Chapter 8
"MUDBLOODS! FILTH! STAINS OF DISHONOUR! TAINT OF SHAME ON THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS! The ear-piercing scream rang it through the air.
"Oh, Merlin, here we go," said Remus, getting to his feet at once. He left with Arthur and Molly to quieten down Sirius's mother. Sam looked to Dean, not sure if they should go to help. Dean slipped his gun from his pocket at once.
"It's alright," Albus assured, still calm. "Did Remus inform you of the portrait?"
Dean looked to the older wizard, his alarm quickly turning to shock as he remembered Remus telling them about the portrait of the old lady when they came in. "That's the old lady's portrait?"
"That's her," Ron scowled.
"Wow…"
Minerva stiffened as she saw the gleaming silver object in Dean's hand.
"Sorry," Dean muttered as he shoved his gun back into his pocket. "Instinct."
Remus reappeared, the scowl deepening on his face as he straightened his tie and smoothed back his hair, muttering a quick apology before sitting back down.
"It was my fault, Remus," Molly reminded him while cleaning up the soup stain on the floor.
"Tergeo," she muttered, pointing her wand at it, and the stain was instantly sucked from the floor and disappeared. Sam walked over to Molly kneeling to touch his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright Mrs Weasley? You didn't get cut or anything did you?"
"I'm perfectly fine Sam," Molly told him. "Thank you." She got to her feet. "Albus, they almost got themselves killed last June."
Harry stood up. "We want to fight. We want to be ready. It was my fault Mrs Weasley, What happened in June."
"Harry-" Molly began before Albus held up his good hand.
"Please," He said. "Everyone, be calm. Molly, I know this is difficult, but Voldemort has started to use Harry's friends and family against him. They need to know. You can't protect them from this war."
Molly sighed heavily before nodding, she went to sit beside Arthur and kept her eyes on the table. Sam worried about the woman, knowing how she felt, but also remembering how being unprepared can be more of a vulnerability than the alternative.
"He's right," Dean confirmed. "I don't know much about this Voldemort guy." A shudder went around the table, apart from Harry and Albus, who stayed still. "But I do know that he's probably not stupid. He knows to use his enemy's weakness. Demons do the same thing. Most monsters in fact."
"And if the two groups team up…" Sam left his statement hanging.
"All the more reason to be prepared." They turned to see Ginny turning a bright shade of red. This being the first time she had spoken since the boys arrived.
"I know," Molly admitted.
"So, shall we go into the drawing-room?" Albus suggested with a wave of his hand. Everyone got to their feet and moved down the hall, almost creeping in front of the large purple curtain.
"Don't wake the wicked witch…" Dean muttered. "What was she screaming about anyway?"
"The Black family were very proud of their heritage. They were Purebloods. Which means the family is all magical. A person who had one magical and one Muggle parent would be considered half-blood. A witch or wizard who had both Muggle parents is a Muggleborn," Remus explained.
"I am a Muggleborn, and Harry is Half-Blood. Ron's Pureblood for example," Hermione added.
"So that's how you know so much about 'Muggle' things right?" Sam ended up by her side.
"Yes," Hermione nodded. "My parents are just ordinary people, they were surprised when I got my letter."
"I can imagine," Dean smiled a little. "Are there a lot of Muggleborns in Hogwarts?"
"More of those than Purebloods," Ron commented. "There wouldn't be many Muggleborns, but there would be a lot of Half-Bloods."
"Not that it matters," Alastor growled. "Pureblood supremacy is all it is. They believe magic should be kept within all magic families and anything less deserves death."
"See Sammy? Wizard Hitler." Dean whispered to his brother. Sam frowned.
They all found places to sit on comfy armchairs and Albus called the meeting to order.
"Again, thank you all for coming. We welcome our newcomers from the United States."
"No problem," Dean shrugged. Albus nodded before turning to the Auror that had been surprisingly quiet throughout dinner. Dean felt creeped out by the spinning glass eye, feeling like he could see through him like an x-ray machine. "I believe you have some news to share with us, Alastor."
"I received a report. Charity Burbage has not been home in over almost 2 weeks. No one has seen her. Her neighbour reported her missing after she didn't show up for their monthly chess game."
"Professor Burbage?" Hermione gasped, eyes wide. Harry and Ron both had a look of dread on their faces.
