A.N.: Hey guys, I worked really hard to be able to upload this chapter for you today. Currently, I'm stuck inside doing home-office while watching my very energetic toddler, which means that it's hard to get anything done. But as I'm currently in isolation with almost no chance of getting outside, as probably most of you, I wanted to have at least some contact with people and so I wanted to share another chapter with you. You'd make me very happy if you'd leave a comment for me, not just about how you liked the chapter, but how you are in general. I'm really interested to hear from all of you!
This chapter has been betaed by my friend Multilingualism. Thank you for helping out again!
Chapter 19: Dark clouds
School could have been so much more pleasant with the High Inquisitor out of Hogwarts now, but the peace only lasted for a day and then hell broke loose. Fred and George had just made it down to the breakfast table when the first owls swooped down and delivered their cargo to the people around them. The twins didn't expect anything as they were not the type to subscribe to the newspaper and their mum only wrote them once a week and her letter was usually delivered on Mondays.
"No!" they heard the shocked gasp from across the table and when they looked up, they saw Hermione pointing at the newspaper, which she received daily, with her eyes wide in shock. Harry and Ron sat left and right to her today and they were leaning in to read, whatever she had found on the first page of the Daily Prophet. The headline was big and easy to read, even upside down. "Open Link disappeared from the Ministry," the newsletter stated in bold, black letters and below there was a picture of Lavender, who was shaking Minister Fudge's hand with a shy smile. Fred could only guess what it meant, but it wasn't long until listening in to Hermione's conversation with her friends supplied him with all the facts.
"Bloody hell," Ron exclaimed and put his fork down like he had just lost his appetite. "She really disappeared right under Fudge's nose?"
"Looks like it," Harry confirmed with a sour expression. "She should have never left Hogwarts. Dumbledore would have been able to keep her safe, but Fudge? The Ministry is full of Death Eaters and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them made her disappear. And it's not like they upped their security since summer, as they still refuse to accept that Voldemort's back."
Hermione nodded with a tired expression. "Yeah. The article says that they've just been on their way into the Department of Mysteries, but it doesn't say why. And somehow Lavender just disappeared into thin air. I bet You-Know-Who has her, even though the Prophet tries to blame Dumbledore. I wouldn't be surprised if Professor Umbridge will be back to the castle within the next hour and start looking for her."
Harry sighed. "Probably. They keep denying Voldemort's return, after all, so they can't very well admit that he has her. But, Merlin, that's bad. What if he manages to convince Lavender to forge a bond to him? He'd become even more powerful then."
"Then let's hope it's not him who has her, even though that's probably wishful thinking," Ron said and started piling eggs and bacon onto his plate. George shook his head and looked at Fred with a worried expression.
"Do you reckon Dumbledore will try to save her?" he asked and his twin shrugged with a dark look on his face.
"Dunno. First, he has to find out where she is. And that won't be easy. It's not like the guy has an address or something," Fred replied.
"Yeah. Which means we are more or less fucked," George said and sighed. Merlin, he had hoped this would turn out to be a good day. He'd never been so wrong in his life.
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Dolores was having a really bad day. This should have been the day, where the Minister congratulated her for her great work but instead Lavender Brown had somehow managed to disappear right under her nose. This shouldn't have been possible, the Ministry of Magic was one of the safest places in wizarding Britain after all, but that didn't make the girl's sudden disappearance any more real. As soon as Dolores realized that the Open Link was gone, she sent the whole Auror corps to search the Ministry. But as the minutes and hours trickled by it got more and more certain that the girl was no longer there. Where was she? Who had taken her and how? It was all a big mystery, but for Dolores, there was only one possibility. Because there was one person that wanted the Open Link's support as much as the Minister wanted it: Albus Dumbledore. He had the power to take the girl from them, to abduct her without anyone noticing, and the fact that he had constructed the story of You-Know-Who's return to strengthen his claim on the Minister's position only made it more obvious to what lengths the old wizard was willing to go. But unfortunately for him, Dolores knew exactly what he was capable of and so she had no qualms to utilise the strength of the security department and bring ten Aurors back with her to Hogwarts. If the Open Link was back to the castle, then Dolores would find her and if it was the last thing she was doing in her life.
It was noon when she finally arrived at the castle. The students were all back to their afternoon lessons already and so there was no one waiting for them when they passed the gate to the Hogwarts grounds, no one but the Headmaster himself. The man wore a richly decorated robe in a dark purple colour and looked at the assembled Aurors with a curious expression on his face, while his hands were clasped behind his back.
"Good day, Dolores. I see you are back to the castle. To what do I owe the pleasure of your hasty return?"
The old man looked at her with a twinkle in his blue eyes and it took all her willpower to keep her composure. Because he knew very well, what made her return to the castle. "We are looking for Miss Brown, Headmaster, and we believe that she is here, at Hogwarts."
"But she isn't, Dolores. In fact, you are the person who removed her from the castle and therefore made her leave the protective wards that were supposed to keep her safe." He looked at her with a sad, disappointed expression but Dolores was not buying it.
