Disclaimer: The only part of this that I own is Madison, Hope, and the
plot. The rest of it is the brain work of JK Rowling.
A/N: Sorry for my delay in updating. First school has been a total overload and then two nights ago, my computer decided to die and it took everything with it. All 600 mp3s, both stories, everything. And I was in the middle of this tenth chapter, but NOOO.. My computer killed it so I had to start over. Anyway, I hope you enjoy none the less.
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Madison lay there unconscious in the hospital wing. Professor Sprout was in the bed next to her and Stone was on the other side of the room. Harry walked over and took his sisters hand. Even though she was unconscious, she still had a terrified look on her face. Hermione gasped. Suddenly, Dumbledore came striding through the door and over to Harry.
"What on earth happened?" Harry asked, without looking at Dumbledore. He was almost afraid he was going to be in trouble for being up in Madison's room.
"No need to ask, Mr. Potter." Said Dumbledore cooly, but calmly. "You know what happened."
"I'm really sorry about that." Hermione began to apologize. "She just told us to go up there."
"Don't apologize, Miss. Granger." Said Dumbledore softly. "I'm not angry that you saw what happened. In fact, I'm rather happy you did. You quite possibly may have witnessed the beginning of a goblin rebellion."
"So what happened out there? Why did they come here?" asked Ron as he walked over to Madison's side.
"There are two parts to this story. Let's go back a bit." Said Dumbledore as he pulled up a seat from the wall. "First, after the Goblin Rebellion of 1864, about a fourth of the goblin population left to a remote island because they felt safer when they were secluded. They thought the end of the world was near and the Muggles were about to take over the wizarding community. Of course, you already know this from your History classes." He eyeballed Harry and Ron suspiciously. "However, you don't know what happened to them, do you?"
Now that Harry thought about it, he didn't. Even though he and Ron never paid attention in that class.
"The ones that separated themselves soon ran out of food. So they began to feed on one another. However, they were unable to kill their own kind. Each is as strong as the other. So some developed different ways to kill each other. That's what the blinding light and squeal was all about. Soon, the weak died out and they ones that were left were equally strong again. So they ended up moving back to mainland. The rest of the goblin population welcomed them back with open arms. Many of them even believed the mutant ones to have been sent as saviors. So there's the first half. Now, Voldemort had all of the goblins in an uproar. He promised them great things by joining him, but ended up harming them and even killing them in the end. The goblins eventually learned their lesson and began to fear him. When they found out about his return to power, many of them fled to the 'protection' of the mutant ones. And one of the mutant ones happened to lead them here. They wanted protection inside the school. When I refused, they became angry and that's when he showed his wrath. You know I have no tolerance for creatures that harm others, so I sent them away after they knocked out your peers."
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in stunned silence. Finally, Hermione spoke up.
"I have a question." She said quietly. "If the light and noise were developed to kill, how come it only knocked out half of the people who were out there?" Dumbledore sat and looked at the girl thoughtful. After a moment, he answered.
"Good question." Dumbledore replied. "It didn't kill them because they were strong. When you are determined enough, you have strength. However, they still didn't have enough strength to protect themselves. They were scared. Being scared stripped some of their courage away. But they were still strong enough to survive." Just then, Madison began to stir. "I think I'll let you take it from here, Harry." And with that, Dumbledore smiled as he stood up and glided out the door.
Harry looked down at Madison, still gripping her hand. She opened one eye cautiously and looked around the room. When it landed on Harry, a smile spread across her face as she opened both her eyes.
"Where am I?" she asked hoarsely. "What happened?"
"Shh." Harry said comfortingly. "You were knocked out. But nevermind that now." Harry had never felt more loving towards anyone before. She gave him a weak smile as she closed her eyes.
"Ha, did you see Dumbledore kick the crap out of those goblins?" She asked with a bit of a laugh in her voice. She still had her eyes closed; she looked so peaceful. Hermione walked up to Madison's side.
"Madison, I'd love to stay and talk, but I must be going to bed." Hermione said apologetically. Madison smiled.
"That's quite alright." Madison replied, looking at Hermione. "I understand."
"Yeah, I need to be going to." Said Harry as he let go of her hand. Madison looked more upset about him leaving, but nodded all the same.
"I hope you feel better soon." Harry said. Madison grinned.
"I'll be better." She said. "I'll be out of this bed by midnight tonight." Harry doubted it, but smiled back. Heand Hermione started walking to the door when they realized they were short one musketeer. Harry turned around to see Ron sitting at Madison's side, holding her hand. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.
