Harry Potter and the Mirror of Nostradamus
A/N: Okay so I guess how much you ppl like this chapter depends on how much you enjoy action…thanks as usual for the reviews– they crossed a hundred!! *grins grins grins grins grins* : –))
So thanks to:
Duckymander- Thanks a bunch! I hope they will be great like u say…
Hedowl5- Thank you!
Silvermoon12- Voldemort taking the kids has EverythinG to do with the vision Harry had and I'm glad someone figured it out *grins* anyway I like it when readers try to figure out the plot…and thanks a lot I'm flattered this is ur longest review…I don't usually write replies this long too : - )
MorphManiac- Yup Lupin's a swell guy! Thanks: ) There's gonna be a lot happening at Hogwarts but first let's see them get there safely *grins evilly* Dum Dum Da Dum
Hplova4eva- Thanks a lot!
Coolerimmortal – Yep wat Draco gave Voldie does tie in with the disappearances…good, another reader who figured it out…although more than that I can't say :P
Lan1 – I guess I'm just evil to make things hard for Harry…but love doesn't come easy does it? Anyway there's some H/G in this chapter so I hope u enjoy it... : ))
Someone – Seriously?! Lol thanks : )
Kurbani- Thanks!
Burning-Yami- Ram- *munches on Chocolate frog* Yumm this is good stuff thanks…anyway if I told u wat Voldie's planning it would ruin the whole point don't u think? : )
PhoenixPadfoot89- Thanks! My hundredth reviewer : –))
Theauthorthatwrites- Yea Harry can be a prick sometimes…especially in OotP God…poor guy…fear not, Ginny will make him see the error of his ways! : )) and thanks
Magee- Thanks a lot glad u like it :- )
Billy- I'm emailing you right after posting this
Tears4sirius08- Thanks a lot , I hope you liked ch. 7 that I sent u : ))
Chapter 8: The MegaPatronus
The Hogwarts Express cruised along smoothly as Harry struggled along the corridor with his trunk and Hedwig's cage. Ron, Hermione and Ginny had left him and gone to the Prefects compartment, promising to finish as early as they could. He was still fighting the image of Ginny out of his head when he opened the door to the familiar compartment in the back of the train.
Neville was there, and to Harry's no surprise so was Luna Lovegood. They were both reading; Neville was staring somewhat apprehensively at the pages of Into The Darkness: A complete guide to the Cruciatus Curse – Harry felt something uncomfortable in his stomach as he saw the cover – and across from him Luna was, unsurprisingly, engrossed in The Quibbler though it was the right way up this time.
"Good summer?" Harry greeted, putting his belongings away and sitting next to the round-faced Gryffindor who looked considerably older than the last time he had seen him. Neville jumped around three inches in the air, his hand flying to his pocket, before he saw Harry and flushed slightly.
"Oh! Hi…didn't see you come in, Harry…I thought –" He very casually returned his hand to steady his book. Luna merely looked up, gave Harry what looked like a dreamy half-smile then turned back to the magazine.
"Don't worry," Harry said. "I had my wand all the way out when my cousin dropped the salad bowl the other day."
Neville smiled faintly. Then he brightened up. "I heard about what you did. You know, to her." At his words Harry felt something like a bond form between him and Neville, a bond made from their common hatred of Bellatrix Lestrange.
Luna looked up again, eyebrows raised, making them go up even higher than usual. "I heard she was looking for a Voodoo Hydrahead, is that true?" she asked vaguely.
"Er- not that I know of," Harry replied, glancing at Neville who looked like he was bursting to ask what a Voodoo Hydrahead was.
They were silent for awhile, and then Harry burst out, "Fifteen Muggle girls went missing yesterday."
Neville's eyes widened. "What? But- but the Daily Prophet-" he sputtered.
"- is stupid." Harry cut him off sullenly. Luna looked approving.
"Oh. Right. But are you sure it's-"
"Ron's dad told us it was Death Eaters."
"Oh." Neville swallowed. Luna watched them with her usual detached expression. "I suppose I'll ask Daddy if he's heard."
