Disclaimer: Any LoTR fan will know what I'm talking about. :-)
Author's Note: I haven't thanked my betas for their efforts recently, so I'd like to take this moment to do so. Anne, Christine, I don't know where I'd be without you two.
Noble Readers, be sure to R&R Anne's work. I think it's really good. Ashwinder is her pen name, and I think many of you are already familiar with her fics. But just in case there is a reader who isn't…
Enjoy the chapter, and please review, even if it's just this once. I miss some of my earlier reviewers from 'Existence after Life.' I don't have to deal with 80+ reviews like Ruskbyte does, so I answer all of them.
Voice of Authority
Chapter 7
It was the end of the first week of October, and three weeks had passed since Wolfe had been sent to Azkaban. The fact that Commander Ironheart hadn't come back to try and reverse the decision was highly confusing. According to Hermione, who had seen the transmission, he had been very shocked upon hearing the news, and he had asked Commander Nomvete and the other officers to reconsider the matter. Captain Faust, who had been recalled from his honeymoon, had tried to pursue the issue, but to no avail.
But Commander Ironheart's absence was still a rather frustrating conundrum. He had departed suddenly, three weeks ago, because of an important matter. But what could be so important that it would keep him from trying to help Wolfe...his grandson? Intellectually, Harry could understand the reasoning behind Nomvete's decision. It had made sense, strictly speaking, which was probably why Commander Ironheart hadn't challenged it, besides the fact that he couldn't show favouritism towards a relative. But despite its logic, Harry still didn't think it was just. If only he had the eloquence to make a compelling case...
"Thinking about Japan?"
Gavin Carey took a seat opposite Harry in the mess hall that was nearly empty since the second shift wasn't over yet, which was when many Rangers who worked that shift grabbed a bite to eat before turning in. There were only three other occupants. These girls were the newest, last minute additions to the recruits. One with curly brown hair, Danielle, waved at Harry, and he replied with a friendly nod.
"Earth to Harry...thinking about cheating on Ginny with that girl, then?" Gavin asked with a smirk.
Harry offered an annoyed snort in response.
"Who are those girls anyway...why would they be here at this hour?"
"They just finished training, I reckon. They're triplets. The one with the brown curls is Danielle. I drilled her a bit earlier, she's not bad, although her skills could use some sharpening."
"Yes, Ranger Potter?" Danielle asked, averting her green eyes from her sisters and looking at him quizzically.
"Don't Ranger Potter me. No decorum unless the situation calls for it, okay? Just call me Harry." After she had nodded, he continued, "Gavin here wondered who you were, and why you were in here at this time."
"We could ask you the same thing," another sister remarked. "You could just have asked us, you know. We don't bite!"
"All right, then." Gavin grinned, taking up the challenge with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Spill it! Tell me your life stories. It's Ranger tradition!"
The young woman narrowed her brown eyes and began to twirl her black locks, a nervous habit, Harry guessed. "That's not true!"
"Of course it isn't," the small wizard said, rolling his eyes.
"Don't badger the newcomers, Gavin. Let the girls talk."
"Thank you, Harry," the black haired sister said. "I'm Rachel, Rachel Esklove. These are my sisters, Danielle and Sarah!"
The one with curly brown hair waved again as her name was mentioned. The third sister, also green eyed, but with straight, red hair, offered a small smile and added, "From New York City. You know, I'm a bit disappointed, Ranger Carey. Rumour has it that you're one of the best Intel operatives, but I've been here for a whole week, and you didn't even know me, until now."
"Says who?" Gavin asked, stone-faced. "Maybe I did ask around and just pretended not to know you, waiting for an introduction on your part instead."
"Maybe." Sarah frowned. "But if that were the case, you'd know why we were in the mess hall at this hour."
"Good one. You've got me. You seem to be the smartest of the three. Intelligence Division, I presume?"
Sarah nodded, while her two sisters voiced their displeasure at Gavin's remark.
"I was just teasing." Gavin laughed, then turned his attention back on Sarah. "Analyses or Field Ops?"
"Both!"
"Multi-talented girl, then!" the small Welsh wizard said. "Welcome to the Order of Illumination. Since Harry here mentioned err...drilling...your sister earlier..."
Harry lashed out and punched Gavin in the shoulder, sending him off his chair and onto the floor. The way in which Gavin had twisted his words on purpose was incredibly embarrassing to him, and Harry quickly glanced at the girls, who thankfully were taking it well and laughing it off.
