Chapter 1: Returns
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Albus Dumbledore was sittind at the staff table, in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. In front of him, Professor McGonagall was sorting the new students. But for once, Albus wasn't very attentive. He kept looking at the doors and checking his odd watch. This summer had been particularly difficult. As it was now nearly usual, Voldemort had tried to kill Harry. Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix had arrived just in time to protect him and his family. They had even received thanks from Mr Dursley, Harry's uncle. The Dursleys seemed to have finally accepted that Harry was a wizard and that all his friends were too. Dumbledore looked at the young man, sitting at the Gryffindor table with his friends. And again, the old wizard checked his watch and stole a glance at the door. Then, he looked at his numerous guests. At a table, on his left, were sitting Mr and Mrs Weasley, Lupin and Tonks. At his left of the staff table were several teachers, Hagrid, the centaur Firenze and Professor Trelawney among them. Immediately on his right, where Professor McGonagall usually sat, the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was waiting not very patiently for the Sorting to end. Minerva McGonagall had been placed on Fudge's right. Further on the left were the other professors of Hogwarts, with Alastor Moody, who had accepted to be the new Professor of Defense against the Dark Art, and Severus Snape sitting at the far end of the staff table. And then, at another guest table, were sitting Mrs Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe and Nott. Dumbledore sighed a bit as his blue eyes fell upon the four ladies. This summer had been difficult for them too. After the escape of their husbands from Azkaban just after the beginning of the holiday, the four men had turned up at their respective houses and tried to kill their children. Narcissa Malfoy had been the first to turn up at Hogwarts and the three others had soon followed her example. This was another thing that bothered Dumbledore: why Voldemort had ordered some of his Death Eaters to kill their children?
Minerva McGonagall rolled her parchment and walked to take her place at the staff table. Dumbledore raised on his feet, still glancing at the doors. He sighed slightly before looking at his students.
"Another year begins and I have the duty to inform the first-years, and remind some others, that the Forbidden Forest is out of bound to all the students. I must emphasize this point this year. Anyone found in the Forest without an authorization will be expelled from Hogwarts. Mr Filch, our caretaker, also asked me to tell you that Portable Swamps and Fiery Slaps had been added to the list of the unauthorized objects." Everyone could see Dumbledore eyes twinkled wildly at these words and Mrs Weasly put a hand on her eyes. "I'm sure that all of you know our Minister, Cornelius Fudge. He is the new Hogwarts High Inquisitor and will spend some of his precious time with us, this year. I assume that all of you have seen our other guests." Dumbledore waved to the tables on each side of the Staff table. "I expect each of you to treat with the utmost respect all our guests. I also have the pleasure to announce the return of one of our ex-students and the arrival of."
As he was saying these words, the doors opened wide and two women stepped inside the Great Hall. Everyone fell silent as they looked at the two walking quickly to the staff table and Dumbledore. This one smiled to the new comers and waited for them to be just in front of him before opening his arms. The two women laughed softly and hugged the older wizard over the table. Loud whispers began to run in the Great Hall.
"Go say hello to those you know and sit with the Death Eaters' wives." Dumbledore whispered.
Hermione smiled widely before slipping out of the hug. She nodded to Fudge before looking at McGonagall.
"Miss Granger?"
"You know, I'm not your student anymore." Hermione said with a big smile.
Minerva McGonagall looked from head to toe at the young woman in front of her: the bushy brown hair had grown sleak and were tied in a pony tail swinging past Hermione's waist. Her brown eyes were now warm amber, her skin slightly sun-tanned and her figure athletic. She was wearing Muggle clothes, black jeans, a yellow top, and black shoes. Finally, Minerva McGonagall stood up to hug her ex top-student. Hermione happily returned the hug.
"It's nice to see you again, Hermione."
"I'm glad to be back here."
Hermione stepped back and smiled to all her ex-Professors before turning toward the table where the Weasleys, Lupin and Tonks were sitting. Molly Weasley stood up first and ran to Hermione to hug the young woman with all the strength she could gather. Soon Tonks joined and Hermione burst into laugher. After some seconds under this attack of hugs, Hermione stepped back a bit. The three women walked toward the guest table where Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin were still sitting. They stood up quickly to greet Hermione.
