Chapter 35:
Dumbledore stood up. He stared down at Barty Crouch for a moment with disgust on his face. Then he raised his wand once more and ropes flew out of it, ropes that twisted themselves around Barty Crouch, binding him tightly. He turned to Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Alicia and Harry upstairs?"
"Of course," said Professor McGonagall. She looked slightly nauseous, as though she had just watched someone being sick. However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at Barty Crouch, her hand was quite steady.
"Severus" — Dumbledore turned to Snape — "please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me."
Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room.
"Harry?" Dumbledore said gently. "Alicia." she looked up at him, the tears had stained her face and Her mouth was in an emotionless line. But her eyes shined slightly with anger, not only at Crouch for all the trouble he caused, but at herself for not realising everything sooner, as usual.
Harry got up and swayed again; the pain in his leg apparently now returned in full measure. Alicia quickly wrapped her arms around him to steady him and he placed his arm around her shoulders. He was shaking. Alicia rubbed his shoulder comfortingly, though her heart was pounding still within her chest and her hands shook slightly as well, she tried to comfort him.
Dumbledore lead them from the office into the dark passage way towards his office.
"I want you to come up to my office first, Harry, Alicia," Dumbledore said quietly as they headed up the passageway. "Sirius is waiting for us there."
Harry only nodded and Alicia let that be the answer for her as well.
"Professor," Harry mumbled, "where are Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?" He asked suddenly
"They are with Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore. His voice, which had been so calm throughout the interrogation of Barty Crouch, shook very slightly for the first time. "She was Head of Cedric's house, and knew him best."
They had reached the stone gargoyle. Dumbledore gave the password, it sprang aside, and he, Alicia and Harry went up the moving spiral staircase to the oak door. Dumbledore pushed it open. Sirius was standing there. His face was white and gaunt as it had been when he had escaped Azkaban.
Alicia looked at him and her eyes filled with tears again. In one swift moment, Sirius had crossed the room.
"Harry, Alicia, are you all right? I knew it — I knew something like this — what happened?"
His hands shook as he helped Harry into a chair in front of the desk, Alicia stayed as she watched her godfather.
"Sirius," she muttered and he turned to her before walking over to her and pulling her into a hug. She cried as she had done so at the edge of the maze on Harry.
"What happened?" Sirius asked more urgently as he smoothed Alicia's hair for comfort.
Dumbledore began to tell Sirius everything Barty Crouch had said. Alicia heard snippets through her sobs but she didn't really want to listen, it made all her theories and facts come back to the forefront of her mind and remind her she should have said something and stopped it.
Dumbledore stopped talking.
"So Alicia was right, it was Crouch." Sirius asked and Dumbledore nodded.
"She has quite the gift for discovering the truth with such little evidence." Dumbledore muttered as he sat down opposite Harry, behind his desk. Sirius rubbed Alicia's back before he guided her over to the desk as well. She wasn't placed in a chair, he turned her so she could see Dumbledore and Harry before her, and kept an arm around her securely. Alicia noticed Fawkes was sitting on Harry's knee, his bad leg. She hoped the bird would heal it for him, Harry didn't need anything else to worry about.
Dumbledore was looking at Harry, who avoided his eyes. Dumbledore was going to question him. He was going to make Harry relive everything. Alicia didn't know how she felt about this, she took a couple gulps of air to try and calm her shaking body and erratic heart, to try and calm herself down in an effort to stop the tears.
"I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze, Harry," said Dumbledore.
"We can leave that till morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" said Sirius harshly. He had put his other hand on Harry's shoulder. "Let him have a sleep. Let him rest."
Alicia felt grateful towards Sirius but she knew that wasn't an option. She knew this was information that needed to be told while they had the minister here, while it was fresh… no matter how much that was like pouring salt on a wound.
Very unwillingly, Harry raised his head and looked into those blue eyes.
"If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."
The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note.
Alicia looked up at Sirius who didn't look happy about this but said nothing.
