"HARRY POTTER MUST WAKE UP!!!" Dobby practically shrieked as he yanked the covers off Harry's bed.
"Huh? What's that?" Harry said sleepily, but he came instantly awake at the smell of smoke.
He could also hear the school bell clanging continuously, not at all like the simple two strokes that signaled the end of a period during the day. At that point he was not to know that Teeny, Tiny, and Pinky were all using their combined weight to pull the bell rope.
Dobby pointed his finger in succession at Ron's, Seamus's, Neville's, and Dean's beds, each time forcing the curtains open with a loud bang.
"What's going on?" Dean asked.
"I think the castle's on fire!" Ron answered, frantically looking for his shoes and a robe.
"Sirs, you must hurry," Dobby said anxiously. "The fire is growing very fast!"
Harry was the first to find his shoes and robes. He ran to the dormitory door and found the handle was warm when he touched it. He carefully opened the door about an inch, and instantly smoke billowed into the room. He shut the door hard.
"We can't go out that way," he said. "I wonder if anyone has warned the girls?"
"Winky is going to the girls' dormitory," Dobby said. "But the fire and smoke is worse now!"
Harry pulled the lid of his trunk open and grabbed his Firebolt. He started towards the window when Dobby's finger, along with the usual bang, caused the window to swing open.
"Neville," Harry said, "get on the broom with me."
Neville looked petrified, but he looked back and saw smoke starting to leak around the door and decided riding a broom was the lesser of two evils. He got behind Harry, holding on for dear life, and Harry kicked off. They flew through the window, then landed on the lawn only seconds later. Neville jumped off, and Harry was airborne again instantly.
In succession he brought Dean, Seamus, and Ron out of the dormitory. He was on his way back for Dobby when he saw five trunks come flying out of the window. They landed with minimal damage, and Harry flew up to the open window. Part of the room was actually burning now, and Dobby was leaning out the window gasping for breath.
"Jump on, Dobby!" Harry said. Dobby didn't have to be told twice, and the Firebolt whisked them both to the ground.
Seamus was standing next to the trunks. "Did you do that, Dobby?" he asked.
Coughing and gasping, Dobby answered "yes, sir. Dobby is doing that. Dobby cannot do the same thing with people for fear of hurting them." Dobby then turned to Neville, reached into his pocket, and pulled out Trevor the toad. He handed Trevor to Neville saying "Dobby is not wanting sir to lose his toad."
"Thank you, Dobby!" Neville said sincerely. Then, in a totally unexpected tone of voice, Neville said to Dean and Seamus "let's get these trunks moved farther away from the school. They're going to be in the way of rescue efforts."
Dean and Seamus were totally surprised at Neville's assertiveness, but complied immediately, agreeing that he had made a good point. Soon, they were building large piles of trunks and other personal belongings that had exited the castle by other means.
Students, staff, and elves were streaming out of the castle by whatever ways they could find, but many more could be seen at windows high up in the castle walls.
Harry shouted "Ron! Get on the Firebolt with me!"
"What for?" Ron asked.
"Never mind! Just get on!"
Ron got behind Harry, who kicked off immediately. They flew directly to the broom shed near the qudditch grounds and landed next to the door.
Harry pointed his wand at the door and said "alohombra." The door flew open.
"Grab a broom," Harry said. Once Ron was on one, Harry turned the Firebolt around and said "get ready to take off."
Harry pointed his wand into the broom shed and shouted "accio all brooms," then kicked off hard.
The entire collection of school brooms followed Harry and Ron like guided missiles. Harry flew towards a bare patch of land, and flew almost into the ground. The brooms all followed him, ending up stuck in the ground.
Fred and George Weasley, who had escaped from their dormitory by conjuring up a long rope, saw what was happening, and ran to the spot where Harry and Ron landed. In only seconds, they were each on a broom and heading towards the nearest windows where faces could be seen. Most of the other quidditch players, as well as a number of students who were not on the teams followed suit, and shortly brooms were buzzing around the castle like bees.
