CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THE CURE
O
The Loch Stock Liner burst through the surface of the water once again.
Before Albus opened the door to the cabin, he peered out the window. By the red light of the eclipsed moon, he could see a tiny island composed of two small peaks. One was twice as high as the other, but even the higher couldn't have been more than a quarter mile in elevation. The island was covered in vegetation, so they couldn't see where Solomon or the Macaws might hide; however, Albus guessed Solomon would be in an open field, where the light of the moon could shine down upon the ritual.
He opened the door and gestured for Janelle and Exo to follow him.
Janelle hopped out of her seat and made a point to position herself between Exo and Albus. They walked past Milo.
"Thank you for choosing the LSL!" said Milo happily. "Though I'm not sure how else you would have crossed through the globe this fast, so it was probably an easy choice. Anyway, we've arrived at Sulphur Bay on the south side of the island. Boulder Bay is just to the west." He opened the door and pointed down the left end of the shore to another bay with a small sand peninsula. "But I'd avoid that area if I were you… there are Muggles who do some environmental work over there. You probably wouldn't fancy having to explain yourselves to the New Zealand government. Have fun watching the grass grow, or whatever you're doing here! Give us a call whenever you're finished."
Albus smiled and gave him a cheerful wave that didn't fit his mood. But he didn't want Milo to know that. They exited the cabins, climbed down the ladder, and splashed into the shore below, and then stepped onto the sand of Moutohora's beach. There were rockier shores to either side, dotted with trees, with shorter shrubbery on a sandy path towards the center of the island. It would probably be an amazing sight-seeing adventure in the daytime.
"Wow," said Janelle, looking around. "The world is beautiful in red."
Albus glanced back at Exo; he looked even paler than a regular full moon.
"So, Exo, take out the letter," said Albus. "We've got to find Solomon…"
"Let's look in this direction, to start," said Janelle, pointing towards the lower peak of the island.
Albus looked at her skeptically. "Why?"
"Because I thought I saw something from when we were standing on top of the ship," said Janelle as the Liner submerged again just offshore.
"If you saw something, that's probably the lodgings of the Moutohora Macaws," said Albus. "I doubt Solomon would make his position visible. But we have a way to find him—Solomon said to fold his letter into a paper airplane and then throw it, and it would fly towards him."
"What?!" said Janelle, sounding very displeased. "You never told me this!"
"Why would I—where are you going?!"
"To find the Macaws!" yelled Janelle over her shoulder as she sprinted off towards the smaller peak of the island. "You're not going without a chaperone! Do you think I came out here just to add my life to the gamble?! I want this to happen for you and your friend, which is why I didn't bring anyone along on the Liner, but I don't want you to die in the process!"
"No!" shouted Albus. "Janelle, COME BACK!"
Janelle didn't respond. Hurriedly, Albus shifted to face Exo, who was folding Solomon's letter into an airplane as fast as possible. "Faster!" he cried.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" said Exo. "If I don't fold it properly it might fly slower!"
Finally, Exo finished folding. He hurled the airplane into the air, and it zoomed off sharply to the right, leading into a small nook between the trees. They charged after it; Albus thought for a moment about throwing on the Invisibility Cloak, but he wouldn't be able to run as well if he was holding it, and there might be thorns that could tear the precious fabric. But Solomon would trust the son of Harry Potter… right?
The dense trees were hampering their progress; they had to hop roots and dodge trunks constantly. But Janelle had started her race to the Macaws on a clear path of sand; if Solomon was on the far east edge of the island, and if the Macaws were closer to the center, she would arrive far before they arrived… that wouldn't be a problem if the Macaws didn't all own Soundsplitters, brooms which could probably reach Solomon even before Exo and Albus did, at this pace. For Exo's cure, but also even just for Solomon's safety, they really had to hurry; they couldn't waste any time.