"You coming, Ron?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, yeah.I'll be up in a bit." He answered still looking at Madison. "I just want to talk to Madison real quick."
~*~
Ron came up to the room a couple hours later. He crept quietly into the room so not to wake Neville, Dean or Seamus. Harry, however, was still awake. He was sitting on his bed, reading a book on flying techniques by candlelight.
Harry looked up and saw his friend walk cat-like into the room, then plop down onto his bed with his face hidden in the comforter. At this point, Harry got up and silently leapt over to Ron's bed.
"Well?" Harry whispered excitedly. "What did you guys talk about?" Ron lifted his head off of the bedspread to look at Harry and then threw it back down again. "I asked her why there were pictures of Cedric in her room."
"And?"
"They used to date." Ron replied without lifting his head. "They dated for three years. A bunch of people tried to break them up though after she left the Quidditch team." Harry looked stunned. 'She played Quidditch?!' "and they stayed pretty good friends afterwards."
"Wait, she played Quidditch?" Harry asked, leaning in slightly. Ron looked up at him stupidly. "Why did she quit?"
"Yeah she played." Ron said before, yet again, launching his head back into the sheets. "She didn't say why she left though." Ron continued to bitch, but Harry wasn't listening. He was staring out the window with questions swimming through his head. There were more questions being asked than what was being answered.
~*~
Madison was right. She was better by morning. Harry saw her up at the Head Table at breakfast smiling and talking with the Head Boy as if nothing had happened. Stone, however, didn't look as though he was totally recovered. He looked as though he could pass out in his flapjacks.
Harry sat in opposite Ron and Hermione. He absent-mindedly poked his bacon with his spoon. Harry was still confused about everything. Turns out his sister was more of a mystery to him than anything else. There is so much he has to learn. Suddenly, something wet and gooey hit his face and Ron busted out laughing.
"Sorry, mate." He said between his snickers. Harry wiped off the apple sauce that had so conveniently hit him square between the eyes. "Didn't mean to hit you there. You ok?" Harry nodded. He then noticed that Ron and Hermione were leaning over something as they worked.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked curiously, leaning forward to see.
"That's why I pegged you with the apple sauce, moron." Said Ron. "Are you going to help us or what?"
"Well, what is it?" Hermione looked up at Harry as he asked that and blinked.
"It's Madison's birthday gift." She said obviously. "Her birthday is the fifth. Didn't you know that?"
"Yeah, I'll help." Harry said, choosing not to answer Hermione. He leaned over and saw they had several rolls of parchment with moving pictures attached to them. They were pictures of the three of them, mainly Harry. There was one of them with Madison, Ron, Hermione and Harry in it that said "Welcome to the Family" below.
"Do you think she'll like it?" Ron asked, looking up at Harry.
"She'll love it"
They worked on her present for about ten minutes when the mail came flying in. Harry wasn't very surprised to see most of the owls flutter over to Dumbledore, dropping dozens of howlers on top of him. He merely continued to sit and calmly look at the students. When he caught Harry's eye, he smiled and winked through the waterfall of steaming letters. No doubt what had happened yesterday was all over the news. Parents were going to be angry.
Harry was surprised to see two letters into his lap. One of which was from Sirius. As Harry opened it, Hermione eyed the other letter suspiciously.
Dear Harry,
I heard what happened. I hope you and your sister are well. Which also reminds me, I believe your sister still has no idea about me. I want you to do me a favor. Let her know about me as soon as you can, but make sure that your far away from other people. Her adoptive family fed her a bunch of lies about me in case she ever found out I was her Godfather. Do it soon though, because, if I'm right, she's one of the people who is hunting me down. Also, a former house elf of mine is now working at Hogwarts. He keeps in contact with me. His name is Frosty. If you ever happen to meet up with him, be sure to listen to him. Frosty is always on your side. He is a very wise elf and he can sense things. I ought to be going, send an owl when you tell Madison.
Love, Snuffles
Harry was now extremely confused. How could Madison be tracking down Sirius? What does Frosty have to do with this? Could he have been warning Harry about Madison harming Sirius? Of all the questions running through his head, the strangest one was still sitting unread in his lap. Harry looked down and read who it was from.
"The Dursleys." Harry said quietly, staring at the letter.
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A/N: Again, sorry about the lateness of this chapter, but I feel better now because I kicked the old one. Besides, I think this version of chapter 10 is MUCH better than the one I had originally written.
