Chapter 21: Fidelis Amicitia (True Friendship)
I think I'm over my writers block... some good Olivia Lufkin music helped me through it ^_^ Plz review! If you don't, there will be no new chapters!
The thestrals landed at Hogwarts. Harry immedaitly turned to Hermione. By the look on her face he could tell she had seen Lupin and Tonks too. 'Hermione....' he questioned with his eyes. He meant why she could see the Thestrals. She quickly looked another direction. 'We need to go to Dumbledore' Ron said, quickly walking towards the entrance. They followed him.
But before they could even reach the corridor that led to Dumbledore's office, McGonnagal, Sprout, Snape and Dumbledore came walking directly towards them. By the looks on their faces, there was something really wrong. Sprout had been crying, Harry could tell by the trails of tears on her round face. McGonnagal looked as if she hadn't slept for a few months. Snape looked like he was even more pale as usual, Harry could see he was shocked. But Dumbledore was probably worse off; he was walking very difficult, like his leg was badly injured and his face showed more lines, making him older than ever before.
'What happened?!?' Hermione gasped, while walking over to professor McGonagall, who seemed on the edge of fainting. Dumbledore tried to make his face as calm as usual, but he failed. 'We lost.' Was all McGonnagall said. 'What lost? What do you mean? What's going on?' Harry asked, desperate to know what had made his teachers this way. Snape closed his eyes for a second and quickly opened them again. 'We've been attacked. By Giants.' He said. Ron's mouth opened in surprise, Hermione gave a shreek, Harry could do nothing but stare and Luna frowned. 'Attacked... by Giants? But I thought... Hagrid...he-?' Harry started. Dumbledore bitterly shook his head. 'It's too late now. Luckily most of the students are save...' his eyes switched to Ron. 'You're sister's been very brave. She's in the Hospital wing; she has no serieus things though...' he cast his eyes down. For a moment or two, Dumbledore did nothing but stare. 'The giants have taken all information from my office. None of my logbooks are still here. There's one thing left to do.' Dumbledore looked up again. 'We're going to close Hogwarts.' McGonagall quickly flicked her wand to make a chair appear, which she used immediatly for support. Sprout wiped away another stream of tears and Snape pressed his lips in one straight line together. 'Close?!?' Gasped Hermione. 'Is there no other option? I mean-' Ron started. Dumbledore shook his head. He looked at Hermione. 'Miss Granger, my apologies for my mistake. It was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. Luckily these two gentlemen,... and Miss Lovegood,.. have been able to help you out. Or else I would've.' His apology was followed by a deep sigh. 'Everyone will be leaving tomorrow. You can visit Miss Weasley in the Hospital wing now. I'll be in a meeting with the teachers...' Dumbledore finished.
'I must be...this is a nightmare.' Ron said. Hermione nodded. Luna nervously moved her right feet from left to right and Harry sighed. 'No more Hogwarts... what's going to happen to us?' Harry asked. Hermione shook her head. 'We can't... just do nothing? Can we?' Luna asked unsure. For the first time in her life, she sounded more mature, wise and almost human- like. 'We can't. But let's see Ginny,... maybe she can tell us some more...' Hermione said. The others agreed, so they moved towards the Hospital wing.
