Sunday 18 August
Like a summer heat wave, the war had visited the Abbott household and lingered. The dementor attack earlier in the month would always be the topic of nightmares. Ben was unlikely to ever forget the hatred that had emitted from Voldemort's red eyes as he launched a wave of destruction in courtroom one or the utter despair of being lifted off the ground by a sightless dementor. In contrast, watching the morning surf felt like a rainbow visible while it was still lightly raining.
Today was Hannah's sixteenth birthday. Their little family was alive and intact, so Ben and Becky intended to make the very most of the occasion. They had invited a fairly large group of friends over to celebrate her birthday. It was the first family event following the attack at their home. Becky got up early and began setting out the beach chairs and towels with a passion that hadn't been there in June. She came back in and saw the owl waiting by the kitchen window. It was a copy of The Quibbler. She dropped the coins into the owl's pouch and glanced at the headline.
Hogwarts announces staff changes
Headmaster Filius Flitwick announced the staff changes for the upcoming term yesterday. Horace Slughorn, accredited Potions Master has agreed to return for a two-year contract. Slughorn, 78, will resume head of house responsibilities for Slytherin house in addition to teaching potions.
Diane Truesteel has accepted a two-year contract to teach History of Magic replacing the spectral Professor Binns. Truesteel held a similar position at the Salem Institute for eleven years prior to taking a sabbatical to study magical history of the American Southwest. She finished Hogwarts in 1975 where she held the position of Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain for two years and holds an advanced degree from Cambridge.
Headmaster Flitwick also announced that Defense against the Dark Arts would have two exceptionally qualified instructors this year. Flitwick signed one-year contracts with DMLE Hitwitch Michelle Wood, who is on loan from the Ministry, and Order of Merlin First Class recipient, Mr. Harry Potter. Wood finished Hogwarts in 1992 and had begun a distinguished career as a DMLE Hitwitch, having been decorated several times this year. Mr. Potter's record speaks for itself.
Headmaster Flitwick was quoted saying, "I believe that each of these changes demonstrated our commitment to providing our young people the best possible education in the best possible environment that Britain has to offer. I would encourage any parents who have eligible students to register their child immediately if they have not yet done so. Flitwick announced that he would accept late registrations up to Monday 2 September for the coming term.
Becky handed the newspaper to Ben and commented, "It looks like Flitwick is making quite an effort to getting the school year off right."
Ben replied, "I hope so. I never cared for Fudge's interference, but Dumbledore had made some very questionable decisions regarding staffing over the last few years."
She nodded in agreement, looked a bit further and saw another article.
Headmaster Flitwick announces scholarship program
Headmaster Fillius Flitwick announced yesterday that he would personally assist any student who lacks the means to attend Hogwarts this year due to financial hardship.
The article went on to describe the process that a student or parent could use to receive aid for the upcoming term.
She handed the paper to Ben who looked at it for a minute and nodded. "That was really generous of him."
Ben agreed, "He made good choices announcing the staff changes and probably shamed the Board of Governors into some sort of matching program. Either way, there are lots of new reasons for parents to send their kids back to school this year, and he's done everything that he could to make it easy on those that can't afford it."
… -- …
By noon all of the guests had arrived. Becky had invited about fifty people and everyone came. There were a few more Hufflepuffs and several fewer Gryffindors than had been in attendance for Harry's party a few weeks ago, but it was essentially the same group. Terry Boot teased Susan a bit about Harry teaching at school, but somehow it came off as gallows humor. Hannah defended him saying, "Potter's blasted bits and pieces off of Voldemort in two straight fights; he could offer to teach at the Auror Academy and everyone in attendance would take notes. So what if he's in our year? Would you rather have Umbridge back?"
Conceding defeat, Boot mumbled, "I didn't mean it that way. Come on Ern, let's get some butterbeers and play volleyball." McMillan gave Susan a look clearly indicating an apology and followed his inept friend to the cooler.
Hermione had been invited and was talking with Sarah Fawcett and Kevin Entwhistle. Sarah from their year in Hufflepuff asked, "Did Harry really get hit with a… killing curse?"
