Chapter 4 – Wards and Worries
Harry was thankful that the next day classes did not resume as normal. Rather, they'd be starting again the day after. He didn't understand why that was exactly, but having slept in himself, it made a nice change to be able to sleep uninterrupted for a few more hours. But it was short lived, as the curtains of his bed chamber were cruelly ripped open to let in piercing rays of sunshine. When he looked up, he found himself face to face with Hermione, who stared back at him with a look of concern.
'Argh…' he spluttered, covering his eyes from the sun. 'What are you doing Hermione?! This the boy's dormitories!' but Hermione seemed unfazed by this.
'Oh get a grip Harry, honestly. Being a girl gives certain privileges. I thought you'd know this by now!'
Harry just laid there, still in apparent shock from the sunlight, and tried to pull his bed-sheets over his face, but Hermione swiftly pulled those away too, giving him no choice but to leave his bed.
'Come on Harry, it's time to get up. Ron and I want to speak to you.'
'You and Ron want to what?'
'You heard me!' she said forcefully. Harry stared back at her aimlessly before reluctantly getting to his feet.
It felt like an eternity before he got himself together and into the great hall, but sure enough, his two friends were sitting there talking in hushes voices. In his displeasure of being woken so rudely, he'd completely forgotten about how happy he was to see Hermione, since she wasn't sitting next to them during the feast. But as he approached, they both abruptly turned their faces to see him, and he felt an immediate sense of foreboding, since the two of them talking to him usually didn't involve waking him up. He wasn't quite certain, but he had a lingering feeling that perhaps Hermione had a hand in this. Something he was more than happy to take up with her later.
Slowly he took a seat next to Ron, who put down an edition of The Daily Prophet he was reading and turned to his friend.
'So…' Harry began uneasily. 'What is it?' and Ron cast Hermione an unusual look.
'Might as well tell him about that too.' She said to him in return, and Ron hastily threw Harry The Daily Prophet.
'And I'm looking at what?' he asked half-heartedly. Ron motioned to the bottom of the page, and Harry's eyes instinctively scrolled down. There he beheld a small captioned article, barely visible to the naked eye, so he had to squint to see it.
'Ward Bungling At The Ministry", he read aloud.
'From the time between December the 1st until the present, numerous wizards from across the British Isles have reported the failure of various wards, ranging from that of official port key points to muggle repelling charms, much to the disdain of Cornelius Fudge (Minister of Magic). When interviewed on the subject he gave us this response.
"There is absolutely no evidence to deduce that these ward failures have any connection. Whatever link that may arise in The Daily Prophet, or any other source for that matter is not official as all news on the topic comes directly to the ministry."
Mr Fudge declined to comment further on the matter and has also denied any relation between the random ward failure, and the recent exposure to muggles of the Quidditch stadium that held the world cup two years ago. Arthur Weasley, head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department at the ministry of magic was said by a reliable source to have been on duty at the alleged time of the exposure. He too also declined to comment, despite allegations that his poor handling of the situation led to over fifty muggles witnessing the stadium and roughly twelve escaping to tell the tale.
"It is clear…" say some analysts, "that the Ministry's ward specialists, and department heads, are failing to properly complete their assigned tasks, which leave great gaps in the security of our world."
As it is known, wards are the main protective spells hiding the wizard world from the muggle world. In addition to the increased chaos that failing wards would cause to port key travel, multiple failures of muggle repelling charms could quite conceivably reveal our world to muggle eyes. If the Ministry's performance in Obliviation spells (as noted above) is anything to go by, then we witches and wizards alike do indeed have to ask ourselves whether or not the Ministry is fulfilling it's role. With the re-emergence of He Who Must Not Be Named the ministry has undergone extensive criticism over it's handling of this and other such emergencies that are now plaguing the wizard world.
Mrs Bellbrook, correspondent for the confederation of concerned witches and wizards, stated in an interview today that she believed it was in everyone's best interests to find those responsible for this lack of hard effort on the Ministry's part, and have them sacked. As, for the current problem, Ministry officials are still baffled by the sudden dissolving of so many unconnected wards, and are working around the clock the re-apply the damaged wards and rectify the problem, as was stated by Amon Gibblesworth, spokesperson for the Ministry of Magic today. Though even with Ministry assurances, many of the public are skeptical that this problem has been put at an end, for the implications of continued ward failure could spell disaster for the wizarding world…'
Harry looked up to Ron and Hermione with a cocked eyebrow.
'Well at least your father was right,' he said to Ron at once, 'They did end up bringing him into the picture… But really, was this what you wanted to talk to me about?'
Hermione looked to him rather uneasily, and seemed to want to say something, yet couldn't quite squeeze it out.
'No.' Ron said flatly. 'I'll be honest with you mate, it's you we want to talk about.'
'Me?!' Harry said alarmed, 'Why's that?'
'Ron and I believe you've been acting weird lately.' Hermione said as a matter of fact.
'Lately?! I've only been back for two days, how can I possibly be acting weirdly?' Harry retorted again, his heartbeat rising. Ron spoke again.