"What did I say?" Gavin asked innocently, in a tone that wouldn't fool anyone. "I was just saying that I assumed she was a Combat Ranger because you trained with her earlier...You mean you weren't practising? You were just screwing around, then?"
"Oh, quit it already!" Danielle said in between sniggers. "Don't worry, Harry. I can take a joke. "Anyway," -she steered the conversation back on course-" the reason we keep these odd hours, at least, on Saturdays, is because we like to observe Sabbath whenever possible."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but strictly speaking, there are thirty-nine things that you're not allowed to do, right?" Gavin asked.
"That's right," Sarah said.
"That pretty much eliminates a lot of activities before sundown. So you train at night to make up for the you lost on Friday evenings and daytime on Saturdays?"
"Exactly!" Rachel said. "Of course, we understand that the Order's needs come first if such a situation were to arise. But we were happy to learn that you were willing to accommodate our needs as well."
"Oh, yeah. The Order is very cool about that," Gavin said before turning to Harry. "We should try to get some sleep, you know. We need to do some planning later on."
"We're going to catch some z's too," Rachel said. "See you guys around."
Just as the girls were leaving, Matt Kelly and Ron walked into the mess hall.
"Hello, I don't believe I've had the pleasure," Matt said, eyeing the girls curiously, and Harry rolled his eyes. The way the tall Australian gazed at the girls suggested that he was mentally undressing them. Not that it was uncommon for him to do so...
"You didn't, and you won't!" Rachel said coolly. "Good night!"
Ron sniggered at Matt's rejection, but the Australian shrugged it off. "They'll fall for me eventually."
Matt's ego was amusing. Harry knew that he was actually pretty popular with the ladies, but usually the shallow and superficial type. Just the type Matt liked, because he wasn't really after a steady relationship. "You know, if you tone down your egotism a few notches, the female Rangers might actually start to like you."
"They've all got a secret crush on me, they just don't know it yet," Matt replied. "Were those their natural hair colours, by the way? I thought I saw some different colour streaks in their hair."
"I don't know. You could ask them."
"Oh, Junior!" Matt shook his head sadly. "There are much more interesting ways to find out a girl's true hair colour, if you know what I mean!" He winked.
"How long has it been since you've used that useless lump on your shoulders, or does the little one call the shots for you?" Gavin laughed, and Ron and Harry joined in.
"Honestly, boys!" Gudrun said, as she and Ginny came into the mess hall. Harry glanced at his watch and noticed that the second shift had just ended. "Matt Kelly returns to the Citadel, and all civilised conversation among you men stops. Can't you have a conversation that isn't about sex?"
"If you give me a chance, you and I have can have much more than a conversation." Matt winked.
"Please! I'm too much woman for you." Gudrun said in a dismissive tone, but her scowl didn't quite reach her eyes and Harry knew she wasn't offended by Matt's 'indecent proposal'. In fact, it was no secret that Matt had been trying seduce her ever since he'd got to the Citadel. It was always the same old story between those two. On a very basic level, their bickering wasn't unlike Ron and Hermione's in the early months of their relationship and Harry wondered whether this bickering might actually be a kind of foreplay. But he deemed it unlikely that Matt and Gudrun would ever become a couple, like Ron and Hermione had. They were both too different, and too much alike. Even if there were a spark between them, they wouldn't be able to stand each other for very long. Besides, to Matt, it was more about the chase than the actual capture. Once he had succeeded in seducing a girl, he would then lose interest very quickly.
The same went for Gudrun, Harry knew. He'd discovered that little tidbit a week ago, when he'd noticed that Ginny had been wearing a pair of large socks that couldn't possibly be hers. After having sworn to Ginny that he wouldn't tell another soul, she'd told him that she'd borrowed them from Gudrun, and proceeded to tell him about Gudrun's trophy collection of socks. The Icelandic witch had the odd habit of keeping the socks of all the men she'd been with. Even though he'd known about Gudrun's apparent appetite for men, the sheer number of socks had still shocked him, and he'd suddenly found himself agreeing with Ron about whether Gudrun was a suitable role model for Ginny.
On the other hand, there was that thing Gudrun had told Hermione about ... Gudrun's little sister, the reason behind Gudrun's aversion to attaching herself to men emotionally, and partially, her fondness of Ginny. He and Wolfe had been invisible outside Ginny's room when he had heard the exchange. He wondered if Ginny knew about Gudrun's sister.
"Been waiting for me, love?" Ginny asked, bringing his attention back towards the present as she sat down on his lap.
