Chapter 32: Returning
For one long drawn out moment, only the sound of the rain pelting upon the mullioned front windows and atop the roof, the wind hollowing madly about the Salem lawn, and the incessant boom of thunder could be heard. Then, as the large front doors swung shut behind Harry and Adrienne, and the echoing sound of the latch locking them all in rang through the entrance hall, the castle finally came to life.
"Harry!"
"Adrienne!"
An entourage of students burst forward, seemingly having appeared from no where, but in reality had watched the two students approach the school upon broomsticks. Students clad in black and emerald robes swung themselves at Harry and Adrienne in a frenzy of name screaming and praise of the wizards of yester-year, while only two students really knew of the consequence of Harry and Adrienne returning, the rest all acting along because a good scene of melodrama added life to the stories of school that they would one day tell their grandchildren.
Hermione and Ron, through much shoving, elbowing, and Hermione on more than one occasion stomping upon the feet of several unsuspecting students, pushed their way to the front of the line and threw themselves upon Harry, as he was standing before Adrienne, who was holding her chest and complaining about claustrophobia.
"You're alive!" Hermione hissed in Harry's ear, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face on his chest. "And wet," she added as an afterthought.
"Professor Wallace," Ron interrupted.
"She told us in the forest – " Hermione continued, getting past the initial shock of seeing Harry again.
"And then they came, about fifty of them. We had to fight them off without our wands!"
"Don't listen to Ron, he was the one who ordered us to run," Hermione snapped.
The rest of the students, Salem and Hogwarts alike, pressed in upon the three, all trying to see Harry Potter. Adrienne stood behind them, staring at the back of Harry's head, her eyes glossed over in an unreadable expression.
"Will all students please exit the entrance hall, except for Mr. Potter and Miss Miles." Professor Bell's magically magnified voice echoed through the hall. No one listened and the students just pressed closer toward Harry, who was making a desperate attempt to extricate himself from the middle of the room, having grabbed Adrienne's arm to drag her after him.
"Students, please return to your common rooms, and those from Hogwarts, to the Gre… cafeteria," this time it was Dumbledore's voice that was magnified. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to demand the attention of the crowd either.
The teachers were standing at the very back of the hall, trying to push out of the hallway they were crammed into, Bell and Dumbledore in the front.
"Stupid kids never listen," Professor Glenn mumbled, pushing his way to the front of the line, and raised his wand to his throat. "Sonorus… All right! Listen up! I'm counting to ten… if you aren't out of this hall by 10 then I'm putting you and Adrienne alone in a Potions lab… with incendiary ingredients. You have been warned!"
Silence sliced through the room as first the Salem students froze with expressions of sheer terror, turning their heads to look back at where Glenn's voice had come from. Then, one by one the Hogwarts students stopped talking, either because they knew the implications of Glenn's threat, or because they were just copying the others. And then, a massive exodus occurred as students pushed their way toward the various hallways and staircases, casting final glances over their shoulders at Harry.
In a few moments, Harry, who had been remarkably silent the entire time, Adrienne, who too had stopped talking, Hermione, and Ron found themselves surrounded by Professors. And in a whirlwind of colored robes, raised wands, and flurries of instructions, Harry and Adrienne were whisked from the room, leaving Hermione and Ron standing silently, their jaws slightly open, in the middle of the empty Entrance Hall.
"Let me see that cut."
"How did you get covered in ashes?"
"Harry, what happened to your wrists?"
Dumbledore watched the bustle before him for only a second before ordering a silence, and then, to everyone's immense displeasure, ordered all from the room, even a tearful Mia, who began wailing even harder at having to leave Adrienne, who still hadn't said a word. Joe ended up dragging her from the room. Dumbledore watched the last of the professors leave, ushered out both Madam Pomfrey and the Salem Nurse, Brunhilda Thor, and then turned to look at Professor Bell, who had settled behind her desk.
"It's my office," she said through pursed lips.
"I wasn't expecting you to leave," Professor Dumbledore said without his usual jaunty tone.
"Oh," Julia answered, blushing slightly.