"Glad to have you back." Mr Weasley said simply as he hugged the young woman.
Lupin nodded his agreement before hugging Hermione too. Hermione smiled to the both of them and finally turned toward Gryffindor table, where everyone was silent. Ginny Weasley suddenly jumped on her feet, closely followed by Harry and Ron, and the three of them ran toward their friends. Hermione took a few steps towards them and the friends fell into one another arms.
At the staff table, Albus and Morgana Dumbledore had closely followed Hermione. With a smile, Morgana looked at her father, a twinkle very similar to his own in her dark brown eyes. Albus looked at his daughter, noting that she was in Muggle clothes too, white top, dark blue jeans and black boots. Her black hair were tied in a thick braid. A loud cough next to them made them turned to see Cornelius Fudge with lots of questions in his eyes. Albus sat back on his chair.
"Minister, let me introduce you to my daughter, Morgana Dumbledore."
The Headmaster had said these words loud enough for everyone in the Great Hall to hear. A deafening silence fell upon the students. Profiting of the deep stupor of her friends, Hermione extracted herself from their arms and walked her way back to the staff table.
"A great honor to meet you, it is." Morgana said to Fudge.
Next to her, Hermione sniggered and Albus shot both the young women a glare before sending them to their seats, Hermione with Mrs Malfoy and her friends, Morgana with those from the Order of the Phoenix. Again, several people gasped at the sitting arrangements. As Hermione and Morgana took their seats, the Headmaster stood up again.
"As I was saying, we are welcoming back an ex-student, Hermione Granger, and welcoming Morgana, my daughter. Though they could have made the effort to dress as the witches they are. " At that, both Hermione and Morgana grunted their refusal, making Albus smiled ". I expect the students to behave in front of them, for both of them are allowed to take points away from students as well as assign detentions."
To that, Fudge and the teachers turned to the Headmaster, wondering if he had finally lost his mind. Hermione and Morgana exchanged a knowing look and smiled wickedly to the students, who were whispering among themselves at this news. Dumbledore cleared a bit his throat to regain the attention of everyone.
"Now, I think that the only thing left to say is 'Dig in'."
With that the food appeared in the plates of everyone and soon the Great Hall was filled with the chatter of the students and teachers. But at the guests tables, everyone was strangely silent. Morgana didn't seem to mind, neither did Hermione, as they ate some salad, followed by some chicken and potatoes.
The Welcome Feast was now nearing its end when the doors suddenly bursted open. Two Death Eaters, cloaked and masked, stepped inside the Great Hall, their wands drew and ready. Within in two seconds of silent stupor following their entrance, the two scanned the room. Their hidden eyes stopped on Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. They raised their wands but never had enough time to cast their spells.
"Expelliarmus!"
The Death Eaters' wands flew from their hands to Hermione's outstretched left hand. Before anyone had a chance to move, Morgana was by the side of one of the Death Eaters and kicked him savagely in the stomach. The other raised a hand and threw a Vanishing spell at Morgana. This last one dodged the attack more than easily and Hermione hit the Death Eater with a Full body bind spell. The other Death Eater recovered quickly from Morgana's attack, grabbed his partner and Disapparated. Everyone gasped as they saw that. Dumbledore was on his feet immediately.
"All the students back in your dormitories. Morgana, you go and check the defensive spells. Hermione you Disapparate to Hogsmeade and you make sure that erveryone is okay there."
The two women bowed their head to the Headmaster before going, Morgana walking out by the doors, Hermione disappearing out of thin air. In the stunned silent following, the students slowly began to stand, obeying Dumbledore's orders. The guests stood up and walked toward the Headmaster.
"I thought this school was safe." Narcissa Malfoy whispered urgently.
"It will be as safe as ever in a few minutes."
"And I thought it was impossible to Apparate or Disapparate on Hogwarts Grounds." Cornelius Fudge said.
"It is and will be again as soon as Morgana will have finished her work."
Hermione Apparated back in the Great Hall, just behind Albus.
"Hogsmeade has suffered no attack. Seems to me that they knew exactly who they wanted and where they could find them."
Everyone looked at her, surprised to hear the sweet Hermione talking with such a cold voice. Dumbledore nodded to this report, before looking over his shoulder.
"Try again."
Hermione nodded and closed her eyes. Nothing happened.