Actually, that was why he'd been hanging out in the mess hall. He'd known that Ginny and Gudrun would drop by after their shifts had ended. "For an eternity!" he said, wincing as he realised that it must have sounded pretty corny. But corny or not, Ginny's face lit up nicely, and Harry was rewarded with a soul-searing kiss that made him lose awareness of everything except him and Ginny.
When they finally broke apart, Matt, Gavin and Gudrun were whistling and catcalling, while Ron's face was contorting into all sorts of shapes as he tried to figure out what expression to wear. Even after all this time, Ron still wasn't used to seeing Harry and Ginny snogging each other senseless, as he called it.
Ron didn't have time to say or do anything about it though, because after a delighted squeal, a bushy-haired blur jumped onto his own lap and began to kiss him savagely. Hermione had worked the second shift too, and she was clearly eager to show Ron how much she'd missed him.
"Well...not a light-show like Harry and Ginny's, but it was still a pretty hot kiss!" Gudrun said, jumping at the unique opportunity to tease both couples. Ron and Ginny blushed like only the Weasleys could, while Hermione turned a nice shade of pink.
Harry felt his own face warm up. "Did we glow again?"
"Yep!" Matt grinned. "You know, since your quarters are right next to mine, you might want to give me a heads you whenever you two decide to get down to the serious stuff. If kissing makes you glow, imagine what-"
"You're upsetting Ron, Matt!" Gudrun grinned, and as Harry looked at Ron, he saw that Ron was definitely uncomfortable with the thought of his baby sister having sex. In fact, Harry was a bit apprehensive about the situation as well, even though he didn't have a clue why. He hadn't had these feelings with his earlier romantic entanglements...Heidi and Carey...
*
"Hey, if they start going at it and the ceiling begins to cave in, I need to be prepared." Matt laughed, embarrassing Ginny even more.
She looked at Harry and saw his briefly carefree expression cloud over again. The past three weeks had been absolutely heavenly, but there had been these awkward moments in which this very expression had crept onto his face. It had always come when they the subject matter of their conversations turned to the fact that she wouldn't be his first. It had bothered her at first, but then she realised that Harry truly loved her like he loved no other. And secure in that knowledge, it hadn't bothered her anymore.
But maybe something about that was bothering him. She decided to ask him about it at the earliest possible opportunity, because the recent flourishing of their relationship had mainly been thanks to improved communication. It also seemed like she had reached an unspoken understanding with Heidi about Harry. They hadn't talked things through like Harry would have liked her to, but that had to wait for a more appropriate time. The hatchet wasn't buried yet, but at least they weren't at each other's throats anymore. She cast about in her mind for an appropriate topic. "Ron, how was your first field mission?"
"Whaaa-?" Ron frowned, after reluctantly breaking his kiss with Hermione.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know, the reason you went on a ten-day trip...the mission!"
"Oh...That! It went okay, I guess. No sign of the African Mind Reader, though. We searched for her as well...secondary objective. I reckon she's been taken too, like the Japanese one." Ron frowned. "Speaking of Japan, how's that going?"
"Haven't given it as much thought as I should have," Harry said wearily.
Ginny instantly knew what the reason behind this was, as did Ron, Hermione and probably everyone else at the table. "You've got a lot on your mind, haven't you?"
"Max!" Hermione said quietly, answering the question.
"I've been thinking," -Ron ran a hand through his red hair, which he'd been growing out, much like Bill had done in his younger years-"Wolfe could've waited for at least Captain Faust to get back. After all, he was entitled to a representative from the Combat Division. But he didn't, and I can't shake the feeling that he did it on purpose."
Ginny gave Ron a quizzical look. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see the logic in Ron's words. "Why would he do that?"
"Bear with me. Captain Faust and a whole lot of other people disagreed with Wolfe's punishment. By hurrying the process along, Wolfe took away the chance for them to mount any significant resistance...resistance that could've torn a rift in the Order's ranks. I mean, I wasn't there when you discovered Harry—the Speculum Demon, I mean. But I did sense the tension it caused—you know—whether or not it was worth bringing him in alive."
"Wow, that hadn't occurred to me, but it certainly makes sense," Gavin Carey said. "In fact, it would be just like him to do something like this."
"Sacrificing his own well-being for that of the Order." Gudrun sighed. "If the Order's command system were to shut down because of internal disagreement, no matter how briefly, lots of innocent people who otherwise would have received our help would suffer in that period."
"Precisely." Ron nodded. "And I bet he did it to prevent this from happening."