'It was horrible. There were about 35 of them, all at least 7 times as big as me. They didn't use magic, but they weren't affected by it either. Only one spell Dumbledore cast really worked, but not for long.' Ginny explained. Ron was sitting on her bed, Harry and Hermione sat on an empty bed and Luna had found a chair. 'And then,.. well, it all went wrong. They've wrecked almost everything. There's nothing left of the Great Hall,... and then all the information...' Ginny's eyes welled up with tears 'I can't believe,.. we will never be able... You-Know-Who now knows how to defeat Dumbledore,..probably,..' Harry looked at Hermione, who was in deep thoughts. 'Ginny,.. I have a question. Why couldn't Dumbledore stop the giants? I mean,... Dumbledore's suppose to be stronger that Voldemort, so how come he couldn't handle the giants?' Hermione asked. Ginny sighed. 'Because Dumbledore was away. He came when most of the giants had already dissappeared with the information. The last giants went away when he used a few charms to scar them,... he said he had been away to talk to someone...' Ginny's eyes switched to Luna. 'Why didn't you tell me that there were Death Eaters at you parents school?' she asked. Luna's eyes widened. 'Do you actually think I knew that? If I had known, I wouldn't have returned there, now would I? It's very rude of you to think such a thing.' Luna snapped. Ginny frowned. Ron narrowed his eyes. 'So,.. let me get this straight; You-Know-Who is at Soleil School with his servants, Death Eaters. The Giants are on his side and probably a lot of other creatures are too. And Hogwarts' closing, Dumbledore is not able to protect us anymore,..' Ron started. Hermione nodded and then clapped her hand in front of her mouth, eyes huge as if in shock. 'LUPIN! And TONKS!' she gasped. 'We forgot to tell you! Harry and I, we saw Lupin and Tonks, stopping Malfoy from attacking Harry!' Hermione informed them. 'Lupin? And Tonks? But why- and HOW would they know that there were Death Eaters at Soleil School?' Ginny asked. 'Maybe Dumbledore's been talking to some of the Order and maybe they found out about the Death Eaters being there,... but they weren't sure, so maybe Dumbledore told them to take a look...' Harry started. 'Yes! Of course! They were there only to take a look! But then they saw us and we were in trouble... and they.. helped us...and..' Hermione added, clapping her hand in front of her mouth again. 'So now THEY are in trouble! What if Voldemort's going to use Imperius on them as well?' she asked shocked. 'There's only one way to find out...' Harry said, while standing up. 'I'm going back.' He said. Hermione stood up as well. 'When you're going, I'M going.' She said. Harry gave her a questioning look. 'Are you sure?' he asked. Hermione nodded. 'I'm sure. We're NOT going to let Hogwarts close because of some Dark Lord.' Harry grinned 'And to add; I have to face him sooner or later.' They looked at Ron and Luna. 'Ron, I think it's best if you stayed with Ginny,..' Hermione said. Ron nodded. 'And... Luna?' Asked Harry. Luna looked at Ron. 'I'm going to stay here,... you two,..are you sure you're going?' she asked. Harry nodded. Hermione smiled. 'We're not going to do stupid things. We're going to find Tonks and Lupin.' She told them.
I think I'm over my writers block... some good Olivia Lufkin music helped me through it ^_^ Plz review! If you don't, there will be no new chapters!
The thestrals landed at Hogwarts. Harry immedaitly turned to Hermione. By the look on her face he could tell she had seen Lupin and Tonks too. 'Hermione....' he questioned with his eyes. He meant why she could see the Thestrals. She quickly looked another direction. 'We need to go to Dumbledore' Ron said, quickly walking towards the entrance. They followed him.
But before they could even reach the corridor that led to Dumbledore's office, McGonnagal, Sprout, Snape and Dumbledore came walking directly towards them. By the looks on their faces, there was something really wrong. Sprout had been crying, Harry could tell by the trails of tears on her round face. McGonnagal looked as if she hadn't slept for a few months. Snape looked like he was even more pale as usual, Harry could see he was shocked. But Dumbledore was probably worse off; he was walking very difficult, like his leg was badly injured and his face showed more lines, making him older than ever before.
'What happened?!?' Hermione gasped, while walking over to professor McGonagall, who seemed on the edge of fainting. Dumbledore tried to make his face as calm as usual, but he failed. 'We lost.' Was all McGonnagall said. 'What lost? What do you mean? What's going on?' Harry asked, desperate to know what had made his teachers this way. Snape closed his eyes for a second and quickly opened them again. 'We've been attacked. By Giants.' He said. Ron's mouth opened in surprise, Hermione gave a shreek, Harry could do nothing but stare and Luna frowned. 'Attacked... by Giants? But I thought... Hagrid...he-?' Harry started. Dumbledore bitterly shook his head. 'It's too late now. Luckily most of the students are save...' his eyes switched to Ron. 'You're sister's been very brave. She's in the Hospital wing; she has no serieus things though...' he cast his eyes down. For a moment or two, Dumbledore did nothing but stare. 'The giants have taken all information from my office. None of my logbooks are still here. There's one thing left to do.' Dumbledore looked up again. 'We're going to close Hogwarts.' McGonagall quickly flicked her wand to make a chair appear, which she used immediatly for support. Sprout wiped away another stream of tears and Snape pressed his lips in one straight line together. 'Close?!?' Gasped Hermione. 'Is there no other option? I mean-' Ron started. Dumbledore shook his head. He looked at Hermione. 'Miss Granger, my apologies for my mistake. It was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. Luckily these two gentlemen,... and Miss Lovegood,.. have been able to help you out. Or else I would've.' His apology was followed by a deep sigh. 'Everyone will be leaving tomorrow. You can visit Miss Weasley in the Hospital wing now. I'll be in a meeting with the teachers...' Dumbledore finished.
