Chapter 35: Disaster
The sound of panting caused him to glance to his side, showing Ron running just behind, meaning the choice of who had left for help could be made by a simple process of deduction. Harry slowed slightly – he'd felt a tingle in the back of his head.
"Is it just me, or is it getting colder?" Ron panted.
"Dementors." Harry said in horror as they skidded to a stop just past a line of trees.
It took a split second to take in the scene below them. Hagrid had obviously been taking a group of fourth years for Care of Magical Creatures class, for two young Unicorns were in a paddock near his hut, and the fourth years were grouped behind Hagrid in fear. There had to be at least two dozen Dementors there, and they were between the class and the school, the Forbidden Forest off to the side. Just out of the forest was a small band of centaurs, which looked as though they were trying to approach but couldn't stomach Dementors any more than humans could. A rain of arrows descended ineffectually.
"Get back!" Hagrid yelled to his class, trying to retreat quickly enough to stop them from being surrounded, but many of the students looked too scared to take his words in.
"Sonorus." Harry muttered, pointing his wand at his throat, and then yelled. "This way!"
The students turned, but the fact that they had originally been walking towards the lake meant getting to Ron and Harry also meant going away from the castle, and most of them didn't seem to like that idea. Hagrid half turned as well, until he saw Ron and Harry, before facing the Dementors again.
"Get goin'!" It sounded like Hagrid was trying to shout, but didn't have the strength. "Go!"
Ron had winced at the sound of Harry's magically enhanced voice, but he said nothing. His Patronus shot out of his wand just before Harry's did, both stag and dog bounding forwards, and the two Gryffindors set off after them. Hagrid turned back in Harry and Ron's direction once more, attempting to push some of the stationary students towards them, but as he did so, he fell to one knee, and was forced to turn back towards the approaching creatures. He fought back up to his impressive height. The Dementors appeared unsure as to what to do, as if they had never found someone who seemed able to fight their presence without using magic before, but gradually they fanned out, attempting to pen in the students, and isolate them from Hagrid, whilst a few of their number dealt with the half-giant.
Harry and Ron stopped in alarm. Most of the students had finally started to run, but one of the Dementors had closed upon a stationary girl, and gripped her by the throat, lifting her off the ground. A couple more Dementors turned back towards the struggling Hagrid, but the ones which remained looked as though they would overhaul the fleeing students very quickly, and be upon the two Gryffindor sixth years soon after. If they approached any more, they would be in danger of being attacked by the demonic creatures themselves, and unable to offer anyone else any help at all.
Hagrid gave a primeval yell, and swiped at the Dementors in front of him, as if trying to beat them back by his bare hands. Two of them flew backwards, causing Ron to gasp out loud.
"Giant blood!"
The Dementors paused once more, as though unsure of what was happening, or how someone was able to toss them to the side like that, and yet more of them turned back towards Hagrid, but the one holding the girl merely lowered its face. Hagrid struck another of the creatures, bowling it into its comrades, but four more replaced it. He beat at the Dementor that reached for his throat, forcing it backwards, but he was obviously losing strength.
"Come on!" Harry yelled in his booming voice, as if by urging he could make the fourth years run more quickly.
One of the Dementors was still moving after them, and as it approached the stragglers, it reached for its victim. The boy shrieked as he was caught, and screamed again as he was spun around to see the soulless husk of the girl who had been seized first. At the sound, another of the stragglers, a Gryffindor Muggleborn named Darla Lough, looked behind, and slipped. Harry saw Ritchie Coote turn, and run back to try to help her to her feet again. The Dementors behind seemed to be taking their time to catch up, and Harry hoped that was because the disappearing Hagrid was somehow still holding on.
As Ritchie pulled her upright, the Dementor that was furthest forward grabbed onto the girl's other arm, and began a tug of war. Ritchie was looking like he was getting weaker by the second, and the boy who had been seized first was surrounded now, but all they needed was a few more seconds, and the Patronuses would be there…
"Go!" Ron shouted to the approaching students, some of whom had turned around as though to go to the aid of Hagrid, and the three students, "We'll keep the Dementors back, just keep going! Go the long way back, and find a teacher! We'll help them." Before adding under his breath rather nervously, "Hopefully."
More of the creatures were approaching the two Gryffindor fourth years, although it looked like the Patronuses might just get there first, but even then they would still have to hope that they were strong enough to force back so many of them. The Dementor pulled, bringing its mouth towards Darla's, and pulling Ritchie closer as a result.
"Farcio!" Harry yelled, aiming at the thing's head.
The Dementor rocked backwards as the curse hit it, just inches away from performing the kiss, and, crucially, it lost its grip. The two students fell backwards a matter of yards as they were released, and as they scrambled to their feet, Ron's Patronus bounded up, placing itself between the two Gryffindors and the Dementors.
In the distance, Harry saw Hagrid, back down to one knee again, trying to turn his head away from the three creatures that were holding him, any one of which might lock their mouths over his and…
Harry could feel himself straining as he willed his Patronus to go faster. He yelled Hagrid's name, the Sonorus charm making it feel like the countryside was reverberating, just as the stag barrelled through the group of Dementors that had flocked like vultures to the other unfortunate, causing them to scatter.
As the boy crumpled first to his knees, and then fell face forwards, Hagrid managed to turn his face enough to see Harry, but it was quickly turned back towards the Dementors as if there was no longer any resistance. Harry could see Hagrid's hand weakly trying to push forwards, but he was being held up now, strength completely gone. The Dementor directly in front of him lowered its face once more, even as its companions dropped backwards.
It screeched its unearthly shriek as Harry's Patronus rammed into it, throwing it backwards. Hagrid fell face first to the ground as his support disappeared; Harry had no way of knowing if he had been in time. The Patronus forced the group around the half-giant back, sending them off towards the Forbidden Forest and away from both the school, and the fleeing students.
They retreated towards the pen with the Unicorns, and the centaurs, who had been approaching the battle, fell back once more, wheeling from side to side, as though trying to flank the Dementors. Harry suddenly realised why the centaurs were there. They were trying to release the Unicorns, to allow them to escape. Harry's Patronus disappeared as, in shock, he realised what he might have done, by herding them that way, for the group of Dementors he had chased away had turned to attack the easier prey.
Harry glanced to his side to see beads of sweat running down Ron's face, the Dementors that Harry's Patronus had barrelled through had joined the force being kept at bay by Ron's dog, which was now retreating slowly as the two fourth years staggered up the slope towards them.
"Quietus." Harry muttered, before turning to Ron and trying to sound calm. "Keep them there as long as you can. You know you can do it."
Ron gave Harry a quick look, and Harry saw the beginnings of doubt in his eyes.
"I know you can do it, Ron. All we have to do is delay them long enough for Hermione to come with help, okay, that's all. Keep your Patronus retreating slowly if you need to, don't use all your strength up at once."
He looked frantically at the centaurs and the trapped Unicorns again, and suddenly knew one thing he could do to help.