"Yeah…you do that…" Harry said, turning to stare out the window at the tall trees rushing past. The sky was darker and more turbid; he was almost positive the storm was coming soon.
Ginny and the lady who sold sweets arrived at the compartment at around the same time, and Ginny looked pleased with herself for some reason.
"Where're Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked her when they had bought all they could and Ginny was settled in next to Luna.
"Still talking to Katie," Ginny said shortly. "She's Head Girl."
"Oh, that's great…"
"Dean Thomas was looking for you, I think," Neville commented, helping himself to a Chocolate Frog.
Ginny blushed prettily. "I know, I- talked to him just now." Harry desperately tried to keep off an unconscious scowl from his face. He stood up next to the redhead and bent down on the pretext of taking an interesting looking Bertie Bott's bean from her bag, then muttered, "Are you still mad at me?"
It was perhaps not the most ideal time to ask this, for she looked surprised. "Why would I be?"
"Come off it, Ginny." He looked around. Neville and Luna were both reading again. He perched on the arm of the seat and looked Ginny straight in the eye, though her deep brown gaze made him nervous. "You've been real short with me lately, and you didn't go to- you know- anymore."
"Oh." Ginny actually turned red, just the way she used to do in the old days, and this time Harry liked it. A lot. "I'm sorry Harry…I know you've had a lot on your mind- I didn't think it would actually matter to you that I-"
"Well it did," Harry said fiercely. Neville and Luna both looked up, watching them curiously.
"Can we continue this later?" Ginny hissed. Harry nodded reluctantly and popped a silvery bean into his mouth. "Ugh, iron," he said loudly, spitting it out exaggeratingly. Ginny snorted at his attempt in covering up. There was silence again, and then-
"It's kind of cold, isn't it?" Neville said suddenly. Even as he spoke Harry felt an eerie, icy chill sweep through him and the hair stood up on his arms and at the back of his neck. He felt his mouth go dry…
"Yeah…it is," Ginny said from beside him in a strangely high-pitched tone.
"Get your wands out." Harry's voice was quiet and grim.
"What?" Luna asked confusedly.
"Now," Harry hissed, his fingers tightening around his own. His insides constricted painfully and he fought to stop his hands from trembling with dread. Not again, please not again.
Harry watched the three of them, making sure they all had their wands out at guard- the cold was growing worse and he could sense they were coming…
"Harry, you're as pale as a ghost, what–" Ginny trailed off mid-sentence as the room was shrouded in complete blackness. Harry, who had been expecting this, did nothing, but he heard a couple of sharp intakes of breaths from his companions. There was a jolt as the train stopped moving.
"What's going on?" Neville's scared voice drifted over from somewhere in the compartment. "It's not…it can't be- like last time?"
Harry's heart was thumping wildly against his chest, his wand rigid in his hand. It was so cold…
and he didn't want to hear his parents dying- or Sirius…
"Harry?" Ginny was speaking panickedly from beside him, and he realized vaguely through his terror that he was still perched on the arm of her seat.
"Dementors," his voice shook- his worst fear was worse now that he had even more bad memories to recollect. He thanked the stars that they had all been in Dumbledore's Army- wand quivering in his hand; he spoke again, fighting the panic out of it. He had taught them, he couldn't let them down now…
"They are going to come in less than a minute from now–get ready–anyone still has a problem with the Patronus charm?" Harry heard himself saying the words but his mind was elsewhere…his hands were still trembling and he felt a smaller hand take hold of his left one suddenly, gripping it; he relaxed somewhat and breathed easier. He could hear noises now, noises and shouts from students all around the train, obviously remembering the last time this had happened. Only this time there was no R.J. Lupin to help them…he prayed Ron and Hermione would be all right.
But there were no more noises now, only silence. Painfully eerie, terrifying silence.
"Now?" Neville whispered.
"Yeah." Harry stood up shakily, still holding Ginny's hand tightly. "Ready, Neville, Luna…Gin…" Then he cursed himself for his stupidity and muttered "Lumos". The tip of his wand was lit and it cast shadows on his friends' now visibly apprehensive faces. Slowly they all did the same and the room glowed with the light of the four wands.
