Chapter 16
Attack on Dumbledore
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else I mentioned in the other disclaimers.
Author's Note: Hey people! Yep, this is the 16th chapter (please hang on 'til the end!), and in this chapter, Harry, Joy, Ron and Hermione tell Professor Dumbledore that he'll be attacked and killed. But will that stop from him having his horrible death? Read on to find out!!!
Harry, Princess Joy, Ron and Hermione walked quietly around the grounds and into the castle, trying to make sure no one saw them. As the large old-fashioned castle door of the entrance slowly opened, Harry and his friends rushed in. Once they were finally in, they took a deep breath of relief. Afterwards, they rushed up the grand staircase and to the moving staircases as Her Royal Highness tried to wipe her tears away from her face.
"I think I should wash my face before we talk to Professor Dumbledore," said Princess Joy, as all of them hopped onto a moving staircase. "I don't want him to see me like this."
"Don't worry, Joy!" said Harry. "He's not going to make fun of you or anything, and I'm sure he'll understand you're worried for him."
"It's not that!" she said, rubbing her sniffling nose. "I'm supposed to be one of the Heads of the Wizarding World with my sister in less than two years. Crying like this just seems so unprofessional."
"If you insist, we'll find a girls' washroom," said Ron. "Hermione, do you know any nearby?"
"The closest one I can think of is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," replied Hermione. "I'm not too sure you want to go in there."
"It's all right. I'll go there," said Joy. "I've met Myrtle and talked to her a few times."
"Here's the floor to the girls' bathroom!" said Hermione, as she pointed to the floor the staircase was approaching.
All of them hopped off the flight of stairs and onto the floor. After walking through the hallway, they entered the wet and abandoned washroom which the annoying ghost, Moaning Myrtle, haunted. Harry and Ron were a bit skittish at first to enter, but then Hermione and Joy told them it was all right. While Joy turned on a faucet and washed her face, Harry spotted Moaning Myrtle floating in the corner, sighing and sobbing. She had noticed Harry looking at her and looked up in anger.
"What are you doing here, Harry?" she questioned. "This is a girls' bathroom!"
"Joy needed to wash up before we went to Professor Dumbledore," he answered.
"Well, all right... So Harry, how've you been?" she asked with blushing cheeks (it was the first time Harry had ever seen a ghost blush).
"Okay, I guess. It was a rough year last year, but I got through it. This year's been a bit more tolerable."
"I heard Cho was attacked a while ago," she said, as if it was juicy gossip. "Is she still in the hospital wing?"
"She's still weak, so she's going to stay there for a little while, and then she'll come out."
"And you?" questioned Moaning Myrtle to Ron in an obligating way.
"It's been great," said Ron. "Having a girlfriend is pretty cool, especially since Joy's my girlfriend."
"Oh. I would never know that, because I've never had a boyfriend!"
At that moment, Myrtle started to wail annoyingly as Joy turned off the faucet and dried her face with a towel. Moaning Myrtle noticed this and looked up at Joy.
"Hello, Your Royal Highness!" she said admiringly, as she completely ceased her crying. "You came to wash up?"
"Yes, Myrtle," Joy responded. "I was crying and I didn't want Professor Dumbledore to see me in that state."
"Why were you crying, and why are you going to see Professor Dumbledore?" she asked intriguingly.
"Well... uhm... " she stuttered, not knowing what to tell her. "I'll just put it in a simple matter: we found out that someone is going to try and murder Professor Dumbledore when he will go to visit the Minister for Magic in less than a week. I started crying because I didn't want my great-great-great-grandfather to face that."
"Oh my goodness!" cried Moaning Myrtle as she covered her mouth with her hands in shock.
"It's true," admitted Hermione, "but try and keep it a secret, all right?"
"Hermione, do you think I need to put on my make-up?" asked Joy, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Joy, Professor Dumbledore's your great-great-great-grandfather. He doesn't care if you wear make-up or not."
"That's true."
"I never got to put on make-up before I died," sighed Moaning Myrtle, "and I never will!"
She started sobbing again as everyone else gave a large sigh in frustration, except for Joy, who was smiling caringly.
"Don't worry about that, Myrtle!" she said with one of her famous smiles. "I own a beauty product line, which sells make-up made for ghosts! I'll send you a catalogue."
"That would be lovely!" said the ghost with happiness. "I can't wait... but I can't believe someone is going to try and murder Professor Dumbledore!"
And yet again, she started wailing and crying again as she floated to the corner where she was before. The four of them became quite annoyed and hurried back on the moving flight of stairs and onto the floor where Dumbledore's office was located. They walked down the hall towards the large stone gargoyle statue in front of Dumbledore's office, and stopped right in front of it.
"What's the password? Do either you two know?" asked Ron curiously to Harry and Joy.
"I know what the password is," said Joy, and then turned to the gargoyle statue. "Pumpkin crisps!"
Suddenly, the statue came to life and moved aside. The wall behind it opened, revealing a spiralling staircase which was escalating slowly.
All four of them hopped onto the staircase as it brought them upwards to the floor where stood a large wooden door with a wonderful griffon-shaped knocker made of brass. Harry and his friends stepped off the spiralling staircase and walked in front of the door.
Harry gently knocked the brass knocker and waited for a reply.
"Come in," said a soft voice coming from Professor Dumbledore.
Harry opened the door to the office. As he and his friends entered the office of Hogwarts' Headmaster, he marvelled at the room which he had seen quite a few times, but still amazed him.
