The Weasley's heard all of the Death Eaters disapparate as from a great
distance, and they also heard a set of footsteps coming towards them.
Charlie was the first to turn to defend them, but he lowered his wand once
he saw it was Albus Dumbledore. What Dumbledore then saw caused a grimace
to appear on his face. On the floor was Harry, his face to the ground, but
unlike anyone else who had been hit with the Death Curse, there was a green
gaseous energy surrounding him, trying to close in on him, but it was being
stopped. Ron went to turn him over, but Dumbledore caught him before he
managed it. "No, Ron, don't touch the energy, it'll kill you if you do,"
said Dumbledore as he flicked his wand and Harry turned over on his back,
when this happened, everyone gasped for a second time, as they saw a blood
red energy emitting very lightly from his scar, it was slowly growing in
size and intensity.
"What is it, what's happening," asked Ron, with a look of pure terror on his face.
Dumbledore looked at Ron and answered with two words, "Rutilus Navitas," as everyone there turned to look at him with a look of pure dumbfound-ness on their faces, he went into a more detailed explanation. "Rutulis Navitas is an ancient magic protection charm that exists in all of us on the side of light, and is fueled by darkness and evil, it is similar to the protection spell that Harry has on him from his mother," Dumbledore stopped his explanation there for a minute because of Harry.
Harry's scar and the red light had now spread over his face and the top half of his chest, growing almost blindingly bright red; it began to move faster surrounding his body and engulfing the green energy. After a moment, the green energy was completely gone and the red energy began expanding, soon it had consumed the room, and as that part finished, a purple energy quickly shot out of his scar, surrounded him, and spread out at an alarmingly fast rate. As it reached everyone else in the room, it threw them back about two feet, all except Dumbledore, who merely lost his balance for a second or two.
Within a few seconds later all the light and energy in the room disappeared, and a fully rejuvenated Arthur asked, "Dumbledore, would you mind having another go at telling us what just happened?"
"Sorry about cutting off there, but I decided I better brace myself, oh, sorry for not warning you," said Dumbledore as they all looked at him with an almost evil look, "I see you've all been rejuvenated, good, the charm worked." As they all stared at him he decided to continue his explanation, "As you all know, Harry's mother died to save him, thus giving him protection. Similar happened here, except with much more power than usual, that must be because he already had a protection spell on him. The difference here is that Harry is still alive; this spell works when there are feelings between the people involved, but not strong feelings like his mother had for him. I'm not making much sense; I'll try again. When a person sacrifices himself for one he loves, he dies, and the one he protected is protected for life, but when one sacrifices himself for one he cares about, but does not love, he is protected from dying for committing such a selfless act."
The others all looked a little relieved now that they knew what just happened, but they were still worried about Harry. "When will he wake up Albus?" asked Molly.
Dumbledore looked over at her and a slight frown appeared. "I don't know, for him, it shouldn't be more than a few days, a week at the out. We should get him to a bed, afterwards I will need to talk to all of you." Dumbledore suddenly saw Ginny. "Arthur, could you take Harry up and get him into a bed, I have something I need to take care of. All of you, go on up, I'll be there in a minute or two." Everyone except Dumbledore and Ginny went upstairs to Ron's room, when they were gone, Dumbledore walked over to the far corner, where Ginny was sitting, shaking with her knees up to her chin, he sat down next to her and started to talk to her. "Ginny, are you alright, everything's fine now, you're out of danger, it's over, what's wrong?"
Ginny responded in a weak, squeaky voice, "H--he was nearly killed because of me, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have stayed where I was, I should have went for cover, if I had, Harry wouldn't have nearly died there."
Dumbledore smirked for a moment, but made sure she didn't see it, "Why, you should feel honored, Harry was willing to sacrifice himself to save you, doesn't that say anything?" Dumbledore was sure this would cheer her up a bit, after all, everyone at Hogwarts knew of her old crush on him.
Ginny shook her head and replied in an annoyed voice, "No, he's Harry, he'd of done that for anyone, it wasn't anything, but if it weren't for me he wouldn't have had to go through that in the first place," a couple of tears came out of her eyes.
"Well, you're partly right, he would have done it for any of his friends, and you did him a favor in a way, now he won't think the cruciatus curse so bad if it ever gets put on him again." Dumbledore said, smiling. "And he wouldn't have done that for, uhh, let me think a moment. he wouldn't have done it for Malfoy, now would he?"
Ginny's eyes lit with fire, "Err, if I ever get my hands on Malfoy, I'm going to make a point of it to learn the cruciatus curse, just so I can use it on him."
"Which Malfoy would you be referring to, if to Lucius, then I would tend to agree, but I don't believe Draco deserves such cruel punishment yet," said Dumbledore, a smirk still on his face.
Still fire in her eyes, Ginny answered, "That father of his, he's the one that shot the curse, the one that did that to Harry, oh, if there was only some proof of that, we'd finally be able to get him."