A tall, hooded figure appeared, gliding in through the door of the compartment as though it were plain air, not solid…panic rose inside Harry and he felt himself drifting away as cold, high laughter filled his ears. Ginny was forced to let go of his hand because she needed it to cast the spell; he caught on to the back of her robes instead, unconsciously.
The figure approached them, lifting a scabby hand forward as it drew closer. Neville seemed frozen in fear, his wand rigid in midair; Harry raised his own, trying to block out the rushing in his ears, but at that moment another dementor appeared behind the first one and his panic increased...Do something, already!
Ginny had already attempted the charm, but seeing as it was the first time she tried it in the presence of a real dementor she could manage nothing more than a silvery wisp.
"No, not Harry, please not Harry…stand aside, you silly girl…"
He swallowed, taking a step forward. "Expecto Patronum!" he called out desperately, quite forgetting in his panic that he was supposed to summon a happy memory.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" Sirius's mocking laughter pounded in his ears- that had been two seconds before Bellatrix had blasted him backwards…
A real-life scream brought him back to reality; the first dementor was advancing on Neville. You're the only one who can save them. Do it, already, Potter you imbecile! He nodded as though speaking to someone- they were counting on him, and they still had to help everyone else on the train.
You've done it before.
He glanced sideways at Ginny, her crimson-bright hair wild, sweat glistening on her forehead, her face screwed up in concentration, and he thought of her warm hand that had been in his just seconds ago, he imagined himself kissing that hand softly…
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A beautiful silver stag leaped out of his wand, charging at the dementor who, if not for Neville's tiny wisps of silver, would have Kissed the boy by now. The stag stopped it, defeated it, and was soon charging at the next one.
Neville grinned weakly. "Thanks…"
"Took you long enough," said Luna matter-of-factly, calm as you please. But there was no time for any celebrating…
"Come on!" Harry yelled, blasting open the door and grabbing Ginny's hand. "We've got to help the others– he's sent more–I know it!"
He dashed out, prodding the stag ahead, dragging Ginny behind him, hearing the others' footsteps following after them.
"We have to try harder this time," he panted as they ran into the corridor.
"But Harry, I –" Neville began.
"You have to believe you can do it." He looked around wildly and gasped, instinctively throwing his hand outstretched behind him, in front of the three. There were at least fifty dementors lurking around at the entrances to the compartments, and going inside as well...Harry's stag leaped forward and started attacking left and right.
"Oh my God…we can't save them all in time…"
"What- what are we going to do? Where's Ron, where's –" Ginny sounded like she was desperately trying to sound brave. Luna had a hand clamped over her mouth.
One of the dementors caught sight of them and it started moving towards them… Harry rushed forward, the others following. "Expecto Patronum! Expecto- WHY DON'T THE GODDAMN TEACHERS GO ON THE TRAIN?!!" he roared in fury. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Another stag leaped out of his wand, but as much as the two stags were doing, there seemed to be more and more dementors arriving every second; there were at least a hundred of them now…
"MORE PATRONUSES!" Harry bellowed.
Now the air was filled with shouts of 'Expecto Patronum!'. And other screams were being heard , screams of fright from the compartments; this time, the Dementors had been sent not to guard, but to attack…
Four compartment doors burst open at the same time, and a crowd of mingled students and Dementors filled the corridor.
Parvati and Padma Patil started rushing towards them, wands out, wringing their hands in panic.
"Oh, it's awful…" Parvati shrieked, her head moving left and right frantically. "The charm! Remember the charm!" Harry yelled, and then continued, thinking of Ron and Hermione, "Expecto Patronum!" Yet a third stag leaped out, joining the big silvery wisps emitted by his friends.
"Harry, this isn't working," Ginny said desperately just as one dementor charged at Justin from Hufflepuff while two others attacked a first year Harry didn't know. He leaped at them, coming so close he could smell their putrid breath, hear the voices in his ear again but he didn't care- he summoned yet another stag that saved the shivering boy immediately.
Ginny's right, this isn't working. We need to do something. God, where's Hermione when you need her?
"Ron!" he yelled. "Hermione! Dammit, Sonorus!" He paused to fend off yet another couple of dementors who were going for Hannah Abbott, then spoke again, his voice magically magnified.
