| + |

CLAWS OF A RAVEN
by Tyde

| + |

Chapter Twenty

| + |

Students all throughout the castle stood in their dormitories and packed silently. A sob here and there punctuated the silence, as did an exclamation of pain as someone stubbed their toe on the corner of an opened trunk.

Ron, Hermione and Harry sat on a couch in the common room, stunned. They thought back to the threats of closing the school when the Basilisk was on the loose, but no one ever thought they would close Hogwarts. Dumbledore had been very angry. His face had been red from the effort of trying not to yell. Cornelius Fudge had stood in the corner with a serious, if not superior, look on his face. He had been clutching an official looking piece of parchment and McGonagall had been glaring at him.

There was no way to describe the feeling as they were informed that after a millennia Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would be no longer. A few outraged voices had called out but had been silenced by a speech from Fudge.

"Two of your fellow students have died. How long do you think it will be before you're all dead" It was harsh and it was insensitive, but it hit home. "The school must close"

Ginny had clung to Neville who was looking horrified. He was thinking back to what Draco had been talking about. He was certain that he'd been a part of it somehow. Why would the poison have taken that long to kill them? And why weren't the others dropping like flies?

If Neville had been privy to the adventures of a certain three Gryffindors he would have known that there was an unguarded entrance into the castle. He may have even figured out that the potion did not kill the two students. And if his nose had been given a whiff of a clue he would have discovered that a follower of the Dark Lord had snuck in through that entrance this morning and had performed the Killing Curse on the two innocent girls, if only to further deepen the case surrounding Snape.

But he didn't know this. All he knew was that two girls he'd had classes with were gone and there was no bringing them back.

| + |

Harry tried to wrench his tie off and instead only succeeded in tightening it around his neck. He coughed for a second and then righted it. He folded the striped material and placed it in his trunk on top of his robes. He pulled a Weasley made jumper over his head and sat down on the end of his four poster bed. He was angry at not only the Dark Forces but at Dumbledore. He'd just chucked a tantrum in front of the Headmaster when he'd refused to return to the Dursleys house in Surrey.

Dumbledore had firmly stated that Harry was to go to the Dursleys with no diversions. Harry wanted to stay with Sirius and Remus. They fought verbally for a few minutes.

"I will not be forced back to stay with those bloody Muggles!"

"Harry – you will do as you are told"

"My friends are dying around me. I won't go to a place where I have to pretend all of this isn't happening. I have to do something"

"The best thing you can do is stay out of it. If you rush into this you'll be killed"

"I've survived five attempts on my life sir, I will not be told to stand down"

"Don't be foolish Harry. Voldemort is at full strength and his followers are rallying around him. What hope has a mere school boy at conquering him?"

Harry had gone ballistic at that point and began pulling books off the shelf roughly and smashing things with a particularly heavy tome labelled 'Hogwarts, A History'. He couldn't believe what the Headmaster was saying.

Dumbledore had grabbed at his arms to stop him from doing further damage and Harry had started to sob into his robes. "He killed my parents. I don't have a family because of him. I want to stay with Sirius, he's my godfather and he loves me"

"Be that as it may, it is not safe with Sirius. You will go back to the Dursleys" and there was no arguing after that. Harry had just stormed back to his dormitory and begun packing.

Ron watched him carefully. He couldn't understand why Dumbledore would refuse. Hadn't Harry battled You Know Who all these years? Hadn't he more than proven he could tackle something like this? Ron wondered where Dumbledore's sudden lack of confidence in Harry's ability had cropped up from.

| + |

The train trip home from Hogwarts was quiet. Hermione was in the compartment next door comforting Ginny and Neville who were both still quite shocked and Ron played a game of chess by himself while Harry stared out the window.

He leaned forward to whisper on the glass pane as if making a wish.

"What was that Harry?" Ron asked, hopeful for an answer.

"I said I will stay with Sirius. He can't stop me"

"But Harry, he's-"

"What Ron? The Headmaster? Not anymore. There's no more Hogwarts remember?!" Harry pushed his glasses up on his nose as they had started to slip down in his rant. "Now he's just an old wizard that doesn't want anyone's help"

"Harry-" Ron tried to reason with him.

"I'm sorry Ron but that's the way I see it. I will send you an owl when I get to Sirius's"

"But you have to go to the Dursleys or Dumbledore will know – Madam Figg will contact him"

"Which is precisely why I'm going to the Dursleys tonight. But by morning I'll be gone and there's not a damn thing he can do about it"

| + |

Author's note: Thank you all for understanding (Colleen, Kaelli Karali, labrisa, jasmin flower, CrinkleCutRuffles). It's been eleven years since our first dog Bootsie died and it didn't hit me as hard as Smitty's death did. It was a tough time, but life must go on and it doesn't do to dwell in a bad place like that. My head is clearer now.

I just wanted to post this to get it out of the way. No use in having it sit on my computer gathering metaphorical dust. Chapter 23 is fully done, but 21 and 22 are lingering half done. I've got chunks of chapters sitting on my computer and I'm just waiting for a little inspiration flower to bloom in my head on what to fill the gaps with.

Colleen – I thought it would be longer, but here it is :o)

jasmin flower – I don't feel forced to do it, per se, but I think sometimes I do need to force myself because it's escapism and none of my stories would get finished if I didn't prod myself in the butt every now and then :o) If the real world sucks too much then the world of the word and plot is the only place to go for me.

labrisa – so is that Professor Trelawney's first name? Labrisa Trelawney. Hehe.