'You tell us. At my place you went into some kind of trance when dad told you about the wards. And then at the sorting, Hermione saw you stare into space for a good five minutes.'
'You what?!' Harry rounded on Hermione, who seemed slightly ashamed of herself.
'Tell us what's going Harry. We're your friends, we don't want you to shut us out.' Ron said sympathetically, and at once Harry remembered why he went into a trance at the sorting in the first place. He swore to himself at the time that he was going to tell Dumbledore about it straight away, and he intended to. If that meant telling Ron and Hermione a sack full of lies then so be it. Besides, the thought of telling them the grisly things he'd seen didn't appeal to him very much in the slightest.
'I…' he began uncertainly, 'I haven't been sleeping very well.' He said to them truthfully. 'Bad dreams… you know what I mean.' And he abruptly stood up to leave.
'Wh… Where are you going?' Hermione spluttered in alarm.
'I'm going, what does it look like?!' Harry snapped back, leaving Hermione bewildered. As he began to walk Hermione made to give chase, but Ron pulled her back and whispered to her.
'Just let him go 'Mione…'
Harry walked quickly through the numerous hallways, not taking notice of the odd glances people were giving to him, until finally he came to what he was looking for. He stood before the great stone gargoyle that watched the entrance of Dumbledore's office. He knew he had to tell Dumbledore about his dreams right now. He felt the urgency, and believed that he should know as well. Then he remembered about the password. Uncertain it would work, he tried the one from the previous year but to no avail, the gargoyle didn't budge. Frantically he started sifting through his mind for all the ones he'd heard before or thought were likely. But nothing seemed to jump out, until a calm and collected voice suddenly sounded behind him.
'Canary creams…' Harry heard to his relief. And there behind him stood Dumbledore, looking down on him with a sense of concern. 'I was wondering when I'd be seeing you Harry, please enter.' And Dumbledore waved Harry into his office.
'Take a seat Harry, and tell me how I can be of service.' And Harry, feeling so glad to tell Dumbledore what he'd dreamed, couldn't quite figure out where to start, much to Dumbledore's amusement. 'Try to start from the beginning Harry, it usually works.'
Harry sat momentarily and gathered his breath, he'd tired himself out walking so fast to the headmaster's office. And then he spoke.
'Dreams professor. I'm having dreams again. Horrible ones too!' but the look that came over Dumbledore's face was not something of alarm, but of a sounding resignation of defeat.
'Yes Harry… I know.'
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There's chapter 4 for you. Soon everything will start to fit into place, and that begins with chapter five. You wanna find out what'll happen? I guess you'll have to read the next capter to find out won't you. Don't worry, it's well on its way.
Harry was thankful that the next day classes did not resume as normal. Rather, they'd be starting again the day after. He didn't understand why that was exactly, but having slept in himself, it made a nice change to be able to sleep uninterrupted for a few more hours. But it was short lived, as the curtains of his bed chamber were cruelly ripped open to let in piercing rays of sunshine. When he looked up, he found himself face to face with Hermione, who stared back at him with a look of concern.
'Argh…' he spluttered, covering his eyes from the sun. 'What are you doing Hermione?! This the boy's dormitories!' but Hermione seemed unfazed by this.
'Oh get a grip Harry, honestly. Being a girl gives certain privileges. I thought you'd know this by now!'
Harry just laid there, still in apparent shock from the sunlight, and tried to pull his bed-sheets over his face, but Hermione swiftly pulled those away too, giving him no choice but to leave his bed.
'Come on Harry, it's time to get up. Ron and I want to speak to you.'
'You and Ron want to what?'
'You heard me!' she said forcefully. Harry stared back at her aimlessly before reluctantly getting to his feet.
It felt like an eternity before he got himself together and into the great hall, but sure enough, his two friends were sitting there talking in hushes voices. In his displeasure of being woken so rudely, he'd completely forgotten about how happy he was to see Hermione, since she wasn't sitting next to them during the feast. But as he approached, they both abruptly turned their faces to see him, and he felt an immediate sense of foreboding, since the two of them talking to him usually didn't involve waking him up. He wasn't quite certain, but he had a lingering feeling that perhaps Hermione had a hand in this. Something he was more than happy to take up with her later.
Slowly he took a seat next to Ron, who put down an edition of The Daily Prophet he was reading and turned to his friend.
'So…' Harry began uneasily. 'What is it?' and Ron cast Hermione an unusual look.
'Might as well tell him about that too.' She said to him in return, and Ron hastily threw Harry The Daily Prophet.
'And I'm looking at what?' he asked half-heartedly. Ron motioned to the bottom of the page, and Harry's eyes instinctively scrolled down. There he beheld a small captioned article, barely visible to the naked eye, so he had to squint to see it.
'Ward Bungling At The Ministry", he read aloud.
'From the time between December the 1st until the present, numerous wizards from across the British Isles have reported the failure of various wards, ranging from that of official port key points to muggle repelling charms, much to the disdain of Cornelius Fudge (Minister of Magic). When interviewed on the subject he gave us this response.
"There is absolutely no evidence to deduce that these ward failures have any connection. Whatever link that may arise in The Daily Prophet, or any other source for that matter is not official as all news on the topic comes directly to the ministry."