"People, I'm glad to inform you that Apparate is once again impossible on the Hogwarts Grounds. I suggest everyone goes to bed."
Hermione threw a glance at Dumbledore, who nodded. The young woman walked swiftly outside the Great Hall and to the second-floor girl bathroom. There, she sat outside of the door. She didn't wait long, as the door opened less than five minutes later and Morgana stepped outside of the bathroom. The young women smiled at each other before walking quickly away from the bathroom to the Headmaster's office. Once in front of the staircase, Morgana whispered the password and the both of them ran up to Dumbledore's office. There, Morgana knocked before entering.
"How is it only possible for the defensive spells of the school to fail like that?" was shouting Fudge at Dumbledore.
"Let me remind you that these spells were cast by the Founders more than a thousand years ago. It is a miracle that they last that long without anyone having to recast them." Morgana said calmly as she stepped inside the room.
The two young women walked slowly up to Dumbledore and stood on each side of his chair, behind his desk, as some kinds of guards. Hermione looked around to see that McGonagall, Mrs Malfoy and Mr Weasley were here as well. No one said anything after Morgana, so Hermione decided to seize their chance.
"However, the spells had been replaced and strengthened. We shouldn't have any other problems with them."
"Very good, " Dumbledore said, "I think you should go and rest, now."
Morgana and Hermione bowed slightly to the Headmaster, nodded to the others and stepped outside the office. There, Morgana murmured another password to the staircase, which led them higher, stopping in front of an oaken door.
"Freedom." Hermione said softly. The door opened to let the two women in the room. Hermione whistle as she looked around the huge living-room in front of her. The room was mostly in beige, with a wooden floor and a fireplace in front of a sofa. There was even a table where they could eat if they didn't feel like going down in the Great Hall. On each side of the room was a door, probably leading to their rooms.
"Yeah, Dad made big changes when I left."
"What, you really expect him to have kept all your toys."
Morgana smiled at her friend before walking straight to the left door.
"I see you tomorrow morning."
Hermione nodded and headed toward the door on the right, ready for a good night of sleep.
~~**~~**~~
Please, read and review to tell me if I should keep writing.
~~**~~**~~
Albus Dumbledore was sittind at the staff table, in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. In front of him, Professor McGonagall was sorting the new students. But for once, Albus wasn't very attentive. He kept looking at the doors and checking his odd watch. This summer had been particularly difficult. As it was now nearly usual, Voldemort had tried to kill Harry. Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix had arrived just in time to protect him and his family. They had even received thanks from Mr Dursley, Harry's uncle. The Dursleys seemed to have finally accepted that Harry was a wizard and that all his friends were too. Dumbledore looked at the young man, sitting at the Gryffindor table with his friends. And again, the old wizard checked his watch and stole a glance at the door. Then, he looked at his numerous guests. At a table, on his left, were sitting Mr and Mrs Weasley, Lupin and Tonks. At his left of the staff table were several teachers, Hagrid, the centaur Firenze and Professor Trelawney among them. Immediately on his right, where Professor McGonagall usually sat, the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was waiting not very patiently for the Sorting to end. Minerva McGonagall had been placed on Fudge's right. Further on the left were the other professors of Hogwarts, with Alastor Moody, who had accepted to be the new Professor of Defense against the Dark Art, and Severus Snape sitting at the far end of the staff table. And then, at another guest table, were sitting Mrs Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe and Nott. Dumbledore sighed a bit as his blue eyes fell upon the four ladies. This summer had been difficult for them too. After the escape of their husbands from Azkaban just after the beginning of the holiday, the four men had turned up at their respective houses and tried to kill their children. Narcissa Malfoy had been the first to turn up at Hogwarts and the three others had soon followed her example. This was another thing that bothered Dumbledore: why Voldemort had ordered some of his Death Eaters to kill their children?
Minerva McGonagall rolled her parchment and walked to take her place at the staff table. Dumbledore raised on his feet, still glancing at the doors. He sighed slightly before looking at his students.