"Accio gate!" He cried, fixing it in his head.
Immediately he heard it rip free, he stopped concentrating on it, and it landed on the ground. He vaguely noticed the Unicorns being chased as they galloped back towards the forest, and hoped he had been in time. Taking a step forward, he inhaled deeply. Dumbledore had delayed Voldemort with wards and charms; if they were going to last until help arrived, then now was the time for Harry to make the strongest ward of his life. Whatever else Dementors were, they were still solid, physical beings: a ward to stop matter should work. He began to picture the area he wanted to create it in, in his head, but Ron's gasped voice interrupted his concentration.
"What are you doing?"
"There's no way those two will be able to out run the Dementors. Just give me as much time as you can. I trust you, Ron."
"That's what I was afraid of." Ron muttered, but his voice was calmer, and he was breathing slightly easier.
He was sending his Patronus to and fro, in an effort to get the Dementors to retreat, and yet not take too much of his strength, but he was being driven back steadily. At the moment, however, the last two students were gaining distance, and getting closer and closer to where Harry was building the ward. Feeling remarkably calm considering the situation, Harry started on the last cantrip, but paused as he was about to reach the end. Ritchie and Darla had to get past them first.
Harry glanced at Ron, who was starting to show the strain of keeping the Dementors back. Harry thought he'd been making a heroic effort to do as well as he was, but if he kept going much longer he'd collapse. Using his Occlumency techniques to compartmentalise, and try to keep his position in the incantation in his mind, he watched as Darla collapsed completely, just ten yards away. There was no way Ritchie could pull her weight.
"Ron." Harry said slowly, desperately trying to keep his unfinished ward active. "Let your Patronus go, and get them behind us."
"But what about Hagr-" Ron began.
"Just do it." Harry said urgently.
The large dog disappeared, and after the initial confusion of the Dementors, they began to sweep up the hill, ignoring the three bodies on the ground behind them. Harry tried to tune out everything except for his spell, and the position of the people in front of him. He didn't hear the words Ron said, or anything said in reply, but he did see Ron grab the girl by the waist, and bodily heave her up the hill, and he did see the hope in Ritchie's eyes as he reached Harry. But he also saw just how much energy Ron had expended whilst trying to keep the Dementors at bay. Harry pushed away the fear that Ron might be too weak, and tried to keep his focus.
"Stay just behind me." Harry said before Ritchie could leave the circle of the ward, each word straining his concentration to the limit.
The Dementors were gaining, but Ron was getting closer and closer to where the ward would start. Darla slipped from Ron's grasp, and he bent to pick up the dead weight once more, losing precious seconds. Either the Dementors seemed to sense they were in danger of losing their prey, or else Ron was taking longer than Harry had thought he would. His eyes glued to Ron's strides, he tried to measure how long they would take. Five more steps. Four. Darla nearly slipped out of Ron's arms again, but he regained his grip quickly, with a glance behind him, he put even more urgency in his movements. Two. One. Harry could feel the Dementors working away at his Occlumency defences.
"Plena!" Harry gasped, and found himself wavering on his feet from pure mental exertion as the ward was completed. Remembering himself, he spoke urgently to his companions, "Just stay here, the ward's around us in a circle."
The first Dementor reached out towards them almost as soon as the ward had been raised, but found itself blocked by an invisible barrier. Harry looked around, Ritchie was now unconscious too – although both the fourth years were still shivering uncontrollably – and Ron had collapsed to his knees, a fearful, glazed look on his face. Now it was all up to him.
"Expecto Patronum."
The stag shot out of the wand, and charged into the first Dementor, sending it flying backwards in pain, but Harry had no false belief in his own ability. He knew that he could deal with, possibly as many as half this number, if he was lucky, but about sixteen Dementors on his own, was asking a bit much. The one time he had been able to produce a Patronus that strong, there had been slightly extenuating circumstances. The stag could probably throw the Dementors around a bit, but eventually he would tire, just like Ron had.
As he recalled his Patronus to him, the Dementors approached again, spreading out, trying to find a way through. It was claustrophobic, as clawed hands reached forwards to scrape at the barrier, and when that failed, the Dementors pressed themselves bodily against the ward, starting to surround them. As long as his Patronus was there, and he kept up his Occlumency defences, he should be able to keep the ward up – and he only needed to keep the ward up until help arrived. The pain from the pressure on the ward was nothing compared to some of the things Voldemort had put him through.
A voice gasped out beside him. "Expecto… … Patronum."
Ron was somehow conscious; possibly by sheer stubbornness. His Patronus reappeared, although it was wispy, and barely formed, and it stood beside Harry's fully formed one.
"I don't suppose…" Ron gasped, "that you'd like to kill them all… would you?"
He attempted to get to his feet, but couldn't find the strength. Harry shook his head in disbelief.
"Merlin Ron, you need to lie down, not stand up. And I'd love to kill them all, but I don't think that's going to happen. I guess we just wait for help." Harry squatted down on his haunches.
"How are you so calm?" Ron asked in disbelief, his voice losing some of the wheezing.
In fact, when he looked across again, Harry thought Ron was looking a bit stronger, even if there was still no way he could have got to his feet. The healing power of Patronuses?
Harry, despite being surrounded by Dementors, managed a chuckle. "How are you still conscious?"
Ron just shook his head, and looked around at the wall of infuriated Dementors as they continued to surround them. They had passed the semi-circle mark, and now the creatures were starting to cut off the area behind them. Soon they would be completely encircled.
"I hope… Hermione gets here soon… we seem to have been here hours."
"Nearer minutes." Harry told him, and winced. He shook his head as Ron looked alarmed. "I'm okay, it's just the pressure on the ward. A wizard could get rid of it easily, but all these things can do is try to break it with their claws."
"Shall we try and push them back?" Ron managed to ask.
"Not yet, I'm fine at the moment. If I wait until I can't take much more, before we try that, we'll gain more time." He exhaled heavily, and then gave an involuntary gasp of pain. "We just hold on, okay?"
The seconds felt like minutes, and the minutes like hours, but Harry's head remained clear, and his ward remained stable. Although Ron's Patronus was still there, Ron himself was swaying on his knees; but Harry was okay. He gave another gasp: soon he'd have to force the Dementors away to allow the ward (and his head) to recover. His stag looked back towards him reassuringly, as though to tell Harry it would all work out. Harry, however, was finding himself wondering if it was really taking Hermione so long to get help, or if time had somehow slowed down even more than Ron had thought.
The Patronus pushed its way forward, butting two Dementors backwards, and Harry felt the pressure ease. It eased more than Harry had expected, actually, and as he glanced towards Ron as Ron's wispy Patronus finally disappeared, he saw the Dementors behind them start to fall away.
"Harry! Ron!"
"Good old Hermione." Ron managed. "Right on time." He sighed.
