Chapter 19
Harry looked up at the many faces staring back at him. "Albus?" he questioned his son. "What on earth is going on here?"
"It's a long story, dad," said Albus. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk to Professor McGonagall," he said. "It is rather urgent."
"Let me guess," said Albus. "Your scar is hurting again."
Harry looked at his son with a very confused expression. "How did you know?" he asked.
"I'm afraid we have a situation, Mr. Potter," said McGonagall.
"To say the least," added Miles.
McGonagall explained to Harry the events of the evening as everyone else listened. After she was done, Harry sat in silence for a minute, drinking it all in. "You mean to tell me," he said, finally, "That Voldemort is back, and alive? As well as Grindelwald and….Dumbledore? And there have been Death Eaters within the walls of Hogwarts all year?"
"I'm afraid so, Harry," said Dumbledore. Harry turned to him.
"Professor Dumbledore…is it really you?" he asked. "Are you really back?"
"I am, Harry," Dumbledore said.
"You've met my son Albus, then?" he asked, looking from Dumbledore to Albus and back again.
"I have. I do see myself in him, Harry, and not just because of the name," replied Dumbledore.
"Is it because you're both gay?" asked Pippa.
Scorpius snorted, trying not to laugh at Pippa's remark.
"I was more referring to the fact that we both have a thing for blondes, but I suppose that would be another similarity, yes," Dumbledore joked to Pippa, shooting her a wink.
Harry turned to Albus, and it was then that he noticed that his son was holding hands with Scorpius. "Are you two…?" Harry trailed off.
"Yes dad, Scorpius and I are dating," Albus said.
Harry sighed. At first Albus was worried it was because he did not approve of Scorpius, but then Harry dug a handful of galleons from his pocket and handed them to McGonagall. "You've bested me again, Professor. I truly thought they were oblivious enough to make it past Christmas without realizing," he said.
Albus gasped. "You placed a bet on my love life? With…with the Headmistress?"
This time, Scorpius failed to refrain from laughing. It was then that Landry felt the need to pipe up. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I think we're all ignoring the major situation here. You know, the multiple dark wizards being resurrected?"
"You're absolutely right, Miss Beckett," McGonagall said. "We must figure out how to proceed from here."
Suddenly, another person came flying out of the fireplace. "I came as quickly as I could," said Hermione Granger, brushing some floo powder off of her robes. "Harry owled me and said to meet him here immediately. What's going on?"
Once Hermione had been caught up, the adults began formulating a plan. The children listened.
"Will we have to evacuate the school?" Harry asked.
"I really don't see another option. It is not safe here, for all we know the place is still crawling with Death Eaters," McGonagall replied.
Pippa cleared her throat. "So you're saying if we got rid of the Death Eaters, the school could stay open?" she asked.
"I suppose so," McGonagall said. "But there is no way to do that quickly enough."
"Actually, there is," said Pippa, pulling out her wand. "Accio Death Eaters, vacinitius Hogwarts," she cried, waving her wand. Almost instantly, six black-clad people came zooming through the door. Before any of them had the chance to react, Pippa said "Petrificus totalus," and at once, all six of the remaining Death Eaters fell to the floor like stiff boards of wood. "There. Now we just get these guys a one way ticket to Azkaban and we're good to go. You're welcome."
Everyone else in the room stood silently, eyes wide and jaws dropped. Hermione was the first to speak. "I quite like her," she said.
"Thank you very much, Minister. I'm Pippa AnnLynn Beckett, pleased to meet you. I'll be taking over your position sooner or later," Pippa said.
Hermione laughed. "I have no doubt that you will," she said.
"What do you suggest we do now?" asked Harry.
"Well, now that we have captured the Death Eaters, I see no reason to close the school It may very well be the safest place for all of the students to be when the inevitable occurs," said McGonagall.
"I quite agree, Minerva," Dumbledore said.
"Harry, you, James, and Ginny should go into hiding. I'll send Ron with you as well. I'll have to remain at the ministry, of course," Hermione instructed. "Then we lock down the school, and put up every defensive mechanism that the school has got. I don't doubt that Voldemort and/or Grindelwald will be here soon enough. I'll send out all of our Aurors to hunt for them, as well."
"Hermione, James and I are your best Aurors. And I highly doubt you'll be able to convince Ron or Ginny to go into hiding. I know one of these enemies better than anyone, I daresay," retorted Harry. Hermione sighed.
"Alright, fine," said Hermione. "But only because I don't think the other Aurors would know what to do without you or James."
"Excellent," said Harry.
"I believe all our affairs are in order, then," said McGonagall.
"Not quite, I'm afraid," said Dumbledore. "There is still the slight problem of my existence."
"That's true," said Harry, stroking his beard.
It was then that Landry finally piped up. "Excuse me? I just had a thought…since you do appear to be 17, what if we pretended you were a student here? You know, you're the right age to be a seventh year, and you could stay in the Gryffindor dorms since you were a Gryffindor, and nobody would even know who you were! It's the perfect hiding place, right in plain sight," she suggested.
"I do believe that is an excellent idea, Landry," said Dumbledore.
"Very well, then. I will alert the seventh year Gryffindor boys of the situation," said McGonagall.
"Good," said Hermione. "Harry, you go alert the Aurors of their new mission. I'll take these punks to Azkaban. Headmistress, could you and the other teachers get to work on securing the school?"
"Of course," McGonagall replied. Then she turned to the children. "Now, I want to make this clear to you: you are not, under any circumstances, to go looking for Voldemort or Grindelwald. You are to focus on your studies as usual unless explicitly instructed to do otherwise. Have I made myself clear?
"Yes, Professor," chorused the children.
"Very good. You can, however, help us. Or rather, help Professor Dumbledore. Dare I say, Albus, it has been quite a while since you've been a teenager. A lot has changed, and I do not want to risk you blowing your cover by not being up to date on what the students are doing nowadays," McGonagall said.
"Right you are, Minerva. I am going to need all the help I can get if I am to act the age I look," Dumbledore agreed.
"Then it's settled," said McGonagall. "Now, let's get to work."