When Harry didn't spoke, Alicia did. She started again with how Crouch had given her a piece of parchment, keeping the fact it was indeed the Marauder's map a secret, how it hadn't taken her back when she touched it again, and how she'd seen Wormtail staring at Harry and Cedric not far off before Wormtail killed Cedric at the command of Voldemort, who at that stage only Alicia was sure of what was in the robes.
And then Harry spoke, he talked about being tied to the headstone and watching Wormtail conduct the potion, slicing his own arm. Alicia fell silent and waited until Harry needed that slight break again.
Once or twice, Sirius made a noise as though about to say something, his hand still tight on Harry's shoulder, but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him, Alicia believed this better, talking without interruption.
When Harry told of Wormtail piercing his arm with the dagger, however, Sirius let out a vehement exclamation and Dumbledore stood up so quickly that Harry stopped for a minute. Dumbledore walked around the desk and told Harry to stretch out his arm. Harry showed them both the place where his robes were torn and the cut beneath them.
"He said my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's," Harry told Dumbledore. "He said the protection my — my mother left in me — he'd have it too. And he was right — he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."
For a fleeting instant, Alicia swore she saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore's eyes and she stared at him with confusion as it vanished as Dumbledore returned to his seat.
"Very well," he said, sitting down again. "Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. Harry, continue, please."
Harry went on; he explained how Voldemort had emerged from the cauldron, and told them all he could remember of Voldemort's speech to the Death Eaters. Alicia placed her hand on Harry's shoulder and gave a play of the speech, it still being vivid in her mind as she told them off all Voldemort's plans that were to follow. Then she told how Voldemort had untied Harry, returned his wand to him, and prepared to duel.
She then explained how she had confunded the Death Eater holding her and moved through the graves, throwing any spell at the Death Eaters that came to her mind before she and Harry met behind a tombstone.
Harry explained how Voldemort had tortured him and Alicia said it was like a cat playing with a mouse before eating it.
And then when Harry reached the point about the golden beam of light, his throat seemed to close over, no more words came out so Alicia explained how she and Harry had taken the wand and forced all they could towards Voldemort. She didn't explain about the figures that came from the wand, it was something she wasn't sure she'd be able to talk about, the fact that their parents had helped them and Cedric had spoken to them, asking to return him.
"The wands connected?" Sirius said, looking from Harry and Alicia to Dumbledore. "Why?"
Harry looked up at Dumbledore again, on whose face there was an arrested look.
"Because they're brothers." Alicia mumbled and Dumbledore looked at her with that impressed twinkle.
"Priori Incantatem," he muttered. Alicia looked at them both, an echo of the last spells casted…
"The Reverse Spell effect?" said Sirius sharply.
"Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. This phoenix, in fact," he added, and he pointed at the scarlet-and-gold bird, perching peacefully on Harry's knee.
"Fawkes?" Alicia muttered surprised
"My wand's feather came from Fawkes?" Harry said, amazed.
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell me you had bought the second wand, the moment you left his shop four years ago."
"So what happens when a wand meets its brother?" said Sirius.
"They will not work properly against each other," said Dumbledore. "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle… a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed — in reverse. The most recent first… and then those which preceded it…"
He looked interrogatively at Harry and Alicia, who both nodded.
"Which means," said Dumbledore slowly, his eyes upon Harry's face, "that some form of Cedric must have reappeared."
Both nodded again.
"Diggory came back to life?" said Sirius sharply.
"No spell can reawaken the dead," said Dumbledore heavily. "All that would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would have emerged from the wand… am I correct, Harry?"
"He spoke to me," Harry said. He was suddenly shaking again. "The… the ghost Cedric, or whatever he was, spoke."
"Asked us to bring him back." Alicia whispered
"An echo," said Dumbledore, "which retained Cedric's appearance and character. I am guessing other such forms appeared… less recent victims of Voldemort's wand…"
"An old man," Harry said, his throat still constricted.
"Frank, the caretaker." Alicia named
"Bertha Jorkins. And…"
"Your parents?" said Dumbledore quietly.
"Yes," said Harry.
