Chapter 7
Explanations
Classes went by more quickly for Harry's friends the next day. Professor McGonagall had told them that they would be allowed to see Harry at the conclusion of lessons, so Ron and Hermione went through their work eagerly in order to pass the time. They met Ginny in the common room after school and the three of them went down together.
"Only a brief visit today, you three," Madam Pomfrey said when they arrived. "He's very tired and needs his rest."
As they walked toward the partition at the far end of the ward, they were relieved to note that all of the windows were perfectly intact. When they reached the curtain, they were almost afraid to look around it. But when they did, they were relieved.
Harry was sitting up against a pile of pillows reading Quidditch Through The Ages. He looked up and smiled at them as they stepped around the curtain grinning.
"Hi," he said as they sat down, Hermione and Ginny taking the two chairs, Ron perching on the edge of Harry's bedside table.
"How're you feeling, Harry?" asked Ron.
"It's getting better," answered Harry. His voice was still soft, but he sounded stronger.
"You look better," Hermione told him.
"Madam Pomfrey tells me I should be out of here in a couple of days."
"That long?" Ron said, surprised.
"Doctor's orders. He said I had the worst case he's seen and told Madam Pomfrey to make sure I took it easy. I guess I can see the point, I've never gotten sick like this before."
Hermione studied him more closely, as did Ginny. Now she was listening closer, Hermione recognized Harry's tone. It was the one he used when he wasn't telling them the whole story. And both girls caught the slight grimace that he tried to hide as he moved into a different position in bed.
"I hear you got Devil's Snare in Herbology yesterday," Harry continued conversationally. "You're both okay?"
"Yes," said Hermione. "How did you hear about that?"
"Justin from Hufflepuff was here. It sprained his wrist while he was trying to trim it."
"Ron here demonstrated excellent use of the flying tackle method," Hermione giggled, guessing rightly that Harry had changed the subject to stop them asking about him too much. He did not look in any condition to be interrogated, so she was not about to try.
Ginny seemed to have taken the hint as well, for the next thing she did was ask Harry a question for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was well-known to be his best subject. They kept at the academic small-talk for more than ten minutes before the dangerous question came.
"So Harry, what's all this about Charlie?" said Ron. "You really got us worried about him."
The girls saw instantly that it had been the wrong thing to ask. Harry's eyes hooded over and the little color that had returned to his face vanished again.
Harry felt ill and had to take a moment to compose himself. "It's all right now, Ron," he said softly. "It worked out."
"But what happened?" Ron pressed.
Please just drop it, Ron, Harry thought before he answered. "I can't tell you."
"You saw something, didn't you?" Ron said
Not wanting to lie, Harry nodded mutely.
"Well come on, then, tell us what you saw," wheedled Ron.
"I can't," Harry repeated, avoiding Ron's eyes.
"Harry, I know Dumbledore asked you not to say anything, but he's my brother," Ron insisted, getting impatient. "I have a right to know, and so do my parents."
"I know. And you will know, soon, really."
Hermione did not like the way this was looking. Harry was clenching his sheets so hard that his knuckles were white, his distress at the question painfully obvious, but Ron gave no indication that he would stop, or indeed that he had even noticed at all. She started to speak, "Ron-"
Ron went on unheeding, "you have to tell me-"
"Please don't, Ron." Harry said pleadingly, heaving a sigh before he continued. "Don't make me go through it again. Trust me like I trust you."
"You don't have to say anything now," Hermione said gently before Ron could speak again. "We know the important part, the rest can wait."
Ron opened his mouth to disagree, but with a determined look on her face, Ginny stood up, grabbed a handful of his robes, and yanked him out of the cubicle. Harry heard him protesting as Ginny hauled him away.
"Git," Hermione snarled after them.
Harry flopped back onto his pillows and closed his eyes. A rustling sound and a slight sinking of the mattress told him that Hermione had left her chair to sit beside him on the bed.
"Harry-" His fingers loosened their death grip on the covers as Hermione's hands closed around his. "-are you okay?"
