Chapter 2
The memorial service lasted the better part of the afternoon and into the early evening hours, with many different witches and wizards, young and old alike speaking of happier times.
The minister of magic spoke as well as every professor of Hogwarts, and many students, not all from the school, Fleur and Victor came to the castle again to honor the memory of their fellow tri wizard competitor, and many Hogwarts students spoke fondly of good times with or because of Harry.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny listened to all the speakers with rapt attention and smiled or laughed softly at different stories and remarks made by their fellow students, but all three of them held their seats and never approached the podium themselves.
As Dumbledore listened to Professor Flitwick speak, his eyes drifted toward the three who were the most affected by Harry's disappearance and his thoughts traveled back about two weeks to the day he summoned the three students to his office individually to ask why they hadn't signed up to speak at the memorial service.
Their answers still rang clear in his ears. His eyes traveled to Ron and he momentarily locked eyes with the young Weasley boy as he thought about his words on that day. "I'm sorry headmaster, but Harry was and still is my best friend, and I just refuse to believe that he is indeed gone.
The ministry has found no evidence to support their statement that he is dead, and until they do I will not accept it, and I will not give up that he will return. If that flash of light killed Harry and you-know-who, why did the death eaters and dementors disappear too?
Those who were already stunned were left behind and taken into custody by the ministry, no longer a threat to anybody here, but why were they left at all, surely they would have been taken too if it were all just some strange force that was at work.
So you see, I will attend the memorial service of course, but I will not stand up there and speak like I think Harry will never return, because he will, he's more powerful than any of us and he would never let you-know-who kill him." He had concluded before rising from the chair and leaving the stunned headmaster behind.
His eyes then traveled to Hermione and his conversation with her came back to his mind as well. "Professor Dumbledore, as hard as it may be for the ministry to believe, Harry is still alive, just lost somewhere I think.
There are no records of anything like this ever happening before, and so we have no right to conclude that that flash of light killed all those people. Only two people know what really happened between Harry and you-know-who besides themselves, they were too far away for anyone else to hear them, and until Draco and Ginny are ready to talk about what they saw and heard in more detail, none of us can assume what we think is the truth really happened.
All we know is that whatever took Harry away left Ginny and Draco unharmed, even though they were just a couple of feet away from them. I know of no strange phenomenon that is able to pick and choose who it takes, all that I've read about either take everyone or no one, so because of that, I refuse to believe that that thing killed Harry" she had finished with her face a mask of unflinching resolve.
Dumbledore sat and thought for a moment about what the two students had each said and he agreed with them whole heartedly on every statement now that he thought about it as Professor Sprout rose to address the gathered crowd.
His blue eyes then fell on the face of Ginny Weasley, who, despite the look of denial on her face, had bright tears shinning in her eyes, though she refused to let them fall onto her face. His thoughts then wandered to his conversation with the youngest Weasley and girlfriend of Harry Potter.
"Miss. Weasley, I have called you here today to ask you a few difficult questions," he had begun, and when she nodded her head resolutely, he had continued "the first of which concerns the reason as to why you refuse to speak at the memorial service for Harry in a couple of weeks."
After bowing her head for a moment to compose her answer, her dark amber eyes focused on his face and without blinking, she said the sentence that would always haunt him "Because I refuse to speak of things I know for a fact aren't true, and I don't think anybody else should either." She had answered with almost an accusing note to her words. Shocked by her statement, he had just stared into her eyes for several moments trying to figure out how a fifteen year-old girl had become wiser than himself, for she had succeeded in putting into one sentence what he himself had been feeling about the entire memorial service that was being planned.
Once he had admitted to himself this simple truth, he asked the question that had been hoping for an answer for almost three months, "Ginny, would you please tell me what really happened that day, I know you don't want anyone else to know, and I promise not to reveal anything you disclose to anybody except to two of those who are still looking for Harry, Remus and Sirius.
Perhaps what you know could help them know where to look." He asked in a pleading tone, willing her to explain the truth to him this time. As it was, he had asked more times than he could count, both Ginny and Draco, but both had refused to answer, for reasons that were known to them alone.
Ron and Hermione hadn't even managed to get her to tell the truth, and he knew they had been trying harder that him to get it out of her.
After several moments of silence, he felt resigned to the fact that he would never get an answer and turned his face away from the girl and was about to dismiss her when she began speaking again, much to his surprise and relief.
"I have wanted to tell you the truth Headmaster, Ron and Hermione too, but I know what the truth would do to Harry, and I don't want to hurt him when he comes back, so please don't tell anybody but Sirius and Remus." She said with a pleading expression on her face, which vanished when he nodded his head in understanding, wondering what on earth he was about to hear.
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The young doctor entered the small private room on the upper floor of the hospital to check on his new patient, officially given the name of minor- John Doe.
He grunted at the name that had been assigned to the boy, surely the hospital administration could have come up with something more creative to call the boy until either he awoke or the authorities found out who he was.
He quietly approached the bed and tapped the nurse on her shoulder to alert her to his presence. She spun around and faced the doctor, and upon seeing him, her face broke into a grim smile.
"Doctor Jacobs, I didn't hear you come in." she said in a quiet voice.