Minerva looked down, remembering how the Muggle Studies Professor helped her move Sybil back into her quarters at Hogwarts after Umbridge tried to evict her. Charity was kind to everyone she met in the halls.
"Does she have a family?" Dean asked.
"No," Minerva replied, wiping a handkerchief under her glasses. "Her mother died during childbirth and her father passed away ten years ago."
"Okay," Dean nodded. "We'll find her. She ain't dead yet."
"No need. We've already got people on the trail." Alastor fixed Dean with a stare.
"Alastor is correct, we need you to train our students on how to survive a supernatural attack."
Sam and Dean both nodded. They didn't like the sound of this. Sure, they were used to people going missing. It was how they got a lot of their cases. This person meant a lot to the people in the room. But they obviously couldn't do anything now without gathering information first. They need to know thy enemy.
"You're right," Sam confirmed.
"Okay, so what, apart from Harry, does Voldemort want?" Dean asked.
"He wants control of the wizarding world, "Albus said, his face grave. "Under his rule, anyone less than Pureblood will be exterminated. He believes in Pureblood dominance."
"Voldemort is a powerful, intelligent wizard. Last year, he formed a plan to get to Harry, and I am foolish to say that he almost succeeded, even as I at every turn, I tried to stop him. I anticipated wrongly, as I told Harry last June. He is now aware of the connection between himself and Harry, and I am still afraid that he will try that again. I'm sure we are all aware," he said looking at everyone but the boys. "Of the atrocities in the Muggle world over the past week."
"What happened?" Sam asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Brockdale bridge collapsed, causing a dozen deaths. Two murders, Amelia Bones and Emmeline Vance, and a sudden hurricane In the West County."
"I saw something about that on the internet," Sam spoke up. All eyes looking at him, waiting for an explanation of the word 'internet'. "It's all over the news."
"Trust me, it'll take too long to explain," Harry informed them.
Dean nodded. "Anyway, so he's declaring war on anyone born to Muggle families or magical people marrying normal people?"
"Yes," Minerva nodded. "Also, anyone who even sympathizes with the Muggle population."
"Like our family. They call us Blood traitors…." Charlie growled.
"I see why you called in the experts then." Dean's eyes widened as they explained the hierarchy of the wizard community.
"I'm still trying to figure out Harry's part in all this. Why does he want him dead?" Sam asked, bewildered.
"Yeah, no offence kid, but you wouldn't have been much of a threat as a baby," Dean pointed out.
"16 years ago, a prophecy was made that, in summary, detailed the eventual defeat of Voldemort by a boy born at the end of July that year," Albus explained. "This information applied to two boys, one of whom was Harry. The information was leaked to Voldemort, and he planned to kill the child. It's unknown why he chose to target Harry's family, but he did. The Order put Harry's family under strong protection. But a supposed friend betrayed them. Voldemort went to Harry's home on Halloween night and murdered both James and Lily Potter. He tried to kill Harry, but the curse rebounded on him. Lily sacrificed herself for her son, and that protection deflected the curse."
"Sound familiar Sammy?" Dean muttered bitterly.
Sam glared at Dean before continuing. "So that's how it all began, and Voldemort has made several attempts since then to finish the job. Is that what happened last June? I didn't read anything about that in my research." Sam looked at Harry.
"Yes," began Harry, looking uncomfortable. "I started having this connection with Voldemort. He started to get into my head. He put a fake vision in my mind. He had Sirius…" He stopped and took a deep breath, the anger still present in his gut. "I didn't know what to do…."
"I checked to see if Sirius was home before I left but… I was lied to. They said Sirius was at the Ministry. I went to the Ministry with my friends. We tried to rescue Sirius, but he wasn't there. Voldemort tricked me, so we went. We were ambushed by Death Eaters. The Order arrived and Sirius…"
Dean and Sam nodded, understanding that he didn't want to finish.
"We get it, kid. We've all done some stupid things for our family," Dean told him. Sam had to fight the urge to throw Dean a glare because yes, Dean especially had done some stupid things.
"Voldemort turned up and fought with Professor Dumbledore," Harry spoke again, sounding hesitant. "Voldemort left just as the Minister for Magic, he's head of government, came in with other Ministry officials. They saw him and got their proof that he was back." Harry's words turned bitter at the end.