"It's not fair," Harry muttered grimly, and Ginny felt the pressure on her hand increase. "This is just like if I would have been expelled for saving Ginny's life and destroying Riddle and his basilisk."
At the mention of those words, Ginny remembered her moments with Riddle, those terrible moments, which at the time she had been sure would be her last. But then Harry had come and saved her. The fact that she had never repaid that debt bothered her slightly, and gently stroking his arm reassuringly, she silently vowed to find way to repay him, somehow. All she could do now was be there for him.
"I see what you're getting at, Harry." Ron sighed. "But it isn't as black and white as that. "It isn't as if we've killed Lockhart in exchange for Ginny's life...That is the crux of the matter. The clone!"
"Either way, I think sending him to Azkaban was over the top," Matt Kelly said.
"Who has been sent to Azkaban?" a raspy voice asked.
Everyone looked at the entrance. Even the late First Ranger would have been a spring chicken compared to this man. His silvery-grey hair was styled eccentrically, and his long, flowing grey beard had a few braids woven into it. Despite his age, this man shone with a superhuman vitality that few wizards had. He lit his pipe nonchalantly, and Ginny recognised this grey-clad figure immediately.
"Aberforth Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed and lifting Ginny off his lap. Then he rushed over to the old man and engulfed him in a hug. "It's so good to see you! What are you doing here? You can't wander the halls of the Citadel by yourself. You're not allowed-"
"Actually, Aberforth used to be a Ranger, Harry, and so was Professor Dumbledore, but he resigned after two years of service, although the register didn't say why... Goodness, didn't you know?" Hermione asked exasperatedly. "Anyway, having been a Ranger, he's allowed to roam the Citadel freely, after having been properly screened, of course."
Harry looked at the ancient wizard, and then back at Hermione. "How did you find out...how long have you known?"
"I didn't have anything better to do on a rainy afternoon last month, and I decided to look through the old archives to see if any names of the previous Rangers rang any bells. I was going to tell you, but it slipped my mind." Hermione shrugged.
Ginny didn't blame her. They had been much too preoccupied with other issues, and she could completely understand how Hermione had forgotten to mention this. Professor Dumbledore and Aberforth, both former Rangers...who would have thought it possible? She cleared her throat. "Mr Dumbledore? What brings you here?"
"Mr Dumbledore? Please…you're making me feel old! I've still got a good fifteen years left in me, thank you very much!" Aberforth laughed heartily. But his face took on a much more serious expression after his laughter had died down. "I'm here to visit Anita's grave—The Ranger Prime!" he clarified, reacting to their vacant expressions upon mentioning the late Ranger Prime by her first name. "I remember her very first day at the Citadel, a very frail and unsure thing, she was. Who would've thought that she'd become the Ranger Prime?" he muttered, seemingly as an afterthought and shook his head. "That's the downside to Draconian blood, I guess. You survive all your friends."
Gavin gasped. "So it's true! Professor Dumbledore had Draconian blood!"
Ginny held her breath in astonishment. She had learned about this in her seventh year at Hogwarts, after Binns had touched on the subject but refused to go deeper into such vague myths! So she had read up on the subject of her own accord. There was a myth about a great magical society that had existed in ancient times, and had ceased to exist quite a long time ago as well. A society that had consisted of wizards, immortal magical beings, and their half-caste offspring, which retained some of their immortal parents' traits. According to legend, they lived in a huge city in the clouds, like the Veela palace in Concordia, but much larger. At some point in that city's estimated three thousand-year history, the beings chose to leave for parts unknown, leaving behind the half-castes. As their blood thinned, they lost more and more of the specific magic of their ancestors and were unable to keep the city aloft. Allegedly, it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after its inhabitants had deserted it. The name, Draconian, came from the story that the city had a guardian...magical myth experts still couldn't agree on whether that guardian was a mascot or something of a patron deity. But it was clear, from Minoan and Egyptian texts, that it was called the Celestial Serpent or Divine Dragon. Much later, in translations to Latin, in which serpent and dragon had the same name, these supposed descendants of that ancient magical civilisation were named Draconians, for the sake of simplicity. And these people supposedly had extremely long life spans.
She gave Aberforth a once-over. If her memory served her correctly, he was between one hundred and forty, and one hundred and fifty years old, way beyond the average wizarding life span of one hundred and twenty-one. She had always wondered why the Dumbledores had been so old. Now she had her answer.
"Wicked." Matt Kelly grinned. "A real Draconian!"
Ginny smiled down at Harry, who looked baffled and shook his head. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you? Come to think of it, it explains quite a bit." A look of disappointment crossed over his face. "I reckon you won't be staying very long, then?"