"Good evening Mary, how's he doing?"
"Better sir, we got him cleaned up and he's ready for a more thorough exam. What did you find out on the preliminary exam and lab work?"
"Not much outside of the obvious," he said in a sad tone "severe malnutrition and a bad infection somewhere that he's trying to fight, but as far as the physical exam, I couldn't see much because of all the dirt and blood. Has he had any pain killers or sedatives yet?"
"Yes doctor, he is resting comfortably and can't feel a thing, though I think he would still be unconscious even without them."
"I must agree with you on that one Mary, he's certainly in bad shape isn't he?"
"It looks that way, but of course I'm not the doctor" she answered pointedly, looking up at the still unmoving doctor behind her.
"Point taken Mary, let's get started" he said, resigned to the fact that he would at some point have to examine and document the boys extensive injuries.
The pair approached the bed in silence, prepared to begin the examination, but before they could even touch the body on the bed, the unidentified boy began shaking uncontrollably as he pulled himself into a tight ball, obviously in extreme pain, the source of which could not be seen.
As they watched in shock, he clenched his teeth and fists together tightly as though he were trying not to allow his pain to escape from his lips.
The boy continued to convulse for several minutes before his face visibly relaxed as well as his fists before he began to breath again, pulling in several shallow ragged breaths before a low moan escaped from his still trembling body.
He then relaxed immediately, obviously falling back into unconsciousness.
The doctor and his nurse stood there in amazement for just moments before both rushed forward and carefully rolled the boy over onto his back.
"What was that!" exclaimed Dr. Jacobs "I thought he got his pain medication"
"He did, I think he was having a nightmare" answered Mary as she picked the boys left arm to pull the blankets back up to cover his body.
"What's that Mary" asked the doctor suddenly,
"What's what sir" she answered, obviously confused
"The mark, on his arm there" he answered, grabbing the boy's left arm and rolling it over and pulling his sleeve up to reveal the underside of his forearm.
The nurse gasped when she saw what he was talking about, there, on the boy's arm plain as day was a hideous tattoo of a black outline of a skull with a dangerous serpent slithering out of its gaping open mouth.
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A/N: I am so happy, I actually got reviews, in the pleural sense of the word! Thank you so much Max, hyper, evil spapple pie, and murgatroyd, I'm glad you guys liked it! I know this leaves you on kind of a cliff huh? I promise that if I get some more reviews, I will post more tomorrow night after my killer history test, but only if you guys review! Ha ha ha, I will even take constructive criticism if you want to offer it! I gotta start studying now, so I hope you enjoy!
The memorial service lasted the better part of the afternoon and into the early evening hours, with many different witches and wizards, young and old alike speaking of happier times.
The minister of magic spoke as well as every professor of Hogwarts, and many students, not all from the school, Fleur and Victor came to the castle again to honor the memory of their fellow tri wizard competitor, and many Hogwarts students spoke fondly of good times with or because of Harry.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny listened to all the speakers with rapt attention and smiled or laughed softly at different stories and remarks made by their fellow students, but all three of them held their seats and never approached the podium themselves.
As Dumbledore listened to Professor Flitwick speak, his eyes drifted toward the three who were the most affected by Harry's disappearance and his thoughts traveled back about two weeks to the day he summoned the three students to his office individually to ask why they hadn't signed up to speak at the memorial service.
Their answers still rang clear in his ears. His eyes traveled to Ron and he momentarily locked eyes with the young Weasley boy as he thought about his words on that day. "I'm sorry headmaster, but Harry was and still is my best friend, and I just refuse to believe that he is indeed gone.
The ministry has found no evidence to support their statement that he is dead, and until they do I will not accept it, and I will not give up that he will return. If that flash of light killed Harry and you-know-who, why did the death eaters and dementors disappear too?
Those who were already stunned were left behind and taken into custody by the ministry, no longer a threat to anybody here, but why were they left at all, surely they would have been taken too if it were all just some strange force that was at work.
So you see, I will attend the memorial service of course, but I will not stand up there and speak like I think Harry will never return, because he will, he's more powerful than any of us and he would never let you-know-who kill him." He had concluded before rising from the chair and leaving the stunned headmaster behind.
His eyes then traveled to Hermione and his conversation with her came back to his mind as well. "Professor Dumbledore, as hard as it may be for the ministry to believe, Harry is still alive, just lost somewhere I think.
There are no records of anything like this ever happening before, and so we have no right to conclude that that flash of light killed all those people. Only two people know what really happened between Harry and you-know-who besides themselves, they were too far away for anyone else to hear them, and until Draco and Ginny are ready to talk about what they saw and heard in more detail, none of us can assume what we think is the truth really happened.
All we know is that whatever took Harry away left Ginny and Draco unharmed, even though they were just a couple of feet away from them. I know of no strange phenomenon that is able to pick and choose who it takes, all that I've read about either take everyone or no one, so because of that, I refuse to believe that that thing killed Harry" she had finished with her face a mask of unflinching resolve.
Dumbledore sat and thought for a moment about what the two students had each said and he agreed with them whole heartedly on every statement now that he thought about it as Professor Sprout rose to address the gathered crowd.
