in the same place. But while Lucius and the unknown woman had been chatting, Harry had quietly drawn his wand and started backing away. When Lucius fired his shot, Harry had already taken off running.
"You five, follow me and go after him. The rest of you, fan out around the town and surround him!" Harry heard Lucius order as he ran. If he was going to issue any more orders, no one would ever know, since just as he finished saying it, Harry got him right in the chest with a spell that would turn a person temporarily to stone. While the other four were in shock at the loss of their leader, Harry picked off two more, then laughed and took off running again. The remaining two followed, now quite a bit warier.
Timing it carefully, Harry cast an illusion spell of himself running, and released it just as he was putting a large tree in between himself and his pursuers. In the instant that he was hidden by the tree, he released the illusion, Disillusioned himself, and hid next to the tree. The last two members of Lucius' team ran right past him, chasing the illusion. It was almost child's play to take them out.
Harry started running again, making his way into the town center, and began shouting at the top of his lungs. "Death Eaters!" he yelled. "Death Eaters in Hogsmeade!" This had the intended effect of causing a complete panic. Students and townsfolk alike began running every which way. They mostly just kept each other from escaping, but he was fairly confident that one or two of them would make it back to the castle to alert Dumbledore.
In all of the confusion, he spotted two more Death Eaters approaching. One of them yelled "Hey Potter!" and shot a badly-aimed spell at him. For a moment, he wondered why Tom had sent someone so poorly trained on such an important mission. And then he realized it was a trap.
He threw himself to the ground, and narrowly avoided the four red spells that went flying over his head from behind him. Quickly, he threw up a defensive bubble that would protect him against the spells from the two Death Eaters in front of him as well as the four behind. It wouldn't stop a killing curse, or a cruciatus, but Harry knew they had orders not to use those.
In the tiny moment of breathing room the shield gave him, Harry considered what to do. He couldn't use any parselmagic, and Dark spells were obviously out, so that took away the better part of his repertoire. Suddenly, he had any idea. Tracing his wand along an imaginary jagged path, he muttered "terrefacio." The earth beneath the four enemies at his rear suddenly split open. When the terrified people fell into the crack, just as suddenly, it closed, encasing them up to their necks.
The spell did cause him to lose his concentration on his shield, however, and he had to dodge to the side quickly as the two that had been in front of him sent spells of an odd mauve color towards him. He returned with two quick incarcerous spells, using the special wrist flick Hermione had taught him that would bind the ropes extra tight and prevent wand use.
He managed to take down another seven of the Death Eaters, and was just starting to wonder if he perhaps needed to tone it down a bit so that the attack did not actually fail, when he heard a voice shout "Potter! Over here!"
He turned in the direction of the voice, and what he saw made him freeze in his tracks. Rabastan Lestrange had Hermione in a tight grasp, his left arm wrapped around her neck and his right arm pointing his wand straight at her head.
"Drop your wand, now, or your Mudblood friend gets it." The man sneered.
Harry had a moment of completely genuine panic. He knew the minions had all been ordered to behave themselves...but this was Hermione. Still, Tom and Salazar had taught him enough that he wouldn't be a total Gryffindor idiot.
"If I do what you ask," he began slowly and cautiously, "how do I know you won't just hurt her anyway?"
Rabastan laughed. "Hey Dolf!" he chortled. "The Gryffindor Golden Boy isn't quite as slow as Snape keeps saying."
Rodolphus Lestrange merely shrugged.
"Anyway, Potter," Rabastan turned back toward Harry, "you're in luck. Today, the Dark Lord only wants you. He told us to keep our hands off everyone else. We wouldn't want them to ruin your special day."
The remaining Death Eaters, who had by this time all gathered around Harry, laughed sadistically.
"Then your boss'll be right pissed if anything happens to her, won't he?" Harry nodded at Hermione. "I hear he can be downright unpleasant when people disobey him."
It wouldn't hurt to remind them all that they couldn't actually hurt anyone else. Some of them were starting to look a bit edgy.