Alastor grumbled and straightened up in his chair. "A fat lot of good it did for Fudge… He lost his job because of it. Huge scandal that he kept something like that quiet. Rufus Scrimgeour is Minister now."
"And worse for Sirius..." Remus sighed sadly, looking at Harry. "He died for it."
"Did you say, Sirius? As in Sirius Black?" Sam asked, looking around at the others. "I read he escaped from prison." He chose his words carefully, knowing there was most likely more to the story.
"Sirius didn't do those things. He didn't kill anyone. It was Peter Pettigrew. He was on Voldemort's side the whole time. He was the one to give my parents' location to Voldemort, and he framed Sirius for the murders."
"So he was wrongfully accused?" Dean asked, wanting to get his information straight.
"Yes," Alastor confirmed. "They cleared his name a few weeks after the whole Department of Mysteries debacle… a fat lot of good it did."
Minerva glared at Alastor. "That's enough." She was worried that they were going to upset Harry further.
"It's alright Professor," Harry told Minerva. "What's done is done."
"And Sirius was important to you," Sam stated, feeling like there was more to the story.
"He was my godfather," Harry explained, determined not to let his emotions get the better of him. Lupin glanced at him, a sympathetic look in his eyes. "He was one of my father's closest friends. He along with my father, and Professor Lupin, and Peter called themselves the Marauders. They had nicknames for each other and everything.
"That's another thing I don't get. The nicknames and code words and how you can't just be magically poofed in here." Dean spoke up. "What's with the secrecy?"
"This house is under what's known as the Fidelius Charm. It involves the concealment of a secret inside a soul. That person is known as the Secret Keeper. I am the Secret Keeper of this house, to protect the location of the Headquarters. The only way for it to be broken is for the Secret Keeper to divulge the information," Albus explained.
"Is that what happened to Harry's mom and dad?" Dean asked, realizing. "That's how this Peter guy betrayed them?"
"Unfortunately yes," Albus told them. "They put their faith in the wrong person."
"Wait," Sam stopped him. "How did we find out about this house then?"
"The note," Remus told them. "It's in Albus's handwriting."
"Ah, I see, so as long as the secret is kept then the house doesn't need any more security than a simple lock." Sam rationalized.
"Not to mention the old lady's portrait scaring the hell out of anyone who gets in," Dean added.
Ron and Ginny laughed.
"I would assume the security in Hogwarts is a little different considering the number of students and staff that know about it." Sam continued his thought without acknowledging his brother's interruption.
"The protection of the castle is very strong. We take our students' safety very seriously," Minerva told them.
"Which brings us to the curriculum that we would like you to teach." Albus sat up, ready to get to the heart of the meeting.
"Right, so what kind of supernatural creatures have you seen?" Sam asked, wishing he had brought a notebook to take notes. "We need a good base to teach from, we've seen a lot of monsters while we've been hunting, so we should get specific to the needs of your students."
"Not many, some supernatural creatures feel threatened by our magic and keep a wide berth," Arthur told them.
"That would make sense, species often feel threatened by others when confronted in large numbers." The others looked back and forth between each speaker trying to keep up with the track of the conversation.
"So basically everything," Dean nodded.
"A basic understanding of the creatures and how to prevent an attack." Albus redefined. "Help the student's not to feel threatened by those that would wish them harm. Unfortunately we teachers cannot shield them from everything.
"That's true," Dean nodded. He looked at his brother. "So we just avoid some of what dad did," he laughed. "Scaring the crap out of us I mean." Not that John was a bad father, it was the way he was taught. So he didn't know there was another way to instruct rather than through fear.
"I'm just kidding," Dean added, his hands raised in surrender, as Sam looked at him.
"I was reading about the history of Hogwarts and noticed there are quite a few Ghosts that stick around the building. Are they mostly friendly?" Sam addressed the group.
"If you don't count the bloody Baron and Peeves…." Ron rolled his eyes. "Peeves is a poltergeist and the Baron is the patron Ghost for Slytherin, aka the Pureblood House."
"Good Ghosts? That's new…" Although, he added in his head. After everything we've seen in the past week or so, a good Ghost might be the most normal of it all. "If Peeves is a problem we could probably take him out if you want."
"That won't be necessary," Albus assured. "Peeves is not harmful. He can be annoying at times, but it is mainly pranks. Nothing to worry about. The Ghosts of Hogwarts are of no harm. Professor Binns, our History of Magic teacher is a Ghost."