Harry barely had time to see two Patronus approaching before Ron slumped to the ground, unconscious. McGonagall and Snape approached at a pace which meant Hermione had to jog just to keep up; her face was as white as a sheet. Unlike McGonagall's shocked look, the Potions' Professor looked just as angry as at breakfast, but his expression faded into nothingness as he saw Harry staring at him. Harry continued to stare as the five figures approached, wishing for the hundredth time that he knew what Snape was thinking. Was he angry about the attack, or angry that he had to do something to stop it? Or, for that matter, was he just angry about whatever he was livid about at breakfast?
The Patronuses – McGonagall's owl foremost – slowed as they reached the four Gryffindors, content to remain, guarding against any Dementors that might return; allowing Harry to follow their disorganised retreat. His vision slid onto the three motionless figures below, and he allowed the ward around them to drop as soon as he could. His own Patronus stood guard in front of him as he watched them return the way they had come, back towards the paddock which had contained the Unicorns. With a sudden sense of urgency, he moved downhill, his stag galloping in front of him. Now that the others were safe, one thought, and one thought only, had entered his head. Hagrid. He heard voices being raised behind him, but he didn't hear the words being said.
"Hagrid!" He yelled, hoping against hope that the prone body would move, and yet that the Dementors would continue past him regardless.
The body remained motionless, and two Dementors slowed as the rest passed the bodies. They stooped as they reached Hagrid's body. Did that mean Hagrid was alive? Harry broke into an even faster sprint; one of the Dementors had turned Hagrid over, so that his face was facing the sun. The other Dementor had faced back towards Harry, and, seeing just one Patronus, and one isolated person, moved towards him, clawed hand ready to strike at the approaching stag. A shriek signalled that the Patronus struck first, Dementor flying sideways and backwards. Harry sent it towards the second Dementor, the one examining Hagrid, but yet not yet descending to kiss. That too flew backwards, and it glided on its way back towards the Forest, as the others had.
Harry skidded past the two bodies of the students, a Ravenclaw, and a Slytherin, and knelt beside Hagrid. He was breathing slowly and gently, but Harry had no way of knowing if he was okay or not. He cradled Hagrid's heavy head in his arms, praying to anyone who might listen for Hagrid to open his eyes, and speak. His Patronus trotted back to him, and Harry willed it to touch Hagrid, and provide him with enough strength to wake up. Hagrid didn't move; his closed eyes didn't even flicker. Harry felt the back of his eyes burning.
Hagrid couldn't die; he couldn't have lost his soul. It had been he who had introduced Harry to the world of magic, he who had been Harry's first friend – magical or otherwise –, he whose mere presence had made the Dursleys think twice about harming him. His mind raced through all the magic he knew, searching for something he knew wasn't there: a counter to the Dementors.
"Enervate." He muttered, pointing his wand towards Hagrid.
Nothing happened. Panic welled up inside Harry; more panic than there had been at any time during the fight.
Harry looked back up towards the teachers, frantically wishing that Dumbledore could be there, that when he would see Hagrid he would be able to tell Harry that he had been in time, that Hagrid was all right.
I should have given the note to someone in the Order immediately I got it. Maybe they would have noticed that the note had been rushed. Maybe they wouldn't have just assumed that because it had said Half-Breed they weren't helping us. I was an idiot, who would have been stupid enough to try and annoy me if they were helping, or if they were trying to fool me? Maybe-
He looked up as he felt the probe against his Occlumency defences once more. The Dementor that Harry's Patronus had thrown out of the way in the rush to Hagrid's side was now directly between Harry and the others, and it was approaching him quickly. McGonagall's Patronus was behind it upon its right, Snape's fox on its left, and both of them were catching up. His Patronus was directly facing it.
Harry glanced at the large head cradled in his arms, and felt a well of hatred towards the Dementor, and Dementors in general, that even the presence of his Patronus couldn't soothe. Responding to his thoughts, the stag advanced towards the Dementor forcing the creature to stop and turn, only to find itself trapped. The stag jumped towards it, causing it to screech in pain, but it could only retreat so far, with the other two Patronuses behind it. The stag stepped forward predatorily again.
Another scream.
As it advanced a third time, the Dementor flung itself backwards, trying to avoid the contact, only to throw itself into the ghostly fox of Snape's, behind, and rebound into Harry's stag. With the mixture of a sigh and scream that Harry had heard just once before, the Dementor collapsed into a pile of robes and dust.
Harry stared down at Hagrid's expressionless face once more, unable to even think.
"Potter," He looked up in shock, for he had not heard McGonagall approaching, the words sounded throaty, "the two students were kissed?"
Harry nodded, glancing back at the dull eyes of each child, devoid of any spark. "I don't know about Hagrid." He burst out desperately. "I thought I was in time, but he won't wake. Even Enervate-"
"Lay him down;" Harry's Head of House said, the worry in her voice not helping Harry's nervousness at all, "if there is no energy for the spell to use..."
A thrill of hope filled Harry as he allowed the head to rest on the ground, and he moved backwards, still on his knees. McGonagall pointed her wand towards Hagrid, and his eyes opened. Another incantation caused a small cylinder of light to exit her wand, which she moved from side to side. After seconds – too many seconds – the pupils moved from side to side with the cylinder.
"Does that mean?" Harry asked, hardly daring to hope.
McGonagall nodded, and sighed in what was most likely relief. "Hagrid will be fine, Potter. Severus or I will take him to Madam Pomfrey. Wh- What happened, Mr Potter?"
Harry paused before even thinking about replying; above them Snape was placing the three unconscious Gryffindors onto stretchers, reminding Harry of his third year. Hermione was holding Ron's hand. This time however, he and his Patronus had not prevented the Dementors kissing… He jumped, as he felt a hand on his shoulder: McGonagall was one of the last people he would have expected to make a comforting gesture like that.
"I am very proud that you and Mr Weasley are members of my House, P- Harry. I must know what happened. If more Dementors are loose in the grounds, more people may be at risk."
Harry caught his breath in surprise. Two figures had emerged from inside the Forest, a Unicorn, and a centaur and it was that, more than McGonagall's words or gesture that broke his unpleasant thoughts. McGonagall turned to see what had caught Harry's attention with a hitch in her breath, ready for another attack, which she quickly hid as she saw them. The Unicorn was trotting forward quite quickly; behind it, the centaur was moving with a pronounced limp. Harry recognised him as he approached: it was Bane, favouring a very stiff back.
Harry just stared, unable to take his eyes off the young Unicorn approaching. As he did so, a thought entered his head, to join his thoughts of self-reproach earlier.
What would have happened if I had gone to McGonagall, and she hadn't realised what it meant or we had been even later?
"The centaurs were trying to free the Unicorns from the paddock, so they weren't helpless against the Dementors." Harry said softly. "I took the gate off so they could get out."
The Unicorn stopped a good ten yards away from the two humans, and cocked its head as it gazed at them. Bane continued to advance at a more sedate pace behind. With a soft whinny, the Unicorn bowed its head, before turning, and galloping past Bane, back to the forest.