Sirius' grip on Alicia tightened and so did his hand on Harry's shoulder. Alicia rubbed Sirius' arm in comfort.
"The last murders the wand performed," said Dumbledore, nodding. "In reverse order. More would have appeared, of course, had you maintained the connection. Very well, Harry, these echoes, these shadows… what did they do?"
Harry described how the figures that had emerged from the wand had prowled the edges of the golden web, how Voldemort had seemed to fear them, how the shadow of Harry's father had told him what to do, how Cedric's had made its final request.
At this point, Harry found he could not continue. He looked around at Sirius and saw that he had his face in his hands, having released Alicia and left her standing there, suddenly feeling cold as she wrapped her arms around herself. The sudden feeling of loneliness filled her, as though Harry, Sirius and Dumbledore weren't really there. She felt in a bubble, the outside world cut off from her.
Fawkes was the only one to move, the phoenix had fluttered to the floor. It was resting its beautiful head against Harry's injured leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling from its eyes onto the wound left by the spider. The pain vanished. The skin mended. His leg was repaired.
"I will say it again," said Dumbledore as the phoenix rose into the air and resettled itself upon the perch beside the door. "You both have have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight, Harry, Alicia. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it — and you have now given us all that we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing, both of you. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace… Sirius, would you like to stay with them?"
Sirius nodded and he transformed back into the great black dog and walked with Harry, Alicia and Dumbledore out of the office, accompanying them down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing.
When Dumbledore pushed open the door, they saw Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione grouped around a harassed-looking Madam Pomfrey. They appeared to be demanding to know where Harry and Alicia were and what had happened to them. All of them whipped around as Harry, Alicia, Dumbledore, and the black dog entered, and Mrs. Weasley let out a kind of muffled scream.
"Harry! Oh Alicia!"
She started to hurry toward him, but Dumbledore moved between them.
"Molly," he said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for a moment. Both Alicia and Harry have been through a terrible ordeal tonight. They have just had to relive it for me. What both need now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If either would like you all to stay with him," he added, looking around at Ron, Hermione, and Bill too, "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning them until either is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."
Mrs. Weasley nodded. She was very white. She rounded on Ron, Hermione, and Bill as though they were being noisy, and hissed, "Did you hear? He needs quiet!"
"Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, staring at the great black dog that was Sirius, "may I ask what — ?"
"This dog will be remaining with Harry and Alicia for a while," said Dumbledore simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. Harry, Alicia — I will wait while you get into bed."
Alicia was more then happy to not need to explain any of that again, not now, and maybe not for a few days. She wished it will all go away but knew it was wishful thinking.
"Alicia," she turned to Dumbledore. "I need to ask one more thing of you." he asked her to move over towards the door and she did so, wondering what this was about.
"With Voldemort back, I believe you may be in more danger as a secret." he said and Alicia looked at him slightly surprised
"You want to tell everyone about me?" she whispered
"If necessary I believe it may be more beneficial for you. Voldemort already knows and so do his followers," Dumbledore explained. "The more people who know, the more protection you will have." Alicia took a deep breath and nodded.
"It's alright, I haven't been sure why it's been a secret lately anyway." she confessed. Dumbledore patted her shoulder before allowing her to walk back over to Harry and the others.
"I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Fudge, Alicia, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I would like you both to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school." He left.
As Madam Pomfrey led Harry to a nearby bed and Alicia to the one next to it, they saw the real Moody lying motionless in a bed at the far end of the room. His wooden leg and magical eye were lying on the bedside table.
"Is he okay?" Harry asked.
"He'll be fine," said Madam Pomfrey, giving the twins some pyjamas and pulling screens around Harry and then around Alicia when he was done. Both climbed into bed and Ron, Hermione, Bill, Mrs. Weasley, and the black dog came and settled themselves in chairs around them. Ron and Hermione were looking at him almost cautiously, as though scared of him.
"I'm all right," he told them. "Just tired."
"Just as long as there are no dreams." Alicia breathed as Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears as she smoothed his bedcovers unnecessarily.
Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding two small bottles of some purple potion and a goblet.