"Well, it just so happens that I have other business here as well," Aberforth said, as he magicked another seat to the table. "Some dunderhead broke the Mirror of Erised, and I've been called over to restore it." Not noticing Ginny's blush and the amused glances cast in her direction, the old wizard continued, "It'll take a lot of time and a lot of complicated spells to do it, though, and I'm one of the last wizards who knows how to do it. I reckon it'll be a good idea to have a younger wizard or witch assist me, so I can pass on the knowledge."
"I'll ask if I can do it!" Ginny said quickly, eager for a chance to personally fix the damage she'd done.
"That would be wonderful," Aberforth said. "And who knows, I may just stick around and return to service. I don't really have anything better to do right now and it'll be a nice opportunity to see what all the artificers who came after me have accomplished. It beats spending time with all those nitwits who don't believe my insanity was an act."
Ginny nodded sympathetically. For a long time, it had been rumoured that Aberforth Dumbledore was an illiterate idiot, but in the end it had turned out that this had been deliberate deception from the Dumbledore brothers. Aberforth had merely been one of his brother's aces in the hole. Unfortunately, there were a lot of dense wizards who had failed to realise the truth...that Aberforth was nearly as great a wizard as his brother had been.
Aberforth took a long drag from his pipe and blew a little smoke out of his mouth, forming a ring. Then Aberforth released the rest of the smoke, which took the shape of an old sailing ship that surged through the smoke ring. He chuckled at the awed expressions around him and smiled at Ginny. "This is your brother's newest invention, the Shaping Smoker. You can buy a charmed pipe at Zonko's and any other shop of the chain, or you can pay an extra fee for which your own pipe will be modified with the appropriate charms. All you have to do is picture the shape you want in your mind's eye as you inhale."
"Blimey, where does that brother of ours come up with this stuff?" Ron laughed.
"I'm not sure this product is suitable." Hermione frowned. "It encourages children to smoke."
"Don't worry. He's thought of that." Aberforth assured Hermione with an amused grin. "Decided to apply the same measures Albus did, to keep young ones from putting their names in the Goblet of Fire. All the products that are meant for grownups are kept in a part of the shop that's protected by an age line, and the Smokes are kept way in the back."
Ron and Harry laughed, while Hermione explained to the others how Fred and George had tried to cross a magical age line with the help of an ageing potion, and how they'd grown funny beards as a result. They soon joined the laughter.
"Sounds like just the thing George would do," Gavin guffawed. "I often caught him and Fred sneaking around quite a bit in their first year, and Filch did too. But I never caught them after that. Those boys probably learned from their mistakes quickly and they must've found a way to evade us."
Ginny smiled, remembering that Gavin had been prefect in Fred and George's first year, and Head Boy in their second. In the Christmas holiday of the twins' first year, she remembered their complaints about the really sharp prefect that kept catching them, while Percy droned on about trying to earn as many O.W.L's as Gavin had. Later on, Fred and George had probably managed to outsmart Gavin because they must have found the legendary Marauders Map by then. She looked down at Harry and found him looking back at her, grinning mischievously.
"Yeah, Fred and George were very resourceful when it came to mischief," Ron said, as he and Hermione exchanged knowing looks with Harry and Ginny.
"Too bad Fred isn't alive to witness the success of his ideas," Harry said with a constricted sounding voice, his face clouding over once more. He had more trouble dealing with the deaths of Fred and her father, than she and Ron had. She still felt the occasional pang of grief, but the look in Harry's eyes told her that he still held himself responsible. He had confided to her in her fifth year how he felt that all those deaths after Voldemort's resurrection were his fault. Ginny knew that personally ending Voldemort's reign of terror had done nothing to put those feelings to rest, and now she found herself wishing more than ever that she hadn't abandoned Harry when he'd needed her the most.
"He wouldn't have wanted you to dwell on this, you know?" she whispered.
"I can't help it." Harry sighed.
Ginny wrapped her arms around him and drew him close, kissing the crown of his head. She'd help him through this!
"Peculiar tobacco," Gudrun said, after sniffing the air.
"Longbottom Leaf!" Aberforth answered. "It's a regular pipe-weed hybridised with miraculum weed. It's not very common on the market yet, but I know the young wizard who was part of the joint venture of herbologists who purchased a sample of the weed for research."
"Longbottom Leaf? Neville?" Ginny asked.