"Unicorns are very intelligent." The Transfiguration Professor said, painfully reminding Harry of how Hermione tried to calm herself through instruction. It was unnerving to see Minerva McGonagall out of her usual composed demeanour.
Harry could only nod his head. With a sudden thought of panic, the tranquil moment was gone, and Harry scrambled to his feet.
"Bane! The Dementors aren't attacking you, are they?" He turned to his teacher, and spoke urgently. "I managed to make some of the Dementors retreat, but they went after the centaurs, into the forest."
Bane stopped, even further away than the Unicorn had. He regarded Harry carefully.
"You freed the foals." He said in his deep voice, "Why?"
"Why?" Harry asked in amazement, without even thinking. "I couldn't let the Dementors attack them, or you when you were trying to release them."
After a long stare, Bane turned side on. "The Dementors cannot touch us in our forest. None have greater forest lore than we. We led them towards the abomination Hagrid placed in our domain. The giant will deal with them. It has not enough intelligence to be affected more than slightly."
"Do you require any assistance?"
Harry thought he understood the centaurs better than McGonagall, for he could have told her that her question would border on an insult to a centaur.
Bane turned completely, ignoring the question just as Harry had expected, and trotted a couple of steps away, before stopping once more to call behind him. "They entered the grounds through our forest." And with that, Bane made his way carefully after the Unicorn.
"How did they get in?" Harry asked, as they watched him retreat.
Professor McGonagall didn't answer.
"Harry!" Hermione flung her arms around him, virtually knocking him to the ground.
X x X x X x X x X
"What happened to Ron!" Hermione demanded.
"He kept the Dementors back long enough for Ritchie and Darla to reach us, and for me to make the ward. He'll be fine, he's just exhausted."
Harry looked behind to where Professor McGonagall and Snape were talking animatedly, but in secret. The two soulless husks that once were students, and Hagrid, had been placed on stretchers, to join Ron, Ritchie, and Darla. The initial knowledge that Hagrid had avoided the kiss had given Harry a sense of relief, which he now felt slightly ashamed of when he saw the two that hadn't been lucky enough to avoid that fate.
"They aren't your fault, Harry." Hermione said, following his gaze.
"I know." Harry replied quietly, giving a slightly helpless shrug of the shoulders. "We were too late. Half a minute sooner, and we might have saved the Slytherin." He gave a bitter half-snort. "Do you think that Voldemort told them to go after Slytherins as well as everyone else, or was it just chance?"
"Potter. Granger." Snape's biting tone caused Harry to jump. Anyone would have thought they had been the cause of the attack. The two teachers were walking towards them. "Return to the castle at once, and gather anyone you see into the Great Hall. No-one must be left without the protection of a teacher."
Harry began to bristle, but controlled his initial urge to snap back. It was Hermione who made the impulsive response.
"But Ron!"
"Mr Weasley will be quite safe with us." Snape retorted. "Now go!"
"Severus," Professor McGonagall began quietly.
Snape almost rounded on her as well, but managed to stop himself. "This could close the school, Minerva and-" He stopped talking, and turned with a wave of his hand, and a shake of his head; he strode back to the stretchers.
"I think we can all understand the reason for Severus' frayed temper." McGonagall told them at a near funereal volume. "However, he is still quite right about the need for you to return to the castle. The remainder of Hagrid's class, along with my own, and Severus' are already in the Great Hall, along with-" she cleared her throat "-Professor Trelawney, who happened to be without a class, but it is imperative that, as quickly, and quietly, as possible we gather the school together."
"Can't you just tell the whole school like you did when the Chamber of Secrets was opened?" Harry asked.
McGonagall shook her head. "I'm afraid not, for two reasons. Firstly we are not sure whether all the Dementors have fled or not, and calm is far safer than widespread panic. Secondly, and more practically, it is only the Headmaster or Headmistress whom Hogwarts will allow to use that particular charm. Can I rely upon you to relay this message to Professor Flitwick, firstly, and then the other teachers until enough of the staff know about the situation to do this themselves?"
Harry and Hermione both nodded. "Yes Professor."
They shared a glance, before, as one, they turned back up the slope towards the castle. After the first conversationless minute they both looked behind: who first made the gesture, neither could have said. Harry could feel Hermione look away from the motionless bodies below, and study his face, but he refused to turn to meet her gaze; each time he saw those bodies he felt more guilty that he had been just that bit too late.
Eventually Hermione told him gently, "You were in time to save Hagrid and the rest of the class. Hagrid's the one teacher in the school who couldn't have cast a Patronus, and none of the fourth years could have."
Harry looked at her, nodded, and then glanced backwards once more, before sighing. "Yeah, and McGonagall says Hagrid will be fine in time." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione look anxiously back at Ron.
"Ron'll be fine, Hermione."
"We should be with him." She said through furious gritted teeth.
"I know, but Snape…"
Harry could feel his temper boiling below the surface. Snape had known about the attack, he was certain of it, he was too highly placed in the Death Eaters not to. That meant that either he was a traitor, or else he had just been willing to allow a whole class and Hagrid to die in order to keep his cover. Remembering how Snape had tried to paint himself as a martyr, he fell silent once more, unwilling to examine that as thoroughly as he'd have to if he said anything, just in case. As though Snape could read his thoughts he turned and stared, or maybe rather glared, at him. A glance to the side showed that Hermione looked to be going through an internal struggle of her own, and they turned, and walked on in silence once more.
Would Snape even blame himself? He knew perfectly well that if Hagrid had not survived, or been in trouble in the first place, he, Harry, would right now be castigating himself for the two he had been unable to help, rather than merely feeling this deadened sense of failure. But then, that was part and parcel of who he was, and he hoped he was as far removed from Snape in personality as possible.
And so what if that meant he had a 'saving people thing'? If it did, then, well, he had a 'saving people thing'. It might make him predictable to Voldemort, but no more than Voldemort's complete disdain for life made whatever he did unsurprising. Maybe eventually even Slytherins would realise that he had no morals. After all, one of the victims had been a Slytherin. Surely they had to see that no matter who they were, Voldemort's callousness meant they were at risk?
"But why now?" Harry asked eventually as the castle came in sight. "He seems to have been attacking a lot more than ever before, but why…" He trailed off.
Hermione was watching him carefully. "Harry?"
"He's scared." Harry said in quiet dawning comprehension. "He isn't trying to delay us, or anything like that. He's worried that we'll find the Scrivenings, and that something in there will help us defeat him. He's trying to force everyone into submission before we can do anything."
"But why attack Hogwarts?" Hermione asked sceptically. "Surely he would want to keep away from any more confrontations with Dumbledore in case he was defeated, and people became less afraid."