Harry sat quietly in the chair Dumbledore had issued him upon arriving in Professor Bell's office. He was fully aware of everything going on around him, as he had been since arriving back at the castle, and he somehow felt as if he were only watching a drama concerning himself, not really living it. He felt detached, unemotional, withdrawn… something he knew he definitely hadn't felt when in this situation the previous year. Harry cast a glance at Adrienne, who was sitting, her hands beneath her thighs, her bottom lip between her teeth, a small trickle of blood dripping from her lips where she had just bit her lip without realizing. She was rocking slightly, beginning to chew on her lip, causing Harry to look away in disgust.
Dumbledore sat down on the edge of Professor Bell's desk, staring at the two students before him, his eyes narrowed in contemplation behind his half-moon spectacles.
"First things first," he said in a soft voice, "are you both all right? " he asked, looking at each in turn.
Harry nodded 'yes.' Adrienne hastily licked her lips to hide the blood before nodding 'yes' too. But before Dumbledore could pose another question, Adrienne revised her answer.
"I have a triangle burned into my hand," she said in a slow drawl, her eyes suddenly losing their vacant look, being replaced with a narrowed one filled with anger. She glared at Dumbledore.
"Do you want to know why I have a triangle burned into my hand?" she asked in an even more deadly whisper.
"I already know," Dumbledore answered sullenly.
Adrienne stared at him for a second. "Are you going to sit there… or start explaining then… because I don't know."
Dumbledore just shook his head, raised a finger, and turned to Harry. "What happened this time, Harry."
Fully expecting this, Harry, in his mind still too calm to be acceptable, sighed.
"After the Quidditch game, Adrienne ran into the forest, and I followed. We ran into this person who looked like that Professor Hartel lady, but it wasn't. We were stunned. The next thing I know I woke up in the basement of the Judiciary building down in the Gallows."
Dumbledore listened intently as Harry continued the story, Adrienne sometimes interjecting something here and there. When Harry had finished, unlike the years before, Dumbledore was silent, not beginning his usual interview.
Harry stared at his Professor for a few seconds, trying to read the old face before him, but neither expression nor action of the eyes betrayed Dumbledore's thoughts.
"Aren't you going to ask any more questions?" Harry asked miserably, a sudden rush of fatigue overtaking him.
A slow but steady ache was engulfing his body, and he leaned back further into the chair, running a hand to his head to rub his eyes beneath his glasses.
"I expect you both have questions for me," Dumbledore replied, turning back to Professor Bell, who still had a hand to her mouth from Harry dueling Voldemort.
"Why was Professor Wallace there?" Harry asked.
Professor Dumbledore hadn't interrupted Harry's speech to clarify anything, much to Harry's displeasure.
"Professor Wallace," Dumbledore started, standing up and slowly walking to the other end of the room to stand next to the fireplace, "was an Auror by the name of Acacia Yulp. I hired her, Harry, to keep an eye on Professor Snape, watch his back you could say. As I told you before, he was once a Death Eater and once a spy… still a spy, and still a Death Eater. Voldemort accepted him back within his midst, but even with Professor Snape's acceptance, I felt he wasn't completely safe there. Without his knowing, I sent Detective Yulp into cover him."
"She's dead," Adrienne said dully, still not quite over the fact. "I saw her… dead."
Dumbledore turned to look at Adrienne, who was now staring at her feet.
"Why did Voldemort need her to wake Adrienne?" Harry asked, standing up, suddenly very tired of sitting, but too tired to stand, so he settled on leaning against the wall.
"How come I needed to be waked in the first place," Adrienne muttered.
"The Stunning Charm, Adrienne, causes one to lose consciousness." Professor Bell was the one to answer this time, her voice raspy from holding her breath. "You fell to the ground after being stunned. You probably hit your head. You hit your head only a month ago, and it seems Professors Glenn and Hartel never took you to the nurse. No doubt you had a concussion. Hitting your head a second time knocked you out cold I suspect."
"Acacia - "
"Call her Professor Wallace," Adrienne ordered.
