Protection- Part nine
A rather tall boy of sixteen came inside the Great Hall. He had jet-black hair and emerald green eyes.
It was, in every way, Harry Potter.
First, a murmur went through the Hall. Then, most of the students stood on their feet and went to greet him. People immediately surrounded him and every possible question was thrown at him.
Harry was smiling. He seamed to be enjoying the attention very much.
'Now, now,' he was saying. 'I can't tell you were I've been. It's a secret.
'You don't know how I've missed you all!'
Hermione stood from her seat. Up until now she didn't move from her seat, she was watching Harry. Cho and Ron were among the greeting crowd.
Hermione took her wand and went to the center of the Great Hall where Harry was standing, in front of the staff table.
'Let me through,' she said to the students surrounding Harry.
Everything went very quiet. They watched her walk to the smiling Harry.
She raised her wand and pointed it exactly at the place where his heart would be.
'By the name of Merlin, The Order and the Protection I have,' she said. 'Do thee swear to the truth? Say 'nay' or lie, I will take thy hand. Do thee say 'nay'?'
All the students looked at her. The heads of houses were astonished. Dumbledore showed no emotion. Harry took one step away from Hermione; the smile was ripped from his face.
'Do thee say 'nay'?' Hermione repeated, lifting her hand.
'I swear!' yelled Harry. There was definitely a note of panic in his voice.
'I swear,' said Hermione.
'Tell us your name,' she ordered.
'Francis. Thomas Francis,' said the imposter.
All the students took a step away from the two.
'Do you have Harry Potter?' said Hermione.
'No,' Francis answered.
'Is this Polyjuce?'
'Yes.'
'How?'
'He was renting a room in a hotel south from here. The Dark Lord sent some people. We couldn't find him but there was hair on the pillows. We took it to the Lord and made the potion.'
'Did you volunteer?'
'Yes.'
'When did you join Voldemort's service?'
Some people gasped at the mention of the name.
'At the beginning of the previous year,' said Francis.
'Do you have the potion here?' continued Hermione.
'Yes.'
'Give it to me.'
Francis gave her the potion, careful not to touch her.
'I keep my promise. Go!'
He turned to go but the students closed on him.
'Let him through.' It was Dumbledore's voice.
All the students and teachers looked at him as if he were mad.
'I will explain it all, once this man is off the Hogwarts' grounds,' he said.
The students shot unsatisfied looks at Dumbledore but let Thomas go. He ran from the Hall as fast as he could.
'Everyone settle down. I know you want answers and I'm going to give them to you,' Dumbledore said.
Everyone in the Hall went to their seats. Ron had to support Hermione. After she ordered Francis to go she collapsed and fell to her knees, crying.
'Now,' said Dumbledore after everyone took their seats. 'You all know that none-of you, with the exception of Mr. Weasley, can touch Miss Granger. I will tell you why.
'The reason for that is that she was put under a protection spell. The spell she is under protects her from all hostile touch. Usually 'hostile touch' means everyone except the person performing the spell. But Hermione and her boyfriend had found a way to add other people to her 'immunity list'. I assume she added both Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, am I right?'
Hermione smiled through her tears. 'Something like that,' she said.
'Now,' continued Dumbledore. 'All people who are under Protection spells can sometime doubt whether the person in front of them is immune to the charm or not. You should also know that disguising yourselves, as someone else, is a crime.
'The oath Hermione took in front of you is the most sacred thing she could use, no one ever uses it unless they are extremely positive in their suspicion. The reason for that are the outcomes of this particular oath. They can be horrible. If Francis were really Harry, he would have answered 'nay'. Hermione would have had to touch him and since she doubted his identity, therefore insulting him, Harry would have had to kill her. No matter whether she was a friend or an enemy, He would have killed her.
'But it wasn't Harry, it was Francis. He too could have said 'nay'. If he had there could be two outcomes, depending on the reason of taking Harry's identity. If Francis took Harry's identity from free will Hermione's touch would have killed him. If ha was forced on taking the identity the spell would have had the same effect it would have had on one of us.
'There are other things, after Francis took his vow, if he had lied and Hermione would have touched him. The touch would have killed him, no matter whether he came from free will or not.
'And finally, I don't think that anyone noticed but after Francis took his vow, Hermione swore too. That vow promises to the challenged that if he would answer all the challenger's questions truthfully, he is guaranteed to be able to leave the place he was challenged unhurt. That is why I told you to let him through.'
When Dumbledore had finished there was a complete silence in the Great Hall. Nobody moved for several moments.
Eventually Dumbledore spoke again. 'I believe you have enough to think about now, go to your classes.
'Miss Granger, Miss Chang and Mr. Weasley come with me please.'
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A/N- Hey you lot! Not much of a cliffhanger here, right? Well, that's what you're thinking! lol. Wait till the next part & review review review!!!!!!!!!
Last chapter had the best feedback I ever got! Thank you so much people! & don't even dare to stop!
This one comes a lot faster than all the others, ain't it? *yey* I *was* going to post it sooner but I had a book to read. Live with me, k?
Disclaimer- I own Francis, the oath and the plot. The wonderful JK Rowling owns everything else.
Your ever loving author,
Cat Samwise.