"You'll need to drink all of this, Harry, Alicia," she said. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep."
Alicia happily took the drink and drank some, but not all. Immediately she felt herself becoming drowsy and she laid down on her bed, curling herself up as though hoping it would protect her as the sounds around her became hazy and she sank into the warm feather mattress. She dozed off into the blackness of her own mind happily and was more than grateful when no images came to her mind as she was carried off to sleep.
She awoke much to soon for her liking, the bed was warm, cuddly, she wanted to go back to sleep, so she laid there waiting for sleep to take her again. Unfortunately her ears began to work and she heard whispers around her. Above that however she heard shouting, she wasn't sure what had happened but it sounded as though someone was on a rampage.
"What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?"
Alicia didn't know what had happened, but she doubted that statement very much, things always got worse before getting better, they'd escaped the maze yet still had to deal with Crouch after all.
"That's Fudge's voice," It was Mrs Weasley that was whispering. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"
Footsteps accompanied the shouting now and Alicia scrunched up her face annoyed. Couldn't they just let her sleep? Let her aching body heal?
"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva —" Cornelius Fudge was saying loudly.
"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" yelled Professor McGonagall. "When Dumbledore finds out —"
The hospital wing doors bursted open and Alicia opened her eyes in annoyance. She was facing the doors and saw as Fudge came striding up the ward. Professors McGonagall and Snape were at his heels.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Mrs. Weasley.
"He's not here," said Mrs. Weasley angrily. "This is a hospital wing, Minister, don't you think you'd do better to —"
But the door opened, and Dumbledore came sweeping up the ward.
"What has happened?" said Dumbledore sharply, looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you — I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch —"
"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"
Alicia had seen McGonagall's wrath before, at least she thought she had, she'd never seen the professor loose such control like this before. There were angry blotches of colour in her cheeks, and her hands were balled into fists; she was trembling with fury.
"When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," said Snape, in a low voice, "he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch —"
"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall fumed. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but —"
"My dear woman!" roared Fudge, who likewise looked angrier than Alicia had ever seen him, "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous —"
Alicia's opinion currently was that Fudge was a coward.
But Professor McGonagall's voice drowned Fudge's.
"The moment that — that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and — and —"
Alicia closed her eyes. She didn't need McGonagall to finish, she knew what the dementors did, they had almost done it to Sirius had it not have been for Harry, her and Hermione. The dementor had administered its fatal kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul out through his mouth. He was worse than dead.
"By all accounts, he is no loss!" blustered Fudge. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!"
"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," said Dumbledore. He was staring hard at Fudge, as though seeing him plainly for the first time. "He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."
"Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" blustered Fudge. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"
"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."
Fudge looked as though someone had just swung a heavy weight into his face, Alicia wished that was the case. Dazed and blinking, he stared back at Dumbledore as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard. He began to sputter, still goggling at Dumbledore.
"You-Know-Who… returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore…" Alicia couldn't believe her ears, why would someone lie about this?! She pushed herself into a sitting position and saw Harry beside her was awake also.
"As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you," said Dumbledore, "we heard Barry Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort — learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins — went to free him from his father and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."
"See here, Dumbledore," said Fudge, and Alicia stared at him with anger and disbelief as she saw a slight smile dawning on his face, "you — you can't seriously believe that. You-Know-Who — back? Come now, come now… certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders — but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore…"
"When Harry touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he was transported straight to Voldemort," said Dumbledore steadily. "He witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office."
Dumbledore glanced around at Harry and Alicia and saw that both were awake, but shook his head and said, "I am afraid I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight."
Fudge's curious smile lingered. He too glanced at Harry, then looked back at Dumbledore, and said, "You are — er — prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"
There was a moment's silence, which was broken by Sirius growling. His hackles were raised, and he was baring his teeth at Fudge.
"Certainly, I believe Harry," said Dumbledore. His eyes were blazing now. "I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard Harry's account of what happened after he touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."
Fudge still had that strange smile on his face. Once again, he glanced at Harry before answering.