The paper airplane traveled at a pace such that it was always the same distance ahead of them; if they sped up, so did the plane. They took a long arc around the island, running around the higher mountain.
"Albus," puffed Exo as they ran; he looked over his shoulder briefly, and Albus saw that Exo was looking like he might wither away in minutes.
"What? What is it?" asked Albus with high concern. "Are you okay? Do you need to rest for a moment?"
"No, no, I'm fine," insisted Exo, turning his head back around just in time to avoid running into a tree. "I was just thinking… with all this stuff that's coming to light, you know, about Dismiusa and Gallen Ingot and Swait using the Devoctrices… do you think it's getting more common? Do you think there's some sort of connection—are more people figuring out how to do these powerful spells than in any time in history?"
"Maybe," said Albus. "Why—what made you think about it?"
"Well—this 'ritual' that Solomon says will cure me… do you think it's a Devoctrix?"
Albus almost tripped over his feet. "Oh, Merlin," he said as he considered it. "That would explain so much—why people say that no spell can cure a werewolf… because a Devoctrix isn't really the same type of spell as we usually consider!"
A small creature darted out from its hiding place when Exo passed nearby; Albus ran full-speed into it and tumbled to the ground. Exo skidded to a halt, and the paper airplane slowed to a stop near him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, putting his hands on his knees to rest.
"Yeah, I didn't hurt myself," said Albus, brushing himself off.
He turned to look at the creature scurrying away in a limp, and laughed in spite of everything. It was a small lizard covered in spines. "Oh, look—it's a tuatara!"
"What?" said Exo, peering through the darkness to try and see.
"A tuatara—it's James's Patronus animal. I guess they live on Moutohora. …Whatever, we have to keep going!"
Exo nodded, and turned to step back into his run. They continued their sprint around the mountain, and some of the trees started to clear.
"There's beach over there," said Exo, pointing and changing course. "We can run faster without all these trees—"
"No, no, don't do that!" yelped Albus. "You don't want to go out in the open—if the Macaws are flying overhead, they'll see us."
"Good thinking," said Exo, and he changed course back into the denser trees. They veered even further into the growth to avoid detection, and the paper airplane drifted over to stay in front of them, though now it was pointing slightly off of the course they were actually taking.
"I think we're getting close," wheezed Exo. "Look how much the airplane is changing direction while we're running…"
It was true; the airplane was pointing further and further to their right, suggesting that they were approaching their target and would pass it on their right if they kept their course. If they were farther away, the angle wouldn't be growing as fast as it was.
"Then we should change, too," said Albus, taking out the Invisibility Cloak. His legs were burning from the sprint, but he ignored the pain. He threw the Cloak on, and followed Exo's change in direction to follow the airplane more closely.
It had been at least a half-mile's journey through the island. At their running pace, they had probably been left with plenty of time before the full eclipse began; Albus checked the watch that Aidan had lent him, and found that it was 10:51—twenty minutes until the full eclipse, which would only last fourteen minutes. That wasn't much of a window, but if they were almost there already… Solomon would hopefully be able to defend against the notice of any Macaws if they warned him beforehand.
They finally burst through the last of the trees into a clearing that bordered the sea. They were on the very southeast corner of the island. Several rock peninsulas jutted out into the bay before them. The trees were positioned so that the clearing was unnaturally square-shaped, and Albus knew this had to be the place. The paper airplane dipped down until it nosedived into the ground, and Exo stopped so harshly that he slipped and fell on his rear-end.
Albus stopped behind him and tried to mask the sound of his breathing as Exo stood up, looking around in the darkness.
Tremulously, he spoke. "…John Solomon?"
"I am here," uttered a slow, deep voice in response.
Albus threw a hand to his mouth to prevent any noise from escaping as Exo staggered backwards and nearly fell over again.
"Oh, my God," whispered Exo. "You're really here."
