Chapter 45

Departure

Morning

Harry sat in the chair for a little more than an hour after he had settled on a course of action. The sun had risen by then and the sunlight was reaching every corner of the room. Cassie had gone to sleep with the blanket over her head and Harry didn't want to wake her up. She had to be exhausted. He was tired, also, but the adrenaline that was coursing through his body was preventing him from relaxing enough to go back to sleep. That was not even considering the fact that he was back in the uncomfortable chair with no blanket. Finally, he decided he had better get moving. The day had arrived.

He stood and stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his back and neck. He walked to the window, his heartbeat speeding up just a little as he reached the curtain and pulled it aside. His heart sank and he swore under his breath as he saw not only the two hulking figures of Crabbe and Goyle but also Lucius Malfoy. Malfoy had returned to their little stakeout. "Go away you stupid blighters. It's the day of the battle. Shouldn't you be somewhere kissing Voldemort's . . ." Harry was interrupted by a loud snort, followed by long, continued snoring from his bedroom. He smiled to himself, wondering how Hermione could ever sleep through Ron's snoring. But then, he had done it for years. Of course, he (and all of his other roommates) had learned silencing charms almost immediately and Hermione couldn't do that here. But maybe it didn't bother her too much. She must be a sound sleeper.

Harry decided he better shower first before tackling breakfast. His neck was still sore and he thought the hot water would feel great. Plus, whenever everyone else woke up, they wouldn't have to worry about giving him a turn in the bathroom. He stood outside his room for a long minute. The door was still open, but he was afraid to look inside. Finally, he decided that if he could face Voldemort, he could certainly look at his two friends, even if they were asleep, uh, together. So he scrunched his eyes closed and turned the corner. He opened one eye as little as possible and looked at his bed. He smiled and relaxed. Ron and Hermione were still on top of the covers laying on their backs, with their fingers interlaced together. A blanket was spread partly over them. He felt a brief pang of emotion at the scene. He wasn't sure what emotion it was, exactly, and he didn't want to take time to analyze it. Harry moved to his dresser quietly as he could so he wouldn't wake them up. He gathered a change of clothes and made his way to the bathroom.

After showering and dressing, Harry took out his remaining towels and laid them out for the others. He had five towels and was glad that he had splurged and gotten several when he had arrived. He was also happy they were clean. It would have proven a bit difficult and awkward if people had to share. He made his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He considered his options for breakfast. He actually had plenty of breakfast food as he ate that meal every day at home, unlike the other meals where he was usually at Cassie's or eating out. He decided that there was no use keeping anything back -- they would all be gone by tonight anyway. So he began frying bacon and cracking eggs. While they cooked he pulled his final loaf of bread out of the cupboard and began making toast. He was happy to discover one more can of frozen orange juice and set that out to thaw. The combination of the aroma of cooking food and clatter of pans brought Ron out of his sleep. He stumbled into the kitchen rubbing his eyes and looking a little worse for wear. Harry turned and looked him over. "Good morning."

Ron grunted hello and then asked, "Did you notice that the stupid git Malfoy is back?"



"Yes. Unfortunately. How did you sleep?"

"About as well as you and Cassie."

"Oh, could you hear us? Did we keep you awake?"

"It's okay, mate. Hermione and I weren't too sleepy. We, uh, did a lot of talking."

"Yeah, I understand that. Do you think you could set the table?" Ron had just started to lay out the paper plates when someone else stumbled through the kitchen doorway. Hermione squinted against the bright sunshine. Her hair looked more bushy than usual and she was still trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. "Good morning, Harry. I just looked out the window and Malfoy's back."

Both Harry and Ron answered, "Yeah, we know." They looked at each other and grinned.

Hermione shrugged, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You'd think they'd have given it up by now, though." She looked around at the food Harry was cooking. "Do you have any hot chocolate? I really need some."

"No, Hermione. Don't you remember, I didn't have any last night." Harry smiled to himself as the mental image of Hermione begging for some hard hot chocolate on street corners crossed his mind. He forced a more serious look on his face before he turned to her again.

Hermione looked quite disappointed but nodded. "Oh, yeah, that's right. But I always have hot chocolate for breakfast. I'm used to it. Oh, well. I'm not much for coffee, but do you have that?"

Harry felt miserable. "Uh, no, Hermione. I don't have coffee either."