A/N: Sorry for my delay in updating. First school has been a total overload and then two nights ago, my computer decided to die and it took everything with it. All 600 mp3s, both stories, everything. And I was in the middle of this tenth chapter, but NOOO.. My computer killed it so I had to start over. Anyway, I hope you enjoy none the less.
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~** ~~**
Madison lay there unconscious in the hospital wing. Professor Sprout was in the bed next to her and Stone was on the other side of the room. Harry walked over and took his sisters hand. Even though she was unconscious, she still had a terrified look on her face. Hermione gasped. Suddenly, Dumbledore came striding through the door and over to Harry.
"What on earth happened?" Harry asked, without looking at Dumbledore. He was almost afraid he was going to be in trouble for being up in Madison's room.
"No need to ask, Mr. Potter." Said Dumbledore cooly, but calmly. "You know what happened."
"I'm really sorry about that." Hermione began to apologize. "She just told us to go up there."
"Don't apologize, Miss. Granger." Said Dumbledore softly. "I'm not angry that you saw what happened. In fact, I'm rather happy you did. You quite possibly may have witnessed the beginning of a goblin rebellion."
"So what happened out there? Why did they come here?" asked Ron as he walked over to Madison's side.
"There are two parts to this story. Let's go back a bit." Said Dumbledore as he pulled up a seat from the wall. "First, after the Goblin Rebellion of 1864, about a fourth of the goblin population left to a remote island because they felt safer when they were secluded. They thought the end of the world was near and the Muggles were about to take over the wizarding community. Of course, you already know this from your History classes." He eyeballed Harry and Ron suspiciously. "However, you don't know what happened to them, do you?"
Now that Harry thought about it, he didn't. Even though he and Ron never paid attention in that class.
"The ones that separated themselves soon ran out of food. So they began to feed on one another. However, they were unable to kill their own kind. Each is as strong as the other. So some developed different ways to kill each other. That's what the blinding light and squeal was all about. Soon, the weak died out and they ones that were left were equally strong again. So they ended up moving back to mainland. The rest of the goblin population welcomed them back with open arms. Many of them even believed the mutant ones to have been sent as saviors. So there's the first half. Now, Voldemort had all of the goblins in an uproar. He promised them great things by joining him, but ended up harming them and even killing them in the end. The goblins eventually learned their lesson and began to fear him. When they found out about his return to power, many of them fled to the 'protection' of the mutant ones. And one of the mutant ones happened to lead them here. They wanted protection inside the school. When I refused, they became angry and that's when he showed his wrath. You know I have no tolerance for creatures that harm others, so I sent them away after they knocked out your peers."
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in stunned silence. Finally, Hermione spoke up.
"I have a question." She said quietly. "If the light and noise were developed to kill, how come it only knocked out half of the people who were out there?" Dumbledore sat and looked at the girl thoughtful. After a moment, he answered.
"Good question." Dumbledore replied. "It didn't kill them because they were strong. When you are determined enough, you have strength. However, they still didn't have enough strength to protect themselves. They were scared. Being scared stripped some of their courage away. But they were still strong enough to survive." Just then, Madison began to stir. "I think I'll let you take it from here, Harry." And with that, Dumbledore smiled as he stood up and glided out the door.
Harry looked down at Madison, still gripping her hand. She opened one eye cautiously and looked around the room. When it landed on Harry, a smile spread across her face as she opened both her eyes.
"Where am I?" she asked hoarsely. "What happened?"
"Shh." Harry said comfortingly. "You were knocked out. But nevermind that now." Harry had never felt more loving towards anyone before. She gave him a weak smile as she closed her eyes.
"Ha, did you see Dumbledore kick the crap out of those goblins?" She asked with a bit of a laugh in her voice. She still had her eyes closed; she looked so peaceful. Hermione walked up to Madison's side.
"Madison, I'd love to stay and talk, but I must be going to bed." Hermione said apologetically. Madison smiled.
"That's quite alright." Madison replied, looking at Hermione. "I understand."
"Yeah, I need to be going to." Said Harry as he let go of her hand. Madison looked more upset about him leaving, but nodded all the same.
"I hope you feel better soon." Harry said. Madison grinned.
"I'll be better." She said. "I'll be out of this bed by midnight tonight." Harry doubted it, but smiled back. Heand Hermione started walking to the door when they realized they were short one musketeer. Harry turned around to see Ron sitting at Madison's side, holding her hand. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.