Dumbledore nodded and continued, "Professor Wallace, Adrienne, spent much time training in the healing arts, becoming just like Nurse Thor and Madam Pomfrey, a healer. It's an archaic term out of date today, but she was trained in using magic to heal both magical and Muggle injuries, your concussion being of Muggle origin, a simple bump on the head."
Harry shut his eyes, telling himself that Professor Wallace went through a lot of trouble to just cure a concussion. He quickly stopped thinking that though, suddenly remembering that she was dead.
"How did the Judiciary building burn, Adrienne?" Professor Bell asked, folding her hands atop her desk.
"There was a big cauldron on the balcony." Adrienne shrugged. "You know about me and potions… I threw a bunch of ingredients in and ran."
The room lapsed into silence and Harry slid down the wall to sit on the ground, placing his chin on his knees.
"I want to know about the Golden Serpent. I want to know about this curse Voldemort used. I want to know about Adrienne."
Adrienne's head snapped up. "I want to know about me too… starting with how come I got this."
She raised her right palm to show Dumbledore.
His purple robe sweeping behind him, Dumbledore strode back into the center of the room, his eyes fixated upon Adrienne's palm.
"That's the mark of the Perfect," he said in a soft voice. "During the Perfect era, a trial would be given to all people. Those who passed were marked… a triangle burned somewhere into their flesh."
"But I didn't go through a trial," Adrienne snapped, staring down at her open palm. "One wasn't arranged for me."
"If no one arranges it, Adrienne, the magic will do it itself. You got that burn while in the MSB in Professor Wallace's class, didn't you?" Adrienne nodded. "You were injured while in a bubble meant to ensure protection." Adrienne nodded again. "But the bubble was created with a weaker magic. You, Adrienne, carry a very powerful magic within you, and it, the magic itself, not you, not me, not Professor Wallace, determined that it was time for your trial."
"Some trial, I was attacked by a crazed lunatic from a 1000 years ago," Adrienne muttered.
"I don't know what you did… and I don't think you do either, but you passed, and your magic burned a triangle into your palm." Dumbledore stared at her for a second and then smiled slightly. "I must say though, you are not the Perfect we all expected."
"I thought that when a Perfect touched the Golden Serpent, a spell was activated," Harry said suddenly, looking up to stare into Dumbledore's face, hidden in the firelight's shadows.
"According to your story, Harry, Voldemort had her under some sort of controlling curse when he gave her the pendant. Had she not been under the curse it would have worked; she must hold the pendant upon her own free will."
"So, if I'm some kind of hot shot witch, how come I couldn't just wish instant death upon all the Death Eaters?" Adrienne asked sourly, quite perturbed now that her classification had been truly established that she still felt like an ordinary witch.
Professor Bell laughed. "Adrienne," she said, shaking her head, "You can't master Transfiguration, you can't master Potions – "
"I could do Transfiguration before Christmas. How come I can't do it now," she shot, narrowing her eyes.
"Because you don't try to," Dumbledore answered matter-of-factly. "You made a real effort right before Christmas. But now you've resigned yourself to believing that you'll never be able to do it. You gave up."
Adrienne frowned. "But that's a different kind of magic," she said angrily.
Dumbledore shook his head and smiled at her. Adrienne couldn't decide if it was an amused smile or a sympathetic smile.
"Adrienne, just like there are different levels of magical ability in modern magic, there are also in that of the Acabadian, or the Perfect, magic," he stared.
"You're pretty low on the totem-pole," Bell interrupted.
"Oh… and Harry's a big wig on your guy's pole, eh?" Adrienne asked.
"I'm not a big wig on anything…" Harry interrupted.
"Yes, he has a great amount of magical ability," Dumbledore answered.
"And I have none," Adrienne murmured in disappointment.
"You, my child, can duel," Professor Bell said with a smile. "And whether that's because of something due to you're being a Perfect or just because you like to win, it doesn't matter. You're good."
"How can I duel without a wand," Adrienne answered, wringing her fingers, her eyes narrowed.
She had been looking forward to the time when everything would be explained to her, but it wasn't turning out to be like she had imagined. This was just a confirmation of her inabilities at being a successful witch.