"A clever little lion, this one is!" Rabastan laughed again. "Then I suppose we are, for the moment, at a stalemate." As the Death Eater spoke, Harry could sense someone sneaking up behind him. He decided he should probably just let it happen, and did his best not to flinch as he heard a voice whisper "petrificus totalus" immediately behind him.
"Stalemate over," the same voice called. Harry was relieved to see that Rabastan did indeed let go of Hermione. Some part of him couldn't help but notice that throughout the entire ordeal, Hermione's hairpins had been almost constantly at work, trying to fix the damage caused by her struggle, and the moment she was out of Rabastan's grasp, her hair was perfect again.
His body was carried to the town square, where there was a small stage with no back, so that people could observe events and performances from all sides. He was dragged up onto the stage, and very soon after, heard gasps from the assembled crowd, all of whom had been tied to their chairs by Death Eaters. He felt a tingling in his scar.
Lord Voldemort had arrived.
He was wearing powerful glamours that made him look like his old snakey self. Dark power radiated from him, and those present who had never seen Lord Voldemort before suddenly realized what an imposing man he was.
"Rabastan, has our dear guest been given his potion yet?" the Dark Lord asked smoothly, in a quiet voice that nonetheless carried to all the assembled.
"No, my Lord," the selected Death Eater replied.
"Well, then, please see to it. Though we are still awaiting the arrival of one more guest, it would be polite to have all of the preparations in place."
Rabastan approached with a shining orange potion in a small vial. He forced Harry's mouth open and poured the potion in, and Harry, tied to a chair, had no choice but to swallow, though he made a good showing of resistance.
A few minutes later, he could tell something was different, but he certainly wasn't at all numb. The heat of the sun shone on his face. The chair was not padded and was starting to dig into his bottom. The rope was too tight in a few places, and he could feel it chafe his skin. A panic started to rise in his mind.
Lord Voldemort stood right in front of him, unbound him, and Vanished the chair.
§"Well, well, well, Harry, darling. Fancy meeting you here,§" the Dark Lord hissed.
Harry, unable to respond aloud, simply looked desperately into Tom's eyes.
§"My dear serpent, I have something I must tell you. Undoubtedly, you are feeling quite confused. The potion you were just given was not, in fact, a numbing potion. It was an antidote."§
Harry was utterly stunned, but finally managed to find his voice. §"An antidote...to what?"§ he said slowly, hissing to keep the conversation private.
§"The erodition one of your silly classmates managed to slip you last September."§ The Dark Lord chuckled gleefully. §"Sadly for her, it turned out that I was the first one you laid eyes on after taking the dose. And now, this charade is finally at an end. I shall enjoy your torment, my little serpent. Crucio!"§
No.
No.
No!
The single word consumed all of Harry's being. This had all been an act? Tom had never cared for him? Oh, dear Godric, what had he done? How could he have fallen for it? No, it couldn't be! Tom cared for him, Harry knew it! The sheer agony of his mind completely overwhelmed any pain in his body, though it continued to jerk and writhe under the curse.
Just when Harry thought he could not feel any worse, he heard a voice call out "Stop."
It was powerful. It was angry. It was afraid. It was Dumbledore.
Lord Voldemort merely yawned, not lifting the curse. "Tell me, Albus, why should I? This boy has caused me a great deal of trouble. I simply intend to get some of my own back before I remove him."
Dumbledore continued approaching. "Please, Tom. You must stop this."
Lord Voldemort gave the curse a temporary pause. "I suppose I might be persuaded to let the boy go...for a price, of course." Then he resumed the curse, and Harry, through the turmoil of his mind, felt his body began to writhe helplessly once more.
Dumbledore ascended the stairs to stand on the stage next to Harry. Softly, but firmly, he replied, "I am willing to give you what you want, Tom. Swear on your magic that you will never harm Harry and I will surrender myself to you."