"All members of the D.A!" he called, echoing over the train and for a moment the screams subsided as they heard him. "All members of the D.A and any other person who can perform a Patronus charm, please come to the back of the train. We are being attacked by Dementors- we are being," he broke off, his voice cracked, the decaying smell filling his nostrils was too much for him and he collapsed against the wall, gasping and drained.
Ginny saw this and immediately took over, magnifying her own voice. "Back of the train, D.A members! The rest of you…" she trailed off and then a new voice joined in. "The rest of you, think happy thoughts! Anyone in trouble, speak up, we'll send you help! " Harry spun around to the speaker: Hermione, with Ron beside her.
Relief coursed through him and quite
forgetting the spell, he yelled, "Where the hell were you?" and the whole train
heard.
"Fending off Dementors in the front
compartments," Ron panted. "Hermione's otter…it worked…Ginny, are you okay?"
Harry noticed the D.A members appearing suddenly around them, all casting Patronus charms. But like Ginny, Neville and Luna, they just weren't enough. They all kept glancing at him and it dawned on him they were waiting for him to fix this.
Harry wasn't scared for himself. He knew nothing was going to happen to him; as he had not killed Voldemort yet, the only way he was going to die was if Voldemort himself killed him. But how to save them all…
"Potter, do something!" Zacharias Smith snarled.
"If you haven't noticed, he's made four stags already," Ron spat.
"Stop it, just- just stop it!" said Hermione shrilly after casting the Sonorus charm off.
"Now, we need to do something–I know what we
can do–I –"
"Well spit it out already!" Harry
shouted, diving headfirst, without thinking, onto a Dementor
just inches away from sucking Dennis Creevy's
soul out. An incredible iciness rushed through him as he made contact with the
foul creature and he gasped. Dennis, free now, screamed – the Dementor had a
hold on Harry now – "Come here!" Dennis
yelled at one of the stags who rushed to Harry's aid.
"OH, oh Merlin, Harry, we have to send an owl first…to Hogwarts…someone will come and help!" Hermione cried.
"Owl, right," Harry said, "WHO'S GOT AN OWL?"
"You have," Michael Corner said pointedly.
"Oh–right."
"I'll go and write the letter. I'll use Hedwig," Neville offered.
"Yeah…do that," Harry said, looking around madly for any sign of more of them in trouble. "Tell them…tell them it's horrible…tell them to Apparate here now!" The boy was already speeding off to their compartment.
Meanwhile, Hermione had let out two otters that were joining Harry's stags. "What now?" he asked her. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! What now?!"
"There's–there's a spell," she gasped, prodding one of her otters forward with her wand. There were tears streaming down her cheeks. "Harry–I don't know if we'll make this–there's more compartments, at any moment a Dementor could be–could be–"
"Stop it," Ron said firmly, grabbing hold of her shoulders. "We can't think like that. Now what's the spell?" He swallowed, glancing at Harry for help.
She shook her head vigorously. "It's too hard…needs too much power…EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry had to admit her otters were not as large or as effective as his stags but they were still pretty good for someone who was using the spell for the first time. And whatever power needed for the spell she was talking about, he was sure he wouldn't have it as he was too drained at the moment…
"We can do something else, though," Hermione said, "–I don't know what good it'll do…"
"Just try it!" Harry and Ron both cried out exasperatedly.
"Okay–right–let's see; this is stupid, but I thought maybe we could cast Cheering Charms on the Dementors and on the whole corridor, they would keep them away, wouldn't they?"
There was a chorus of shouts of agreement at this from the D.A members and the various frightened students milling around, some of whom had gotten their broomsticks out and were sitting on them near the ceiling, to avoid any contact with the Dementors.
Shortly after that, and thanks to Hermione's charmwork, many of them were feeling lighthearted, but the presence of the Dementors soon drove that happiness away, although the charms did work in temporarily reducing the effects of the Dementors, much to Harry's relief.
"I sent her," came Neville's breathless voice suddenly from behind them. "I wrote to the professors–"
"How fast is your owl, Harry?" asked Ernie Macmillan, whose face was bright red and sweating.