Aberforth nodded and blew another shape in the sky. "The weed isn't harmful to the lungs. In fact, it cures bronchitis, among other things. It's a bit addictive, however, and too much will cause hair to grow on your tongue."
"Can I have a drag?" Gudrun asked eagerly.
Aberforth smiled and passed the pipe. "So, who's been sent to Azkaban? I heard you talking about someone having been sent to Azkaban... Oh, I'm sorry if I said anything wrong?" he added, as his words were met with a painful silence.
Then, Ron, occasionally aided by Hermione, began to explain exactly what had happened with Harry and Ginny, how Wolfe had fixed it and what price he'd had to pay.
Aberforth's ancient features were lined with worry after he was finished hearing the story. "Do any of you know where the Commander is now?" he asked abruptly.
"Asleep in her quarters, I guess," Hermione ventured. "Why?"
"Because sending him to Azkaban was the worst decision she could have made!" he exploded. "Aren't the Rangers taught anything about Dementors anymore? They're not the mindless soul-sucking fiends many people make them out to be. Not only are they capable of rational thought, they are extremely intelligent and once they've met a certain individual, they never forget his essence...like bloodhounds that never forget a scent. What Barty Crouch said about how his father had smuggled him out of Azkaban, how the Dementors couldn't tell the difference between on dying person and another dying person was nonsense! He believed it himself, obviously. Maybe that's what his father told him. But it wasn't true. I reckon Crouch Sr. struck some sort of deal with them. Albus suspected it too, but since Crouch Sr. was already dead at that moment, it was a moot point."
Ginny's mouth fell open in shock. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of this before? It had to be how Dementors tracked down escaped convicts. The fact that he could change into an animal...a being less distinctive and complex had enabled Sirius to throw the Dementors off.
"I've followed Max Wolfe's life ever since he was taken in by Lei Li. From the moment Albus and I saw him, we could feel that he had the potential to become one of the greatest wizards of the age. We fully anticipated that he'd become a Ranger, like so many of his ancestors. My point is, I know how many Dementors he destroyed in the war, and I know that some Dementors managed to get away. If one of those Dementors resides in Azkaban and passes by Max's cell—"
"That's not possible...they wouldn't!" Ron squeaked, looking so pale that his freckles stood out vividly against his skin. "They know that we'd bombard Azkaban with Patronus bombs if they dared to do that."
"Oh, God!" Hermione cried. "Ron, Aberforth is right. They'd suck out his soul, not even caring about retaliation from us. It is said that Dementors don't view existence as we do, and that they don't fear their own destruction."
"But why wouldn't we stamp 'em out if they killed Wolfe?" Harry asked with a shaky voice.
"We can't destroy any of the remaining Dementors, because that wouldn't leave enough of them to guard the prison. And while they're not pretty, they're considered necessary. The International Confederation of Wizards provides a large and indispensable part of out funding, and if we were to destroy the Dementors, they wouldn't be very happy about that. They would pull our funding. That would be the end of the Order!"
"Accurate assessment, Hermione," Aberforth said.
"We have to go fetch him from Azkaban, then!" Harry said urgently.
"Absolutely. We can only hope that we're not too late."
*
Aberforth banged on the door of Commander Nomvete's quarters, prompting the appearance of a very disgruntled looking witch in a nightdress. "What's the emergency...who are you?" she asked, eyeing Aberforth curiously.
"Aberforth Dumbledore," the ancient wizard replied tersely. "Are you aware that it's very likely that you sent one of your Rangers to his death? No? Well let me enlighten you!" Aberforth said, shoving her out of the way as he strode into her room.
Harry exchanged glances with Ron and Matt, who had chosen to follow Aberforth to Nomvete's quarters, and cautiously entered the room too. Ginny and Gudrun had returned to the maintenance bay to prep an available Cruiser for imminent departure, with or without the Commander's consent, while Hermione and Gavin had gone to the town house to carefully break the news to Galatea.
Glancing around the room, Harry noticed the odd decoration of the room. The words 'old spinster' jumped to his mind. He knew she had never married, and according to the gossip exchanged by the female Rangers, it was because she'd vowed never to marry after the man she'd wanted married another. That man was never mentioned by name, but everyone knew that Commander Nomvete carried a torch for Commander Ironheart. Not surprising, really, since his dazzling smile had even caused Ginny to swoon once.
"What do you mean, and you can't just barge-"
"Shut up and listen! I used to hold your rank and I retired when you were still wiping the snot off your nose. I've forgotten more than you have learned so far."
"The Order has evolved in your absence, sir," Nomvete said irritably.
