Chapter 28

Christmas Dinner

Fred and George turned to look at their little sister afraid of her reaction, but Ginny Weasley, didn't scream nor cry in front of everyone, especially in front of the woman who she had poured her heart out to and who had made it fall to pieces. She was screaming on the inside, unable to believe what she was hearing, but she didn't let it show. She hid every emotion behind a calm façade.

She put the auto-pilot on and, smiling, went to congratulate her brother and Hermione acting as if nothing had happened, to everyone's surprise.

The drinks were all served and everyone gathered in front of the fire place to talk for a bit while the meal was being prepared. Mrs. Weasley turned the radio on and once she found the traditional Christmas broadcast, she headed to the kitchen to set the table.

Thirty minutes later, Mrs. Weasley called them to the table which by now was all set with an assortment of food. In the centre was a carved roasted turkey filled with sage, onions and chestnut that gave the bird a fantastic aroma. Next to it, were bacon wrapped chipolatas accompanied by boiled brussel sprouts, parsnips, and roasted potatoes. There were also three sauces to choose from: cranberry, bread and gravy. The desserts were Christmas pudding with raisins, nuts and cherries served with Bandy sauce, and chocolate cake and mince pies filled with fresh fruit that were waiting their turn to be served in the kitchen.

Everyone except Ginny ate with pleasure and revelled the moment. She laughed at the jokes and talked to everyone but on the inside, she was crying her heart out.

She kept the charade as much as she could but when she saw her brother kissing Hermione on the lips and Hermione seemingly enjoying it, she couldn't stand it anymore and, excusing herself from the table, she went to her secret spot where she finally let her feelings flow.

Hermione, who had seen Ginny leave, started to worry for her, she yearned to go after her, comfort her and tell her that choosing Ron over her had been a mistake. Yet she couldn't. She told herself that what she had done had been necessary for Ginny's sake. The darkness was getting closer with each passing day and she couldn't allow Ginny to get involved for she knew with certainty that if she and Ginny would get together, Ginny would follow her to hell itself just to be by her side.

As she was thinking about it, the alarms against dark wizards started sounding and a minute later, there was the sound of seizing fire and screams. A mix of confusion, fear and adrenaline coursed through everyone at the house.

The older wizards rushed outside to find Bellatrix Lestrange and a pair of Death Eaters whose purpose was destructing the family to get a hold on Harry without them knowing it. They were setting on fire whatever they could find in their way. They were laughing hysterically and enjoying the moment.

When they saw the Weasleys coming out of the house, they cast some nasty spells towards them, missing them by mere inches. Several curses passed Molly, Arthur and the twins while they counter cursed with potent spells although none of them hit their targets.

Inside the house, one of the Death Eaters had gotten in and looked for Harry. He sneaked through the burning house, searching in every room. When he entered Ron's room he saw that Harry was in there, looking at him fiercely. He entered the room, pointing his wand at him but he missed to see Hermione standing behind the door and sending a powerful spell towards him, knocking him cold.

Once the Dead Eater was out of the picture, Ron, Harry and Hermione, ran outside to help the others and joined the fight. Hermione wondered where Ginny was, she couldn't bear the thought of her being hurt so she told Harry that she would go looking for her. She didn't have time to go finding Ginny as that precise moment Bellatrix aimed her wand and cast the cruciatus curse at Ron who ducked just in time, thanks to the aid of Hermione who pulled him down.

To everyone's surprise, Ginny appeared behind the Death Eaters and shot a spell towards one of them, stunning him. A very surprised Bellatrix turned towards Ginny and tried to hit her with the killing course but missed. When she saw that she was alone and that the other death eaters were lying on the floor, she looked at everyone with a manic smile and disapparated.

The news of the attack to the Weasleys reached Dumbledore a few minutes after the altercation had ended. He sent an owl to them asking to send Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione to the castle immediately as they would be safer there.

The moment they arrived, they were greeted by Professor McGonagall, who frowned with preoccupation, "I have just heard from Professor Dumbledore about the attack to your home. I can assure you, that you're now safe at the castle." then, pausing for a bit, she added, "I bet you're all starving! You just made it in time for dinner. Please leave your things here with me and they will be taken to your dormitories."