Harry, head still on his knees, pulled Adrienne's wand from his pocket and tossed it to her. Adrienne jumped in an effort to catch it, holding it with her left hand and eyeing her wand strangely.
"But it'll burn up."
"Adrienne! It'll only burn if you touch it to your palm… hold it with your fingertips and you'll be fine," Professor Bell answered, shaking her head at the girl.
"Back to what happened tonight," Harry suggested dully, looking up at Dumbledore. "You said Professor Wallace was brought into protect Professor Snape. Was he there tonight?"
"No." Dumbledore replied, folding his hands before him. "It seems that Voldemort has not entrusted any classified knowledge to Snape, and he wasn't told about the plan. Professor Wallace, on the other hand, obviously was."
"She's dead," Adrienne said again, her eyes glossing over. "Dead as a door nail… she fell on me… I know." Her voice was rather hollow and it seemed to Harry that she was just rambling, having know idea what she was saying. Perhaps talking comforts her, Harry thought. "And then I burned the place down, along with her and the Golden Serpent."
"Hopefully you're correct about the Golden Serpent being melted. I'm sure the aurors will be looking for it, and once they find it, it will be placed in a safer location," Dumbledore answered.
"What about Wallace. She's dead."
"Minister Fudge will deal with her, and her memory will be honored," Dumbledore said solemnly, standing up and turning to look at the fire.
"He believes you now?" Harry asked, wrapping his arms around his legs and hugging them tightly.
In the fire's glow, Harry could see Dumbledore shake his head. "No. This will all be covered up. There'll be an article in the various newspapers with rumors about Voldemort, but the Office of the Minister will deny the entire thing."
Harry stared at Dumbledore. He was suddenly aware of how frail Dumbledore looked and Harry's jaw involuntarily dropped when he remembered how Dumbledore had acted the previous year. The aura of power that had surrounded him while speaking to Crouch Jr. and to Fudge just a year ago wasn't there tonight. Harry reminded himself that there was no need for it to be, no one was in the room that Dumbledore needed to impress.
"Who's side is Fudge on?" Harry asked in a cautious voice.
Dumbledore didn't turn around. Instead he took a step closer to the fireplace and placed his hand on the wall, staring down into the embers.
"Another day perhaps, Harry, but not today," Dumbledore finally answered, turning around.
He didn't look at Harry though, but instead at Adrienne, who was again chewing her lip, and fully aware of Dumbledore's redirection.
"What are you going to do Miss Potter?" Dumbledore asked, walking forward and kneeling down beside her.
"About what?' she drawled.
Next to her, Harry heaved himself off the ground, pulling on his frayed and charred robe, staring at her behind his smudged glasses.
"Under your mental condition – "
"I was never crazy," Adrienne argued, raising an eyebrow.
Dumbledore didn't notice. "Under your mental condition at the time of your expulsion, there are grounds for you to be readmitted at Hogwarts, if you still would like to attend."
Adrienne didn't move, nor did she say anything.
"You can stay at Salem and finish up your education here, or you can return to Hogwarts. If you still want to become an auror – "
"No!" Adrienne said, shaking her head frantically. "No, no, no… I want nothing to do with aurors… they have a dangerous job, way too dangerous for me."
Dumbledore nodded, his eyes kind as he looked at her.
"So, do I still need this wand?" Adrienne asked, raising the wand in her left hand.
"Yes," Professor Bell drawled. "Most likely, indefinitely, Adrienne."
Adrienne didn't look at all disappointed. "So, Voldemort was expecting some amazing witch and he got me?"
"You could learn to develop your powers, but I seriously doubt your ability will be much improved than your ability at our magic." Dumbledore answered. "You'll find times where you may make something odd happen, like conducting wandless spells in threatening situations, but that may be the extent of your powers."
Adrienne looked at her wand, a small smile breaking onto her face. "Fine with me. I've had enough of all this Perfect business anyway."
She turned to look at Harry, who was leaning against the wall with a pained expression, she couldn't read it though. "Harry dueled Voldemort. He did pretty good too I must say."