"You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who… well…"
Fudge shot Harry another look, and Harry suddenly understood as Alicia glared, she couldn't believe he'd believe that twat.
"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr. Fudge," he said quietly.
Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill all jumped. None of them had realised that Harry or Alicia were awake.
Fudge reddened slightly, but a defiant and obstinate look came over his face.
"And if I have?" he said, looking at Dumbledore. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the boy very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And having funny turns all over the place —"
"I assume that you are referring to the pains Harry has been experiencing in his scar?" said Dumbledore coolly.
"You admit that he has been having these pains, then?" said Fudge quickly. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly — hallucinations?"
Everyone paused as Alicia moved calmly from her bed, ignoring Mrs Weasley who'd tried to prevent her from doing so and walked over to Fudge.
"Minister, I saw it too." She said strongly as she stood before him. Her face was set so strongly that Fudge took a small step backwards. "I left the stands this evening as anyone here could tell you," she indicated to Hermione, Ron, Bill and Mrs Weasley "As I was worried for Harry. He and I have a connection after all. I encountered Crouch disguised as Moody. He handed me a portkey and I was taken to the same place as Harry. We saw Voldemort rise back in a new body as he never really died in the first place. He said he'd taken measures to become immortal and that his Death Eaters knew of this. He fought Harry and Harry has a cut on the inside of his arm from it." she explained, her voice was rather steady and she kept her eyes on Fudge who seemed too surprised he was being addressed by a fourteen year old like this to interrupt. "Voldemort planned to kill us both then and there but using the Triwizard Cup that brought Harry we were able to escape, where Crouch took Harry to complete the deed of killing him." she said "Voldemort killed Bertha Jonkins, Crouch killed his father Barty Crouch, you can even ask Crouch's house elf of all this as she looked after Crouch's son for the last thirteen or so years." everyone was watching her with surprise, especially Harry who was surprised she could talk so calmly about all this. "If you checked Cedric Diggery's body you'd find the Killing Curse was used upon him, now how could that have happened in the maze? You can check mine and Harry's wands if you believe on of us would be capable of doing so, but as Krum and Fleur had both been removed from the maze by Crouch, Cedric and Harry were the only two contestants inside. Who else would have killed him for no apparent reason?" Dumbledore was looking at Alicia impressively
"Are you really going to stand there, and ignore every sign that Voldemort is back and allow him to go killing people and build his army all over again, risk people's lives and families, because you are frightened and cowardly? Not to mention because you are listening to the tales and stupidity of Rita Skeeter, I thought you of all people would know her stories are tall tales made up by her for attention. Why would someone make up a story such as this? It is not something that is to be taken lightly." she explained and now, as she'd insulted the minister of Magic, Fudge looked angrily at her.
"Now see here long lady…!" he began, the anger in his voice now, Alicia however did not falter or flinch as she stared at him hard.
"Listen to me, Cornelius," said Dumbledore interrupting, taking a step toward Fudge, and once again, he seemed to radiate that indefinable sense of power he had had after Dumbledore had Stunned young Crouch. "Harry is as sane as you or I. That scar upon his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."
Fudge had taken half a step back from Dumbledore, but he looked no less stubborn.
"You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before…"
"Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry shouted. He tried to get out of bed again, but Mrs. Weasley forced him back. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy —"
Snape made a sudden movement, but as Harry looked at him, Snape's eyes flew back to Fudge.
"Malfoy was cleared!" said Fudge, visibly affronted. "A very old family — donations to excellent causes —"
"Probably to remove suspicion." Alicia said
"Macnair!" Harry continued.
"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"
"Killing beasts instead of people." Alicia added watching Fudge
"Avery — Nott — Crabbe — Goyle —"
"You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" said Fudge angrily. "You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heaven's sake, Dumbledore — the boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too — his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them — the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?"
"You're going to judge someone because he can talk to an animal? How stupid are you?" Alicia insulted, her anger building so much that Hermione came and placed her arms around Alicia and moved her a few steps back from the minister. Sirius had followed, believing Alicia was in need of comfort and she placed a hand on his head, knowing he was near helping her slightly.