Hermione nodded and replied, "Hannah's mum saw it. Bellatrix Lestrange hit him after she hit Neville with the Cruciatus curse."
Kevin replied in awe, "The paper said that he blew her head off a week later."
Anthony and Justin listened in rapt attention as Hermione nodded and replied, "To my knowledge, everything that The Quibbler has printed about Harry in the last year is true."
Justin commented, "Merlin, I had no idea he was that good. So who's left in Slytherin?"
Entwhistle replied, "Just Vaisey and Higgs in seventh; Bulstrode, Tracy Davis, Daphne Greengrass and Zabini are in sixth. The others have left, gotten arrested, blown up, or sent through the veil."
Sarah remarked sarcastically, "Snape was quite the moral rudder. I met Professor Slughorn two weeks ago. He was pretty friendly when he was trying to get an eyeful of my bits. I hope he keeps his mind on teaching and being a fair head of house." She was a very attractive young woman who didn't see much humor in being leered at.
Kevin remarked, "Me too. Mum is letting my little sister Christina come to school when she read about Harry teaching class and Slughorn coming back. She and our neighbor were going to home-school Christina and her twins Gretta and Emily."
Hermione remarked, "They'll be much better off at Hogwarts. No one could match the resources of the library. I'm certain that Professor Slughorn has excellent credintials"
Sarah asked, "I thought you were dating Potter. What happened?"
Hermione took a breath and replied, "We're best friends, Sarah. We still are. We never dated, even though we've spent a lot of time together. It's been a full time job helping Harry with his adventures and keeping Ron's grades up… Susan and Harry are good together." She spoke her words with conviction, but she failed to make eye contact when she answered the last part. She excused herself walked inside a few seconds later.
After she left, Entwhistle admonished Sarah saying, "Smooth job there. Why didn't you ask her how it felt to blow up Death Eaters while you're at it?"
… -- …
As Sarah was grilling Hermione, Amelia, Becky and Ben were sitting at a small table in the shade under a tree by the surf discussing the recent events. Admittedly passionate about the issue, Ben argued, "Rufus can't be allowed to keep executing prisoners like he's been. Amelia, you know that it's wrong."
Bones quickly cast a privacy charm and calmly replied, "Of course his actions circumvent normal policy, but we really don't have the resources available should Voldemort direct a fifty Death Eater assault against Azkaban or the holding cells. Obviously he's taken some losses lately, but it was proven the last few nights that their fangs are still sharp. They're not exactly taking the high side by burning non-combatants alive in their homes."
Ben rebuked, "The clerical staff is in a panic. Half are ready to resign or go on leave; the other half are screaming for protection. Yet the fact remains that prisoners have right too.
Less calmly, Bones replied, "I agree Ben, but the fact remains that we currently only have some sixty-seven licensed Aurors. Divided by four for shifts and week-ends that's about Seventeen on duty at any given time; and that's before vacations and injuries get factored in. We tried incorporating the Cadets into duty last week at Azkaban. You read about the results. They're still too green. Rufus is doing the best that he can with what we have available. Fudge let the headcount drop for years with his hiring freezes. We simply can't fix it overnight." Becky nodded at her words.
Ben replied, "I'm not arguing about the cause of the problem, Amelia. We both know that the man was a worthless ponce. I'm simply saying that provisions have to be made to safely accommodate the prisoners. Maybe we should go outside for some short-term help. If Azkaban is too expensive to defend in terms of manpower, maybe we should use the holding cells on a long-term basis."
Bones disagreed, replying, "We saw how poorly defended the ministry building is two weeks ago. It was designed to be accessible to the people, not be a prison. We simply can't choke off the floo access system and heard everyone through the visitor entrances and still expect any work to get done. Riddle can have fifty Death Eaters and send them all out at once resulting in a fifty to fifteen disaster. We simply can't have every Auror on call twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. We're forced to keep regular hours, he isn't. The short of it that we can't keep Voldemort out of the holding cells as we currently run the facility."