"You coming, Ron?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, yeah.I'll be up in a bit." He answered still looking at Madison. "I just want to talk to Madison real quick."
~*~
Ron came up to the room a couple hours later. He crept quietly into the room so not to wake Neville, Dean or Seamus. Harry, however, was still awake. He was sitting on his bed, reading a book on flying techniques by candlelight.
Harry looked up and saw his friend walk cat-like into the room, then plop down onto his bed with his face hidden in the comforter. At this point, Harry got up and silently leapt over to Ron's bed.
"Well?" Harry whispered excitedly. "What did you guys talk about?" Ron lifted his head off of the bedspread to look at Harry and then threw it back down again. "I asked her why there were pictures of Cedric in her room."
"And?"
"They used to date." Ron replied without lifting his head. "They dated for three years. A bunch of people tried to break them up though after she left the Quidditch team." Harry looked stunned. 'She played Quidditch?!' "and they stayed pretty good friends afterwards."
"Wait, she played Quidditch?" Harry asked, leaning in slightly. Ron looked up at him stupidly. "Why did she quit?"
"Yeah she played." Ron said before, yet again, launching his head back into the sheets. "She didn't say why she left though." Ron continued to bitch, but Harry wasn't listening. He was staring out the window with questions swimming through his head. There were more questions being asked than what was being answered.
~*~
Madison was right. She was better by morning. Harry saw her up at the Head Table at breakfast smiling and talking with the Head Boy as if nothing had happened. Stone, however, didn't look as though he was totally recovered. He looked as though he could pass out in his flapjacks.
Harry sat in opposite Ron and Hermione. He absent-mindedly poked his bacon with his spoon. Harry was still confused about everything. Turns out his sister was more of a mystery to him than anything else. There is so much he has to learn. Suddenly, something wet and gooey hit his face and Ron busted out laughing.
"Sorry, mate." He said between his snickers. Harry wiped off the apple sauce that had so conveniently hit him square between the eyes. "Didn't mean to hit you there. You ok?" Harry nodded. He then noticed that Ron and Hermione were leaning over something as they worked.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked curiously, leaning forward to see.
"That's why I pegged you with the apple sauce, moron." Said Ron. "Are you going to help us or what?"
"Well, what is it?" Hermione looked up at Harry as he asked that and blinked.
"It's Madison's birthday gift." She said obviously. "Her birthday is the fifth. Didn't you know that?"
"Yeah, I'll help." Harry said, choosing not to answer Hermione. He leaned over and saw they had several rolls of parchment with moving pictures attached to them. They were pictures of the three of them, mainly Harry. There was one of them with Madison, Ron, Hermione and Harry in it that said "Welcome to the Family" below.
"Do you think she'll like it?" Ron asked, looking up at Harry.
"She'll love it"
They worked on her present for about ten minutes when the mail came flying in. Harry wasn't very surprised to see most of the owls flutter over to Dumbledore, dropping dozens of howlers on top of him. He merely continued to sit and calmly look at the students. When he caught Harry's eye, he smiled and winked through the waterfall of steaming letters. No doubt what had happened yesterday was all over the news. Parents were going to be angry.
Harry was surprised to see two letters into his lap. One of which was from Sirius. As Harry opened it, Hermione eyed the other letter suspiciously.
Dear Harry,
I heard what happened. I hope you and your sister are well. Which also reminds me, I believe your sister still has no idea about me. I want you to do me a favor. Let her know about me as soon as you can, but make sure that your far away from other people. Her adoptive family fed her a bunch of lies about me in case she ever found out I was her Godfather. Do it soon though, because, if I'm right, she's one of the people who is hunting me down. Also, a former house elf of mine is now working at Hogwarts. He keeps in contact with me. His name is Frosty. If you ever happen to meet up with him, be sure to listen to him. Frosty is always on your side. He is a very wise elf and he can sense things. I ought to be going, send an owl when you tell Madison.
Love, Snuffles
Harry was now extremely confused. How could Madison be tracking down Sirius? What does Frosty have to do with this? Could he have been warning Harry about Madison harming Sirius? Of all the questions running through his head, the strangest one was still sitting unread in his lap. Harry looked down and read who it was from.
"The Dursleys." Harry said quietly, staring at the letter.
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A/N: Again, sorry about the lateness of this chapter, but I feel better now because I kicked the old one. Besides, I think this version of chapter 10 is MUCH better than the one I had originally written.