"To try and make people think he's unbeatable. It's a gambit." Harry replied immediately, feeling more and more certain that he was right. "How many people think Dumbledore is the only one who can stand up to Voldemort? Well, apart from me that is. Ron's right; that is basically what the Prophet has been saying. Look: say he gets the Governors to close Hogwarts. Everyone is too scared to even leave their houses at the moment in case they are attacked, and the Ministry lose more fights than they win anyway, whatever happened yesterday. If he shows he's no longer scared of Dumbledore, and even defeats him by forcing the school to close, then people won't think we stand a chance. Anyway, maybe he knew Dumbledore wasn't here? It wouldn't be hard for someone to tell him he wasn't in the Great Hall the last few days, would it?"
"You might be right." Hermione allowed.
"I know I am." Harry told her confidently. "Nothing says he can't be trying to delay us as well. I mean, he always seems to attack in more than one way, doesn't he?"
Hermione nodded. Fifty yards away, the huge door which gave entrance to Hogwarts was open. A number of students were gathered just outside the Great Hall, looking fearful. So much for Trelawney looking after them all in the Great Hall.
Harry turned to Hermione. "Was I real-"
He stopped speaking. Once more, Hermione was white as a sheet.
"What?" He asked.
Hermione's voice quavered. "What if the Dementors aren't the only way Voldemort is attacking."
"You mean he's found two ways to get through Hogwarts wards?" Harry asked, acting the sceptic this time.
"We still haven't worked out how Pettigrew keeps getting past them, have we?"
Harry sped up, Hermione right behind him. Professor Flitwick had managed to push himself to the front of the student body, and was shepherding the students into the Great Hall without either Harry or Hermione having to ask him to. The question that had come to mind just as Hermione had interrupted him returned. Just how loud had his Sonorus charm been?
A muttering of voices rose from the students as they saw Harry and Hermione, but they started to file in slowly and reluctantly anyway.
Ten yards away from the castle, they could see the Head Girl join the Charms teacher, and another Prefect wormed her way through the surprisingly large mass of students, most of whom were still staring at the two of them.
Harry stopped, causing Hermione to turn and look at him. She might have read his reluctance in his expression, but Harry said simply in explanation: "I'm not going in there."
"I'll tell him, don't worry." Hermione muttered, so that no-one could hear her.
"Thanks – I'll go find another teacher or something; let them know. If you're right we need to get to everyone as soon as possible."
He slipped past the throng, pretending that he couldn't hear the questions shouted out, and ignoring Flitwick just as determinedly. He took a deep breath, and made his way towards the corner furthest away from him, whose corridor would take him to the closest classroom: Ancient Runes. Just as he turned the corner, a sudden burst of heat from his pocket made him yelp, and as he dove for it, the note flew back out.
As it levitated in the air, lines of blue flame appeared, so bright, he had to look away. When he chanced a second look, carbon letters had replaced the typewritten note, this time in handwritten block capitals.
The Muggle-lovers are next.
Harry stared at it, rereading it twice, before, just as the realisation that more magic that could be tracked down to the sender was being used came to him, the blue flames reappeared once more. This time they covered the paper, so hot that Harry was forced to take a few steps backwards from the heat. The paper was consumed from all sides, the fire so hot, it didn't even leave ashes. With a curse, Harry hurried forwards again, running the words through his head.
The Muggle-lovers…
An unpleasant idea was forming itself; each footstep seemed to make it clearer. If Voldemort has managed to breach Hogwarts defences twice, then a natural target would be… He reached into his robes pocket once more.
Even before the lines appeared, he tapped the map with his wand. "Has anything happened in the Muggle Studies classroom?"
Prongs' writing had appeared before he had finished the sentence, but it was in a hesitant, thin script. Peter… Was just…
He tapped the map again. "Was just what? He isn't in the-" He asked urgently.
Padfoot interrupted. Peter was in there a few minutes ago.
Harry swallowed. "Is anyone in there?"
There was a pause, before Prongs replied monosyllabically. Yes.
The map folded itself to show that Charity Burbage was taking a class of third years.
Harry ran, each footfall echoing in the empty corridor, his gasps for breath reminding him of just how much had just been taken out of him by the Dementors. He managed a glance at the map, which had helpfully returned to where he was, drawing arrows for the quickest route, very useful seeing as Harry had never been there. Harry was sure it was no mere coincidence that it was at the rear of the castle.
He ignored his tiring legs, and attempted to put on another spurt. Each step he took, he expected to hear screams; each step he took he tried to force himself to go quicker. He paid no attention to the Portraits he sped by, nor the murmur of voices as he sprinted past the Ancient Runes classroom towards the small staircase which was the quickest way up the two floors he needed to go.
He took the stairs two at a time, and burst through a tapestry hiding a secret passageway, cutting minutes off his route, trying desperately not to allow thoughts of failure to enter his head. He skidded out of what appeared to be a blank section of wall to re-enter the normal corridors mere feet away from the Muggle Studies classroom. He didn't bother knocking, but rather burst through the door.
Charity Burbage was a small woman, barely five foot tall, and as thin as a rake. All Harry knew of her was her appearance, that she had a welcoming smile, and a soft voice. Or at least, he thought it had been a soft voice.
"Would you kindly exp-" She sounded furious.
Harry cut across her, slightly distorting the truth in an effort to be believed. "Voldemort's trying to attack the school, Professor Dumbledore wants everyone into the Great Hall."
"My class may leave when the period finishes. There is still five minutes to go. Now, if you would kindly leave the classroom and allow me to finish teaching, Mr Potter?"
Harry stared at her. "Haven't you been listening? Voldemort is trying to attack the school. We might not have five minutes."
Her frowning face did not give an inch. "If it were that important, Professor Dumbledore would inform the school personally. Magic does allow people to do such things Mr Potter."
Harry's mouth dropped, flabbergasted. He glanced around the room, spotting a few familiar faces from Gryffindor, including Jimmy Peakes and Demelza Robins.
"Look." Harry said, trying to keep his voice calm, mind racing as he tried to improvise his story on his feet. "If Professor Dumbledore were to do that, then he would warn any Death Eaters that might be in the castle. You have to go, now." He looked around once more. "Demelza, Jimmy, get ev-"
"Just what exactly do you think you are doing?" The Muggle Studies teacher turned towards him furiously.
"Trying to save your lives." Harry snapped. "Demelza, Jimmy, I need you two to get everyone to the Great Hall."
"Sit down." Professor Burbage snapped, as Jimmy slid his chair back.
Harry found his wand pointing towards the teacher, but how exactly it had got there, he wasn't sure. For some reason Aravenne's attitude towards his fame popped into his head, and he made his choice.
"About fifteen minutes ago, nearly thirty Dementors attacked the Care of Magical Creatures class. Ron Weasley and I managed to stop them until help could come, but we weren't soon enough." Harry nodded towards the class, trying to hide his exhausted panting. "The Daily Prophet's been telling you that I'm going to save you from Lord Voldemort. Well let me. Demelza, Jimmy, get everyone out. Now. Expelliarmus!"
As he had been speaking, Charity Burbage had drawn her wand, which was now in Harry's left hand.
"Go!" Harry yelled. "Leave your stuff, just get out of here!"
Chairs scraped.