In the meantime Nobby was feeling a little cold in her attic room at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. She got up to close her window, and noticed a strange orange glow in the distance. She looked harder, then squealed in horror.
Next second, Nobby was tumbling down the stairs squealing "Mistress! Mistress Rosmerta! The school is on fire! The school is on fire!" Nobby didn't wait for Madame Rosmerta to come out of her room, but ran to the ground floor, opened a window and pointed her finger at the fire bell. It immediately began to ring, and instantly the villagers started to respond.
This time, there were no dark wizards to capture, but a real fire to contend with.
A/N: Until about 1910, almost all fire engines consisted of a steam engine mounted on a wheeled carriage which was pulled by horses. Because the boiler and engine were so heavy, usually not more than two or three firemen could ride on the engine, and there wasn't much room for other equipment. For this reason, there was usually a second rig called a "hose wagon," which could carry hundreds of feet of hose, ladders, and the rest of the firemen.
It seems to me that the citizens of Hogsmeade would have preferred this type of equipment to a modern fire truck, however efficient it might be.
Albus Dumbledore stood near the front doors of Hogwarts, with a demeanor that seemed impossibly calm. He quickly and quietly had ordered the heads of houses to establish command posts with their prefects, where students could be accounted for.
Madame Hooch was on her own broom now, directing rescue efforts. Madame Pomfrey was setting up her first aid tent, worriedly wondering where Winky was, and she was not alone in her worries.
A clanging sound could be heard in the distance, rapidly getting louder. A few seconds later, the Hogsmeade fire engine became visible, flying about fifty feet off the ground, pulled by three huge white horses. As the goblin driver began to descend for a landing, a long suction hose was dropped into the lake, and a moment later the engine came to rest on the lake shore. Seconds later, the hose wagon landed next to the engine, and the fire goblins jumped off and started to work as the fire cast flickering reflections on their shiny brass helmets.
One fire goblin unhitched the horses and led them away, while other fire goblins began to unroll hoses and stoke the fire in the engine's boiler.
Professor Dumbledore approached the Chief Fire Goblin. "Chief Grimsby, thank you for coming so quickly," he said.
Grimsby inclined his head slightly in greeting. "You can thank that little elf of Madame Rosmerta's. If any elf deserved freedom, she sure did!" He paused for a moment, then continued "I don't think I really have to tell you this Dumbledore, but the situation looks pretty bad."
"I know it does," Dumbledore replied, "but I am confident you will do your best. Professor Flitwick was able to perform the Asbestosorium Charm on the Library and several other parts of the castle, so they should be safe. Unfortunately, the charm does no good on areas that are already on fire. The ghosts are searching the areas where it's unsafe for living beings to go."
"Very good," Grimsby said, "but the other problem is that we don't have nearly enough goblins to tackle a fire this large. We have to get our hoses up several flights of stairs, and it's something you really can't use magic for."
Hearing this, Dumbledore called "Toby! Come here please, and bring your crew."
In an instant, Toby appeared with about twenty other elves.
"Please follow Chief Grimsby's instructions," Dumbledore told them.
Grimsby pointed to a hose that a single goblin was dragging laboriously towards the school doors. "We need to get that hose to the third floor," he said.
Immediately the elves ran to the hose and eagerly lifted it onto their little shoulders. They quickly dragged the very heavy hose into the castle, and up the stairs, following the lead of the fire goblin who and originally unrolled it. Shortly, the goblins were able to attack the fire from inside.
Outside, Harry and Ron paused in-mid air. "Have you seen Hermione or any of the other girls?" Ron shouted in a very worried voice.
"No I haven't," Harry replied in a voice that was almost as worried. "Dobby said that Winky went to wake them, but we haven't seen her either."
They turned and flew slowly around the Gryffindor tower, carefully checking windows as they went. Almost all the windows of the girls' dormitory were full of flames. Pausing another moment, they looked up.