There was a strange ripple in the air, and then a door opened out of nowhere. A man of entirely average proportions walked out from behind the door and stood several yards in front of Exo. He wore black gloves and black robes with a hood; he took the hood off to reveal a head of short, matted gray hair. His presence was instantly commanding, though he stood no taller than most adults Albus had known and his features were no more severe; there was simply some force about him that he knew how to present. He was, after all, a world-renowned Defense master and a great speaker.
He was holding a wand and another instrument that Albus recognized from the Lunar Eclipse festival in their second year: an undulating black funnel. The door behind Solomon slowly swung shut, and it vanished as soon as it latched; not a trace of the door could be seen.
"Hello, Exorian Wilcox," said Solomon, and a slight smile appeared on his solemn face. "It's good to see you."
Exo could only mouth dumbly; he was star-struck.
"And you may tell young Master Potter that he need not hide his face from me," said Solomon, looking around at the trees that bounded the clearing.
Albus pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of himself, and Solomon gazed over to him. Albus smiled and held up a hand meekly. "Hello," he said.
"Before we say anything else," said Exo, panting heavily after their run, "I should warn you—we picked up unwanted company, and we're being tracked. Since we need to buy more time before the full eclipse… we might want to figure out a way to fend them off."
"I am experienced with unwanted trackers," said Solomon, teasing a smile again. "It is no matter. I've arranged that this area is impossible to reach or flee using Apparition—there will be no one appearing in our midst, so we will be able to see them coming. But if you really would like to ensure that no one can see us, we could disappear through the door. It leads to an area of the island protected against sight, sound, and all other magic, but it will still be exposed to the natural elements around it—thus we can still see the moon and I can still perform the ritual."
"Yes!" exclaimed Exo, though he moderated his volume to avoid detection. "Yes—they're probably on brooms, so we'd have a job fending them off. We should go in now."
"Very well," said Solomon. "Step inside—Albus, you may remain under the Cloak until we return… when we do, your friend will no longer suffer the condition."
He reached into the air, and wrapped his fingers around an invisible doorknob; he pulled on the door to open it, and Albus froze in place.
His mind flashed back to the Lunar Eclipse festival, and watching the atrocities that occurred there. This was the first time he had truly flashed back without reactivating the trauma of the night, as he had directly after the massacre. He watched his mind replay the memory of Solomon getting his fingers shot clean off.
Solomon took his hand off of the door. Albus stared. The fingers were curling unnaturally… either too much at once, or not at all. He slowly raised his wand; Exo glanced back at Albus and his eyes flew all the way open.
"What are you doing?!" hissed Exo through his teeth.
"Master Potter?" inquired Solomon, slowly and calmly.
Harry's voice echoed back through Albus's head—something he had said once, but which had not made enough of an impression in Albus's mind at the time for Albus to think he would remember it:
John Solomon dropped off the face of the earth a couple weeks ago, you remember him, the guy who gives those lectures… he always wears gloves?
"T-t-take y-your g-g-gloves off," ordered Albus.
Solomon peered at him curiously. "Excuse me?"
"Take them off," repeated Albus. "NOW!"
"Albus, what the hell?" spat Exo.
"I want to see your hands," said Albus. "You always wear gloves. What's underneath them?"
Solomon held up his hands and wiggled his fingers, but his grip on his wand was awkward. Albus kept his own wand steady.
"Siobor had wands for fingers," he said. "Exo's not going with you until you take off your gloves and prove you have fingers. Why is this so difficult? If you just take your gloves off, I'll believe you. Why won't you just do it if you're not Siobor?"
"You honestly think I'm Ivan Siobor, the werewolf hunter?" scoffed Solomon, shaking his head.
Albus tried to stop his wand from shaking as he kept it steadily directed towards the man in front of him. "Yes," he said. "Yes. I do. You would have taken your gloves off by now if you weren't."
Exo backed slowly away, and raised his own wand.