He nodded. Hermione squeezed his hands gently before she spoke again.
"I'm sorry about Ron," she said earnestly. "He should have known better."
"Don't apologize, Hermione," Harry told her softly. "It isn't your fault or his." He paused, feeling angry with his weakness. "It isn't anyone's fault but mine."
"He knew he shouldn't have asked," said Hermione. "Professor McGonagall said not to."
Harry mentally thanked his Transfiguration teacher for trying. "It's not that I don't want to tell you. It's just too much. I'm not sure if I can deal with it."
Hermione gripped his hands tighter. "Take all the time you need, Harry. You'll get through it, I know you will." She gave him a small smile and he felt better.
"Thank you, Hermione," he said gratefully. Then he smiled too. "It's almost dinner. You'd better go and make sure Ginny doesn't hurt Ron."
Hermione laughed. "If she hasn't already." Then, hesitating only slightly, she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the forehead. "I'll be back later to say good night."
***
Hermione left the hospital wing to find Ginny and Ron waiting in the hallway, where the youngest Weasley was giving her brother a talking-to fit to rival one of her mother's famous scoldings.
"How could you, Ron? I thought you were his friend, you should have known better than to harass him in that state!"
Hermione was startled, as Ginny had always been the quietest of the Weasley children, but she could not have been more surprised that Ron. He stared wide-eyed at Ginny, who scowled at him before turning to Hermione.
"How is he, Hermione?" she asked in a calmer tone.
"All right for now," Hermione answered, turning an admonishing eye on Ron. "I'm coming back to say good night after dinner. You will come along and apologize."
Her tone left no room for argument and Ron nodded sheepishly.
Dinner was a quiet affair, but less tense that it had been since Harry had fallen ill. Afterward, they started the trek back to the ward and found Professor Dumbledore emerging when they arrived.
"Ah, there you are," he greeted them, closing the door behind him. "I was hoping to find the three of you here."
"We were coming to see Harry, sir," said Hermione.
"I'm afraid he's already asleep, Miss Granger. He wanted to wait for you, but Madam Pomfrey insisted, and I cannot fault her with Mr. Potter not being recovered. But I should be glad of a word with all of you if you would be so kind as to step up to my office."
Exchanging bewildered glances, they followed the headmaster away from the hospital wing. They were impressed with the revolving staircase and Dumbledore's beautiful office, and gasped at Fawkes who gazed at them with gentle curiosity as they sat down in front of the desk.
"I must apologize," said Dumbledore, seating himself behind the desk, "for not speaking to you sooner. Urgent matters required my attention." His bright blue gaze centered on Ron and Ginny. "First of all, Mr. Potter requested that I tell you that your brother Charlie will be home soon and you should be proud of him."
Ron had the good grace to look abashed when Ginny shot him a sharp glance out of the corner of her eye. Dumbledore gave no indication he had noticed as he continued.
"I assume you know by now that Harry's illness was a trance fever. Last Friday afternoon he had a brief but powerful vision that caused his collapse. After the three of you left the hospital wing on Sunday, he received another that was even stronger."
"What did he see, sir?" asked Ron. "He wouldn't tell us."
"He kept it secret at my request," Dumbledore told them. "He had difficulty explaining it to me. I felt it best to save him the effort of doing so again at least until he is recovered. Harry's vision showed him a vicious attack on a wizarding village in Romania. Official news of it has not yet been released to the public, but Harry already knows of at least ten deaths and many more injured. Half of the town is in ruins."
"Who?" asked Ginny, appalled.
"Harry saw the Dark Mark in the sky during the attack." Dumbledore seemed tired as he said this. "He isn't sure if Voldemort was physically there, but he could feel his presence. He is understandably angry and horrified, so much so in fact that he shattered every window in the hospital wing when the second vision occurred."
"He did that?" said a stunned Ron.
"A burst of involuntary magic caused by his pain, not unlike the incident in which he blew up his aunt. The impact of the vision caused him to lose control of his powers."