"Oh my God," Ron said. "There they are!" He pointed to the very top of the tower where he saw Hermione, Ginny, most of the other Gryffindor girls, and Winky clinging to the battlements.
"How will we get them all down in time?" Harry said.
Ron yelled back "you have the faster broom. I can see three brooms on the ground that nobody is using. You go get them, and I'll find Fred and George." With that Ron was speeding off in search of his brothers.
Harry swooped down and grabbed the three spare brooms without even landing. As he gained altitude, he saw the three redheaded Weasleys flying hell for leather towards the top of the tower.
The four of them landed in the already-crowded space. Winky, who did not like heights, was as far back from the parapet as she could get. Hermione managed to keep everyone reasonably calm, but it hadn't been easy. She had conjured a very long rope ladder, which was already tied to a heavy iron ring, but nobody really wanted to try it.
Fred scooped Ginny into his arms and rocketed away. Harry began to hand out the three spare brooms he had brought. Quickly Angelina grabbed a blonde first year and took off on the broom he gave her. Harry tried to give one of the extra brooms to Hermione, but she told him she would wait, and to give it to someone else.
In only seconds brooms were shooting off of Gryffindor Tower like fireworks. Everyone had to make several round trips until finally only Hermione and Winky were left on the tower. Harry started to come in for a landing when he saw Ron speeding in the same direction. Harry veered off and let him land.
Smoke was now pouring from the tower, and it was hot and difficult to breathe. "Winky!" Hermione shouted, "climb onto my back!" Hermione had to tell her twice, but finally Winky was clinging to her, piggyback style.
Hermione climbed onto Ron's broom and locked her arms around his waist. Ron kicked off, and only as they got closer to the ground did he realize everyone there was cheering. As the crowd closed in on them, he learned that all students and staff were accounted for, and that Hermione and Winky were the last to be rescued.
Hermione's school bag seemed to be jumping and hopping around on its own. She set it on the ground, unzipped it, and released an extremely indignant Crookshanks.
Hermione then said "Winky, it's alright. You can open your eyes now."
Winky opened her eyes just a slit, as if she wasn't sure, but when she realized they actually were on the ground, she let go and landed on her feet.
"Winky!" a squealing voice shouted. In another moment Dobby had thrown his arms around Winky, tears of joy and relief spilling from his eyes.
"I is alright," Winky said, "we still is having much to do!" She squeezed his hand, then ran to find Madame Pomfrey at the first aid tent.
There were numerous patients in the tent but fortunately, injuries were limited to minor burns and a fair number of skinned knees from climbing out of windows. Winky immediately set to work, and refused to let Madame Pomfrey even examine her.
"I is alright, I is!" she had squeaked.
Hermione gave Ron a quick kiss on the cheek. His ears turned crimson, but he wondered at the amazingly pleasant fluttering sensation he felt in his stomach.
Though everyone was now safe, the castle was not. Assisted by elves, the fire goblins had made some progress, but the Gryffindor tower was now an inferno, much too tall for any hose to reach.
"This is one time when some muggle firefighting equipment would come in handy," Harry muttered to himself, remembering the fire at Windsor Castle, and how the firemen had fought it from large "booms" high off the ground.
Suddenly he had an inspiration. "Ron, Fred, George, come with me and bring your brooms!" he shouted.
He led them to a hose that was lying unused on the lawn. He grabbed the nozzle end and draped it over his shoulder. The Weasleys, understanding what he was doing, each grabbed a section and draped them over their own shoulders.
"All together now," Harry said, and he kicked off.
The hose was heavier than anyone could have guessed, and Harry was glad to have the Firebolt's power. Slowly they rose higher until they were near the top of Gryffindor Tower.
The engineering goblin on the ground had been following their progress, and turned on the water. The force of the stream was so strong that Harry had to keep trying to fly forward just to stay in place. However, the important thing was to get a stream of water directed into the burning tower, and this he was able to do.
