Harry, Ron and Dean arrived in the alley only a few seconds ahead of Professors Dumbledore and Lupin. Dawn, Hermione and Ginny had just started to tell the boys what had happened, when they had to stop, and start all over for the professors. They gave them all a jumbled and confused account of the events, each of them interrupting the others to add details, or to give their own interpretation of what had happened.

After a couple of minutes, Dumbledore held up his hands in surrender. "All right, all right! I think I understand. Now, let's just see who we have here." He turned toward the three unconscious bodies laid out in a row on the ground.

Hermione pointed to the man whose leg Ginny had broken. "That's Mr. Crabbe. I've seen him before, a couple of times."

"And he's a Death Eater," said Harry. "Even if the Ministry still doesn't believe me."

Professor Lupin pointed to the one Dawn had taken out. "Rastaban Lestrange. He's one of the ones who broke out of Azkaban last year."

"Yes," said Dumbledore. He looked carefully at the third man. "I don't recognise him though." He looked back at the girls. "Have you searched them?"

"Just to take their wands," said Hermione. "We didn't want to accidentally grab a portkey, or something like that."

"Quite right," said Dumbledore. He took out his wand and passed it over Lestrange. "Detego!" Golden light emanated from his wand. It settled over the body, and flowed over his robes. It concentrated into two places, one a breast pocket, and the other at the hip.

Dumbledore knelt beside Lestrange. "Let's see what we have." He carefully opened the breast pocket and removed something from it. He glanced at it briefly, and then handed it to Professor Lupin. He glanced at it too, before quickly putting it into his own pocket before any of the others could get a good look at it. Dawn thought it might be a photograph.

Dumbledore used his wand to withdraw the item from the hip pocket without touching it. Dawn saw what looked like an old pocket watch. It floated up into the air and slowly rotated, while Dumbledore examined it carefully. "Yes, a portkey. Activated by pulling the stem, not by touch." He plucked it out of the air, and handed it to Professor Lupin too.

Professor Dumbledore's search of the other two found a few more magical items, all of which Professor Lupin took charge of, but nothing of real interest. When he was done, Dumbledore stood up again. "Well, I think now it's time to gather everything up, and go back to the school." He pointed to a Gladrags' bag lying in a puddle on the ground. "I believe you will want that, Miss Summers."

"Oh! My new robes!" Dawn quickly snatched the bag up out of the puddle. She looked inside it, and then reached in to feel for moisture. "Oh thank god! They're okay."

"You get attacked by Death Eaters, and you worry about your new robes?" asked Dean.

Dawn waved dismissively at the three Death Eaters on the ground. "They were no worry. It isn't even Tuesday."

Ron looked at Harry. "Do you understand that?"

Harry shrugged. "Haven't got a clue."


A small crowd had gathered by the entrance to the alley. Professors Dumbledore and Lupin's arrival had not gone unnoticed, and people had started to come to see what was happening. One person hung back, on the other side of the street, watching; protected by a charm that made people ignore him. Draco Malfoy watched as Professor Dumbledore asked the crowd to disperse, and then he watched Professor Lupin float the three unconscious and bound men out of the alley, and away toward the school. He watched as Professor Dumbledore escorted the six Gryffindor students after them.

He saw Ginny Weasley suddenly look around. Her eyes seemed to be searching for something, as if she knew she was being watched. He quickly turned away, and started to walk in the opposite direction. His charm wouldn't protect him from someone actively looking for him. He had a message to send, anyway.


"What is it?" Dawn asked quietly.

"Malfoy," said Ginny. "He was watching us, and trying not to be noticed while he was doing it."

Dawn looked in the direction Ginny had been looking, and saw Malfoy's back as he walked away down the street. He was conspicuous because he was the only person in town who didn't seem to be watching the strange procession moving back toward the school.

"So, is he just being Malfoy, or do you think he's involved in this?" asked Dawn.

"Being Malfoy would mean that he is involved," said Ron.


Dumbledore paused when they got to the castle. He asked one of the students who had followed them curiously to go find Madam Pomfrey, and ask that she come to his office. He looked over Dawn and her friends, as if wondering what to do with them. He only wondered for about a second. "I guess it is pointless to try to keep this a secret from any of you. Come along." He took everyone to his office, including Professor Lupin, and the three prisoners. Two more people were waiting there. One of them was Nymphadora Tonks.

"Ah, Kingsley, you got my message I see," said Dumbledore to the other wizard waiting there.

"Yes Professor," said the wizard. "I see you've captured one of our fugitives."