"Do not expect to be able to attack a teacher and get away with it, Mr Potter." Burbage shouted angrily over the sound of people exiting the room.
"Hell! Report me to Professor Dumbledore and my Head of House. Just get out of the bloody room so you can."
The room was virtually cleared of students, but Harry expected something to happen at any minute.
"Bullatueor. Protego Corporis." The two shields raised around him, the invisible shield to protect from gasses or heat, or anything not solid, and the foggy one to protect from anything else. I hope. It's not like I have a clue what might be coming, is it?
Demelza was the last to leave the room.
"Get them to the Great Hall!" Harry yelled as he retreated through the door himself, keeping his eyes fixed on the teacher. "Look, come on! You want to try and get me expelled, well go and get Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall to expel me!"
Burbage turned stiffly to pick up her bags. The air seemed to charge, just as it had when Dumbledore had fought Voldemort. Harry pointed both wands at the Muggle Studies teacher.
"MUTUCUTUS!" He yelled.
A split second after the shield formed, the room exploded. Green flames erupted throughout the room, rubble flying in every single direction. Harry's lent shield buckled under the strain of heat and soaring wreckage, and then disappeared completely. He found himself unable to look away from the pain on the stubborn teacher's face for the split second before she was swallowed by the flames, and hidden from view.
His own shields flared into existence, creating a bubble of clear space. Protected from most of the rubble, Harry still found himself feeling hotter, and hotter. In the split second he had to think, he knew intuitively that the Congelipse charm would not protect from this kind of flame. He could feel the pressure building up on the shields, and he nearly lost them as a three foot piece of wall struck.
"Mutucutus!" Two female voices rang out as one, and Harry felt the pressure ease.
Hermione and Ginny's shields had quite possibly saved his life. Without pausing to even wonder how Hermione was there, let alone Ginny, Harry raised both wands, and mentally sketched the wand motion for the shield in his mind as he recast it.
"Bullatueor!"
He knew he should get to the side, away from the danger, but he couldn't move his feet fast enough, or wrench his eyes from the image superimposed on the flames, of Professor Charity Burbage.
"Habeo!"
As Dumbledore's voice rang out, a see-through barrier covered the doorway, and the flames around Harry disappeared.
Harry found himself staggering to the ground, and ending up on his bottom. He kept staring into the room which still seemed to be both an inferno, and a tornado, as if whatever jinx had caused it did not wish to stop. Without knowing how, he found his hands covering almost all of his face, only his eyes remained exposed.
"Harry!"
"She wouldn't leave." Harry said hollowly, almost in disbelief, as Ginny hugged him. "She wouldn't leave."
He gazed at the blaze in front of him, unable to pull his eyes away until Ginny handed him the Marauders' Map which had fallen from where he had stuffed it into his pocket. He numbly glanced at it. Pettigrew had written something.
Harry. Don't… Don't let me do… do anything like that again. If you have to, k- kill me. Please.
X x X x X x X x X
"Harry." Hermione said urgently as Harry stared at Wormtail's incredible message. "Harry, did Pettigrew go anywhere else?"
"Mr Pettigrew has left the castle and grounds, and now that the explosive charm he placed inside Hogwarts has been neutralised, there is currently no cause for further alarm." Dumbledore said calmly.
"How do you know?" Ginny asked, startled. "Professor."
"Peter Pettigrew, or possibly Lord Voldemort himself, made a miscalculation, Miss Weasley. Once whatever charm that was protecting the Dementors from Hogwarts wards vanished, I assume once they were forced to face a Patronus, then I became aware of their existence and once I was aware of one breach the spells shielding Peter Pettigrew and his own charms from me were easily spotted." He sighed and shook his head, voice lowering slightly.
"However, I obviously returned to the castle too late to thwart the Dementors or prevent this charm from being set off. We are all in your debt, and I in particular, not to mention Mr Weasley's."
"It was Harry." Ginny said quietly.
"Oho! But it was a good thing you were here, gallant young mistresses." Harry jumped slightly at Sir Cadogan's voice, and swivelled around to view an otherwise empty portrait to see the knight watching keenly from the darkness.
"Ah, Sir Cadogan," Dumbledore cut in smoothly, "I wonder if you could please head a group of Portraits to ensure that all Classrooms are empty, and students and teachers are in the Great Hall?"
Sir Cadogan raised his sword in salute. "Allow me sah!" And with that, he clanked away.
"He's right, Ginny." Harry said hollowly, picking himself up from the floor, but still looking at the dancing flames. "I doubt my shields would have held without you two. Besides, I didn't do enough, did I? She- She-" Harry inhaled, and bitter emotion flooded into his voice, filling the emptiness. "Professor Burbage didn't believe me. I couldn't get her to leave."
Dumbledore was quiet for a couple of seconds, and when he spoke it was in a quiet tone meant only for Harry. "Your actions today have saved numerous lives. There is not one person who can claim that you have done any less than your best this morning, nor that any other could have done any better."
"If you were here, you could have stopped it." Harry murmured, nearly inaudibly.
"I could." Dumbledore confirmed. "However, not only do I have the advantage of my connection to Hogwarts and its wards, but I also have the benefit of my status as Headmaster. As we have seen, however, despite being privy to the knowledge provided by the castle, I was unable to be here in time to do just that, which makes the question academic. Your presence was vital." He waited for Harry to nod, before turning towards Ginny. "Your presence was of paramount importance also, Miss Weasley. Without you, or Miss Granger, Harry's life would have been at grave risk."
"Professor." Harry said, looking up from the map, which he had just glanced at once more. "Wormtail wasn't gone when you said he was, he was in the Chamber of Secrets. He's gone now though." He added hastily.
An arrested expression struck Dumbledore's face. "Is that so?" It sounded more rhetorical than anything, so Harry stayed silent. "How, may I enquire, do you know this?"
"You know about Dad's map? Dad, Sirius and Moony?" Harry checked, before continuing at Dumbledore's nod, averting his eyes from Ginny's. "Well, Hermione and I added the Chamber on to it, before Christmas."
Ginny, however, was looking past him, back the way she and Hermione had come.
"I see." Dumbledore mused. "I think, then, that one of the castle's defensive failures may be explained. I will require your help, Harry, if the weakness lies there. I believe I need access to the Chamber of Secrets myself, and perhaps some interpreting with Shiakana and Kaen. If this is the problem, however, I fear it could take a lot of work to restore Hogwarts wards to what they once were."
"Demelza?" Ginny interrupted quietly.
Harry turned to see Demelza Robins standing ten yards away. Behind her, peering around the corner as though scared of being seen, were at least five of the Muggle Studies class, who had returned to see what had happened. She was staring at the room, transfixed by the continuing blaze-cum-hurricane.
"Are you alright Demelza?" Ginny repeated softly.
She nodded slowly, before turning back to the three students and headmaster. Although she tried to speak, it took a number of efforts. Harry found himself noticing the streaks of moisture down her cheeks.