"Wow," Sam muttered. Dean looked just as surprised. Albus went on to explain the backstory of Professor Binns briefly, explaining how he'd simply fallen asleep at his desk one day and died, and continued to teach in the afterlife.
After a moment, Dean nodded, "Anyway, so basically a crash course through some of our greatest hits?"
"Essentially yes, you have the creative freedom of your curriculum, as do most of our staff," Albus replied with a smile, which Sam thought implied something deeper.
Dean and Sam both nodded, keeping his words in mind. It was one thing teaching on the job but in the classroom?
"We need you all to understand that some things we've seen and faced are not for the faint of heart. We aren't going to sugar-coat it because they're kids. Misinformation tends to get pretty sticky when you're facing down some of these creatures." Dean looked to Molly and Arthur, being the only parents in the room. "I would want these kids to be prepared as I was when Dad taught me about these things." He looked at Charlie. "I'm sure working with Dragons wasn't as cool as you thought it was when you were signing up for it after school right?"
"Not quite as cool," Charlie agreed. "Thinking about a cool job while in school is different from actually doing it. It can be tough. Not that I don't enjoy it. I love it."
"But would you still have chosen it, knowing the risks beforehand?" Sam asked.
Charlie thought for a moment before answering. "I know it's dangerous," he looked at his parents. "I know it drives you up a wall Mum, but it needs to be done. So yeah, I guess I would do the same regardless."
"Same as me," Dean agreed. "We're a little different. Everyone we know are hunters, and sometimes you don't have a choice. Most of the hunters we know got sucked in because a family member got killed. Hell, it happened to us. You guys are choosing to let these students know what's going on. I just wanted you to be prepared for when they start writing home about all this."
Ron snorted and muttered, "Malfoy no doubt."
"I will take care of any grievances against you. Not to worry." Albus waved away Dean's concerns as if it had happened before. Dean turned to look at Remus briefly, wondering why he retired from teaching but didn't think it would be appropriate to ask.
"We're able for it Professor," Hermione spoke for the first time in a while. "Last year, we created a… an organization called Dumbledore's Army." Dean raised an eyebrow at the name and Hermione's cheeks went pink. "You-Know-Who fears Professor Dumbledore, you see… so we thought it was an apt name. Our Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor was useless." Harry and Ron held back a laugh. It was unheard of for Hermione to disrespect authority.
"She was sent from the Ministry by the previous Minister to spy on Hogwarts," Ginny explained. "Toad face wouldn't teach us how to protect ourselves."
Molly frowned at her daughter but didn't comment. From what she'd heard, Dolores Umbridge was a despicable witch. She seemed to think it appropriate, even though she couldn't encourage that kind of behaviour from any of her children.
"I will have order!" Fred and George chimed in a high voice, simultaneously. "Hem, hem!"
"We decided to teach ourselves. Harry taught us several defensive spells that helped us. Especially those of us that went to the Ministry to try to find Sirius," Hermione continued on a more serious note. "Without his help, I fear that a few of us, myself most certainly, would not be here." She thought of the curse Antonin Dolohov hit her with. According to Madam Pomfrey, had the spell been spoken aloud, and not cast non-verbally, she probably would have been dead.
Sam nodded, "We would teach in a similar style I guess. Making sure we gave you every advantage. But I'm not sure if there would be anything we could grade the students on." Sam mused.
"We'd have to rely on the books a little more, like that Professor you mentioned. We don't have the know-how of your spells to use them reliably," Dean said, raising the wand he was given and putting it back in the robes.
"That side will be taught in Defence Against the Dark Arts," Albus told them. "It is similar to the task we have assigned to you, but your class could be more hands-on."
"We'll work out something," Dean told him.
"Should we give you a written curriculum of some sort to approve?" Sam directed his question to Albus and Minerva.
"College boy," Dean 'coughed'. Sam punched him in the arm.
"No need, I trust you both to take the appropriate measures within your class. Now if that's everything I think we should break with all this serious business and get to dessert. Molly, surely you have something wonderful planned after that delicious stew?" Albus smiled at Mrs Weasley.
"Of course," Molly brightened up at the change of subject. She and Arthur had been very quiet, just observing, mostly. After her outburst, she came to the reluctant realization that her children were no longer safe in this world. No one was, and if the gruff American hunters could prepare them (more importantly, to protect themselves) then she could accept their teaching style. Albeit a little strange.