Ben practically pleaded, "The war has clearly gone our way this last month. The worst must be over. We can afford to hold prisoners."
Sadly Amelia shook her head and replied, "Think about it, Ben. Harry's been directly responsible for every success we've had this summer. His quick thinking at the Department of Mysteries and Olivanders ultimately netted the Ministry millions. By all rights, the courtroom attack should have been a massacre. With a bit of luck, Voldemort could have taken down our government in one stroke, but Harry rallied everyone to fight back. I could have been killed twice over this summer. The dementors could have brought absolute panic and chaos to our world. Those successes aren't trivial, and I'm not minimizing them, but we have a long way to go. If Rufus has changed being convicted of being a Death Eater into a death sentence and he can sleep with it, I won't object, at least for the time being." Ben clearly wasn't convinced.
Amelia recast the privacy charm and admitted, "Ben, I'm as sorry about the Weasley boy as anyone, but we have no evidence that Riddle has forced anyone to join his side. Everyone has been given a trial; we aren't going to repeat the mistakes that we made with Sirius Black. I can't speak about Diggle, but Susan Florman and Randi certainly weren't combatants. Susan wasn't going to stop Voldemort by handing him a form." Amelia realized that she was going off on a rant, took another sip of wine and apologized, "I'm sorry for going off like that Ben. It's been a hard summer. I apologize."
Her old family friend, sighed, "None needed Amelia; you know that. For the time being, can we at least agree to disagree? We can look at it again in a few months."
Amelia nodded, raised her glass and toasted, "To better times." The three finished their wine as friends.
… -- …
Fifteen minutes later, Susan came in to use the loo and heard the muffled sound of Hermione sobbing. She gently knocked on the door and asked, "Hermione, are you okay?"
In a little voice, the distraught teen replied, "No."
Susan considered the situation for a moment and asked, "Should I get Harry?"
In a slightly louder voice, Hermione replied, "No."
"Can I come in?"
There was silence for a few seconds, followed by, "I just need to be alone for a bit."
In a gentle voice, Susan suggested, "Hermione, I need to use the loo for a tic. There's a spare bedroom across the hall. Please wait there and we'll talk in a few minutes. Okay?"
The door cracked open and Susan held out her hand. Hermione folded into her outstretched arms and they hugged for a long moment.
Susan sat Hermione on the floor with her back against the bed and returned a few minutes later with two bottles of butterbeer and a plate of sandwiches. She closed the door and sat down on the floor facing Hermione.
For half an hour Hermione explained her life's frustrations, her feelings of guilt about Ron's abduction, the attack at her home, concern about Neville and her parents limited understanding of her world. Susan was a patient listener, giving nods of encouragement from time to time, but never interrupted. Finally Hermione got to the crux of the matter as she blurted, "I killed…" She never finished as Susan drew the distraught teen to her. They wept in each others arms for a few minutes, beginning the cleansing process in each other's guilt along the way.
… -- …
Sunday 18 August
At breakfast the next morning, Amelia and Susan were up first. Amelia mentioned, "I noticed that you were spending a lot of time with Hermione yesterday." She left it as an open-ended statement and waited to see if her niece would offer any information.
Susan hesitated a moment, considering if she was breaking a confidence, and replied, "She's had a really stressful summer, and hasn't had enough support. I think she really appreciates having a girlfriend to talk to."
Amelia nodded and observed, "I've always been grateful that Becky and Hannah have been there for you. I'm glad that you are taking the time to get to know Hermione better. She has a bright future ahead of her." She considered her words for a moment, smiled, and added, "Come to think of it, so do you."
Susan beamed at her and replied, "Thanks, Auntie."
Amelia nodded and asked, "So what are your plans for the day?"
Susan replied, "Mrs. Weasley invited Harry, Hermione and I over for lunch. Hermione and Harry had spent part of August there the last several years. I suppose she's really lonely this year."