"Don't even think about attacking," warned Albus, invoking a hollow threat. "You've already seen what I can do when my hand has been cut by Swait's knife. I outdueled you once and I'll do it again—I don't care how many wands you have."
Solomon chuckled. "I'd hesitate to call that 'outdueling' me," he said.
Albus's heart plummeted like a stone, splashing into his stomach: it was Siobor.
"More like not knowing your own strength," said Siobor. "But it wasn't your own strength, was it? You lucked your way out of it with Elbad Swait's Bloodblade. But might I remind you… that luck ran out when the knife's power ran dry."
Albus's throat dried out instantly and his wand began shaking so violently he could not stop it. How did Siobor know this?
"So sorry to burst your bubble," said Siobor, his voice slowly phasing into a harsh Russian accent. "But did you really think you stood a chance against me? You brought only yourselves with the knowledge that I might very well be the enemy you knew to be after Exorian's life? What kind of Potter are you? Yet you escape Death's every stroke. It's absurd. No more, however. I think you need a lesson in dying, and I would be happy to provide."
Albus's eyes filled with tears as suddenly several dozen men and women with firearms walked out of invisible doors all around them, and every one of them had fingers on the triggers.
"Prepare yourself to receive the cure, filthy werewolf scum," chortled Siobor. "I have not lied… you will transform no longer. It is a truth accepted long ago. The only cure for the werewolf is death. Goodbye, from the Man in the Shadows."
Albus squeezed his eyes shut as the last trickle of hope left his body.
But then, something brought it back.
A song, beautiful and harmonious, drifted across the trees. It was a song that filled his soul with light and energy; a song that restored his hope. The face that Siobor next struck informed Albus that the song was having the opposite effect upon their evil adversary. Then, with a flash of brilliant red-orange light, a phoenix teleported in front of their eyes. It wrapped its tail around Albus and Exo so rapidly that the onlookers had no time to react, and it disappeared with them in tow—because of course, phoenixes could Apparate where humans couldn't…
Sparky the phoenix and his passengers reappeared in the trees; Albus and Exo spilled onto the ground at Janelle's feet. Janelle scooped Albus up off the ground and hugged him tight as two men in red, yellow, and blue robes—the colors of the Moutohora Macaws—set up a strong magical barrier around the three youths.
When Janelle released Albus, he turned to look; the Macaws, touching down off their brooms, began dueling Siobor's minions. These Muggle weapons were either extraordinarily powerful or primed with magic—they were cracking and shattering the magical barriers that the Macaws were employing. But the Macaws were winning, Stunning the army while remaining safely behind their shields. Tashra stood in the center of the clearing, dueling Siobor himself.
"DON'T ATTACK SIOBOR!" screamed Albus. "HE'S TOO STRONG!"
Sparky lifted into the air over their shield and thrust himself forward at Siobor. With another piercing cry of phoenix song, he flapped his wing in Siobor's direction, and a wave of billowing phoenix flame rushed towards Siobor. The song filled Albus with hope—they would win the day, and Siobor would be defeated—
Siobor propelled himself out of the range of the plume of fire, and Albus could not hear his shout, but a green jet of the unforgiveable spell shot towards Tashra only from the index finger of his right hand. The spell hit Tashra directly between the eyes, and he collapsed onto the ground.
"NO!" screamed Albus, Janelle, and Exo all at once.
The rest of the Macaws, who had just finished dealing with Siobor's servants, turned and began to attack their Captain's murderer all at once. Siobor blasted into the air on jets of wind from all ten of his wands, and he vanished into the red sky.
"No," whispered Albus, and tears began streaming down his face as he looked at the still form of Tashra on the ground, and he knew it was entirely his fault that the man was dead. "No…"
Sparky lifted himself again and flew to Tashra's side. He lowered his beak and nudged at Tashra's side, and then hopped on his chest and dripped a single tear down onto Tashra's face between the eyes, right in the spot where the Killing Curse had hit him. But Tashra did not rise.