Hermione sat down in one of the chairs in a huff. "So what exactly do you drink in the morning to get going?"

"If it's caffeine you need, I have a can or two of Coke in the fridge."

"In the morning? Yuck."

"Oh sure, you have Coca-Cola, but you don't have any pumpkin juice," mumbled Ron.

There was again a noise from the kitchen doorway. Cassie was standing there looking a little pale and washed-out, but alert. Harry thought she looked beautiful. "Ron, Hermione, I think you should stop griping. Harry's doing the best he can. I'm glad he has any decent breakfast food at all after the stuff we had to eat yesterday." She grimaced at the thought of the frozen pizza again. "I'm sure he'd love it if we could all go out shopping. He got pretty proficient at it while he was here." She crossed the floor on her stocking feet and Harry was hoping she was going to hug and kiss him good morning. But instead, she sat down at the table, pushing her curls out of her face. "But, of course, he can't and we can't and I think we should just be grateful for what we do have instead of focusing on all the stuff we miss. It's only for a day, after all."

Ron tried to joke, "Fine, but if this turns out to be my last meal, Harry, I'm going to stay a ghost and haunt you forever, constantly begging you for pumpkin juice." Nobody laughed and Ron hurriedly sat down next to Cassie. Hermione joined them a second later.

She tried to relieve the tension that was suddenly present by saying, "It wouldn't be your last meal. I think we'll have to eat lunch here, too." Harry rolled his eyes and Cassie looked scared. Ron just scowled.

Harry was glad he had something to distract them before the conversation got too morbid. "Well, here's breakfast - bacon, eggs, toast, and juice." Everyone looked more cheerful as Harry laid the dishes on the table between them. Cassie stared at the toast, got a very unhappy look on her face and practically yelled at Harry.

"The toast is white bread! White bread! Where's the wheat bread? Who would want to eat white bread? You know I'll only eat wheat!"

The other three teenagers stared in shock at Cassie and then Ron and Hermione broke out laughing. Harry was trying desperately to keep his laugh in, but failed a moment later and joined them. Cassie blushed after a minute and then also started to laugh. "Sorry, Harry. I guess I should practice what I preach, huh? Everything else looks good." The four of them dug into the food and Harry thought that everything tasted good. He really knew how to cook bacon, if he did say so himself.

After a minute of eating, Cassie looked at the other three. "By the way, did you notice that guy, uh, Malfoy, is back with the other two?"

All three answered in unison, "Yeah, we noticed."

Harry looked at Cassie. He was torn between two different emotions, frustration and disappointment that he couldn't get Cassie home safe before they left and happiness that she was going to have to remain with him longer. "Cassie, I'm really sorry. I don't think we're going to be able to get you home before we leave. If something changes, then we might be able to try, but I think right now you better plan on just coming with us."

Cassie, drew in her breath, held it a moment and slowly released it. "I figured that already after I saw the three of them out there this morning. But do I really have to go with you? Can't I just wait here until you leave and then walk home? You could show me the way to get out of the house and everything."

Harry leaned forward on the table and took Cassie's hand. "We can't leave you here. We have to get my invisibility cloak back, and to do that, we have to open the door. We'll do that right before we leave because it will make the house visible. They'll rush the house as soon as they see it. If you stayed behind, they would kill you."

Cassie's face went pale. "You said that before. I was hoping maybe you were exaggerating, but I don't think you are."

"No, I'm not." Harry actually thought that their killing her would be the kindest thing they would do. They may try to get information from her first, and the thought of what they would do to her made him ill. She was definitely not staying here without him.

Ron jumped into the conversation. "We'll only be at the Ministry of Magic. When the battle's over, we can take her home. During the battle we'll hide her in my dad's office. She'll be okay there. We can put a locking charm on the door and everything will be all right. We can be sure and tell someone, a member of the Order or something, that she's there in case . . . well, just to be sure someone lets her out if . . . ." He didn't want to finish the sentence and his voice trailed off instead. No one said anything for a long time. They all just kind of played with the food still on their plates.

Finally, Harry cleared his throat and said, "Yeah, we actually need to talk about that later, but she'll definitely need to portkey with us." He looked again at Cassie. "Are you frightened?" He determinedly started eating his eggs again. He wasn't going to get put off eating. He would need the strength later.