"How terrible for him," Hermione said softly. The hospital wing had many windows, all of them huge. Pain enough to destroy every single one must have been horrible.
"The village is only a few miles from the dragon colony where Charlie works," Dumbledore went on. "Your brother and several other dragon keepers went with some of their trained dragons to help drive off the Death Eaters, which is how Harry saw him. He acted very bravely. He wrote by express owl to say that he is all right and will be home shortly."
"Do Mum and Dad know yet?" asked Ginny.
"Yes, Miss Weasley. I owled them as soon as I received Charlie's message. Now I must ask you for your help," Dumbledore said in a serious tone. "I think we all know Harry well enough to realize that this is likely upsetting him more than he will let on. I know that I can count on you to be there if he needs you, and I hope that you will forgive him if he seems short-tempered, for he saw something else that is still frightening him. Sirius Black and Professor Lupin were helping to fight Death Eaters during the attack, but the vision ended before Harry could see what happened to them. I owled them for him, but we have not yet received a reply. We don't know if they are all right.
"Now that you know what has happened, I need three favors of you. The first is to continue to be supportive of Harry, even if he gets angry with you."
"Right," Ron said stoutly.
"Second, please try to deflect any awkward questions that other students may direct at him. He doesn't want anyone else to know about the visions, and I agree that it would be safer if only a few people knew. And lastly, you must notify a teacher immediately if he starts showing symptoms like those you saw when he collapsed. The fever was very serious and the mediwizard who treated him asked to be notified instantly if it happened again."
"We'll see to it, sir," said Hermione in a determined voice.
***
"I'll try to have something nice waiting when you get back, okay?" Harry said to Hedwig. It was afternoon of the next day. He had just finished a letter to Samuel Le Bihan, the mediwizard who had taken care of him.
Hedwig hooted in a motherly way as he tied the letter to her leg, then nibbled on his ear affectionately before flying out the window. He watched until he could no longer see her. When he turned away from the window, he found Hermione, Ron and Ginny peeking around the curtain.
"Hiya Harry," Ron said nervously.
Harry felt a little uneasy about facing Ron after the last visit, but his friend looked contrite. "Hi," he greeted back.
"How are you today?" asked Hermione.
"Okay," he answered. "I think I may be able to leave tomorrow."
"Have you heard anything from Sirius yet?" said Hermione.
Harry cast a dubious glance at Ginny.
"I know about him, Harry. There was a slip-up and they had to tell me. I won't say anything," Ginny promised.
Harry nodded. "All right. No, I haven't heard from him. I guess Dumbledore told you, huh?"
"Yeah," said Ron. "Listen, Harry, I wanted to say that I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't know."
Harry had not expected that, but he was grateful. "Forget it," he told his friend.
"I mean it," Ron said sincerely.
"So do I," replied Harry, giving him a small smile. "Forget it." He sighed. "I can't think about all of it anymore. Is that homework you've got there, Hermione?"
She had brought all of her notes from the classes he had missed with her, and Ron had carried the rest of Harry's schoolbooks down from the tower. Harry was slightly cheered to find that there was less to make up than he expected. He jumped into the assignments almost eagerly in an attempt to submerge the memory of his vision in schoolwork. They worked for a few hours until Harry sent them off to dinner.
"Madam Pomfrey's been making me turn in early, so I guess I'd better say good night now," he said as his friends packed up their books and parchment."
"We'll be back tomorrow, then," Ron said. "Make sure you take it easy."
"And try not to worry too much," Hermione put in.
"I will. Thanks for keeping me company."
Ron gave him a brotherly cuff on the shoulder, and Hermione and Ginny both squeezed his hands as they wished him good night. When they were gone, an owl swooped in the window and dropped a note on Harry's lap.
Dear Mr. Potter:
Two visitors will be arriving tomorrow to see me regarding the situation in Romania. I would like you to be present while I speak to them and will send for you when they arrive.
Albus Dumbledore
Harry lay back and blew a strand of hair out of his eye. Not worrying too much was going to be difficult.