Sparky craned his head up to the sky, and opened his beak, and suddenly, the world was filled—no, each person was filled—with the phoenix lament.
The beautiful, mournful song washed over Albus like waves smoothing out a beach. It was his very own grief, turned directly to song, yet somehow listening to the music calmed his soul. He stood, stricken by the power of the lament, until the Loch Stock Liner burst from under the bay in front of them. Harry and Wilcox leapt from the side and gently touched down into the water. They ran to shore, and they both turned their gazes to their sons.
As Sparky's song continued to flood Albus with emotions, he saw that it was having an even more powerful effect upon his father, who had already heard phoenix song once in his life: after Dumbledore's death. He wondered what kind of emotions it was bringing back. The father and son stood in front of each other, gazing into each others' eyes, wondering what the other was feeling. Albus had worried that his father would be furious, but he had no such worries now.
Harry ran to Albus and threw his arms around him. He wasn't crying, but neither was he speaking. He just held Albus tightly and Albus hugged him back.
Sparky took to the skies once more, and Albus knew he wouldn't be coming back. His lament continued to drift towards them, but it was fading as he flew, and eventually, the bird and the song disappeared forever. The feeling in his chest took longer to loosen.
"We should go," said Wilcox. "My son… he's going through more full moon than usual. He needs rest."
"You go, Helio," said Harry. "Take Exo. But Albus and I… we can't just leave these people alone with the damage that's just happened."
"I could take Albus and Janelle back, too," suggested Wilcox gently.
"No," said Harry. "I want to be with my son for a while."
Wilcox nodded in understanding. He escorted his son back to the Loch Stock Liner, which crept back under the waves once more.
Neither Harry nor Albus was letting go of their hug. They stood by the Macaws, letting the tears fall all the way until the shadow of the earth left the moon and the blood-red light over the world was lifted.
O
"So," said Harry as they climbed aboard the LSL. "Siobor was Solomon all along… perhaps even from the beginning."
"How is that even possible?" asked Albus. "I thought… I thought they both had histories."
"Ivan Siobor never attended any school," said Harry, opening the door to the cabins. "Nobody knew him personally. Solomon might truly have led a double life from the start, inventing the character of Ivan Siobor by distorting his facial features and appearing occasionally in Russian news."
Harry waved to Milo without much enthusiasm; Milo didn't ask for any payment.
"Don't put us up at the top of the queue, please," said Harry. "We need time to talk anyway."
"Noted," said Milo, his usual cheerful demeanor gone.
Harry, Albus, and Janelle wandered into an open cabin and sat down. Harry continued talking about Siobor.
"We have to be prepared for the possibility that Siobor is a powerful Metamorphmagus, just like Teddy—in which case we wouldn't be able to sense any disguise he takes as we would if he were Polyjuicing. This includes visages of people we know. You know that Teddy can make himself look like anyone in the family… Siobor might be able to mimic people just as well. In fact, given this information, the same man might even have been a third person we knew."
"What?!" said Albus, startled. "Who?"
"Hugh January," replied Harry. "You remember him—the man who worked in Luna's wand shop? He had three missing fingers?"
Albus's jaw dropped. He did remember Hugh January. And now that he thought about it… he recalled that all three of them—Solomon, January, and Siobor—had supposedly lost family to Fenrir Greyback. And Albus had been told that Hugh January lost three fingers to a curse from Greyback… but what if it was his own doing? What if Solomon had already cut those three off by that point? What if that was why Solomon was known for why he always wore gloves… and at the Lunar Eclipse festival, when Albus had sworn he'd seen three of Solomon's fingers get shot off, what if Siobor had blasted his own fake fingers off to make it look like the gunners were targeting him, too?