"That was before you brought her back, Dumbledore. But we'll find her, no matter where you are trying to hide her from me and if we do, be assured that the Minister will hear of your betrayal, Headmaster. This will have consequences for you."
The old man bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Unfortunately for all of us, Miss Brown is not at the castle, Dolores. There's only one person who's powerful enough to let her disappear like this, but as long as the Ministry keeps denying his return, I fear, there isn't much either of us can do." With that, his eyes left her and drifted towards the assembled Aurors. "I'm sure there will be consequences for Miss Brown's disappearance and we'll all have to face them rather sooner than later."
The men stared at the Headmaster with wide eyes and Dolores could feel them shifting nervously next to her. But she would not be discouraged that easily.
"Well, Headmaster, unfortunately, the Minister and I have seen through your lies. We know this is only a plot to claim the Minister's position for yourself, but we are not falling for it." With that, she turned to the assembled Aurors. "Aurors of the Ministry! The Minister tasked us to find Miss Brown and we will not rest until the girl is found. We will not leave any stone of the castle unturned do you hear me?"
"Yes, Ma'am," the men chorused and saluted towards her.
"Very well, every teacher that refuses to cooperate is to be treated as an enemy to the Ministry and will be removed from the castle," Dolores continued and the Aurors nodded in understanding. Then Dolores turned back to Dumbledore and looked at him with a warning expression.
"We will start searching the castle now. I strongly advise you not to interfere, Dumbledore, otherwise I am entitled to remove you from the castle, Professor."
The man nodded, but to her dismay, he didn't look worried at all. "Very well, Dolores. I wish you good luck," he said and nodded with a smile. If he meant their search or the attempt to remove him from the castle, he did not say.
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It was only three days until the next Hogsmeade weekend and to Hermione's surprise, the trip was not cancelled, even though Lavender Brown was still not found. As she had predicted, the Ministry had sent its Aurors to search the castle but after two days of intensive search and disruption of their lessons, the Aurors had finally disappeared and only a very grumpy Professor Umbridge stayed behind. She had declared that she was still convinced that the Open Link was in fact at Hogwarts and so she would resume her position as High Inquisitor and monitor the castle in the hope to find the girl. It was a futile hope, Hermione thought, but it was enough for the Ministry employee to stay at the castle. And so there was again one more pair of eyes she had to be careful of.
"Let's go to Honeydukes first," Ron stated, as he, Harry and Hermione strolled down the footpath towards Hogsmead. It was a blessing to finally get out of the castle for a while. "I heard they have a variety of new Halloween sweets and I'm determined to try them all."
Hermione sighed. "You know, Ron, somehow I get the impression that you want to spend all the money you got out of the bet at once."
The boy nodded enthusiastically. " 'Course I do. But don't worry, I won't spend it all on sweets. Zonko's has a new Halloween collection, too."
Harry grinned. Of course, the boys would think it a great idea, even though Ron would have been much better off, saving the money. Because it would only be some days before he would start to bemoan his lack of money again because the sweets and joke products would be spent then. She shook her head in exasperation. "I guess there's no chance to convince you otherwise," she said with a sigh and Ron grinned.
"Nope. Once in my life I have enough money to finally have some fun at Hogsmeade and I'm going to enjoy that," her friend declared with a goofy grin.
Hermione sighed. Sometimes she really couldn't understand those boys. One of their fellow Gryffindors was missing, for Merlin's sake. How could they even feel like celebrating at all? But she remembered Snape's words and even though old Hermione would have still scolded them, it was probably the wiser choice to just tell them what they wanted to hear. "Alright. It's your money Ron and I'm not your mum."
"Really? You're not going to tell me off because of this?" Ron asked her in disbelief, just as the first houses of the village came into view.
She nodded and tried to keep a straight face. It was her chance to shake off some suspicions that still might lay on her and practise her acting skills. "No, I'm not. As it looks there won't be many other happy Hogsmeade outings in our future. Now that he has the Open Link…" She shook her head. "Who knows how long it will be, until we are no longer allowed to even go? So I guess we should enjoy the time we have left as good as we can."
The boys nodded solemnly. "Guess you're right," Harry agreed with a sad smile. "Will you come with us then?"
She nodded with a smile. "As I don't have a date today, there is no reason why I shouldn't. As long as there's some time for me to visit the bookshop?"
"Sure," Ron said with a lazy smile. "And afterwards we'll all go to the three broomsticks. Butterbeer's on me, today."
"Sounds like a plan," Harry said cheerfully. "Let's all try to enjoy the day, Okay? As much as we can."
Hermione nodded. "Yeah, let's do this, as much as we can." Which in her case wasn't all that much, but that was something the boys didn't need to know.