***
Hedwig returned to him in the morning with a kind reply from Dr. Le Bihan. Harry presented her with several juicy pieces of bacon and some pumpkin juice he had saved from breakfast. She rubbed her head against his hand then tucked in heartily as Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain.
"You can go back to your dormitory later today," she said while checking Harry's temperature. "But you are not to do anything that will tire you too much. That includes quidditch. I'll be able to clear you for it in a few more days."
"A few more days?!" protested Harry. He'd already missed several practices. He had also found that flying helped to clear his thoughts and was hoping to have a run as soon as he was released.
"You may feel fine right now, Potter, but you're going to find yourself tiring easily until you've gotten completely over the fever. I'm not taking the chance of you falling off your broom and ending up back in here as soon as I release you." She waved her wand and some new clothes he had gotten during the summer appeared on a hanger in her hand. "You'd best get cleaned up and dressed now, I don't know when the headmaster will be calling for you."
After Harry had showered and changed into khaki slacks and a dark red shirt (that actually fit him for once), he sat down and attempted to concentrate on a reading assignment for Transfiguration.
He did his best, but after rereading the same sentence ten times, gave up the fight. He was simply unable to keep his thoughts from straying from the page to the village. Were Sirius and Remus okay? Where were they? How were the victims managing? What was being done to help them and find the attackers?
The questions swirled around in his head until he put his book aside and went to a window to look out. The weather outside was close and cloudy. He wondered if it was cloudy in Romania, as he tried to ignore a knot in his stomach that he had not been able to get rid of for days.
Harry was not sure how long he stared out the window before Madam Pomfrey returned.
"Professor Dumbledore has just called, Harry," she said. "You are to go to his office now. The password is 'mud pie'."
Harry nodded. "Okay."
"I will have your things taken back to Gryffindor Tower. And if you start feeling ill or have headaches like the one you had last week, you are to report here immediately."
"All right. Thanks very much, Madam Pomfrey."
"You're welcome. Go on with you now."
The knot in Harry's stomach grew as he made his way to Dumbledore's office. He was almost frightened to hear what the ministry people would say. He walked as though his shoes were filled with lead and was disconcerted to find himself winded when he got to the stone gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's staircase. Madam Pomfrey had been right about him getting tired quickly.
"Mud pie," he said in a breathless voice. The gargoyle stepped aside. Harry mounted the steps and tried to catch his breath on the way up. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk when Harry got there.
"Good day, Harry," he said in a gentle tone. "How are you?"
"It's weird to get tired so fast, sir," Harry said honestly.
"Ah yes, I imagine it is. But it will pass soon." Dumbledore eyed Harry critically. "I'm pleased to see that Dobby chose your wardrobe well."
"Why, professor?" Harry asked, confused.
"The two visitors I am expecting today are the diviner who relayed your message to Romania and the Minister of Magic."
Before Harry could say anything, the office door opened and Professors McGonagall and Snape strode in. Snape gave Harry his usual scowl and said nothing, but Professor McGonagall spoke.
"Good you see you back on your feet, Potter," she said briskly before turning to Dumbledore. "They've arrived, Headmaster. Some of the house elves are bringing them up."
"Take a seat, Harry," Dumbledore told him, gesturing to a small sofa beside the desk. Harry sat down at the end closest to the desk. McGonagall sat beside him and Snape took a chair on the other side of the desk. Dumbledore flicked his wand and two more chairs appeared in front of him. Harry waited tensely, keeping his eyes glued to the arm of the sofa to avoid looking at anyone. He did not trust his ability to hide his anger at the moment and did not lift his gaze even when the inevitable knock came.
"Enter," called Dumbledore.
The door opened and two figures came in. The first was a tall witch in deep purple robes, dark haired and classically beautiful, like one of those Italian statues he had seen pictures of in muggle school. The second was a slightly nervous-looking older man in pinstriped robes holding a bowler hat: Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. The professors stood to greet them, but Harry remained seated when Professor McGonagall signaled behind her back to stay him. That was fine with him. After what had happened, Harry's respect for the minister was at an all-time low.