"Pretty fast," He remembered how quickly she'd delivered his letter to Dumbledore earlier that summer. "Half an hour maybe, tops–" He prayed with all his heart that Dementors couldn't harm animals.
"Half an hour? We could be dead by then!" Zacharias Smith shouted.
Not dead, Harry thought, shuddering – just not alive.
"I believe that was the plan," a taunting, cool voice remarked, and Harry stopped in the middle of casting another Patronus to see Draco Malfoy approaching them from ahead, flanked by around four Slytherins.
There was a loud ringing in Harry's ears, and suddenly he forgot the Dementors, forgot the D.A– and saw nothing but the slick-haired blond boy and his mocking gray eyes– with a roar so vicious that several people around him jumped, he charged forward at Malfoy like a wild animal, magic forgotten and instead wanting to hurt him physically in every possible way he could…
"You!" Harry snarled, grabbing onto the front of his robes and slamming him hard against the wall. Malfoy's eyes widened in some surprise at the incredible amount of rage on Harry's face. Several people around them were shouting, but Harry didn't care.
"Careful now, Potter…" Malfoy said slowly, his eyes darting among his Slytherin bodyguards. "I am still a pref–"
"No, let me tell you something, Malfoy. You, prefect or not, are the last person I want to see at the moment, so unless you know some way we can get rid of these creatures that your father has undoubtedly helped in sending, do yourself a favor and get out of our damn sight, and take your good-for-nothing cronies with you!"
With that, he slammed him one more time against the wall before jerking his grip away, breathing heavily, all the anger that had been building up ever since the beginning of the summer finally exploding.
"You'll get what's coming to you one day, Potter…" the Slytherin spat as soon as he was well out of Harry's reach– he took a couple of steps forward and then screamed as he ran smack into a Dementor. He gasped, shivering and shuddering as the thing held him in its clutches.
"No–no, you stupid creation, I'm on your side, it's them you're supposed to- Aurgh!" The Dementor either didn't understand the English language or obviously didn't care, for it had just moved in for the Kiss…
"We do have to help him, you know!" Harry didn't have to turn around to know it was Hermione who had said that. Knowing very well he was going to regret this, he beckoned forward one of his now numerous stags and jerked his head in Malfoy's direction. The beautiful shiny white apparition looked at Harry for a moment as though making sure it had understood this right, then destroyed the Dementor, leaving the blond boy trembling all over, making Harry wonder what awful memories he could possibly have…
"Now he's saved your sorry hide, go somewhere where we can't see you," Ron growled.
Malfoy said nothing, and pausing to dust off his robes, he walked into a Dementor-free compartment followed by Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Pansy Parkinson.
Breathing heavily, Harry glanced from side to side, surveying the situation. Most of the younger students and non-D.A members were floating near the ceiling on their brooms, looking down at the Dementors with terror. The rest of them were either pressing themselves in corners–which Harry thought was a very stupid thing to do– or running back and forth along the corridor, casting the now very familiar Patronus charm.
The Dementors were considerably less in number, but there were still enough of them to do a lot of damage, and this terrified Harry, but as far as he could see everyone was okay- till now. (He made sure to keep an eye on Ginny and the rest of his friends.) The otters and the stags–and even one swan made by Cho Chang– were doing their job, as were the Cheering Charms, without which Harry was sure he would have given up by now, lying defeated and depressed somewhere from the Dementors' effect.
And of all things…he had saved Draco Malfoy's life…
And whatever had happened to the train conductor and the lady who sold the sweets? He should have checked on them; what if they didn't know how to save themselves? He started to get up, but at that moment his scar tingled–and for some reason Voldemort wasn't angry they were alive– an indifferent, perhaps slightly irritated voice resounded in his ears, and he heard Voldemort, as though he were telling this to somebody– "Any moment now, it'll come," sounding even slightly bored.
Come? What'll come?
"More stags, Harry!" Ginny yelled.