"Hugh worked in Luna's wand shop, possibly stealing her secrets of her advanced wandlore for his own usage," continued Harry. "His missing fingers make me think Siobor was experimenting long before he finally went all the way and replaced every one of his fingers. Perhaps that's when he decided to disappear. After all, Solomon and Hugh went missing at about the same time. We just thought that was coincidence; why would we ever have suspected they were the same person? But maybe they weren't initially the same person; Siobor could have killed January and taken his identity long ago. He's crafty. He's avoided capture for this long, and he managed to lure you boys in. He would have killed you two if Janelle hadn't hopped on board the LSL and notified the Macaws as soon as she could."
"Thank you," said Albus quietly.
Janelle nodded, but there was no "I told you so" anywhere in her expression. She simply understood.
"And… whom did Siobor enlist to serve him like that?" said Janelle. "With those Muggle gun devices?"
"Sandbloods," said Harry. "I recognized a few of them. Uncle Ron is heading over there now with another group of Aurors to take them into custody. A couple of them were prominent Sandblood leaders whose names we've heard thrown around their base… but I think most of them were Imperiused Muggles. Not that this is a bad thing—it means we've rescued a great deal of people. Thank goodness the Macaws had the sense not to use deadly force… and thank goodness they're also fairly accomplished duelists."
"I can't believe Siobor is in league with the Sandbloods," said Albus. "Why would they have teamed up—don't the Sandbloods hate wizards?"
"Maybe they're using him to get rid of certain wizards—the werewolves," said Harry. "Perhaps Siobor wanted use of the Marionette's Medicine, so he contacted the Sandbloods. Or maybe Siobor Imperiused some Sandbloods to help him along, and he's not actually affiliated with them at all. There's no way to know… I'm actually surprised that the Sandbloods didn't all swallow poison pills and kill themselves. If they don't kill themselves, we might be able to clarify the situation a little bit with the information they have to give. But whatever the case… Ivan Siobor, or John Solomon, or whoever he is, is now the number one priority of the Auror Office. Keep Exo safe at school, Albus. We're going to have to station people at Hogwarts all year round… probably Rohan and Alana at least."
Albus twitched at Alana's name, and Harry seemed to notice.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," said Albus, casting his gaze to his feet.
Harry eyed him curiously for a moment, but the conversation died down, and they were left staring out the window at the passing Blicks in Digher Straits, until the cabin lights flashed green and the Liner resurfaced in an area of the world where there was light. True to his promise, Milo had not moved them up the queue, and the Loch Stock Liner kept on its way.
"I just wish I knew how Siobor was able to break through the barrier around Hogwarts," said Harry. "The only thing I could imagine is that he…"
Albus looked up. "What?"
"Never mind," murmured Harry. "That's insane."
"What is it? I tell you everything…"
"I've been sworn to secrecy on this one."
"By whom?"
"That's a secret."
Albus huffed and put a hand under his chin.
"But as for the large part of it, I'm beginning to think you and James are finding out more about it than I ever did," said Harry quietly, and that was all the hinting that Albus needed.
Janelle looked around at the two of them awkwardly, but seemed to decide that she would try and pry it out of Albus later. She didn't know, however, that Albus wasn't necessarily able to talk to anyone about it. Since his knowledge from Professor Desulgon had influenced how he analyzed the information from Litinia and Swait, he couldn't discuss any of it.
They didn't talk much the rest of the way back. They used the time mostly for silent reflection. To take his mind off of Tashra's death, Albus thought about whether his father knew anything about the Devoctrices—he had, after all, been Head Auror when Gallen Ingot came to power, and if that was indeed how Ingot had become so powerful, then he probably would have heard any theories about it. But when James had begun to describe the Devoctrices, Harry didn't seem to recognize the name…
How many people knew about the Devoctrices, and how many times had they been used in the world? What other things in the world had he taken for granted that might be Devoctrices? He'd have to make a list sometime.
After what seemed like much less than an hour, the candles in the cabin flashed blue, and Harry broke himself out of his thoughts as well. He gestured to Albus, and Janelle shifted in her seat, unsure if she should go with them.