"I probably should be since I have no idea how you do this portkey thing or where you think we'll go or what I'm supposed to do if it actually works. But, I'm not. I trust you, Harry." Harry felt the same overwhelming sense of warmth that he always did when she said that. He reached for her hand, but she had already stood and stepped toward the sink with her empty plate.

"Thanks." He then decided to move the discussion to a more immediate need. "Did the three of you notice the towels I laid out in the bathroom?"



All three nodded.

"Uh, you can also use my deodorant if you don't feel weird using someone else's."

Again, all three nodded.

"Cassie, Hermione, would you like to borrow clean T-shirts to wear today?"

The girls both nodded.

Harry grinned at the three bobbing heads. "Uh, can anyone actually say anything?"

Cassie laughed. "Well, if your British Museum T-shirt is clean, I'd like to wear that. It'll bring back some nice memories. I think I'm going to need that for a day like this." Harry half expected a comment from his friends at this, but Ron had tugged Hermione over to him and was whispering something in her ear which was distracting both of them. Hermione had turned a light pink and Harry swallowed. He turned his attention back to Cassie.

Harry smiled. "Yeah, it's one of the clean ones. I'll set the T-shirts out on the bed and you girls can change in there if you want. And," Harry paused for a moment and looked at the three, "after everyone has showered, we need to talk about, well . . . what's going to happen tonight."

"You mean about me?" Cassie frowned.

"No, I mean about all four of us. We need to decide some things." Ron and Hermione looked worried at his tone of voice. Harry tried to relax and smile but he didn't feel like he did a very good job of it.

"Who wants to shower first?" Hermione asked somewhat tentatively after no one said anything for a few seconds.

"I'll go first," Ron spoke up quickly.

Hermione's eyes narrowed and she frowned at Ron who was doing his best to look innocent. "You want to go first so you can get out of doing the dishes."

Ron's face turned a shade pinker than usual and he grinned at Hermione. However, Harry noticed he didn't deny Hermione's accusation. Instead, he hopped up from the table, gave Hermione a peck on the cheek and said over his shoulder as he hurried out of the kitchen, "I'll make sure not to use too much hot water."

"And clean up after yourself, Cassie and I don't want to shower in a pig sty!" Hermione yelled after him. Her frown relaxed into a smile as she looked after him, and Harry noticed a twinkle in her eyes.

Cassie giggled at Hermione's show of supposed ferociousness as both girls offered to help clean up. By the time they had finished, Ron emerged from his shower looking refreshed and content even though he had to put on the same clothes again. "Nice shower, Harry. Who's next?"

Hermione and Cassie looked at each other. "Uh, you can go first," Cassie said to Hermione. "I don't mind waiting a little."

"You sure? I mean, I don't want to be a pig about things."

"It's fine, Hermione. Honestly." The brown-haired girl smiled appreciatively as she slipped into the hall. Cassie glanced around the room and Harry thought that she looked uncomfortable again as she looked at the couch. Ron had settled himself into the easy chair and put his feet up on the ottoman.

"How'd you sleep in this thing, Harry? It's really dreadful." Harry was a little surprised at that. He had assumed from the earlier conversation that Ron knew he and Cassie had both sat on the couch last night, but apparently not. Harry couldn't decide whether it was worth talking about or not, but decided against it.

"That's why I couldn't sleep well, Ron." He crossed the room and sat on the couch, smiling at Cassie. She looked hesitant but she came to sit by him. Harry tried to tug her a little closer to him. He hadn't kissed her yet this morning and she looked so adorably rumpled that he wanted to, desperately. He doubted if it would shock Ron. She wouldn't relax, though, and he soon gave up on that idea. She was really tense and upset, but Harry figured that were the circumstances, he would have done the same. Ron hopped up after a minute and turned on the television.

"Does this thing work?"

"Yeah." Harry got up and found a morning show that he had enjoyed periodically during his stay and Ron was absorbed in the inane conversation instantly, as he had only watched television a very few times in his lifetime. Harry turned back to Cassie. "Cassie, I . . ." Just then, Hermione poked her head out of the hallway door.

"Harry? Do you have a brush or something? Your comb is just not doing anything with my hair." Harry almost laughed. Her normally bushy hair was sticking up all over the place, frizzed up and kinked from the shower and her attempts at taming it with nothing but a small comb. Cassie took one look at her and reached for her purse.

"I've got a brush, Hermione, that you can use. Um, I've got a little bit of eyeshadow and mascara, too, if you want it."