Amelia looked at her niece for a moment and replied, "I'm certain that she is. Doubtless she'll ask if there is any news regarding Ron. In a word, none. I've asked Connie to question people that they pick up. So far, nothing has been learned. My expectation is that no one outside of those who were in the courtroom raid knows where he is, and until we pick one of them up, or Harry is able to finish off Voldemort, nothing will change. The only thing we've really done is to telegraph that he has value to us."
Susan smiled grimly and thought, 'Nothing like putting a bit of pressure on him.'
Amelia added, "Smidgen can watch baby Lisa while you're gone. I know you two can take care of yourselves, but please humor me and take Michelle with you."
Without any argument, Susan replied, "All right. We'll be back before dinner."
… -- …
Three hours later Harry, Susan, Michelle and Hermione arrived at the Weasleys. Susan watched with great pleasure as Mrs. Weasley threw Harry into one of her bone-crushing hugs. Hermione nodded and whispered, "She probably was the first adult that Harry remembers getting a hug from."
Susan gave a little smirk and replied, "He's had no shortage lately."
Hermione briefly met Susan's eyes, nodded and replied, "I'm going to say 'Hi' to Ginny." She walked off.
Susan went back to Harry, who had previously mentioned the kindly mum's habits. Therefore it was no surprise that Mrs. Weasley easily slipped into "Molly mode," stuffing Harry and the other guests with every sort of food as they ate lunch together.
Ginny was quiet as they ate. Whereas Harry had easily had the best summer of his life, the youngest Weasley was ending the worst summer of hers. She missed having Harry and Hermione stay over for several weeks, and everyone had been devastated with Ron's abduction.
Molly danced around the unspoken subject as long as she could and finally Susan announced, "I asked Auntie about Ron this morning. Connie has had the Aurors questioning everyone that the pick up. So far, there hasn't been any word about him. She thinks that just the few people who left the courtroom with him know where he's being held." Molly nodded in heartfelt appreciation.
Hermione, who had read every book on abductions and hostages that she could get her hands on, added, "In non-magical situations, sometimes a mediator is used to communicate back and forth. I realize that the payment of ransoms is illegal and that Harry has specifically been told not to try that, but it might help."
She glanced at Harry, who gave a polite nod. In reality, he believed that Amelia was doing everything that was practical for his friend and was reluctant to have anyone go around her.
Desperate for any ideas, Molly asked, "What are you thinking of, Dear?"
Slightly unsure of herself, Hermione replied, "Perhaps Mrs. Parkinson…"
Michelle, who had just come in to join them for lunch, listened to the conversation. As they went back and forth she noticed that neither Harry, nor Susan had added much. She didn't think that there was a chance that Minister Scrimgeour would ever release the teen who had been charged as an accessory in eighteen murders in any sort of exchange and would most likely be disinclined to hold her prisoner very long if convicted. As the trial was scheduled in a few days, there wasn't much time to act.
After a teary farewell, with another round of hugs, and feeling like she was rapidly running out of options, Molly sat down at her kitchen tale and carefully wrote on a clean parchment. Dear Mrs. Parkinson. I don't think it was either of our intentions that our children would become involved in this war…
After she was finished, she carefully sealed the letter and sent the message.
… -- …
"Welcome back, Mr. Crow. It's good to see you again." The old scribe noticed that there were fewer scrolls on McGonagall's desk than the last time that he'd been in. He waited for her to say something and wasn't disappointed. "Now that the nonsense over death-sticks has died down, I hope that you and the other scribes can get back to business. Looking at his report again, she frowned and demanded, "Exactly what are your intentions, treating Miss Granger so poorly?"
For once the old scribe agreed with the deputy headmistress about the good feeling of handing in another report, and ignored the fact that she gave him an unhappy look regarding the size of his scroll. He walked out of the castle into the sun and considered making another journey with his steel horse back to the bear tooth pass. As there were a few more chapters to write, and perhaps another tale to relate, he decided to wait until the next report had been filed in a few days. He also needed to contact his fellow scribe, the Chem Prof.
As he was leaving, the old scribe recalled that McGonagall was reading a scroll by the scribe AndrewsQuill entitled Dark Lord Rising. He nodded in approval and wondered how she would like it.