Dumbledore conjured up chairs for everyone. The ones for the prisoners had additional restraints that wrapped around them as their unconscious bodies were placed in them. "I didn't capture anyone. We have these young women to thank for that. I believe you have already met most of these students, except for Miss Dawn Summers, and Mr. Dean Thomas. Dawn and Dean, I would like to present Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt."

Madam Pomfrey arrived before Dumbledore could say anymore. He asked her to fix Crabbe's broken leg. "No point in subjecting him to any more pain after we wake him up."

Madam Pomfrey fixed Crabbe's leg quickly and efficiently. Professor Dumbledore asked her to leave when she was done. He looked to Hermione. "Now, Miss Granger, if you please. Could you repeat for us what happened." He gave Dawn and Ginny a sharp look. "Without interruptions."

Dawn had to bite her tongue a couple of times to keep from jumping into Hermione's account of the events in the alley, but she managed to keep quiet. Shacklebolt looked at Dawn and Ginny when Hermione was done. "And you agree that that was an accurate account of events?"

"Uh-huh." "Yeah, pretty much." said Dawn and Ginny.

"Nothing to add?"

"Nope." "Uh-uh."

"So, what were they after?" asked Tonks.

Dumbledore glanced at Professor Lupin for a moment. "Well, we do have a bit of an idea about that."

"What was that photo you took from Lestrange?" asked Dawn.

"I was afraid you noticed that," said Dumbledore. He indicated to Lupin that he should give Dawn the picture. Lupin didn't look happy about the order, but he did as Dumbledore wanted. He pulled the picture out of his pocket, and handed it to Dawn.

"It's me," said Dawn. She looked at the wizard photograph, taken of her in one of Hogwarts' hallways.

"Do you remember that picture being taken?" asked Dumbledore.

Dawn thought for a moment. "Nope. Don't have a clue when, or by who."

Harry was looking over Dawn's shoulder. "It was taken after Christmas."

Dawn looked around at him. "How'd you know that?"

Harry smiled. "You're wearing the earrings I gave you."

Dawn's hand went to her ear. She could feel one of the same earrings there now. "Oh…well that doesn't narrow it down much. I almost always wear them."

"So, why would they want Dawn?" asked Dean.

Everyone exchanged a look. "Why don't we ask them?" said Shacklebolt.

"You expect one of them to just tell you?" asked Dawn.

"Oh yes," said Shacklebolt. "I expect them all to." He looked at the three unconscious people, and considered for a moment. "We must do this by the book, though." He glanced at the students, and at Professor Lupin. "Which means that no one who isn't a sworn officer of the Wizengamot may be present for the questioning." He looked at Dumbledore. "I assume that there will be no problem getting a warrant from the Chief Warlock of the court?"

Dumbledore smiled. "No problem at all." He went to his desk and started to write on a fresh sheet of parchment.

Professor Lupin stood. "I understand." He motioned for the students to stand too.

Dumbledore looked up from what he was writing. "Thank you Remus. Why don't you take the students, and wait for us in my study."

"Yes, Professor." Lupin waved toward the stairs leading up behind Dumbledore's desk. "This way."

Professor Lupin took them into another room, smaller than Dumbledore's office. It's walls were lined with books too, but instead of portraits of past Hogwarts Headmasters, this one was decorated with more personal pictures. Some showed two young men that looked vaguely familiar to Dawn. She thought at first that they might be Dumbledore's sons (not that she had ever heard anyone say anything to indicate that he had any children) but after a moment she realized that one of them was Dumbledore himself, as a young man, which meant that the other one must be his brother.

Hermione and Professor Lupin both found books, and settled into chairs to read while they waited. Harry, Ron and Dean wanted to hear about the fight with the Death Eaters again, and they were particularly interested in why they seemed to be after Dawn. That was a question that Dawn very much wanted an answer to as well. One question kept repeating itself over and over in her mind: 'Does Voldemort know I'm the Key?'


Dumbledore came for them about half an hour later, and took them all back to his office. Shacklebolt, Tonks, and the three prisoners were gone. The Aurors had taken the prisoners away.

Dawn tried to keep the fear out of her voice. "So, why were they after me?" She didn't entirely succeed.

Dumbledore glanced around at the others. "We can discuss this privately, if you wish?"

"No," said Dawn. "I want my friends to know anything Voldemort may know. There's no point keeping them in the dark if he already knows about it."

Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. Lestrange, Crabbe, and Eugen Rosier—that is the third man's name by the way—were seeking the location of the Key, and they had been told that you, Dawn, were the one most likely to have that knowledge. They planned to hold you, and force you to tell them all you knew about it."

Dawn sighed in relief. Voldemort still didn't know. "Oh, thank God!"

Harry looked at Dawn in amazement. He had been watching her slowly build herself into a panic over the last half hour, and now she treats the news that these Death Eaters wanted to question her about the Key with relief? What else could she have been so afraid of? Death Eaters usually started an interrogation with the Cruciatus Curse, and then moved on to other, even more unpleasant things. The 'lucky' victims that survived, often wound up insane. That thought got Harry wondering about just how Dumbledore had extracted this information from the prisoners. "Er, Sir, how do you know…I mean…can you be sure that they told you the truth?"

"There is no doubt about the truthfulness of what they told us," said Dumbledore. "With clear evidence that they were Death Eaters, we were able to question them using Veritaserum. While there is doubtless much more to their stories than what we got in the short time available to us, I am certain that what they told us of their goal, and their motives was true. A more extensive interrogation will take place at the Ministry, and then all three men will be spending the next several years in Azkaban."

"Or until Voldemort arranges the next breakout," muttered Ron.

"Yes, well, hopefully, now that the Dementors have been removed from Azkaban, and the guarding of the prisoners is in the hands of wizards working for the Ministry, that won't happen again," said Dumbledore.

"Yeah," said Ron, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "'Cause the Ministry is just full of highly reliable wizards."

"Yes, it is," said Dumbledore. "Don't let some unpleasant experiences with a few bad apples colour your perception of the entire Ministry. There are many excellent people working there. Two of them just left here. Your father is another."

Ron looked a little embarrassed. "Yes sir."

Dumbledore smiled at him. "I will admit that some of the bad apples have risen into some very prominent positions in the Ministry in recent years, but for now, I think we can leave your attackers in the hands of the Aurors. I believe that you have a dance to get ready for."

"Yes, Professor," said Dawn, and several of the others. They started to make their way toward the door.

"Oh, Miss Summers," said Dumbledore.

"Yes Professor?"

"I think it would be best if you not leave the school grounds from now on."

Dawn sighed in resignation. "Yes sir."

"Oh," said Dumbledore. "I would also ask you all not to discuss what happened with the other students until I have informed Vincent Crabbe of his father's arrest."

"Yes, sir," said Harry.

"Remus?" asked Dumbledore. "Could you please locate Professor Snape, and ask him to bring Mr. Crabbe to my office?"

"Certainly Professor." Lupin followed his students out of the office.


Dawn and Harry danced together. "I like your robes," he told her.

"Thanks," said Dawn. Her new robes were 'twilight blue': the colour of the evening sky, just as the stars were starting to appear. A faint reddish glow still seemed to emanate from somewhere below the hem, and if you looked carefully, you could see the twinkling of the first stars of the evening.

"So why aren't you worried?" he asked.

"Hey…" Dawn twirled Harry to the music. "…someone trying to kidnap me is old news. I've been kidnapped by the world's dumbest vampire, a hellgoddess, and a demon who wanted to take me to hell to be his bride. You know, Voldemort's Death Eaters almost make me feel at home."

"World's dumbest vampire?" asked Harry.

"Yeah," said Dawn. "I swear, getting vamped shaves at least twenty points of anyone's IQ, and Harmony wasn't the brightest bulb even when she was alive."

"You knew her while she was human?"

"Not so much," said Dawn. "She went to school with Buffy. I only saw her at the mall a couple of times." Dawn thought for a moment. "Come to think of it…that might have been after she became a vamp. I may not have met her before she died."

"If she was so dumb, how did she manage to kidnap you?" asked Harry.

"I was fourteen, and even dumber," said Dawn. "Buffy was so mad when she rescued me."

"So, this Harmony vampire is dead?"

Dawn paused to think. "Actually, she's still alive…or undead anyway…whatever else you might say about Harmony, she knows when it's time to run away. Last I heard she was working as a secretary at an evil law firm in L.A."

"We seem to have skipped subjects again," said Harry. "You seemed to be relieved when you heard that the Death Eaters wanted you to ask you where the Key was. Why was that?"

Dawn considered what to say. "Not here. I'll tell you later. Meet me in the Room of Requirement at midnight."

"Midnight?" asked Harry. Dawn could hear the hopeful tone in his voice.

"To talk," said Dawn. "Just talk."

Harry held Dawn in his arms as they continued to dance. The way she snuggled up against him made him hope that they might do more than talk.