"Ginny, remember this, if it weren't for you, Harry would have died, you saved his life, you're a hero, now all I can do is hope that you feel better soon, now then, I have an idea, but it will take some work from both your family, the ministry, and Harry. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that Harry won't like it, so I'm going to count on you and Ron to keep him under control, if anyone can do it, it'd be a Weasley girl, no one ever goes against one of them without fearing for their life," both Dumbledore and Ginny smiled at this.
"Okay, I'll do what I can, but Harry is very stubborn when it comes to things he doesn't want, I don't know if I can help you that much when it comes to his plans," said Ginny nervously, "thanks professor," she gave him a quick hug and got up, than helped Dumbledore up, then they headed for Ron's room.
When they got to Ron's room, they saw that someone conjured up a bed and Harry was laying on it, in a deep coma-sleep, everyone was standing around him, just looking at him, deciding to break the silence, Dumbledore started to speak. "I have formulated a plan to keep Harry and you safe, since Harry was hit and they left before anything visible happened, they will think that Harry is dead. We'll let them think that, until the start of school, when he gets into Hogwarts, then we can be sure of his complete safety, they won't try and hit here now that this has happened, they'll believe that all of you will be too well guarded. Now then, no word of Harry's involvement will be mentioned at all, he won't be brought up at all, and no one will say anything about him at all, that way, no one an say if he is alive or not. I don't believe Voldemort will be sure Harry is dead, but if there is no word of him in the papers, then he will have to go on the word of his servants. As I have told Ginny, Harry won't be too happy about this, so it will be Ron's and hers job to keep him under control, if both of them are keeping him busy or just keeping his mind off of it, he should be manageable. Fudge and the ministry will be here in a few minutes, I'll take care of them, and make sure that they follow the plan."
Molly decided to ask a question that has been on her mind since Dumbledore explained what happened, "Albus, about what happened, well, when the other protection charm happens, there is a bond made between both parties, does the same thing happen here?"
Dumbledore turned to her and answered, "no, no connection is made between both parties from this protection spell, I'm glad one of you asked that tonight, that probably would have been on your minds for a while after you all had time to think."
As they all started down the stairs, Dumbledore told the teenagers, including Percy to go to bed, Percy, a bit annoyed at this, pushed even his own daring by replying, "hey, professor, I'm not a little kid anymore."
"Hey who you calling a little kid Perce," exclaimed both Fred and George at the same time.
Dumbledore smiled and said, "Oh, I'm sorry Percy, I just thought that you might want to get a few hours sleep before you have to get up and go into work, don't want your job performance to be less than perfect just because of some little mass assault on your house."
Percy thought it over for a moment, "You know, you're right, I think I should get some sleep, you're right, can't have that." Everyone laughed at this as all the teenagers headed towards their rooms and the adults went to the living room.
"What is it, what's happening," asked Ron, with a look of pure terror on his face.
Dumbledore looked at Ron and answered with two words, "Rutilus Navitas," as everyone there turned to look at him with a look of pure dumbfound-ness on their faces, he went into a more detailed explanation. "Rutulis Navitas is an ancient magic protection charm that exists in all of us on the side of light, and is fueled by darkness and evil, it is similar to the protection spell that Harry has on him from his mother," Dumbledore stopped his explanation there for a minute because of Harry.
Harry's scar and the red light had now spread over his face and the top half of his chest, growing almost blindingly bright red; it began to move faster surrounding his body and engulfing the green energy. After a moment, the green energy was completely gone and the red energy began expanding, soon it had consumed the room, and as that part finished, a purple energy quickly shot out of his scar, surrounded him, and spread out at an alarmingly fast rate. As it reached everyone else in the room, it threw them back about two feet, all except Dumbledore, who merely lost his balance for a second or two.
Within a few seconds later all the light and energy in the room disappeared, and a fully rejuvenated Arthur asked, "Dumbledore, would you mind having another go at telling us what just happened?"
"Sorry about cutting off there, but I decided I better brace myself, oh, sorry for not warning you," said Dumbledore as they all looked at him with an almost evil look, "I see you've all been rejuvenated, good, the charm worked." As they all stared at him he decided to continue his explanation, "As you all know, Harry's mother died to save him, thus giving him protection. Similar happened here, except with much more power than usual, that must be because he already had a protection spell on him. The difference here is that Harry is still alive; this spell works when there are feelings between the people involved, but not strong feelings like his mother had for him. I'm not making much sense; I'll try again. When a person sacrifices himself for one he loves, he dies, and the one he protected is protected for life, but when one sacrifices himself for one he cares about, but does not love, he is protected from dying for committing such a selfless act."
The others all looked a little relieved now that they knew what just happened, but they were still worried about Harry. "When will he wake up Albus?" asked Molly.