Still, it wasn't long before he began to tire, and his hands became stiff with use and the cold water. His aim with the nozzle was becoming a little erratic, when he heard a familiar-sounding BANG, and the nozzle was suddenly pointing direct and true towards the fire.
Harry looked to the side and almost fell off his broom in surprise. Dobby was on a broom next to him, his finger pointing at the nozzle.
Harry yelled "Dobby! I didn't know you could fly!"
Dobby squeaked back "almost no one is knowing Dobby can fly. He learned using the toy broom what Master Draco threw away. Dobby had to punish himself severely for doing so!"
After what seemed like hours (possibly because it WAS hours), the firefighters began to get the upper hand. Slowly the flames were beaten down, and at last there were no more showing.
Harry and the others descended to the ground, dead tired. They were amazed to see that five large tents had been conjured on the school grounds, four of them bearing the shields of the four different houses. The larger one carried the Hogwarts crest.
Professor McGonogall was waiting for them. "That was QUITE a performance," she said. "I have half a mind to give you all detentions for the next three months!"
Harry's and the Weasleys' mouths dropped open. "But--" Ron started to sputter.
Professor McGonogall actually smiled. "I said I had HALF a mind to give you detention. The other half of my mind is to recommend you be presented with special awards for heroism. Now, get some rest, all of you," she concluded, pointing towards the Gryffindor tent.
The tent was full of purple sleeping bags like the ones they had used in a previous year when all students had to take refuge in the Great Hall. The boys found four unoccupied ones and collapsed, asleep almost before their heads hit the pillows.
Hours later Harry felt someone gently shaking him. His eyes slowly opened, and he recognized Dobby, whose arm was in a sling.
"Master Dumbledore is asking Dobby to make sure Harry Potter does not miss dinner."
Harry looked around, amazed to realize he had slept for most of the day. Every muscle in his body was stiff and sore, but he pulled himself out of his sleeping bag and tried to straighten his rumpled robes. He followed Dobby to the large tent where he was surprised to see four long house tables and a staff table, set up exactly as they were in the Great Hall.
Outside, the resourceful elves had built large camp fires, and managed to produce a dinner that was nearly as good as in normal conditions. The difference this time was that they had to actually carry the food to the tables. Many students had never even seen an elf, and stared in astonishment.
Everyone ate quietly, and when they were finished, Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"I need not remind you all of the terrible ordeal we have just experienced, but let us be thankful that there we had no loss of life and no serious injuries. We have inspected the castle, and the worst damage was done to the Great Hall and the Gryffindor Tower. A representative of our insurers, Blaze, Burnam, Scorch, and Company (Purveyors of Fire Insurance to the Wizarding World since 1742) is here, and we hope to move forward on repairing the damage as quickly as possible."
Dumbledore continued "I think it also appropriate that some recognitions be made here tonight." He held up a large wood and sliver plaque with the Hogwarts crest at the top. Under the crest were the words "For Heroism." Under that were dozens of metal name tags.
"First and foremost I wish to recognize the Hogwarts house elves. It was they who discovered the fire, they who rang the fire bell, they who risked their lives to alert the school, they who helped fight the fire, and they who still produced the dinner we have eaten tonight. One elf in particular, even though she was later discovered to be injured herself, refused all offers of medical attention until all the patients in her care were attended to. Another elf, not in the employ of Hogwarts, saw the fire and alerted the Hogsmeade Fire Brigade."
At this moment, dozens of embarrassed-looking house elves shuffled into the tent. "Toby, I present you and all the elves with this award." Dumbledore handed the huge plaque to Toby and continued "my first thought was to put it in the school trophy room, but I think it would be more appropriate if it were hung in the elves' hall."
Dumbledore then started clapping, and the rest of the school added their thunderous applause to his. The elves beamed as they bowed and curtseyed. Toby led them out of the tent while everyone was still clapping.