They left for the Great Hall and sat on their usual places. The food appeared in front of them but none of them gave any indication that they were going to move. Ron looked at his plate, and the instinct for food won over, making him devour it. The rest of them looked at him with slight disgust but they didn't say a thing.

A few minutes later, McGonagall showed up in the room and told Harry that the Headmaster wanted to see him immediately. He stood up and headed to meet him, leaving Hermione, Ginny and Ron behind.

When Harry arrived at the office of the Headmaster, the lights were dimly lit, the portraits of the previous headmasters were snoring softly on the walls and the pensive was on the centre of the room lit by a floating candle that accentuated its silvery content. Dumbledore stood on one of the sides of the pensive, his hands were placed at either side of the cup and he was looking intently at its contents. His right hand was still burned and wrinkled and had a pronounced charcoal colour. It looked worst than ever, and Harry wondered once more what had caused it but refrained the impulse of asking.

"Harry, I'm terribly sorry to hear about what happened at the Burrow, but I'm also relieved that everyone is safe." Then he lowered a bit his glasses and said, "I call you tonight because there are some important memories that I want to show you."

"We are today visiting a memory I collected from Morfin, Marlvolo's son. They were the only relatives to Riddle when his mother died. When he was at Hogwarts, he got obsessed with finding his family, but when he couldn't find any records of his father and got convinced that he had never set a foot on Hogwarts, he dropped his father's Muggle name. It was then that he adopted the name of Lord Voldermort and started searching for her mother's bloodline. He discovered from the people at the orphanage that his mother's fathers name had been Marvolo. So in the summer of his sixteenth birthday, he left the orphanage to look for him.

"Are you ready?" he said and lifted his hand, waiting for Harry to take it.

"Yes, sir," Harry answered and taking the Headmaster's hand, they dived into the first memory that Dumbledore was going to show him that night.

When they came back to the present, Dumbledore went to his chair and before sitting down, he motioned Harry to take a seat.

"Is that it?" asked, Harry. "Why did everything went dark all of a sudden?"

Dumbledore explained patiently, "Because Morfin couldn't remember anything beyond that, Harry. When he woke up the following morning, there was no sign of Riddle and his father ring was gone."

"Meanwhile, in the village of Little Hangleton, the Riddle's maid was running through the streets, yelling that her employer, along with his father and mother had been murdered."

"The Muggle authorities never knew what really happened, because the Avada Kedavra curse doesn't usually leave any known trace. There's only one exception that I know of, and is standing in front of me," Dumbledore said and aiming towards him, he pointed at his scar. "In contrast to the clueless Muggle authorities, the Ministry of Magic knew that the murder of the Riddles had been committed by a wizard and that a well known Muggle hater, named Morfin, lived nearby. So they called him in for questioning and he admitted murdering them and gave all the details. Details only the murderer could have known. He didn't even put a fight when he was sent to Azkaban."

"The last weeks before he died, I went to visit him because I was trying to discover as much as I could about Voldermort's past. I had to use Legilimency on him and with great difficulty I was able to extract this memory. When I saw its contents, I used it to convince the Ministry to release him, but Morfin died before justice could have been done to him."

"Sir…" Harry was interrupted by Dumbledore who said, "Harry, I know that you have many questions to ask, but I need to show you one more memory and this is the most important. Please pay attention to every detail."

"Now, if you please…" he said and motioned Harry to bend like him towards the slightly congealed substance.

When they came back, Dubledore said, "As you might have noticed, Harry, the memory we saw, has been altered. I want to ask you, to get the original memory from Professor Slughorn. I believe that he has concealed it because he feels guilty. You, my dear Harry, although you don't know it, are the only one who could be able to obtain it. "

"Yes, sir," Harry said and started heading towards the door when Dumbledore interrupted him, "Harry, there's one more thing…"

Harry turned towards him and waited for the Headmaster to speak.

"Tomorrow morning, there will be a surprise for Hermione, Ron, Ginny and you waiting at the Great Hall. Rest well tonight, for you will need it tomorrow. And now, Harry, Good night."

"Good night, sir," Harry said a little taken aback by Dumbledore's abrupt dismissal. He got up and let the room quickly.