"You fool!" Professor McGonagall cried. "Cedric Diggory! Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"
"I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, now matching her anger, his face purpling. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilise everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"
"Better panic than risk the destruction!" Alicia hissed
"Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeated. "If you accept that fact straightaway, Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors —"
"Preposterous!" shouted Fudge again. "Remove the dementors? I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!"
"The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!" said Dumbledore. "They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard-pressed to stop him regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!"
Fudge was opening and closing his mouth as though no words could express his outrage.
"The second step you must take — and at once," Dumbledore pressed on, "is to send envoys to the giants."
"Envoys to the giants?" Fudge shrieked, finding his tongue again. "What madness is this?"
"Part of Voldemort's plans are to recruit the giants and powers he had before!" Alicia hissed "He told his Death Eaters so! He also plans to break open Azkaban to release those of his followers imprisoned there!"
"Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," said Dumbledore, "or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"
"You — you cannot be serious!" Fudge gasped, shaking his head and retreating further from Dumbledore. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants — people hate them, Dumbledore — end of my career —"
"Who gives a shit about your career!" Alicia couldn't help but snap "We'd rather people lived than start dying again!"
"You are blinded," said Dumbledore, he didn't stop Alicia, he only ignored her as his voice rising now also, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognise that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any — and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now — take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act — and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"
"Insane," whispered Fudge, still backing away. "Mad…"
And then there was silence. Madam Pomfrey was standing frozen at the foot of Harry's bed, her hands over her mouth. Mrs. Weasley was still standing over Harry, her hand on his shoulder to prevent him from rising. Bill, Ron, and Hermione were staring at Fudge.
"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I — I shall act as I see fit."
Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as though Dumbledore were advancing upon him with a wand.
"Now, see here, Dumbledore," he said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me —"
"The only one against whom I intend to work," said Dumbledore, "is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."
It seemed Fudge could think of no answer to this. He rocked backward and forward on his small feet for a moment and spun his bowler hat in his hands. Finally, he said, with a hint of a plea in his voice, "He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be…"
Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went, exposing the dark mark on his arm, black and prudent against his skin. He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled.
"There," said Snape harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."
Fudge stepped back from Snape too. He was shaking his head. He did not seem to have taken in a word Snape had said. He stared, apparently repelled by the ugly mark on Snape's arm, then looked up at Dumbledore and whispered, "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."
Alicia stared wide eyes as he moved to the door, having almost reached it before he paused. He turned around, strode back down the dormitory, and stopped at Harry's bed.
"Your winnings," he said shortly, taking a large bag of gold out of his pocket and dropping it onto Harry's bedside table. "One thousand Galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but under the circumstances…"
He crammed his bowler hat onto his head and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment he had disappeared, Dumbledore turned to look at the group around Harry's bed.
"This is madness." Alicia whispered. She now feared everything would turn sour, maybe more so than it had the last time Voldemort had been in power, and that was something she'd only read about in books.
"There is work to be done," Dumbledore said. "Molly… am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"
"Of course you can," said Mrs. Weasley. She was white to the lips, but she looked resolute. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."
"Then I need to send a message to Arthur," said Dumbledore. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."
"I'll go to Dad," said Bill, standing up. "I'll go now."
"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He also must be informed of Alicia." Alicia looked at Dumbledore and everyone else who didn't know of he parentage looked confused
"It's alright Professor, Mr Weasley already knows." she admitted. Dumbledore looked at her before nodding
"He is to then notify them all. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry —"
"Leave it to me," said Bill.
He clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder, kissed his mother on the cheek, pulled on his cloak, gave Alicia a warm hug, and strode quickly from the room.
"Minerva," said Dumbledore, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also — if she will consent to come — Madame Maxime."
Professor McGonagall nodded and left without a word.
"Poppy," Dumbledore said to Madam Pomfrey, "would you be very kind and go down to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."
"Very — very well," said Madam Pomfrey, looking startled, and she too left.