"And now," Dumbledore said, "it is time for other recognitions. I award 100 points to Mr. Harry Potter for the most effective use of brooms I have ever seen. I award Messrs Fred, George, and Ronald Weasley 50 points each for their superb flying. I award Miss Hermione Granger 75 points for leadership that averted panic until help could arrive. I award Mr. Neville Longbottom, Mr. Seamus Finnegan, and Mr. Dean Thomas 25 points each for organizing the effort to retrieve and safeguard personal property that was removed from the castle. I award 15 points each for any student who assisted with rescue, firefighting, or cleanup."
Finally, I subtract 75 points from Slytherin House for Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle's failure to be of any use whatsoever during an emergency."
There was a pause, then thunderous applause from almost everyone. Several Slytherins sat with sullen looks on their faces, but numerous other members of the house joined in the applause.
After dinner, Harry wandered outside and went to the improvised kitchen area set up by the elves. Dobby ran up to him immediately, along with a small mob of other elves.
"Can Dobby get anything for Harry Potter?" he asked.
"No, Dobby," I think you've done enough for me already! Why is your arm in a sling?"
"'Tis not serious," Dobby said. "Dobby strained some muscles helping to keep Harry Potter's nozzle aimed at the fire."
"Dobby! You should have told me it was hurting you," Harry remonstrated.
"'Tis really nothing, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby will heal quickly."
Harry realized that Dobby did not wish to talk of his injury any more, so he said "What I'd like to know is how you discovered the fire."
"Well, Harry Potter, sir," 'twas just a lucky chance, it was. Dobby and Winky met in the elf passage near the Gryffindor common room and is smelling smoke. Dobby sees that the curtains are already on fire, and sends Rikky who is also in the elf passage, to warn the other elves. Dobby then goes to warn the boys' dormitory, and Winky goes to warn the girls' dormitory. Teeny, Tiny, and Pinky goes to ring the bell, and other elves goes to warn people in other parts of the school."
"Well, thank you Dobby," Harry said. "I think I'm going to lose track of the number of times you've saved my life!"
Harry then extended his hand towards Dobby. Dobby's big green eyes went wide open.
"Never, never, has a wizard ever offered to shake hands with Dobby," he said, tears forming in his eyes. He tentatively reached out with his good arm and took Harry's hand.
Harry was surprised at Dobby's firm grip. "Like I keep telling you, Dobby not all wizards are like your old masters! I'll see you soon again, alright?"
"Yes, Harry Potter sir," Dobby replied as he bowed low, tears still streaming down his cheeks.
Harry spotted Ron and Hermione walking towards the first aid tent and he caught up with them.
"We're going to see Winky," Hermione said.
Madame Pomfrey had finally succeeded in getting Winky to lie down and rest. She had burns on her hands, arms, and ears, and there were bandages where she had skinned her knees and shins.
"You were very brave to warn us," Hermione said to Winky.
"Miss is too kind," Winky said.
"No, I really mean it, Winky. I don't think we would have made it out alive if you hadn't warned us, and now I see that you went on taking care of injured students even though you were hurt yourself."
"'Tis nothing, Miss," Winky squeaked.
"Yes it IS," Hermione said as she reached down to pull Winky into a bearhug. Winky squealed happily despite herself, and hugged Hermione back.
"Now please get some rest, Winky" Hermione said as she put the elf down. "We'll visit you again soon!"
"Goodbye miss and sirs," Winky said as they left the tent. "Thank you for coming to see Winky!"
Outside, Hermione said "Harry, you were asking what else you could do for Dobby. All I can say now is whatever we come up with, it's going to have to be BIG, and it has to include Winky!
A/N This was one of those rare occasions when a chapter almost "wrote itself," which is something that seldom happens to me. Now, as I look back, I realize I left Hagrid completely out of the story, and he most certainly would have played an important part in such an emergency. The best I can say now is that all the owls escaped safely, and are now perched on the roof of his hut.