This time Dumbledore was the one to smile as he stood up and walked over to Harry. With a gentle movement, he redirected Harry back into his chair.
"You, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said with a formal air, "never cease to amaze me, or others. You managed to come away from another dangerous situation, handled yourself quite well I presume, and somehow, while trying to keep yourself alive, also kept your sister alive."
"Which, I might add, I doubt was an easy task," Professor Bell interrupted, color coming back into her white face.
Harry looked up at Dumbledore, a resigned expression across his face, his arms folded on his chest, trying to lean as far into his chair as possible.
"And throughout all of your trials, you've grown Harry. You've grown in a maturity and intelligence far beyond many grown wizards. You've handled yourself tonight with amazing control, and I applaud you for that." Dumbledore nodded at Professor Bell, and at Adrienne, and then pulled Harry to his feet. "I assume Nurse Thor and Madam Pomfrey are waiting for you both."
The four silently walked from the office, Professor Dumbledore leading the way.
When Harry awoke the following morning, he found Hermione and Ron sleeping next to him, both leaning against each other, Hermione's hair stuck to her face, and Ron snoring slightly. Several beds away, he heard the soft murmur of Adrienne.
"You blew up a Ministry building? You know you could get arrested for that?" Joe asked with a slight grin.
Mia hit him on the shoulder.
"She's had a rough time, don't get her worked up," Mia snapped, and then smiled gently down at Adrienne.
"See, I did learn something in your class, Professor Glenn," Adrienne said with a smile. "But that's all I did was blow up the balcony, Harry did everything else. Well, I did use a magnificent bit of Transfiguration and collapse the roof of a stairway. But then I fell through the floor. I'd never have survived if it weren't for Harry. I'd be dead… like Professor Wallace. She's dead."
Harry shook his head. Harry had the funny feeling that Adrienne kept repeating that Professor Wallace was dead for her own benefit, perhaps thinking that if she just kept saying the word, that it would lose meaning, that there would be no significance in the word "dead" and that Professor Wallace would somehow be alive, since "dead" wasn't significant anymore.
Next to Harry, Hermione stirred, making slight noises as she lifted her head off Ron's shoulders and rubbed her eyes. She stared at Harry for a second before finally waking up.
"Harry," she whispered, smiling cautiously.
"Harry?" Ron said, him too waking up.
"Harry!" Adrienne yelled, causing Mia to jump.
"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked, leaning forward and offering him a glass of water from his bedside table.
Harry took it and swigged the entire thing, the cool liquid cooling his entire body, which still ached.
"I've been better," Harry answered, handing the glass back to Hermione.
Ron nodded but didn't say anything. He just stared at Harry with a skeptical expression.
"Perhaps you need to sleep longer, you look like warmed over death," Hermione suggested, reaching over and pulling his covers up to his neck.
Harry just shrugged and closed his eyes again, suddenly very tired. "Keep talking, both of you, I want to hear your voice," he whispered.
Hermione smiled, Ron leaned forward, and Adrienne turned on her side to watch.
"We went straight for Dumbledore after escaping from the forest," Hermione started, but Adrienne interrupted her with a high squeal.
"New subject," she ordered.
Hermione turned to look back at Adrienne, who raised her eyebrows expectantly.
"All right, new subject. The dueling final is next weekend Harry, you think you'll be able to compete?" Ron asked, seriously doubting it.
Harry didn't answer, he just turned to his side, and continued to sleep, unaware of the continuing conversation around him.
"Of course he will," Adrienne said, yawning slightly, and letting Mia push her back down onto the bed. "Of course he will, and he'll win too," Adrienne muttered sleepily.
Professor Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, Harry, Hermione, and Ron gathered on the Salem entrance steps. Behind them, a large group of Salem professors and students stood to bid them farewell. The rest of the Hogwarts group had left after Harry and Adrienne had arrived back at Salem, and were now resuming classes under Professor McGonagall, who was serving as acting Headmistress until Dumbledore returned.
"You sure you're not coming?" Harry asked, staring expectantly at Adrienne. Adrienne shook her head.