"Thanks to Harry. I- Um-" It was obvious she didn't know what to say; Harry didn't either. Demelza's eyes flicked back towards the classroom. "Er- Harry?" She continued with a slight stutter. "Did you mean what you said? Earlier, I mean, when you were trying to get us out of- of there?"
Harry found himself inadvertently looking at first Ginny's, and then Hermione's faces, before returning to Demelza.
"I- Well." Harry tried to force both the bitterness, and the hollowness it had filled from his voice.
Let me save you.
"I wanted to get you all out." Demelza nodded, and Harry didn't even attempt to decipher the expression on her face, but rather continued determinedly. "But – well – I'm never going to stop fighting Voldemort or stop trying to stop him doing whatever he wants. So, I guess, yeah, in a way I meant it."
Harry hoped desperately that that wasn't awe that filled his fellow Quidditch player's face, and really didn't want to see the expressions on his friends' or Dumbledore's face either.
"Is the Professor -?" Her voice trailed off, unable to finish the question. Harry turned his face, but not soon enough to avoid seeing Demelza's pale face get even paler. Hermione or Ginny must have shaken their heads. She was unable to speak again, tears now running freely once more.
At this, Dumbledore stepped forwards smoothly and spoke in a voice only Demelza could hear. Harry turned his head away to look at Ginny and Hermione properly. Hermione was struggling hard to control her breathing, and the colour brought to her face by the exercise only barely covered the paleness below. Ginny looked quite weak at the knees: the drained feeling that huge relief sometimes brings. He closed his eyes briefly and swallowed. His friends' expressions had somehow made his close escape suddenly feel a whole lot closer.
As Harry took a deep breath, Dumbledore's voice came from behind him. "Miss Weasley, Miss Granger, would you be kind enough to go with Harry to the Hospital Wing? While you all appear in good health, I should like Madam Pomfrey to give you all cursory medical examinations. I fancy, Harry, that you could also benefit from some chocolate. Perhaps, in addition, whilst you are there, you could update Minerva as to the most recent events. I believe she is currently adding her own wards to strengthen the protection there."
Ginny and Hermione both nodded, but Harry's – and out of his sight Demelza's – eyes were drawn back to the conflagration, which finally winked out.
X x X x X x X x X
"Thanks." Harry said quietly. "But how did you know I was there?"
It was the first thing he'd said since they'd arrived at the Hospital Wing. Explaining in detail to McGonagall about the explosion, and how he had failed to get her colleague out of the room was not something he had had any intention of doing.
"You ran straight past me." Ginny told him. "Flitwick had his back to me because of Hermione, so he didn't see me sneak off. But by the time I'd turned the corner you'd gone, and Sir Cadogan was shouting to the other Portraits that you were sprinting towards Muggle Studies."
"And Hermione saw you go." Harry said in understanding. He gave a small snort of laughter. "And there was I getting annoyed with the way he kept following me around all day."
He leant back in his chair for a quiet few seconds. As incredible as it seemed, chocolate had in fact settled him, or at least, knocked him out of the shock of watching his shield being swept away, and the woman he had tried to protect being encompassed by an inferno.
"Are you okay?" Ginny asked point blank.
"I- Well, I couldn't see much after the shield failed." Harry replied quietly, before adding bitterly. "Small mercies. It would have been me too if not for you two."
The prone Ron opened his mouth from the hospital bed. He was still very pale, and moved lethargically. Before he could speak, however, Harry looked at him with an exasperation that somehow made him feel better.
"You just saved virtually the entire fourth year Care of Magical Creatures class, Ron, so don't you dare say anything about not being there."
Redness found its way into Ron's cheeks. "You did- If it weren't for you-"
Harry shut him up by looking at Ginny with an expression of disbelief. "Your brother held back – what? – eighteen, twenty Dementors" he glanced at Ron as if looking for confirmation, but continued before Ron could say anything "with his Patronus long enough for Hagrid's class to get past us, and back to the school, and for the two of them that the Dementor nearly had caught to stagger up to us. And that was on his own! And he's trying to say I deserve more credit for making a ward!"
Ron blushed more deeply. "Yeah, well, if you hadn't protected us with-"
Harry continued speaking over him – Ron's exhaustion making that somewhat easier than usual – the effort to speak normally, chasing the bitter feelings inside him away. At least for now. "Which I couldn't have done if not for you holding them back. And if you try and tell me I have a saving people thing after doing that, I might curse you: you have just as much. Besides," he added, more slowly, and quietly, "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, just like I wouldn't if not for Hermione and Ginny. I owe you my life mate."
It felt important to say that. Important that all three of his friends had been told out loud how grateful he was. Whether it was more vital that he had told Ron and Ginny after some of their conversations that year, or that his saying it aloud meant that he had to accept it, despite all his thoughts during the summer of holding his friends at bay, he wasn't completely sure.
"Anytime Harry." Ron said quietly. "That's what we're here for."
He found Ginny's hand squeezing his, and as he looked around with a half smile on his face, he couldn't help but see Hermione swallow, and wipe a tear from an eye.
"We'll always be here Harry." Ginny said softly.
Harry found himself going as red as Ron's ears, and gave a half shrug. "I- ah- Thanks." He suddenly felt remarkably awkward. "So- um- So what now?"
"You don't think Snape was right do you?" Hermione said nervously. "Will Dumbledore have to close the school?"
"He can't!" Ginny burst out automatically.
"If Dumbledore manages to fix whatever needs to be done to the Chamber of Secrets, and figures out how the Dementors got in-" Harry began, not sounding at all convincing to his own ears.
"But he said it might take a long time to repair the wards," Hermione said worriedly, "if he can't guarantee students' safety, the Governors might not give him a choice."
Ron pointed to the door that Professor McGonagall had recently exited and said, almost in resignation, softly. "I think if McGonagall is putting her own wards up, they don't think Hogwarts is safe."
X x X x X x X x X
Harry stopped as he entered the Great Hall. Thankfully, because he had dropped to the back of the group with Ron and Ginny, he didn't have to suffer the indignity of being bowled over by somebody who was walking behind.
"What?" Ron asked quietly. It was perhaps a testament to how exhausted he still felt that it wasn't a hiss.
Ron, in fact, had been so pale – he had even swayed slightly when he got to his feet as McGonagall entered the common room – that the Gryffindor Head had immediately forbidden him to join the Prefects who took the flanks and rear while she escorted them to the Great Hall. Of course, as he, Harry, and Ginny, had made their way to the rear, where Hermione was, anyway, her demand had little practical effect. Harry was sure McGonagall had noticed, but, because the first couple of years in particular had looked rather less frightened, and more confident, once they saw them – or more probably, him, he thought with slight irritation – taking the van, she had said nothing.
Harry nodded towards the staff table, where a youngish looking man sat – at most thirty – with sleek black hair, a handsome, strong face, and clothes in such pristine condition, that either they had been purchased a couple of minutes ago, or they had been worked upon by House Elves for hours. The gleaming diamond encrusted buttons made either possibility quite likely.