Lord Voldemort laughed. "A nice try, Albus, but you and I both know that I cannot swear to forever stay my hand. I present a counter-offer: I shall swear on my magic not to harm Harry for the rest of the day."
Harry, through the curse, attempted to stop this, to yell no, that he was a traitor, and he wasn't worth this. But all he could get out was a soft moan.
Dumbledore looked down at Harry, tears coming softly from his blue eyes. "I would greatly appreciate it if the negotiations could continue without the torture," he said quietly, but firmly.
For a moment, the curse stopped. Then Lord Voldemort resumed it. "I think not, Albus. It seems to be giving me a decided advantage."
"As you will, then. However, I would ask for one more additional term: you must swear that you will not harm Harry for the rest of the day and that you will personally return him to the gates of Hogwarts before the end of the day."
Lord Voldemort considered for a moment. The he nodded. "Your surrender, which includes dropping your wand and agreeing not to attempt to fight in any way, in exchange for Harry's safe return to the castle today. We have a deal." He lifted the curse, but bound Harry's tongue. "Let us swear our oaths-you first, please."
Dumbledore slowly and steadily raised his wand. In a loud voice, he proclaimed, "I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, hereby swear upon my magic that if Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, swears upon his magic not to harm Harry James Potter for the rest of this day, and to return Harry James Potter to the gates of Hogwarts Castle before the end of this day, that I shall drop my wand and surrender myself to Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. I will allow him to do whatever he chooses and I will not fight him in any way. So mote it be."
There was a white flash, and Harry knew the vow had been accepted.
Lord Voldemort took his turn. "I, Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, hereby swear upon my magic that I shall not harm Harry James Potter for the rest of this day. I further swear that I shall return Harry James Potter to the gates of Hogwarts castle before this day is over. So mote it be."
With that, Harry found himself being pushed off of the stage, whether it was by Voldemort or Dumbledore, or someone else entirely, he would never know.
Dumbledore dropped his wand and stood calmly in front of Lord Voldemort.
"Any last words?" the Dark Lord sneered.
Dumbledore looked down at Harry. His blue eyes twinkled with tears, both shed and unshed. He thought about the brave and caring young man before him, and everything Harry had suffered-some of it at his own hands. He even thought of another little black haired boy, who had suffered equally, and who he had done nothing to help. In that moment, although it would doom the world, he knew he had to do whatever he could to save Harry.
"Yes," he replied, for all the world as calm as if the two men were merely chatting over tea.
"Well then?" Voldemort snarled, when no more words were forthcoming.
"It would be to both of our benefits, Tom, if these words were kept between the two of us."
Sighing, Lord Voldemort grudgingly placed a silencing ward around the two of them. If he felt the information wasn't worth keeping a secret, he could always share it later. When the two wizards were encased, and could not be heard by anyone else, he nodded, and Dumbledore began.
"Have you never wondered at the connection between yourself and Harry? How it is that he can sense your emotions, see through your eyes, and knows when you are present? How it is that he can speak Parseltongue, a gift that should only be available to you?"
"Of course, but I have never come up with a proper solution. Please, Professor, enlighten me." Tom bit out sarcastically.
"There's no need for attitude, Tom," Dumbledore replied. His serenity, even in the face of his own imminent death, was really starting to get on Tom's nerves. "I do have the answer, and I have decided that I shall give it to you with the last words I will ever speak." He paused, swallowed, and then looked straight into Tom's eyes. "Harry Potter is your Horcrux."
Lord Voldemort gasped, and was grateful for the silencing ward. No one should ever witness Lord Voldemort being surprised. He shoved the information away to be processed later, took down the silencing ward, and cast "Avada Kedavra."
The body of Albus Dumbledore fell, slowly and almost gracefully. The Death Eaters apparated away. Lord Voldemort could not look at Harry Potter at that moment. Instead, he sent a spell at the boy to force him into his animagus form. Potter was still too numb to dodge or resist. He conjured a leash and collar, placed it around Potter's neck, and walked the unresisting panther right up to the castle gates. Then he apparated away.