"Evolved?" Aberforth muttered sarcastically. "Is that what you call it? These young ones have told me why you sent Maximilian Wolfe to Azkaban. As you must have assumed by now, I disagree. And I'll tell you why!" He raised his finger to forestall any reply. "First, allow me to check if the virtues in the Ranger Code have changed in my absence.
"Prowess: to seek excellence in all endeavours expected of a Ranger, martial and otherwise, seeking strength to be used in the service of justice, rather than in personal aggrandisement." Aberforth took a calming breath. "I've followed Maximilian throughout his life, and he's perhaps the most dedicated Ranger I've ever seen, always driving himself to become better and stronger. Partially, this was due to his sense of ego, but as we both know, his main reason was to increase his ability to defend those he cared about... But he was punished for it.
"Courage: being a Ranger often means choosing the more difficult path, the personally expensive one. Be prepared to make personal sacrifices in service of the precepts and people you value. Maximilian did exactly that! He had everything to lose! A loving woman with a baby on the way...the only real happiness he's ever known. He gave it up, and he was punished for it!
"Defense: the ideal Ranger was sworn by oath to defend those who depended upon him. He defended Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley from death. Why? That brings me to my next point.
"Loyalty: be known for unwavering commitment to the people and ideals you choose to live by. There are many places where compromise is expected; loyalty is not amongst them... But he was punished for it.
"Nobility: seek great stature of character by holding to the virtues and duties of a Ranger, realising though the ideals cannot be reached, the quality of striving towards them ennobles the spirit, growing the character from dust toward the heavens. Nobility also has the tendency to influence others, offering a compelling example of what can be done in the service of rightness. Max represented this particular virtue like no other, save maybe Harry, here. Yet you, Commander, interpreted his nobility as anarchism and egotism. You chose to make a bad example of Max to prevent others from following his example!
"Faith: a Ranger must have faith in his beliefs, for faith roots him and gives hope against the despair that human failings create. He had faith in you, Commander, and faith in the Order, for he didn't run after breaking the rules. He remained to face up to his deeds. But-he-was-punished-for-it!" Aberforth hissed between clenched teeth, accentuating every word of that last sentence.
"And lastly, justice: seek always the path of 'right,' unencumbered by bias or personal interest. Recognize that the sword of justice can be a terrible thing, so it must be tempered by humanity and mercy. You didn't uphold justice, Commander. You merely enforced the rules and interpreted the code in a very questionable way. I understand your concern about other young Rangers trying to emulate Maximilian's behaviour and rationalising that they too would do it for a good cause while it wouldn't be the case. But punishing him for it was wrong. It was unjust!
"I also know about Lei Li's diary and some of the information it contained. Unlike you, I can't hold it against him that he chose not to reveal the information, after Lei had asked him not to. He was merely showing loyalty to his mentor."
"Loyalty to the Order comes first," Nomvete argued.
"Not if the Order is hopelessly lost, as it seems to be!" Aberforth bellowed, and everybody in the room flinched.
"But the clone-" she sputtered.
"Was less than cattle...less than even some plants. It had no sentience whatsoever. You said he shouldn't have killed it to save two lives, but cattle are slaughtered and plants cut down or uprooted daily to keep people alive. But I haven't even mentioned your worst mistake yet, Commander.
"The greatest mistake was sending Maximilian to Azkaban. You see, Dementors have very keen memories when it comes to the essences of those they've been in contact with. He's destroyed countless Dementors. If even one of those who got away is in Azkaban, there is a chance that Max would have been recognised by now, and we both know what that means. I take it that you do agree with me about on the issue that his actions, which in my humble opinion weren't even transgressions, did not merit a death sentence!"
Commander Nomvete got a horrified look on her face, as the enormity of her blunder became apparent. "Is...t-that...t-t-true? About the memory for essences?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Aberforth said gravely. "Now then, I assume you have no objection if we borrow one of the ships to fetch Max? Or his remains..."
Not even waiting for an answer, Aberforth whipped around and swept out of the office beckoning for Harry and the others to follow him.
*
"Mummy, you told me that uncle Max went away on the mission. Why did you lie to me, mummy? Why did Uncle Max go to prison? Has he been bad?"
The scene before her was simply heartrending. Apparently Ron had surreptitiously activated the broadcaster next to the door in Commander Nomvete's quarters, enabling the whole Citadel to listen in on Aberforth's lecture. Charlie had heard their conversation too, and Jasmine was at a loss for explanations.
"No, sweetie, Max didn't do anything wrong."