"Oh, that would be fantastic. I just look so washed out if I don't do . . ." Harry didn't hear the rest of the conversation as the hallway door closed behind the two girls. He hadn't really noticed any major difference in Hermione's looks but then, he didn't know when she started wearing makeup, so maybe he was used to the unmade-up Hermione. He was going to ask Ron, but he seemed so entranced by a dancing soda can that was now on the television that Harry just decided to forget it. He stared into space for a while, listening to the soft drone of the actors on television and Ron's laughing, but mainly listening to the noise from the back hall. He could hear the two girls talking and then water started running and then it turned off and then the two girls were talking again. He couldn't hear a thing they were saying, but he could hear animated voices and occasional laughs. Great. He hoped that they weren't talking about him, but he supposed they were. He kept thinking Hermione would come out any minute but apparently she was waiting for Cassie because it seemed like at least an hour before the two girls emerged together from the hallway. Harry got a sudden jolt at seeing Cassie in his T-shirt. He had only worn it once, but he was positive that he hadn't looked that good in it. He would have to make sure she took it home with her because she filled it out in all the right places. Ron smiled at Hermione and she went over and sat on his lap, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him thoroughly. Harry was hoping that Cassie would do the same to him, but instead she sat on the opposite end of the couch and looked vaguely uncomfortable. Harry was just about to ask Cassie what was bothering her, when Hermione got up, flipped off the television, and sat back down on Ron's lap.

"So, Harry, what did you want to talk about?" Hermione asked the question, but all three of them were looking a little nervous to hear what he had to say. Truthfully, Harry was a little nervous about what he was going to say, also. He hoped that the conversation went well.

"It's about the battle tonight."

"Yeah, we gathered that much, Harry. You told us that. Just get to it, okay?" Harry excused Ron's rude tone, knowing that he was a little stressed and knowing that was how he acted when he was nervous.

"What makes you guys think the battle is going to be at the Ministry?" That was probably the last thing Ron and Hermione expected him to ask. They both looked startled. When no one said anything, Harry decided to be more specific. "Hermione, why don't you explain?" Harry looked at her expectantly.

"Well, I . . . It just is. I mean, Fudge is convinced. Not that he's the greatest authority on Voldemort's tactics or anything. But, everything points to that. The Aurors are all there and there have been some preliminary things there and everything . . .I don't know, it just . . .It has to be there."

Harry asked another question and this seemed to be such a non-sequitur that they looked even more confused than before. "What did Dumbledore tell you would happen when we took the portkey?"

Ron answered this time. "Well, he told us that we should take the portkey here, not here but where ever it took us, and then wait 24 hours and then take it back with whatever we found and we would know what to do with it. And he had to say something about the battle, I guess. I mean, I definitely know that when we get back, we'll be fighting. He had to have told us that."

"No, I want to know word for word what he said."

Both Ron and Hermione looked at each other. "It was more than a week ago. I don't really remember." Hermione looked disappointed that she couldn't remember. "It was just . . . there's been so much going on. At the time, I think I was hoping . . . ."

"Come on, Hermione. You can do it. Think for a few minutes and then tell me what he said, exactly. I need to know."

"All right, let me think for a bit." She got up and started pacing, talking to herself as she crossed the room back and forth. Ron smiled at her with affection. Cassie was chewing on her lower lip, watching the girl pace. Harry was trying to decide how best to craft his argument, but knowing that almost everything hung on what Hermione said Dumbledore had told them. "Any chance of my casting a small remembering charm?" she finally said to Harry but when he shook his head, she smiled. "I knew you'd say that." She paced for about 15 minutes before she finally turned to the three of them and said, "All right. I think I've got it. Ron, you tell me if I get anything wrong."

"Ooh, I'd love to be able to tell the great Hermione Granger she'd made a mistake. It happens so rarely." All four of them laughed and Hermione sat down on the ottoman by Ron and took his hand, getting strength for the ordeal. Harry had the irrelevant thought that she didn't look very comfortable, but he didn't say anything. She looked like she was concentrating hard, and he didn't want to do anything to cause her to forget what she had just remembered.