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The last weeks of the year were a challenge for Fred and George. Ever since the High Inquisitor's return to the castle six new Educational Decrees were released, each of them more ridiculous than the one before. It was no longer allowed to play music in school - George didn't even have an idea why that was supposed to be forbidden – and since a few days, there was now an Inquisitorial Squad at the castle that was watching out for any sign of the Open Link. Ironically this squad mainly consisted of Slytherins and Fred was pretty sure that they would never hand over Lavender to Umbridge if she was ever found at the castle, which was highly improbable. But the members of Umbridge's little amateur Aurors were still annoying enough to make the twin's life a living hell. Because the Inquisitorial Squad was not only on watch-out for the Open Link, but they were also tasked to monitor the student's compliance with the Educational Decreed. They were even allowed to take points if they found that someone overstepped a rule. This meant that Umbridge suddenly had at least 40 eyes and ears which meant that they couldn't even sneeze without her knowing. It wasn't only bad for their business, which they had planned to start by selling products to their fellow students, but also for their morale. Because pulling pranks or doing anything else that could have been fun was nearly impossible. And Fred and George hated it.
But it wasn't until two weeks before Christmas until things went really south. It was the middle of the night when they were suddenly awoken by a very dishevelled-looking Professor Mc McGonagall. They found themselves back in her office only minutes later and to their dismay they found that Ginny and Ron were already waiting there for them with solemn expressions on their faces.
"What happened? What's wrong?" George hastily asked them but just as Ron wanted to answer him, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and said:
"Your father has been attacked. He… was on duty for the Order tonight but he's been found badly wounded, which is the reason why I called you here."
Fred nodded mutely, even though he felt his heart beat heavily in his chest. Merlin, this was bad. "Attacked by whom?" he asked confusedly and stared at his Head of the House. "And where?"
"It was the snake, You-Know-Who's snake," Ron immediately answered before the Professor could even open her mouth. "Dunno where, though."
McGonagall sent him a stern look. "It is of no importance where he was wounded. Important is, that your father has been brought to St. Mungo's and that your mother has requested the four of you come home immediately."
George exhaled and anxiously looked at his siblings. "That sounds bad."
"Yeah," his sister agreed with a dark expression on her face.
"It's too early to make any predictions," McGonagall said with a sigh. "But you should not lose hope. Your father is still alive and he might be for a long time. Nevertheless, your mother needs you as much as he does now."
Fred nodded. "Yeah. We must go home immediately. Is there any way to floo to the Burrow?"
"Of course, Mr Weasley," the older woman answered with a nod. I'll have the house-elves ready your things within minutes and then you can be off. You'll floo directly from my office, as we don't want the wrong persons to get wind of your early departure into the Christmas holidays."
The four siblings nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Professor," Ginny said with a sad smile on her lips. "We really appreciate it."
"Nonsense," the stern woman replied with a headshake. "That's the least I can do for you." And somehow her words didn't exactly help the twins to feel better.
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When Hermione went down for breakfast the next day, she had the feeling that something was seriously wrong. It wasn't that there was any hint for it in particular, but ever since she got up from her bed, she felt the strange feeling of foreboding in her stomach that simply wouldn't go away. And it definitely didn't get better, when she saw Ron and the other Weasleys missing from the breakfast table.
"Where's Ron?" she asked Harry, who was already sitting at the breakfast table looking like he hadn't slept much that night.
"At home, Ginny and the other Weasley's too," he murmured silently and Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. "Their father got attacked last night while he was doing something for the Order."
"Merlin," Hermione exclaimed and looked at her plate with a churning stomach. Suddenly she wasn't hungry at all. "How bad is it? Is he…?"
"Dunno," Harry said with a sad little shrug before he continued to whisper: "It was Voldemort's Snake who got him. I… I saw the attack in a dream, Hermione."
She stared at him with wide eyes. "You saw it? Was he there, too?"
"Dunno, I don't think so. It… I saw it through the eyes of the Snake, I was the snake in this dream," he whispered and from his expression, Hermione could see how afraid he was because of that.
"That's bad, Harry, really bad. Didn't you do the exercises I showed you before you went to bed? It's really important and…" she didn't get any further, as he interrupted her with a harsh whisper.
"I know, Hermione. But what would have happened when I didn't have that dream? Dumbledore said they were lucky to have found him that soon, otherwise, he wouldn't have had a chance."
She swallowed heavily. "Okay, alright. I'm just worried about you, Harry. What if that connection starts to get even stronger? We don't know what this could do to you…"
Harry looked at her with a sour expression. "I know," he said. "And I swear I'm trying to empty my mind, Hermione, it just doesn't seem to work."
She sighed. "Then we need to practise even harder, Harry. We already lost the Open Link to him, Harry, we can't lose you too."
Her friend nodded. "I know. It's just so hard sometimes."
Hermione carefully put her hand onto his arm and even though this made the churning in her stomach worse, she forced herself to leave it there. "I know Harry. But you're not alone in this. You've got friends that are there for you. I'm there for you, whenever you need me, okay?"
"Yeah. Okay," Harry said with a tired sigh and even though he cast her a small smile it didn't reach his eyes. But Hermione couldn't blame him because she also didn't feel like smiling at all.
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