He complied, jerking himself out of Voldemort's thoughts and conjuring yet another Patronus. But as the stag galloped forward, shining brightly in the darkness which the Dementors had brought along with them, he heard a thunderous voice bellow, "Patronus Incantium Mega!", something else, huge and enormous, came in the stag's way. The stag, instead of defying it, stepped back in respect, and so did all the other Patronuses (A/N: Patroni?) they had conjured.
It was the most beautiful thing Harry had ever seen, and he and the others stood back in awe, watching it breathlessly.
It was a Patronus, he was sure, but it was at least five times the size of his stag; it was formidable and magnificent, with shining silver feathers, a long, brightly glistening neck and a silver-gray beak so sharp Harry was positive it could tear into anything.
"It's a phoenix…" Susan Bones breathed.
"Merlin's beard," Ron and Ginny said in unison.
Hermione watched happily and Harry knew this was the powerful spell she'd been talking about…
The enormous phoenix swept flying through the corridor, the students scurrying to let it pass, and within five minutes there was no sign of any dementor on the whole train; cheering erupted, the blackness disappeared, as did the eerie cold, and Harry could now hear the spattering of raindrops on the windows– the storm had begun at last.
Harry collapsed against the wall, breathing hard, his eyes closed, sweat pouring down his face in effort and exhaustion. He could rest now– his job was done. Loud chattering had broken out among them, ringing in his ears.
"Did you see that?"
"That was amazing!"
"Oh my goodness, but what were the Dementors doing here?"
"What do you think, you dunce?"
"And who did it?"
"Who saved us?"
"It wasn't Potter– that wasn't his voice–" Harry smiled; he had a feeling he knew exactly who it had been, but where was he?
Five first-years were crying and Hermione was attempting to comfort them all. "There now…nothing happened, you see– Hogwarts is safe, really it is, nothing will happen to you while you're there–" (Harry snorted.) "–Help me here, Ron–"
Meanwhile, Harry's thoughts jumped back to Voldemort. He had known– he had known that huge Patronus would come–he had known, somehow, that his attempt would fail and yet–
He realized suddenly that the train had started moving again; the driver must be safe then. Harry still had trouble believing that out of the hundreds of students on the train no one had been Kissed…and Voldemort wasn't even shocked.
"You okay, Harry?" Ginny said quietly. He looked up at her with a nod, not trusting himself to speak, and instead surprised himself by giving her a brief hug. His skin tingled as it made contact with hers and he breathed in her scent, wanting to hold on to her for longer, but then he felt herself gently removing herself from the embrace. When had he started feeling like this about her anyway?
She smiled at him– a sisterly smile, he thought. "I'm glad we made it." Harry looked to his right. A large crowd, Dean among them, was heading in their direction. Harry distanced himself from Ginny quickly and turned his attention to everyone else who was talking.
"You were all great," Hermione smiled.
"Yeah, but who saved us?" Seamus Finnegan wondered.
"–someone powerful, obviously."
"–awfully powerful–"
"–that spell was just about the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Katie said.
"Yeah." Harry grinned. "I'll have to ask Professor Dumbledore to teach me– a spell like that could do wonders for the D.A…"
"Oh, I'm sure that can be arranged," a very familiar voice said from behind them and they all spun around.
Dumbledore's tall frame stood impressively in the middle of the corridor, in flowing midnight-blue robes, radiating power and heat unto everything within ten feet of him. His eyes were still flashing with anger, but there was a faint sign of the old twinkle in his eyes–
"Professor!" around twenty voices chorused, and they moved together to let him pass.
"I trust everyone is all right?"
"Yes, sir, every single one of them sir," the Head Girl said proudly. "I counted."
"Thank Merlin for that."
The headmaster swept his gaze over all of them, looking around sharply, then–satisfied– he nodded at them "I Apparated here–from Hogesmade village of course– as soon as I received Mr. Longbottom's note–" He looked at Neville, who flushed. "I feared I may be too late…might one of you tell me what happened here exactly and how you managed to…survive?"
Everyone started talking loudly at once. Dumbledore raised a hand. "One of you, I said. The rest, please go back to your compartments. We should be at Hogwarts in around an hour." He snapped his fingers, and a humungous pile of Honeydukes chocolate appeared in one of the corners. "In the meantime–please help yourselves. It will make you feel better."