"Good day, Cornelius, Evelyn," Dumbledore greeted the visitors before turning to Harry and the teachers. "You already know Minister Fudge. And let me introduce Madam Evelyn of the Ministry of Foreign Magical Relations." He gestured to the chairs. "Please sit down."
They all sat. Fudge turned his hat in his hands uneasily and spoke.
"Thanks for seeing us at such short notice, Albus," he started. "I wanted to speak to you regarding the incident on the continent."
"Yes, I thought you might," Dumbledore answered mildly.
"It has come to my attention that you sent a message about it to the Aurors and Romania's ministry without consulting me or any of the proper ministry officials."
"I did," answered the headmaster. "The situation required immediate notification of the authorities best able to lend aid. There was simply not time to spare on anyone else."
"I see," said Fudge. "I have learned the contents of the warning that you sent. How did you come across the information you included in it?"
"One of the students received a vision two days before the attack took place."
Fudge replied skeptically, "Many students have visions, Albus, most of which tend to be erroneous. What made you think this one was real?"
"It is true that visions can often be false, Cornelius, but to date, no visions strong enough to cause trance fever have been."
Harry saw Madam Evelyn's hands clench around each other out of the corner of his eye. Dumbledore had said she was a diviner. Her attention had been on the conversation, but at those words, her head turned slightly toward Harry, and he found himself raising his eyes to meet hers. Her intent brown gaze softened slightly when she looked at him.
"You say the student had a fever?" said Fudge, making Harry break eye contact to listen. "How do you know it wasn't just a fever dream?"
"Madam Pomfrey examined the possibility and ruled it out," said Dumbledore, still in the same moderate tone. "A trance fever specialist from St. Mungo's confirmed her findings."
Fudge did not seem able to formulate an answer to that, so he moved on to a different tack. "Be that as it may, Albus, I do not appreciate that you caused a major disturbance at the ministry over a matter that does not even concern us."
"Matters like this are the concern of everyone, Cornelius."
"Romania has its own authorities to deal with such things. And in any case, you had no right to make a panic by saying that you suspected He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named of being behind that attack. Using such a tactic to gain attention was most ill-thought."
"It was not a 'tactic', as you put it, minister. I do believe Voldemort was responsible."
"Oh, now don't start that again," scoffed Fudge.
"Shut up!"
The shout was so unexpected that everyone in the room save Dumbledore jumped. Harry, having sat quietly through the entire meeting, was on his feet and glaring furiously at Fudge.
"Don't even try to make it sound like this was nothing, Minister," Harry snapped. "And don't try to treat us as fools for trying to stop it."
"Oh, so you're the one, are you?" Fudge said, as if noticing Harry's presence for the first time. "You started quite a ruckus at the Ministry, young man, over a small matter." He turned to Dumbledore. "I'm surprised at you, Dumbledore, at letting a hysterical child cloud your judgment to a point that you would interfere in Ministry affairs!"
"Stop!" roared Harry. Everyone jumped again as a loud clap of thunder punctuated the word. "You think I was hysterical? You think this was a small matter?"
There was a blinding flash of light. When it faded, the surroundings had changed from the familiar beauty of the headmaster's office to a war zone. They stood in a circle of light the same size as Dumbledore's office. In fact, they were still in Dumbledore's office. But what they were seeing around them was a projection of Harry's thoughts, the recollection of his vision. Outside the circle of light were dozens of burning buildings. The air was hot and stank of burning wood and other things none of them wanted to contemplate. Amidst the sound of crackling flames were screams of terror, running footsteps, things hitting the ground and…curses. The Unforgivable Curses.
Harry's dark hair waved gently, as though in an invisible wind, as people became visible around them. People in wizarding robes, running, trying to hide or fight. Many lay unmoving on the ground. Figures in black cloaks that hid their faces moving among them, shouting curses.