"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger. I need to talk to you about a very serious matter." At first, Harry was a little confused but then he realized that she was repeating verbatim what Dumbledore had said and was grateful for her excellent memory. "I know that the two of you are more aware than many of the students of the chaos in the school and in the Wizarding community in general that was caused by Harry's death. I think it will not be much longer before Voldemort and his Death Eaters make what they hope will be a decisive move. To counteract this, I have formulated a plan of my own. Timing is everything, of course." Hermione took a deep breath and cast her mind back again to the time in Dumbledore's office. Ron squeezed her hand in reassurance and she continued.

"I am hoping I will be here to set the plan in motion. However, I cannot assume this will be the case. I need to make sure that someone is aware of how to get the plan started should something happen to me. No, no. Don't panic. I am not saying I will be killed. That is unlikely, although a possibility, I must admit. But, it may be necessary for me to go into hiding or I may be . . . removed. That has certainly happened before. I will wait until the last possible moment if I do need to go into hiding. I am quite certain that a decisive fight is on the horizon. All of my spies and sources tell me it will not be very long now." Hermione smiled at Ron, who nodded encouragingly. Harry was amazed. No wonder she could do well in her classes, if she had a memory this precise.

"I think that you two are the best ones to perform this task for me. This is no small request. It could be dangerous. It certainly will be challenging. But I know that you are up to it. If you ever come here for our customary meeting and I am not here, wait until 5 p.m. and then take this portkey and this piece of parchment. You will find there a certain, uh, secret weapon that will be necessary for the defeat of the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself. You are to wait there 24 hours and then take the portkey again, with the weapon. The portkey will take you, if things go as I expect, to the place of battle. For if I am gone, you can be certain that battle will be imminent. This must remain completely secret. Tell no one. Yes, they will be worried when you are gone, but I am sorry to say there are too many spies in the school and you cannot let anyone know what you are to do. The entire plan hinges on this."

Hermione visibly relaxed. "That's it, Harry. He showed us the portkey and the parchment and we left his office. He never mentioned it again."

"So he wasn't sure about the battle? He didn't tell you where the portkey would be taking us?"

"Uh, no. I guess he never did specifically say. It's just that we are positive the battle will be at the Ministry. Everyone says so. But that all started becoming obvious after this conversation. So maybe at the time, he didn't know, either."

"Maybe he charmed the portkey so that it would go wherever the battle is?" Ron offered this as a possibility.

"Is that possible, Hermione?"

"I don't think so. I mean, I've never heard of such a charm . . . but, of course, this is Dumbledore we're talking about. He . . . well, it could be."

"Thank you again, Hermione. You told me what I needed to know before we have this conversation."

"What is this all about, Harry?"

"To get to the point, the battle is not going to be happening at the Ministry. It's going to be happening at Hogwarts."

"How do you know that?" Ron and Hermione both looked very surprised at his statement. Ron spoke quickly. "You can't know that, Harry. You haven't been around . . ."

"I know I haven't been there, but I have heard things - but I think, well, okay, this is going to sound stupid, but I've been having these dreams . . ."

"Harry, do you think, uh, Voldemort is planting these nightmares?" but Harry shook his head. Ron always worried about that. But then, he had been the one who too often had listened for Harry's screams in the night. That couldn't have been very pleasant.

"They're not nightmares, Ron. They're regular, non-screaming sort of dreams. And no, they're not from him. They're just . . .not."

"How can you tell?"

Harry shuddered in response. "I can tell. Besides, if he knew I was here to plant them in my mind, well, I don't think I'd still be here, do you? I've been basically unprotected for three weeks now."

"Well, I seriously hope that your dreams, or visions, or nightmares, or whatever are wrong because if the fight is at Hogwarts . . . . we're dead. There's no one there to fight him. He would just walk in and take over."

"Yeah. Except me. I'll be there. And I'll be a very big surprise. And not a nice one either. And of course you two will be there. Plus, Hermione said that the whole D.A. is there. . . ."

"Well, yeah, but . . ."

"Harry, what makes you so sure about this? Because I have to tell you, I think you are completely wrong. Everyone knows that the battle will be at the Ministry."

"They may all think so, but they're wrong. Dumbledore told me to trust my instincts and I think this is what he meant. Look, I've had three dreams and I wrote them all down as they happened. That's a holdover from Trelawney, but I'm glad I did it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have remembered them."

"Ugh. Did you have to bring up that old bat's name?" Ron made a terrible face and even Hermione frowned.

"No offense, Harry, but Divination? Never your best subject."

"Actually, I hated Trelawney, but I can really do the divination pretty well. I got high marks on my O.W.L.s."