Dumbledore made sure that the door was closed, and that Madam Pomfrey's footsteps had died away, before he spoke again.
"And now," he said, "it is time for two of our number to recognise each other for what they are. Sirius… if you could resume your usual form."
The great black dog looked up at Dumbledore, then, in an instant, turned back into a man beside Alicia.
Mrs. Weasley screamed and leapt back from the bed.
"Sirius Black!" she shrieked, pointing at him.
"Mum, shut up!" Ron yelled. "It's okay!"
Sirius turned to Alicia and pulled her to him to comfort her. She smiled slightly but the anger and disbelief was still there.
Snape had not yelled or jumped backward, but the look on his face was one of mingled fury and horror. Alicia turned to Snape and Sirius did the same.
"Him!" he snarled, staring at Sirius, whose face showed equal dislike. "What is he doing here?"
"He is here at my invitation," said Dumbledore, looking between them, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."
Alicia raised an eyebrow and looked between the two, Dumbledore was asking for a near miracle. Sirius and Snape were eyeing each other with the utmost loathing.
"I will settle, in the short term," said Dumbledore, with a bite of impatience in his voice, "for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any of us."
Very slowly — but still glaring at each other as though each wished the other nothing but ill — Sirius and Snape moved toward each other and shook hands. They let go extremely quickly.
"That will do to be going on with," said Dumbledore, stepping between them once more. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher — the old crowd. Lie low at Lupins for a while; I will contact you there."
"But —" said Harry. Alicia bit her lip to stop herself from disagreeing as well. Like Harry she wanted Sirius to stay, she'd hardly spent much time with him, and most of it had not been pleasant. However the needs of the many outweighed hers so she kept her mouth shut, despite the dislike to do so.
"You'll see me very soon, Harry," said Sirius, turning to him. "I promise you. But I must do what I can, you understand, don't you?"
"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah… of course I do." Sirius grasped Harry's hand briefly turned to Alicia and placed a hand on her face.
"I'll see you later." she nodded and he kissed her forehead, nodded to Dumbledore, transformed again into the black dog, and ran the length of the room to the door, whose handle he turned with a paw. Then he was gone.
"Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready… if you are prepared…"
"I am," said Snape.
He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely.
"Then good luck," said Dumbledore, and he watched, with a trace of apprehension on his face, as Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius.
It was several minutes before Dumbledore spoke again.
"I must go downstairs," he said finally. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry — take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later."
Harry slumped back against his pillows as Dumbledore disappeared. Hermione, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley were all looking at him. None of them spoke for a very long time.
"You've got to take the rest of your potion, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said at last. Her first movement was to usher Alicia back to her bed and force her down. Mrs Weasley's hand nudged the sack of gold on Harry's bedside cabinet as she reached for the bottle and the goblet. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while… think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!"
"I don't want that gold," said Harry in an expressionless voice. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Cedric's."
Alicia looked at him with a frown. And then she noticed his eyes, slightly more watery then they should have been. Against Mrs Weasley's wishes Alicia got up and sat next to Harry on his bed, pulling him into a hug.
"It wasn't your fault, Harry," Mrs. Weasley whispered.
"I told him to take the cup with me," said Harry.
"You couldn't have known." Alicia muttered.
Mrs Weasley put the potion down before she bent down and put her arms around Harry. Alicia, knowing her to be the mother she was, knew that Mrs Weasley would do a better job at comforting her brother and released him. She knew that Harry was barely able to contain his emotions, unlike Alicia who'd already let her's all out.
There was a loud slamming noise, and Mrs. Weasley and Harry broke apart. Hermione was standing by the window. She was holding something tight in her hand.
"Sorry," she whispered. Alicia noticed it to be a jar and smirked ever slightly, knowing there'd only be one reason for her actions.
"Your potion, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley quickly, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "Alicia, you as well." She handed both twins their bottles and Alicia downed hers before she lied down with Harry and curled up against his side. Dreamless sleep over took her instantly, and she was more then happy to drift off and fall asleep.