A young witch shrieked as she ran, clutching a small girl, who was sobbing in fear, from one of the black robed attackers.
"Stupefy!" Another witch jumped between them and stunned the Death Eater.
But her victory was short-lived. "Crucio!" yelled another Death Eater. She fell to the ground screaming. The Death Eater tried to run past her toward the other witch, but she managed to catch him by the ankle and trip him. Everyone in the room flinched as he turned his wand on her again and said the dreaded words.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Then the scene changed to a watery grey dawn. The burning buildings were now smoking wreckages. There were fewer bodies on the ground, those that were left were covered with robes or whatever else could be found. The cacophony was gone, replaced by an eerie silence broken only by the sound of weeping, hushed orders from the emergency aid, and periodic cries from the injured. A short distance away, the mother witch, still holding the little girl, knelt beside the woman who had saved them. She struggled not to cry as she carefully laid a blanket over the other witch, smoothed her hair, and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
"Don't you dare tell me that this was a small matter of no concern to the Ministry," growled Harry. He didn't know how he'd made the images appear, but that didn't matter. The carnage faded away to the wall to the office as he spoke. "Every one of those people was someone's mum, someone's brother, someone's friend, someone's son or daughter. This did not have to happen."
The expressions on the professors' faces varied between shock, horror and anger. Even Snape, for once agreeing with Harry, was glaring coldly at Fudge.
"Yes, it is very sad," Fudge said, swallowing nervously before getting his nerve back and continuing. "I am very sorry it happened, but you all know as well as I do that You-Know-Who is gone, and even if he weren't, he would be unrecognizable. With all the transformations he would have to undergo, no one would be able to identify him."
"It was Voldemort, and I can recognize him." With an angry gesture, Harry pushed back his hair to reveal the lightning scar. "My scar started bleeding the instant the attack started. Voldemort is the only one who can draw any sort of reaction from it at all."
"Now look here, Mr. Potter," Fudge said. "Doubtless you trust your instincts, and I know that feelings are raw over this tragedy, but you cannot simply go about causing panic and bucking Ministry protocol. There are clearances-"
"Minister, do you want to be the one to tell those people in Romania that their friends and family are dead because the warning that could have saved them got caught up in red tape? Even when that warning was repeated by one of the Ministry's own Diviners?"
Harry's angry question silenced Fudge. He looked to Madam Evelyn for help, but her response was to stare back at him with a sickened gaze that clearly said she agreed with Harry.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Harry continued. "The worst thing about this is that this could have been prevented if it weren't for the fact that you thought this would disappear if you ignored it. What did you think, that Voldemort would ask your permission? Do you think he asked before he left the Diggorys without their son? Did the Death Eaters ask Neville Longbottom's permission to torture his parents into insanity? Would any of them have asked the Weasleys to allow them to kill Charlie if they had been able to catch him during the attack? Or asked Muggle-borns like my friend Hermione their permission to be persecuted? Or asked me before he made me an orphan?"
Harry could not recall ever having been so angry with anyone except perhaps the Dark Lord himself. He realized during the minister's talk with Dumbledore that Fudge had been trying to cover the fact that there had been forewarning of the attack so that he wouldn't look ineffectual, or worse, indifferent, for not doing anything about it. People had died and all Fudge could think about was his own skin.
"You're the Minister of Magic," growled Harry. "You're responsible for helping to protect the wizarding world and you failed us. You might as well have helped those dark wizards destroy that town with all you did to stop them."
He suddenly became aware that he was shaking and breathing hard. His knees felt weak as he looked around to find everyone in the room, including the portraits of the past headmasters and headmistresses staring at him, and he realized what he had just done. He had just yelled at the Minister of Magic.
I've just lost Gryffindor every house point we had, he thought. Feeling claustrophobic and nauseous, he turned to Professor Dumbledore. "May I be excused now, sir?" he asked, wanting to get out before he could dig himself in deeper.
"Of course, Harry," Dumbledore said soothingly.
Harry fled the office without speaking another word or looking at anyone else.