"Hmmm."

"Well, I can understand your skepticism, Hermione, but listen to what I have to say before you decide." She nodded. Harry then told his friends about his three dreams: the one with Voldemort speaking in the Great Hall instead of Dumbledore, the one where Arthur Weasley had been taking him into the Ministry but then it had turned into the entry hall at Hogwarts and then he had turned into Lucius Malfoy and it had all been a trick, and then the one that reminded Harry of he and Ron listening to Dumbledore in Hagrid's hut during second year, the one where Dumbledore said that he would never truly leave the school unless there was no one loyal to him left.

All three of them seemed fairly impressed with the dreams, although it was obvious that Hermione and Ron were still unsure of what all this had to do with the battle's location. "And then, Cassie and I saw a movie."

"A movie?" Ron knew what a movie was, Hermione had talked about them. But this was so out of place in the conversation that he was confused.

"Yeah, you know, a movie. Specifically, a James Bond movie."

"Ooh, Pierce. I love him, he's so good-looking," Hermione commented. Ron gave her an annoyed look, Cassie grinned in agreement and Harry glanced at her in mild surprise before continuing on.

"Yeah, it was a fantastic movie. Ron, sometime, I'd like to take you to see it. You would . . ."

"Harry? The battle?" Ron asked, still looking in annoyance at Hermione who had turned a little pink but was still grinning.

"Oh, sorry. Anyway, the point is that in that movie, the bad guy tried to make the governments, both England's and China's, think that the threat was coming from somewhere else, but in reality, he was the threat. And I think Voldemort is trying to do the same thing."

"What? That didn't make any sense, Harry." That was Hermione.

Ron asked, "You think Voldemort is fighting the Chinese, too?"

Harry just rolled his eyes at that, but paid attention to Hermione. "Let me explain a little more. This guy tried to make everyone look somewhere else as the threat when he was actually doing something completely different. Voldemort made some preliminary moves on the Ministry trying to make everyone think that was the place he was going to attack but it really never was. What would he gain from attacking the Ministry? Nothing. But what would he gain from attacking Hogwarts? Well, okay, I don't know that either . . . but we know he wants it. He's always wanted it and Dumbledore was the only thing that kept it safe. But now he's gone and . . . ."

"Oh, I see. The Ministry was a decoy."

"That's what I think. He wanted everyone's attention on it but he has his forces massed to attack Hogwarts. There are giants in Scotland, also."

"What?!!!" So then, Harry had to tell them about the article in the Sun that he had read with Cassie a few days before.

This did nothing to appease Hermione. "You can't believe anything you read in that rag, Harry. I'm sure Cassie told you that at the time."

"I did." It was the first thing Cassie had said since the start of the conversation.

"I also hope you didn't let him look at the . . ."

"I didn't. But I don't think he was tempted. He seemed more interested in the giants."

"Okay, okay. Look." Harry was blushing. "Be the normal quality of articles as it is, this seemed realistic. The description was very accurate, well, judging by Grawp. And they acted like Hagrid said giants act. I'm fairly sure there actually were two full-grown giants hiking through the Scottish highlands a week or two ago."

"But are they for us or against us?"

"I don't know. I could make arguments for both sides. But it doesn't matter. If they were with them, why would they be in Scotland unless the fight is there? And if they were with us, Dumbledore would have put them where he knew they'd be needed, and they are needed at Hogwarts."

Ron was still not convinced, although Harry felt like Hermione was coming over to his way of thinking. "Look, Ron. It's a giant chess game. Think of it that way." Ron looked puzzled. "When I had to explain the game to Cassie, I had to tell her that the main point of strategy in chess is to make your opponent look somewhere else while you come and checkmate him where he least expects it. And I remembered that last night. And it convinced me that I'm right." At this, Ron's expression cleared.

"That's true. So you think Voldemort is a chess player, huh?"

"Well, I think he understands basic war strategy. He's not an idiot."

"I guess we'll see where the portkey takes us tonight. If it's the Ministry, then we'll know you were wrong, Harry." Hermione didn't want to have to make a decision on this. She just wanted Dumbledore to have decided.

"No, that's not right, Hermione. If the portkey takes us to the Ministry, I won't stay there. I'll either floo or have someone apparate with me over to Hogwarts. That's where Voldemort is going to be. I'm sure of it."