Mr Fudge declined to comment further on the matter and has also denied any relation between the random ward failure, and the recent exposure to muggles of the Quidditch stadium that held the world cup two years ago. Arthur Weasley, head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department at the ministry of magic was said by a reliable source to have been on duty at the alleged time of the exposure. He too also declined to comment, despite allegations that his poor handling of the situation led to over fifty muggles witnessing the stadium and roughly twelve escaping to tell the tale.
"It is clear…" say some analysts, "that the Ministry's ward specialists, and department heads, are failing to properly complete their assigned tasks, which leave great gaps in the security of our world."
As it is known, wards are the main protective spells hiding the wizard world from the muggle world. In addition to the increased chaos that failing wards would cause to port key travel, multiple failures of muggle repelling charms could quite conceivably reveal our world to muggle eyes. If the Ministry's performance in Obliviation spells (as noted above) is anything to go by, then we witches and wizards alike do indeed have to ask ourselves whether or not the Ministry is fulfilling it's role. With the re-emergence of He Who Must Not Be Named the ministry has undergone extensive criticism over it's handling of this and other such emergencies that are now plaguing the wizard world.
Mrs Bellbrook, correspondent for the confederation of concerned witches and wizards, stated in an interview today that she believed it was in everyone's best interests to find those responsible for this lack of hard effort on the Ministry's part, and have them sacked. As, for the current problem, Ministry officials are still baffled by the sudden dissolving of so many unconnected wards, and are working around the clock the re-apply the damaged wards and rectify the problem, as was stated by Amon Gibblesworth, spokesperson for the Ministry of Magic today. Though even with Ministry assurances, many of the public are skeptical that this problem has been put at an end, for the implications of continued ward failure could spell disaster for the wizarding world…'
Harry looked up to Ron and Hermione with a cocked eyebrow.
'Well at least your father was right,' he said to Ron at once, 'They did end up bringing him into the picture… But really, was this what you wanted to talk to me about?'
Hermione looked to him rather uneasily, and seemed to want to say something, yet couldn't quite squeeze it out.
'No.' Ron said flatly. 'I'll be honest with you mate, it's you we want to talk about.'
'Me?!' Harry said alarmed, 'Why's that?'
'Ron and I believe you've been acting weird lately.' Hermione said as a matter of fact.
'Lately?! I've only been back for two days, how can I possibly be acting weirdly?' Harry retorted again, his heartbeat rising. Ron spoke again.
'You tell us. At my place you went into some kind of trance when dad told you about the wards. And then at the sorting, Hermione saw you stare into space for a good five minutes.'
'You what?!' Harry rounded on Hermione, who seemed slightly ashamed of herself.
'Tell us what's going Harry. We're your friends, we don't want you to shut us out.' Ron said sympathetically, and at once Harry remembered why he went into a trance at the sorting in the first place. He swore to himself at the time that he was going to tell Dumbledore about it straight away, and he intended to. If that meant telling Ron and Hermione a sack full of lies then so be it. Besides, the thought of telling them the grisly things he'd seen didn't appeal to him very much in the slightest.
'I…' he began uncertainly, 'I haven't been sleeping very well.' He said to them truthfully. 'Bad dreams… you know what I mean.' And he abruptly stood up to leave.
'Wh… Where are you going?' Hermione spluttered in alarm.
'I'm going, what does it look like?!' Harry snapped back, leaving Hermione bewildered. As he began to walk Hermione made to give chase, but Ron pulled her back and whispered to her.
'Just let him go 'Mione…'
Harry walked quickly through the numerous hallways, not taking notice of the odd glances people were giving to him, until finally he came to what he was looking for. He stood before the great stone gargoyle that watched the entrance of Dumbledore's office. He knew he had to tell Dumbledore about his dreams right now. He felt the urgency, and believed that he should know as well. Then he remembered about the password. Uncertain it would work, he tried the one from the previous year but to no avail, the gargoyle didn't budge. Frantically he started sifting through his mind for all the ones he'd heard before or thought were likely. But nothing seemed to jump out, until a calm and collected voice suddenly sounded behind him.
'Canary creams…' Harry heard to his relief. And there behind him stood Dumbledore, looking down on him with a sense of concern. 'I was wondering when I'd be seeing you Harry, please enter.' And Dumbledore waved Harry into his office.
'Take a seat Harry, and tell me how I can be of service.' And Harry, feeling so glad to tell Dumbledore what he'd dreamed, couldn't quite figure out where to start, much to Dumbledore's amusement. 'Try to start from the beginning Harry, it usually works.'
Harry sat momentarily and gathered his breath, he'd tired himself out walking so fast to the headmaster's office. And then he spoke.
'Dreams professor. I'm having dreams again. Horrible ones too!' but the look that came over Dumbledore's face was not something of alarm, but of a sounding resignation of defeat.
'Yes Harry… I know.'
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There's chapter 4 for you. Soon everything will start to fit into place, and that begins with chapter five. You wanna find out what'll happen? I guess you'll have to read the next capter to find out won't you. Don't worry, it's well on its way.