"Another year begins and I have the duty to inform the first-years, and remind some others, that the Forbidden Forest is out of bound to all the students. I must emphasize this point this year. Anyone found in the Forest without an authorization will be expelled from Hogwarts. Mr Filch, our caretaker, also asked me to tell you that Portable Swamps and Fiery Slaps had been added to the list of the unauthorized objects." Everyone could see Dumbledore eyes twinkled wildly at these words and Mrs Weasly put a hand on her eyes. "I'm sure that all of you know our Minister, Cornelius Fudge. He is the new Hogwarts High Inquisitor and will spend some of his precious time with us, this year. I assume that all of you have seen our other guests." Dumbledore waved to the tables on each side of the Staff table. "I expect each of you to treat with the utmost respect all our guests. I also have the pleasure to announce the return of one of our ex-students and the arrival of."
As he was saying these words, the doors opened wide and two women stepped inside the Great Hall. Everyone fell silent as they looked at the two walking quickly to the staff table and Dumbledore. This one smiled to the new comers and waited for them to be just in front of him before opening his arms. The two women laughed softly and hugged the older wizard over the table. Loud whispers began to run in the Great Hall.
"Go say hello to those you know and sit with the Death Eaters' wives." Dumbledore whispered.
Hermione smiled widely before slipping out of the hug. She nodded to Fudge before looking at McGonagall.
"Miss Granger?"
"You know, I'm not your student anymore." Hermione said with a big smile.
Minerva McGonagall looked from head to toe at the young woman in front of her: the bushy brown hair had grown sleak and were tied in a pony tail swinging past Hermione's waist. Her brown eyes were now warm amber, her skin slightly sun-tanned and her figure athletic. She was wearing Muggle clothes, black jeans, a yellow top, and black shoes. Finally, Minerva McGonagall stood up to hug her ex top-student. Hermione happily returned the hug.
"It's nice to see you again, Hermione."
"I'm glad to be back here."
Hermione stepped back and smiled to all her ex-Professors before turning toward the table where the Weasleys, Lupin and Tonks were sitting. Molly Weasley stood up first and ran to Hermione to hug the young woman with all the strength she could gather. Soon Tonks joined and Hermione burst into laugher. After some seconds under this attack of hugs, Hermione stepped back a bit. The three women walked toward the guest table where Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin were still sitting. They stood up quickly to greet Hermione.
"Glad to have you back." Mr Weasley said simply as he hugged the young woman.
Lupin nodded his agreement before hugging Hermione too. Hermione smiled to the both of them and finally turned toward Gryffindor table, where everyone was silent. Ginny Weasley suddenly jumped on her feet, closely followed by Harry and Ron, and the three of them ran toward their friends. Hermione took a few steps towards them and the friends fell into one another arms.
At the staff table, Albus and Morgana Dumbledore had closely followed Hermione. With a smile, Morgana looked at her father, a twinkle very similar to his own in her dark brown eyes. Albus looked at his daughter, noting that she was in Muggle clothes too, white top, dark blue jeans and black boots. Her black hair were tied in a thick braid. A loud cough next to them made them turned to see Cornelius Fudge with lots of questions in his eyes. Albus sat back on his chair.
"Minister, let me introduce you to my daughter, Morgana Dumbledore."
The Headmaster had said these words loud enough for everyone in the Great Hall to hear. A deafening silence fell upon the students. Profiting of the deep stupor of her friends, Hermione extracted herself from their arms and walked her way back to the staff table.
"A great honor to meet you, it is." Morgana said to Fudge.
Next to her, Hermione sniggered and Albus shot both the young women a glare before sending them to their seats, Hermione with Mrs Malfoy and her friends, Morgana with those from the Order of the Phoenix. Again, several people gasped at the sitting arrangements. As Hermione and Morgana took their seats, the Headmaster stood up again.
"As I was saying, we are welcoming back an ex-student, Hermione Granger, and welcoming Morgana, my daughter. Though they could have made the effort to dress as the witches they are. " At that, both Hermione and Morgana grunted their refusal, making Albus smiled ". I expect the students to behave in front of them, for both of them are allowed to take points away from students as well as assign detentions."
To that, Fudge and the teachers turned to the Headmaster, wondering if he had finally lost his mind. Hermione and Morgana exchanged a knowing look and smiled wickedly to the students, who were whispering among themselves at this news. Dumbledore cleared a bit his throat to regain the attention of everyone.
"Now, I think that the only thing left to say is 'Dig in'."