'I must be...this is a nightmare.' Ron said. Hermione nodded. Luna nervously moved her right feet from left to right and Harry sighed. 'No more Hogwarts... what's going to happen to us?' Harry asked. Hermione shook her head. 'We can't... just do nothing? Can we?' Luna asked unsure. For the first time in her life, she sounded more mature, wise and almost human- like. 'We can't. But let's see Ginny,... maybe she can tell us some more...' Hermione said. The others agreed, so they moved towards the Hospital wing.
'It was horrible. There were about 35 of them, all at least 7 times as big as me. They didn't use magic, but they weren't affected by it either. Only one spell Dumbledore cast really worked, but not for long.' Ginny explained. Ron was sitting on her bed, Harry and Hermione sat on an empty bed and Luna had found a chair. 'And then,.. well, it all went wrong. They've wrecked almost everything. There's nothing left of the Great Hall,... and then all the information...' Ginny's eyes welled up with tears 'I can't believe,.. we will never be able... You-Know-Who now knows how to defeat Dumbledore,..probably,..' Harry looked at Hermione, who was in deep thoughts. 'Ginny,.. I have a question. Why couldn't Dumbledore stop the giants? I mean,... Dumbledore's suppose to be stronger that Voldemort, so how come he couldn't handle the giants?' Hermione asked. Ginny sighed. 'Because Dumbledore was away. He came when most of the giants had already dissappeared with the information. The last giants went away when he used a few charms to scar them,... he said he had been away to talk to someone...' Ginny's eyes switched to Luna. 'Why didn't you tell me that there were Death Eaters at you parents school?' she asked. Luna's eyes widened. 'Do you actually think I knew that? If I had known, I wouldn't have returned there, now would I? It's very rude of you to think such a thing.' Luna snapped. Ginny frowned. Ron narrowed his eyes. 'So,.. let me get this straight; You-Know-Who is at Soleil School with his servants, Death Eaters. The Giants are on his side and probably a lot of other creatures are too. And Hogwarts' closing, Dumbledore is not able to protect us anymore,..' Ron started. Hermione nodded and then clapped her hand in front of her mouth, eyes huge as if in shock. 'LUPIN! And TONKS!' she gasped. 'We forgot to tell you! Harry and I, we saw Lupin and Tonks, stopping Malfoy from attacking Harry!' Hermione informed them. 'Lupin? And Tonks? But why- and HOW would they know that there were Death Eaters at Soleil School?' Ginny asked. 'Maybe Dumbledore's been talking to some of the Order and maybe they found out about the Death Eaters being there,... but they weren't sure, so maybe Dumbledore told them to take a look...' Harry started. 'Yes! Of course! They were there only to take a look! But then they saw us and we were in trouble... and they.. helped us...and..' Hermione added, clapping her hand in front of her mouth again. 'So now THEY are in trouble! What if Voldemort's going to use Imperius on them as well?' she asked shocked. 'There's only one way to find out...' Harry said, while standing up. 'I'm going back.' He said. Hermione stood up as well. 'When you're going, I'M going.' She said. Harry gave her a questioning look. 'Are you sure?' he asked. Hermione nodded. 'I'm sure. We're NOT going to let Hogwarts close because of some Dark Lord.' Harry grinned 'And to add; I have to face him sooner or later.' They looked at Ron and Luna. 'Ron, I think it's best if you stayed with Ginny,..' Hermione said. Ron nodded. 'And... Luna?' Asked Harry. Luna looked at Ron. 'I'm going to stay here,... you two,..are you sure you're going?' she asked. Harry nodded. Hermione smiled. 'We're not going to do stupid things. We're going to find Tonks and Lupin.' She told them.