"I'll be right back to escort you back to Beauxbatons, Janelle," said Harry. "Albus, I'm just going to walk you out of the ship—I shouldn't hold up the Liner much longer, so I can't bring you all the way to the castle. Will you be comfortable walking back to the castle on your own?"
"Yeah," said Albus. "I mean—it's not that far of a walk…"
"I know, I'm just making sure," said Harry. "After all, you've been through a lot, and I wouldn't be surprised if you never wanted to be alone again. Come on, then."
"You never will be alone," said Janelle before the door closed; Albus turned back and smiled at her, waving before Harry nudged him out again.
"Albus," said Harry as they waved goodbye to Milo, whose twiggy mustache still sagged in sorrow. "I'm so happy you're safe… and it's a really good thing that we've uncovered some of the truth about John Solomon… but please. Never, ever do anything like that, ever again."
Albus had been wondering when the "never scare me like that again" part of the talk would come up. He nodded.
"I don't need to say any more than that, do I?" he sighed as he walked with Albus to the ladder that was thrown down into the Black Lake. "You know as well as anyone… there are some things that phoenix tears can't cure." He looked over to the castle. "Like werewolves… and death."
His gaze seemed to be fixed upon the Astronomy tower.
"I'm sorry," said Albus quietly.
Harry looked over to him. "It's really perfectly understandable, Albus," he said. "You have… you have a saving people thing. It's just that… history repeats itself. But my history is full of good people dying. I want you to promise me that, if at all possible, you will not save someone without proper guidance… okay?"
Albus was being asked to make a lot of promises lately. He nodded.
"All right," said Harry, smiling weakly. "Off you go, Albus. I'll… I'll see you in a few weeks… when you're home."
He hugged his son tightly again, but didn't let go.
"Albus, I'm…"
"You're what?"
Harry turned to the Liner's captain. "Salvo, I'm escorting my son back to the castle," he said. "I'm afraid to let him walk back alone. Please wait here for me—I'll pay you whatever losses you sustain because of my delay."
"I understand," said Salvo, and he turned to screech something back up to the mermaid in the crow's nest.
Harry climbed down the ladder first, and froze the water under them so that they could walk the short distance to shore while remaining dry. They continued to the castle, and Harry was so tense that Albus worried his father would have a heart attack if a bird flew too close. But he understood why the tension was there.
"I'm going to have to head back to the Aurors now," he said when they were finally approaching the castle. "We're following up on some important leads. I'd like to stay here with you and personally make sure you and James and Lily are safe, but I can't do that forever—"
"I promise, Dad," said Albus. "I won't do anything like this again."
Harry hugged his son again for a long time, and then nodded. "I'm definitely holding up the Liner," he said. "I'm going to go bring Janelle back. Next time you two see each other, you owe her an enormous thanks."
"I know," said Albus, smiling.
Harry turned and jogged back to the Loch Stock Liner, but kept looking over his shoulder as Albus continued to wave goodbye.
He walked the few remaining steps to the castle, but every footstep made him cringe. With every step he took, he carved his path into the world. How many people would die in his wake?
Only one more chapter to go! I can't wait to get started on the fifth book-it'll be intense. Heads up, I changed the rating of Book 5 to "M" for Mature because I realized it's going to get rougher than the first four, mostly in language and violence. The violence in this one is pretty bad, too, but it's the language that's made me think I should change Book 5's rating. There will be references to sexual situations (but I'm not going to write "sex scenes"), because, let's face it, they're teenagers and they're growing up.
By the way, did anyone notice that I didn't list James among the characters in Book 5? That was because I uploaded Book 5 before you found out whether James was going to live. I left him out of the character list on purpose because I suspected people following the story in real time might check to see whether he was appearing in Book 5 as a way to cheat the wait. :) I've since edited him back on the character list.
See you all soon for the last chapter.