With that the food appeared in the plates of everyone and soon the Great Hall was filled with the chatter of the students and teachers. But at the guests tables, everyone was strangely silent. Morgana didn't seem to mind, neither did Hermione, as they ate some salad, followed by some chicken and potatoes.
The Welcome Feast was now nearing its end when the doors suddenly bursted open. Two Death Eaters, cloaked and masked, stepped inside the Great Hall, their wands drew and ready. Within in two seconds of silent stupor following their entrance, the two scanned the room. Their hidden eyes stopped on Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. They raised their wands but never had enough time to cast their spells.
"Expelliarmus!"
The Death Eaters' wands flew from their hands to Hermione's outstretched left hand. Before anyone had a chance to move, Morgana was by the side of one of the Death Eaters and kicked him savagely in the stomach. The other raised a hand and threw a Vanishing spell at Morgana. This last one dodged the attack more than easily and Hermione hit the Death Eater with a Full body bind spell. The other Death Eater recovered quickly from Morgana's attack, grabbed his partner and Disapparated. Everyone gasped as they saw that. Dumbledore was on his feet immediately.
"All the students back in your dormitories. Morgana, you go and check the defensive spells. Hermione you Disapparate to Hogsmeade and you make sure that erveryone is okay there."
The two women bowed their head to the Headmaster before going, Morgana walking out by the doors, Hermione disappearing out of thin air. In the stunned silent following, the students slowly began to stand, obeying Dumbledore's orders. The guests stood up and walked toward the Headmaster.
"I thought this school was safe." Narcissa Malfoy whispered urgently.
"It will be as safe as ever in a few minutes."
"And I thought it was impossible to Apparate or Disapparate on Hogwarts Grounds." Cornelius Fudge said.
"It is and will be again as soon as Morgana will have finished her work."
Hermione Apparated back in the Great Hall, just behind Albus.
"Hogsmeade has suffered no attack. Seems to me that they knew exactly who they wanted and where they could find them."
Everyone looked at her, surprised to hear the sweet Hermione talking with such a cold voice. Dumbledore nodded to this report, before looking over his shoulder.
"Try again."
Hermione nodded and closed her eyes. Nothing happened.
"People, I'm glad to inform you that Apparate is once again impossible on the Hogwarts Grounds. I suggest everyone goes to bed."
Hermione threw a glance at Dumbledore, who nodded. The young woman walked swiftly outside the Great Hall and to the second-floor girl bathroom. There, she sat outside of the door. She didn't wait long, as the door opened less than five minutes later and Morgana stepped outside of the bathroom. The young women smiled at each other before walking quickly away from the bathroom to the Headmaster's office. Once in front of the staircase, Morgana whispered the password and the both of them ran up to Dumbledore's office. There, Morgana knocked before entering.
"How is it only possible for the defensive spells of the school to fail like that?" was shouting Fudge at Dumbledore.
"Let me remind you that these spells were cast by the Founders more than a thousand years ago. It is a miracle that they last that long without anyone having to recast them." Morgana said calmly as she stepped inside the room.
The two young women walked slowly up to Dumbledore and stood on each side of his chair, behind his desk, as some kinds of guards. Hermione looked around to see that McGonagall, Mrs Malfoy and Mr Weasley were here as well. No one said anything after Morgana, so Hermione decided to seize their chance.
"However, the spells had been replaced and strengthened. We shouldn't have any other problems with them."
"Very good, " Dumbledore said, "I think you should go and rest, now."
Morgana and Hermione bowed slightly to the Headmaster, nodded to the others and stepped outside the office. There, Morgana murmured another password to the staircase, which led them higher, stopping in front of an oaken door.
"Freedom." Hermione said softly. The door opened to let the two women in the room. Hermione whistle as she looked around the huge living-room in front of her. The room was mostly in beige, with a wooden floor and a fireplace in front of a sofa. There was even a table where they could eat if they didn't feel like going down in the Great Hall. On each side of the room was a door, probably leading to their rooms.
"Yeah, Dad made big changes when I left."
"What, you really expect him to have kept all your toys."
Morgana smiled at her friend before walking straight to the left door.
"I see you tomorrow morning."
Hermione nodded and headed toward the door on the right, ready for a good night of sleep.
~~**~~**~~
Please, read and review to tell me if I should keep writing.