"No, I think I'll stay here," she said, looking back at Mia and Joe, who were standing behind her. "I'm kind of attached to the place, you know?"
"Well, I'm kind of attached to you," Ron said hopefully, shrugging his shoulders. "Come back to Hogwarts."
"Here that Adrienne?" Joe said with a large smile, bending down and putting his head on her shoulder. "He's attached to you. You don't want to break his little freckly heart do you?" Joe asked.
Adrienne's smile dropped. "Stop it," she snapped, turning to look at Joe, who still was resting his head on her shoulder. "And I thought you didn't like him."
Joe laughed. "Me, not like Ron?" Joe paused, his smile slowly slipping off his face, suddenly replaced with a calculating look. "Ok, he's not my favorite person in the world…"
Ron cast a worried glance at Harry, who seemed too to have a skeptical expression.
"But he ran around that entire night going on about how you and Harry were missing. So, I guess that means he cares somewhat for you. And you have to admit, Adrienne Weasley sounds kind of cu – " Adrienne promptly stepped on his foot. "Ok! Fine!" Joe shouted in pain, "I'll shut up."
"Have fun cutie," Mia said, bending down and kissing the top of her head.
"What do you mean have fun?" Adrienne drawled.
"We packed your stuff," came a new voice, and Erica Lessie came walking down a nearby staircase, a trunk trailing after her.
Adrienne laughed. "Really, you want me to leave?" she asked, trying to hide her excitement.
"No," Mia snapped, her face aghast, "but you'll have fun."
"And it will be safer for us," Joe whispered under his breath.
Adrienne turned to smile at Harry, Hermione, and Ron, and then wiggled her eyebrows.
"Think you still need a dueler?" Adrienne asked, smiling at Harry.
Harry suddenly looked away, staring at his shoes for a second before looking up. And then, with a hesitant voice responded, "We bumped Ginny up to the Primary team after you left."
For a split second, a look of disappointment shot across Adrienne's face, but then it disappeared. She just shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh well, there's always next year, eh?"
Mia and Joe watched the group disappear with the portkey. A slight wind had picked up over the night, and was whipping at their robes, sending the ends flapping around their ankles. Joe wrapped his arm around Mia's neck.
"You noticed the difference between the two?" he asked softly.
"Yeah," Mia answered, a slight pain in her voice. "I noticed a lot."
"I wonder about his future," Joe said. Mia knew exactly who he was referring to.
She nodded. "He'll do fine, whatever comes. Look at how he handled himself."
"She's trying so hard to ignore what happened," Joe murmured, pulling Mia closer to him. He stared out over the grounds. "She acted perfectly fine in the hospital wing…"
Mia turned to look at him.
"Ok, if you ignore her obsession with that teacher being dead," he clarified.
"They didn't catch any of the Death Eaters, did they?" Mia asked, changing the subject.
Joe shook his head. "No, you know they wouldn't."
The two stood in silence, listening to the birds chirping, and the growing howl of the wind. Finally, after several minutes, Mia broke the silence.
"You think she'll keep going by Miles?" she asked.
"She'll never change her name," Joe answered in a whisper. "I don't think she wants to either."
"Potter carries such a high expectation. She can't live up to it," Mia answered.
Joe smiled. "But she doesn't need to, she can duel."
Mia laughed. "Yes, her brother makes it a habit of saving the world, and she can duel."
"She even has a wand now," Joe laughed.
Mia groaned and poked him in the shoulder. "Yeah, because you made her destroy her other one."
Joe shrugged. "Yeah, that was a pointless experiment, eh? The girl can't even master being a Perfect."
"But she has her heart in the right place," Mia said.
Joe stared down at his wife and smiled. "Now only if she could figure out where her brain was sometimes… maybe then my potion labs would be safe." He raised an eyebrow and then laughed. "Never'll happen as long as she lives."
"Nope," Mia laughed, "we should start a pool on what she blows up next year."
"I'm all for blowing up Snape," Joe glowered.
"Don't give her, or her little buddies any ideas," Mia hissed.