His blue eyes then fell on the face of Ginny Weasley, who, despite the look of denial on her face, had bright tears shinning in her eyes, though she refused to let them fall onto her face. His thoughts then wandered to his conversation with the youngest Weasley and girlfriend of Harry Potter.
"Miss. Weasley, I have called you here today to ask you a few difficult questions," he had begun, and when she nodded her head resolutely, he had continued "the first of which concerns the reason as to why you refuse to speak at the memorial service for Harry in a couple of weeks."
After bowing her head for a moment to compose her answer, her dark amber eyes focused on his face and without blinking, she said the sentence that would always haunt him "Because I refuse to speak of things I know for a fact aren't true, and I don't think anybody else should either." She had answered with almost an accusing note to her words. Shocked by her statement, he had just stared into her eyes for several moments trying to figure out how a fifteen year-old girl had become wiser than himself, for she had succeeded in putting into one sentence what he himself had been feeling about the entire memorial service that was being planned.
Once he had admitted to himself this simple truth, he asked the question that had been hoping for an answer for almost three months, "Ginny, would you please tell me what really happened that day, I know you don't want anyone else to know, and I promise not to reveal anything you disclose to anybody except to two of those who are still looking for Harry, Remus and Sirius.
Perhaps what you know could help them know where to look." He asked in a pleading tone, willing her to explain the truth to him this time. As it was, he had asked more times than he could count, both Ginny and Draco, but both had refused to answer, for reasons that were known to them alone.
Ron and Hermione hadn't even managed to get her to tell the truth, and he knew they had been trying harder that him to get it out of her.
After several moments of silence, he felt resigned to the fact that he would never get an answer and turned his face away from the girl and was about to dismiss her when she began speaking again, much to his surprise and relief.
"I have wanted to tell you the truth Headmaster, Ron and Hermione too, but I know what the truth would do to Harry, and I don't want to hurt him when he comes back, so please don't tell anybody but Sirius and Remus." She said with a pleading expression on her face, which vanished when he nodded his head in understanding, wondering what on earth he was about to hear.
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The young doctor entered the small private room on the upper floor of the hospital to check on his new patient, officially given the name of minor- John Doe.
He grunted at the name that had been assigned to the boy, surely the hospital administration could have come up with something more creative to call the boy until either he awoke or the authorities found out who he was.
He quietly approached the bed and tapped the nurse on her shoulder to alert her to his presence. She spun around and faced the doctor, and upon seeing him, her face broke into a grim smile.
"Doctor Jacobs, I didn't hear you come in." she said in a quiet voice.
"Good evening Mary, how's he doing?"
"Better sir, we got him cleaned up and he's ready for a more thorough exam. What did you find out on the preliminary exam and lab work?"
"Not much outside of the obvious," he said in a sad tone "severe malnutrition and a bad infection somewhere that he's trying to fight, but as far as the physical exam, I couldn't see much because of all the dirt and blood. Has he had any pain killers or sedatives yet?"
"Yes doctor, he is resting comfortably and can't feel a thing, though I think he would still be unconscious even without them."
"I must agree with you on that one Mary, he's certainly in bad shape isn't he?"
"It looks that way, but of course I'm not the doctor" she answered pointedly, looking up at the still unmoving doctor behind her.
"Point taken Mary, let's get started" he said, resigned to the fact that he would at some point have to examine and document the boys extensive injuries.
The pair approached the bed in silence, prepared to begin the examination, but before they could even touch the body on the bed, the unidentified boy began shaking uncontrollably as he pulled himself into a tight ball, obviously in extreme pain, the source of which could not be seen.
As they watched in shock, he clenched his teeth and fists together tightly as though he were trying not to allow his pain to escape from his lips.
The boy continued to convulse for several minutes before his face visibly relaxed as well as his fists before he began to breath again, pulling in several shallow ragged breaths before a low moan escaped from his still trembling body.
He then relaxed immediately, obviously falling back into unconsciousness.
The doctor and his nurse stood there in amazement for just moments before both rushed forward and carefully rolled the boy over onto his back.
"What was that!" exclaimed Dr. Jacobs "I thought he got his pain medication"
"He did, I think he was having a nightmare" answered Mary as she picked the boys left arm to pull the blankets back up to cover his body.
"What's that Mary" asked the doctor suddenly,
"What's what sir" she answered, obviously confused
"The mark, on his arm there" he answered, grabbing the boy's left arm and rolling it over and pulling his sleeve up to reveal the underside of his forearm.
The nurse gasped when she saw what he was talking about, there, on the boy's arm plain as day was a hideous tattoo of a black outline of a skull with a dangerous serpent slithering out of its gaping open mouth.
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A/N: I am so happy, I actually got reviews, in the pleural sense of the word! Thank you so much Max, hyper, evil spapple pie, and murgatroyd, I'm glad you guys liked it! I know this leaves you on kind of a cliff huh? I promise that if I get some more reviews, I will post more tomorrow night after my killer history test, but only if you guys review! Ha ha ha, I will even take constructive criticism if you want to offer it! I gotta start studying now, so I hope you enjoy!