Dumbledore looked over at her and a slight frown appeared. "I don't know, for him, it shouldn't be more than a few days, a week at the out. We should get him to a bed, afterwards I will need to talk to all of you." Dumbledore suddenly saw Ginny. "Arthur, could you take Harry up and get him into a bed, I have something I need to take care of. All of you, go on up, I'll be there in a minute or two." Everyone except Dumbledore and Ginny went upstairs to Ron's room, when they were gone, Dumbledore walked over to the far corner, where Ginny was sitting, shaking with her knees up to her chin, he sat down next to her and started to talk to her. "Ginny, are you alright, everything's fine now, you're out of danger, it's over, what's wrong?"
Ginny responded in a weak, squeaky voice, "H--he was nearly killed because of me, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have stayed where I was, I should have went for cover, if I had, Harry wouldn't have nearly died there."
Dumbledore smirked for a moment, but made sure she didn't see it, "Why, you should feel honored, Harry was willing to sacrifice himself to save you, doesn't that say anything?" Dumbledore was sure this would cheer her up a bit, after all, everyone at Hogwarts knew of her old crush on him.
Ginny shook her head and replied in an annoyed voice, "No, he's Harry, he'd of done that for anyone, it wasn't anything, but if it weren't for me he wouldn't have had to go through that in the first place," a couple of tears came out of her eyes.
"Well, you're partly right, he would have done it for any of his friends, and you did him a favor in a way, now he won't think the cruciatus curse so bad if it ever gets put on him again." Dumbledore said, smiling. "And he wouldn't have done that for, uhh, let me think a moment. he wouldn't have done it for Malfoy, now would he?"
Ginny's eyes lit with fire, "Err, if I ever get my hands on Malfoy, I'm going to make a point of it to learn the cruciatus curse, just so I can use it on him."
"Which Malfoy would you be referring to, if to Lucius, then I would tend to agree, but I don't believe Draco deserves such cruel punishment yet," said Dumbledore, a smirk still on his face.
Still fire in her eyes, Ginny answered, "That father of his, he's the one that shot the curse, the one that did that to Harry, oh, if there was only some proof of that, we'd finally be able to get him."
"Ginny, remember this, if it weren't for you, Harry would have died, you saved his life, you're a hero, now all I can do is hope that you feel better soon, now then, I have an idea, but it will take some work from both your family, the ministry, and Harry. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that Harry won't like it, so I'm going to count on you and Ron to keep him under control, if anyone can do it, it'd be a Weasley girl, no one ever goes against one of them without fearing for their life," both Dumbledore and Ginny smiled at this.
"Okay, I'll do what I can, but Harry is very stubborn when it comes to things he doesn't want, I don't know if I can help you that much when it comes to his plans," said Ginny nervously, "thanks professor," she gave him a quick hug and got up, than helped Dumbledore up, then they headed for Ron's room.
When they got to Ron's room, they saw that someone conjured up a bed and Harry was laying on it, in a deep coma-sleep, everyone was standing around him, just looking at him, deciding to break the silence, Dumbledore started to speak. "I have formulated a plan to keep Harry and you safe, since Harry was hit and they left before anything visible happened, they will think that Harry is dead. We'll let them think that, until the start of school, when he gets into Hogwarts, then we can be sure of his complete safety, they won't try and hit here now that this has happened, they'll believe that all of you will be too well guarded. Now then, no word of Harry's involvement will be mentioned at all, he won't be brought up at all, and no one will say anything about him at all, that way, no one an say if he is alive or not. I don't believe Voldemort will be sure Harry is dead, but if there is no word of him in the papers, then he will have to go on the word of his servants. As I have told Ginny, Harry won't be too happy about this, so it will be Ron's and hers job to keep him under control, if both of them are keeping him busy or just keeping his mind off of it, he should be manageable. Fudge and the ministry will be here in a few minutes, I'll take care of them, and make sure that they follow the plan."
Molly decided to ask a question that has been on her mind since Dumbledore explained what happened, "Albus, about what happened, well, when the other protection charm happens, there is a bond made between both parties, does the same thing happen here?"
Dumbledore turned to her and answered, "no, no connection is made between both parties from this protection spell, I'm glad one of you asked that tonight, that probably would have been on your minds for a while after you all had time to think."
As they all started down the stairs, Dumbledore told the teenagers, including Percy to go to bed, Percy, a bit annoyed at this, pushed even his own daring by replying, "hey, professor, I'm not a little kid anymore."
"Hey who you calling a little kid Perce," exclaimed both Fred and George at the same time.
Dumbledore smiled and said, "Oh, I'm sorry Percy, I just thought that you might want to get a few hours sleep before you have to get up and go into work, don't want your job performance to be less than perfect just because of some little mass assault on your house."
Percy thought it over for a moment, "You know, you're right, I think I should get some sleep, you're right, can't have that." Everyone laughed at this as all the teenagers headed towards their rooms and the adults went to the living room.