"I think Snape was right." He muttered as they quickly ate back up the ground to the rear of the Gryffindor group once more, which fragmented even as they joined it, as students took their seats.
The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were already seated, only the Slytherins were missing.
Ginny's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Hermione, however, bit her lip. "You think he is from the Board of Governors." It wasn't a question.
Harry nodded. "And why else do you think a Board member would be here?"
He fumbled in his pocket as he sat down, closing his right hand around a golden coin, but not pulling it out immediately. Instead, he stared at the double doors opposite him, for the Slytherins had appeared. Seeing both his and Ginny's eyes narrow, Ron and Hermione twisted their necks around to watch also.
Snape, with one of his habitual scornful frowns, had led his house – sorted mainly by age – into the hall. Whilst Gryffindor had placed prefects, and older students in general at the perimeters, meaning the younger students were protected in the centre, the younger students in the Slytherin house, with just one exception, had been abandoned. Malfoy had elbowed himself to a position at Snape's right hand, and not even the seventh year Prefects had risked Snape's wrath by supplanting his favourite student.
Malfoy's infuriating smirk widened even further as he spotted the stranger at the staff table.
In general, either the smirk was mirrored on the faces of those students in their last four years, or else the faces were fastidiously blank; concern broke into the faces of the ranks of the third years, and fear was on the faces of those trailing along at the back of the group. The solitary exception was a smallish group in the middle of the students, where a group headed by Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini, as well as a couple of seventh years Harry didn't know, were looking after younger students, primarily brothers and sisters, Harry thought. Zabini's stride had a slight hitch as he caught sight of the stranger, and his usual impassive face turned dark for a fraction of a second. His was the only one, however; Harry was near incredulous that even the fourth years who had just seen one of their number rendered soulless by Voldemort's Dementors looked cocksure.
"Maybe the first and second years are still uncorrupted?" Ron suggested under his breath.
The students made their way towards the Slytherin table, many of the older ones laughing at something Malfoy had said. They took their seats at the end furthest away from the staff table, leaving the younger years to sit at the front. As the last Slytherin sat, the stranger pushed back his chair, and stood.
"I would firstly like to thank you for coming," He began in a smooth voice.
"Not as if we had much choice, is it?" Harry muttered, taking an immediate dislike to the man with his jewel littered white robe.
"I can imagine how you must be feeling after the tragedies the school has suffered today, and if I were in your situation, I am sure a large assembly, and being talked to by a stranger is not what I would want. As some of you know, my name is Zeke Zabini, and I am spokeswizard for this fair school's Board of Governors.
"As such, I want to assure you that, as one, the Board of Governors is furious, not only that these attacks happened, but also that they were allowed to happen. We mistakenly believed those who assured us that Hogwarts was the safest place for our children and families to be. We have been proved wrong in the worst possible way. As a result, we have been left with no alternative but to close the school, effective from Saturday morning."
Silence and a sea of horrified faces met this statement – at least from three of the houses. Some of the students on the Slytherin table however had been unable to hide their glee. Malfoy had fixed a phoney expression of mild interest on his face, but, when Harry looked back towards the staff table, only Aravenne appeared to be paying any attention to the students. Many of the teachers were looking at Zabini with expressions of absolute rage, Professor McGonagall among them.
The silence was broken by a disbelieving cry from one of the Gryffindor fourth years who had been attacked by the Dementors. "How can we be safer anywhere other than here?"
A wave of agreement met this, with one of Demelza's friends in Ravenclaw – one of those who had peered back around the corner as the Muggle Studies classroom had been destroyed in fact – shouting out herself: "My house was attacked last summer, but we were lucky! We're safer here!"
Malfoy's voice rung out with – to Harry – blatantly false indignation: "Try telling that to Bartholomew!"
Other Slytherin voices joined his, causing complete verbal bedlam, leading Mr Zabini to shout for quiet. If anyone heard they ignored him and his subsequent yells.
Dumbledore rose gracefully, raised his hand, and said simply, in a clear, but otherwise normal voice: "Silence."
The talking stopped.
"Thank you, Albus." Zabini said, in an almost condescending voice, before Dumbledore could say anything else to his students. He cleared his throat noisily. "As I have already said, that is what we believed ourselves. However, this morning has categorically disproved our trust. Whilst it may be true that few places seem safe in these troubled times, it is the Board's view that – through no fault of his own – Headmaster Dumbledore's eminence both in our society, and in the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, causes Hogwarts to be a prime target. Whilst the school appeared impregnable, this was bearable, now that its defences have been breached at least once, and likely twice, we feel that it is unacceptable that our students should be thus risked.
"Let me be rightly understood; the Board of Governors has not decided to close the school indefinitely. It is our position that Hogwarts will be reopened as soon as we are content that the castle is safe, which we shall spare no expense to ensure. Those of you in O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exam years should rest assured that every effort will be made to allow you to resume your studies, as well as compensate for this loss in your studying. I would like nothing more than to be speaking to you all in this very hall in the near future."
He raised his voice over the stirrings of more muttering from the students. "In this time of trouble, what is needed most is unity. Therefore, the Board has decided that any student or staff member found to hinder the evacuation of the school, or compromising its security, shall be expelled, with no exceptions."
Silence reigned across the student populace. Hidden by Ginny to his right, and Seamus to his left, Harry withdrew the golden coin from his pocket, and gently pointed his wand at it.
"So that's why Dumbledore hasn't said anything to stop him." Ron said in disgusted realisation. "If he tries to stop them, he gets fired, and then he can't do anything to help the students. The scum!"
Zeke Zabini seemed to decide that this was a good time to make his escape: "If you will excuse me, I have much work to do in order to try to reopen the school as soon as possible. Good evening."
He gave a cursory nod to the students, and an even more perfunctory one to the staff, and then marched purposefully out the double doors, whose slam punctuated the deathly silence.
"What are you doing, Harry?" Hermione hissed, as she felt the warm glow in her pocket.
"I'd have thought that was obvious." He muttered in reply.
"And just how is everyone going to get to the Room of Requirement with all the added security?"
"Easy." Harry replied mulishly. "There are prefects from every house in the DA. If anyone doesn't come with them from their house, then I send them back to get them."
No-one answered him, for Dumbledore had risen from his seat once more. He spoke quietly, with no sign other than his words themselves of his dissatisfaction. "As Headmaster, I have no power to gainsay the Board, and thus, I need hardly add, against my wishes, the Board's demands shall be carried out to the letter. The school term shall be temporarily suspended the day after tomorrow. Rest assured that I and my staff shall do all in our power to guarantee your safety wherever and whenever it is in our power to do so, which is by no means limited to your time in Hogwarts. I have had occasion in the past to say that help shall always be given from Hogwarts to those who ask for it. I pledge this once more, to each and every one of you."
Rather than looking in the direction of a Harry hidden under an Invisibility Cloak beside Ron, this time Dumbledore's gaze took in the entire school, pausing at the Slytherin table.