"Then why did he have to go to prison?"
Why indeed? Ginny thought bitterly, her eyes tearing up. Max could be dead... She glanced over to Galatea, who was looking more frightened than ever. Ginny didn't even want to think about the consequences for Galatea. There was a good chance that she'd simply waste away with grief, and she knew she was going to have to be by Galatea's side day and night if the Dementors had done their worst. "Grownups do dumb things sometimes," Ginny said. "Sending Wolfe to prison was a dumb mistake."
"So he didn't do anything wrong?"
"No."
"And he's coming back now?" Charlie asked, his little face lighting up with hope.
"Yes," Ginny said softly. Of course, the question was whether or not he was still alive. Ron, Harry, Aberforth, Matt, Gavin and Gudrun had left for Azkaban immediately, and since it was going to be a return trip done in Portkey-mode, they wouldn't be in insecurity much longer. They just had to get off and find Max and could be coming back at any time.
Ginny ran her finger over a wrist-Portkey. She'd use it to go to the maintenance bay the moment the Cruiser returned. Even though she dreaded one of the possibilities, she had to know as soon as possible.
The broadcaster surged to life. " The Zephyrus is back."
Ginny immediately activated her Portkey and was transported to her destination in a heartbeat. In the bay, she was briefly disoriented, and wildly looked around. She noticed the Cruiser was right on top of her, and she instinctively dropped flat on her stomach. The Cruiser however, was still a good ten feet in the air, so she hadn't been in any real danger. She frowned and checked the markings on the floor. She was still within the safe zone of the bay, a zone that lay outside the hover path of the Cruisers. It had to be someone other than Gudrun at the helm, because Gudrun was an excellent Cruiser pilot and she wouldn't have glided out of bounds. Ginny silently cursed the inept pilot...probably Matt Kelly, as the Cruiser backed up and landed in its designated spot. She scrambled to the rear of the Cruiser to wait for the loading ramp to come down, which seemed to take an eternity. Then finally, it slowly descended, revealing several figures standing in the shadows. Harry, clearly the shortest figure, stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the maintenance bay. To Ginny, his green eyes looked like closed shutters that couldn't quite trap all the light of pain behind them. She knew then, that Max Wolfe was dead.
***
Gogirl: Don't worry. Carey won't be returning.
Blue Roses: I can't kill Harry, because he's 'the man', and I can't kill Hermione, Ron or Ginny either. Wolfe is another matter, though. As one of my characters, he's expendable. It wasn't an easy decision, but it adds more drama to the plot.
LaminaCourt: Well, you can't get away with everything, at least, not in my opinion. I'm not going to discuss temporal mechanics right now, but I believe there are some things that are just too ludicrous to be a good explanation. I used a situation slightly adapted from J.K. Rowling's, in PoA.
rowan: You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. I've been working very hard to make this story better than EaL.
Nosgoroth: There will be many more goblin/Ferengi moments throughout the story.
Ruskbyte: Glad you liked the cameo. Maybe we'll see more of him and Heather in the future. As for Wolfe's luck, well, it had to run out someday.
Nox: I think some of my answers to other people's questions have answered yours now.
SiriDragon: Yes, I like him too. :-(
Casual Reader: Well, this isn't a cliffie either. But poor Wolfe? What about poor Galatea?
Petals: Okay, so you don't like Heidi. And yes, she does make the H/G ship rocky. That's her purpose of existence. And Ngueyen is a common Vietnamese name.
Maab: Yes, Galatea is soooo nice, smart, caring, beautiful and completely devoted to her friends, and especially Max. She's nearly a Mary Sue. LOL. Anyway, the accuracy of the Japanese stuff is completely my beta-reader Christine's doing. She deserves a lot of credit too.
RogueAngel: Glad my story helps to improve your quality of life a bit.
Jayce: THANKS!
nycgal: I hope I didn't disappoint you. I couldn't wait for your OK any longer since I promised to update before Christmas.
kateydidnt: Ironheart's otherwise preoccupied with a really important mission.
Saerry Snape: You can expect the next chapter in two weeks. It's a conservative estimate, but I can't count on my betas having time for me.
musicgirl225: Thank you for the review. Hopefully I'll see more of those. And don't hesitate to alert me when you've got more poems to share.
Lana Riddle: Wow, three reviews. Well, you've prevented my review average from dropping, so thanks. :-) You know, I don't think I've ever thanked you for being my very first reviewer. You've encouraged me when my ego was very fragile, and I can't thank you enough.
*Happy holidays, and best wishes for the New Year*