A horde of students dived towards the chocolate, and, chattering loudly, started going back into their compartments. Harry, who did not feel in the least like eating at the moment, hung back to listen to Katie Bell talk to Dumbledore, and the rest of the D.A students stayed with him.
"Are you sure nobody's been Kissed?" Dumbledore was asking concernedly. "Perhaps in one of the compartments–?"
"Absolutely, professor. The Head Boy and I checked them all. The Cheering Charms certainly did their job."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Cheering Charms? That was excellent thinking. Whose idea was it?"
"Hermione's," Katie said promptly and Hermione blushed from where she was standing a few feet away, beside Ginny. "We– that is, the whole D– er– group, over there–" She gestured to Harry and the D.A, "–did a lot. Hermione, Harry and Cho all made corporeal Patronuses."
Harry and the others moved forward upon hearing this. Dumbledore was smiling with a sort of grim pride. "Indeed, Voldemort will think twice next time he will want to deal with Hogwarts students."
The D.A shouted approval at this, but Harry was pale. Voldemort will think twice next time? But he knew…he knew before he sent them…
He looked up. The stags and boars had disappeared, but the Phoenix MegaPatronus was all the way over at the end of the corridor, still shining brightly while some of the girls petted it. "It really is beautiful…" Ginny murmured from beside Harry. He nodded wordlessly, and then approached Dumbledore and Katie.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry said quietly. "Is– is the driver all right? And the lady who comes with the cart–"
Dumbledore seemed pleased at Harry's consideration. "Perfectly fine. They left out the front during the– attack. Both Squibs, you see, they wouldn't have been much of help to you. I found them outside looking for an owl they could use to contact us."
"Oh! I'd forgotten about them." Hermione looked ashamed.
"Me too," Lavender Brown said.
"You had your own lives to worry about," Harry muttered. He looked at the MegaPatronus again, and to his disappointment, saw that it was fading away.
"It's gone," he said a bit sadly. They all turned to look. Parvati gave a small sigh.
"Well you can't expect it to hang around forever," Dumbledore smiled. And then he looked directly at Harry, but again there was no anger from Voldemort…only mild annoyance… Dumbledore was frowning as they made eye contact; he probably knew that something was up…
Then he turned to the others. "I will need to send an owl to Professor McGonagall– will one of you lend me one?"
"You could use Pig," said Ron doubtfully. "But he's a bit – wild, sir…"
"Not a problem," Dumbledore said cheerfully. Ron hurried to the Prefects compartment and Harry wandered off in the corridor, lost in his thoughts. Most of the students had left to their compartments by now, including Hermione and Ginny, but Harry had told them he'd be with them later.
"Harry." Dumbledore beckoned to him.
"Professor?"
"Something is troubling you, my boy," The headmaster watched him carefully. "What has Tom done this time?"
Tom, is it…
"Nothing," Harry said quickly. This was too stupid for Dumbledore to be concerned about.
"I'm afraid I must insist," Dumbledore's tone was not one to be argued with, so Harry relented.
"It really isn't anything important. It's just– well, before your– uh–"
"It's a MegaPatronus, Harry."
"Right– that. Before you conjured it in like two minutes, I heard his voice in my head, saying that it would come any moment…and when it did, my scar didn't hurt much– he didn't seem angry, just…annoyed, maybe." Harry looked up into Dumbledore's blue eyes. "And he isn't angry now either."
"You are saying he knew I would get rid of the Dementors?" Dumbledore asked sharply.
"Yes professor."
"And yet he attacked?"
"That about sums it up," Harry replied.
"Strange…"
There was a loud screeching and a bang– several people shouted and there was a roar of loud laughter. Dumbledore and Harry spun around curiously. A moment later a sheepish- looking Ron emerged from one of the compartment doors, his carrot-red hair covered with what were unmistakably three feathers, a tiny, struggling thing in his arms, which he handed to Dumbledore apologetically.
"I told you he was wild, professor."
A/N: I'm thinking of starting a real, sound, good Dumbledore fic. Any ideas? If any of u r interested maybe I'll make it a challenge…