Remus got out of his seat and followed her into the kitchen to help her. Arthur saw this as an opportunity to ambush the brother's to ask them more questions.
"So, how are you boys enjoying your trip abroad?"
"It's good so far. All this wizard stuff is new, but we've seen worse," Dean told him.
"I see, yes, it can be very jarring for Muggles to get a glimpse behind the curtain' as it were," Arthur commented with a thoughtful nod. "Like when I worked with the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office. We had to perform memory charms on a few Muggles here and there. But things always seemed to turn out okay for them in the end."
Dean and Sam nodded.
"So you had to tamper with people's memories?" Sam asked.
"It's never something we want to do, but yes. It's necessary to protect the Statue of Secrecy," Albus explained as the deserts began to float in and land in front of everyone. "This looks delicious Molly." he smiled before continuing. "It is our law to help keep our world secret from the Muggle's world."
"Yeah, it's exactly why we don't go around announcing we're hunters. If people knew what's out there, it'd cause panic," Dean said, taking a bite.
"I can imagine." Arthur nodded, looking thoughtful. "I've always wanted to know how Muggles lived without magic. It seems so difficult to manage."
"You get used to it," Dean shrugged. "Hard to miss something when you've never had it." He snagged a piece of chocolate pie before it could whiz by. "This though is the best part about magic so far."
Sam shook his head at his brother's antics. He looked around the table. Ron was shovelling his cake into his mouth. Hermione was looking at him with an air of disgust.
"Slow down Ronald… honestly…"
Dean started asking Fred and George about owning a joke shop.
"It's wicked!" Fred said enthusiastically. "There was a lot of work that went into it, but it's been very popular since we opened."
"With everything going on since You-Know-Who came back, people need a bit of humour in their lives," George added. "We're happy to oblige."
"I must get some more stuff from you," Dean smirked.
"No," interrupted Sam. "No more damn prank wars."
"Prank wars?" The twins asked in unison, their eyes alight with curiosity. "Wicked…"
"Yeah," Sam ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "We did them a lot when we were kids."
Dean frowned. "You never let me have any fun."
"Cause that usually makes people, aka me, miserable," Sam scowled.
"So as far as hunting goes. What's been your favourite hunt?" Hermione perked up.
"One where we haven't almost died," Dean laughed. Sam frowned and then he laughed. "The ghost sickness," he snickered. "Dean got infected with a sickness from a ghost, and he was scared of everything."
"Ha-ha…." Dean grumbled.
"Wait so you can get something called ghost sickness?" Ron looked shocked.
"It's rare, but yeah. Wasn't fun. Especially since I saw Lilith toward the end," he frowned.
"You never told me that," Sam said, surprised.
Dean shrugged. "Didn't seem worth mentioning," he said as he took a bite of pie. "With all the crap going on it didn't seem important." Sam watched his brother, realizing this was the second seemingly unimportant detail (to Dean at least) that Sam thought was a pretty big deal. What else has he been hiding from me?
"Don't start Sam," Dean muttered, "It wasn't important. I was trying not to freak out after… Also, you've kept your own secrets. Besides, it's over and none now. No use crying over spilt milk."
Sam huffed and nodded.
"Aside from ghost sickness… What else is out there?" Harry looked intrigued by the possibility of new information."
"Almost everything," Dean answered. "Vampires, Werewolves, Demons, Angels, Shapeshifters, Wendigos, Shtrigas, Rugarus. You know, a little bit of everything."
"Wow…" Ron said.
"That's just in America. God knows what's in London." Sam sighed.
"Angels and demons are real?" Ginny asked, her brown eyes were wide.
"Yeah, they are," Sam nodded.
The conversation went on for almost another half hour when Molly looked at the clock and gasped.
"Oh Merlin, it's 1 am."
"Talk about losing track of time," Dean smirked. "We'd better get back. Unless there's a spell to reverse back time." Hermione looked down with a frown.
"Thanks for having us over for the meeting," Sam said gratefully. "It was great to meet you all." Dean nodded in agreement.
"We will see you at the start of term," Albus nodded with a cheerful smile.
"I'll bring you two back to the Leaky Cauldron," Remus told them. "I need to be getting home now anyway. Tonks will want a full report."