Hung around the circular room, were large framed portraits of former Headmasters and Headmistresses who were sleeping soundly. Shelves, shelves and more shelves of curious objects and volumes of books were put around the room. On one of the many shelves, the Sorting Hat was kept, and it too was sleeping. Beautiful furniture gave the room a taste of fine decor, and on one of the beautiful tables was a metal instrument that made tinkling noises and puffed out smoke. Harry remembered the temper tantrum he had at the end of his 5th year in Dumbledore's office, that included the smashing of most of the silver instruments (which he kind of regretted it afterwards). In one corner was a marvellous sword held in a glass case, which had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor and was what Harry Potter used to slay the basilisk in his 2nd year. In another corner, was a basin made of stone which held a silvery, shimmering water. This was the Pensieve, which Dumbledore had once shown Harry in his 4th year.
Even if the room was so familiar to Harry and brought back many memories, Harry could find a few differences in the room. Among many of the framed pictures hung a couple of pictures of Princesses Joy and Glory, their father, the Pink Lady, and a few other portraits of family members. Harry also spotted a couple of leather couches in the back. Hermione looked around in wonder at the magnificent room, as did Ron. The four of them advanced to the finely-carved wooden desk with claw-footed legs, where Professor Dumbledore was doing some paperwork and eating a bag of Pumpkin Crisps, with Fawkes sitting on his perch right next to Dumbledore's desk. Fawkes crowed, and Dumbledore looked up and gave them all a smile. He suddenly remembered that he was eating Pumpkin Crisps (which quite made him look unprofessional) and quickly hid the bag in his drawer, making Harry giggle at the scene.
"Good evening, Joy, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger," greeted the Headmaster formally. "What brings you to my office today?"
"We have something very important to tell you," said Hermione.
"Really?" asked Dumbledore with interest. "And what is this you have to tell me, I presume?"
"We overhead Ma-, I mean, a couple of people," said Harry, "planning an attack."
"Oh? Tell me more, Mr. Potter. Who, may I ask, is the one who is supposed to be attacked?"
"That's why it was so important to talk to you," said Hermione in a concerned manner.
"Well then, who is it?"
"The person who they've planned to attack w-was....was....." Harry felt it hard to continue. How would Professor Dumbledore take it? What would be his reaction? Harry suddenly realized what he was about to say: Someone was going to try and murder Professor Dumbledore. Nonetheless, Harry got up the courage to finish what he was saying. "Professor Dumbledore, the person who they've planned to attack is you."
Professor Dumbledore's eyes widened immensely, and he sat there in shock. Harry didn't think he could believe what he was hearing either. Dumbledore gulped down his fear and tried to face the music, asking them more questions.
"And how serious is this... attack, Mr. Potter?"
"Fatal, Professor Dumbledore," he answered. "It's fatal."
"So, they're planning to murder me?" questioned Professor Dumbledore. Harry could see the Professor trembling. He adjusted his glasses and questioned them more. "Is there any particular date that you overheard when they were going to... kill me?"
"They're going to attack you in 4 days," said Hermione, "when you're going to give a visit to Mr. Cornelius Fudge, sir."
"I see," he said deep in thought. Harry could not at all possibly guess how Dumbledore was feeling at that moment. It made Harry tremble a bit too. "What is the plan?"
"I'll answer this one," volunteered Joy. "Those who are scheming against you found out that you would be waiting in the grounds for your carriage to take you to Mr. Fudge. The carriage driver in the carriage would be a-" She paused for a moment, remembering that she couldn't say 'death eater', because those were the followers of Lord Voldemort and that would prove they'd been snooping around. "The carriage driver in the carriage would be someone who is a part of the scheming, and they wouldn't bring you to where you were supposed to go. On the way to the Minister, you would be passing by a large and dangerous forest."
"Batingham Forest, I think it is called," said Professor Dumbledore.
"Yes, I think so. The carriage-driver will take a turn right into the forest, and drop you off there. In the forest, many other... attackers, will trample you...torture... you... and eventually... kill... you..."
Joy burst out crying when she was done speaking. Ron let her rest on his shoulder, as Dumbledore gave a sigh, so sad that his really great-granddaughter was crying and stressing out over his supposed upcoming attack.
"There, there, Joy," said Professor Dumbledore. "Please do not cry. Everything will be sorted out. You do not have to stress over this so. If there is anyone who should be stressed, it is I. Don't worry yourself over me."
Dumbledore stood up from his seat, walked over to Joy and gave her a hug. Joy then started to cry on his shoulder. Even Fawkes, Dumbledore's faithful pet, was crying over the awful plan, which made everybody else want to cry too. Dumbledore gave Joy a tissue and told her to calm herself. He then looked at all of them in suspicion, and asked them another question, as he sat down in his chair.
"If I may ask, how did you four find out about this?" questioned Dumbledore.
The four of them looked at each other, and looked back at him. They had no idea what to say. It was Hermione's turn again to get herself together and to explain to Dumbledore what happened, although she was quite scared if they would all get into trouble.
"You see, Dumbledore," Hermione started off, "we were chatting in the halls for a while, not paying attention to where we were going. Once we finished talking, we looked around us and found out that we were lost in these strange hallways, so we walked around trying to find our way back to the common room but instead we found ourselves in a dead end but Ron accidentally pushed a button on the stone gargoyle and we found an entrance to a little room where we thought there was no way out in there but we found a door on the floor which was absolutely pitched black inside but then Ron fell in, and then Joy jumped in after him, then I did and then Harry went down the dark pit too and we found out that it was actually a slide which led to a stone circular room which had a large wooden door in it and because I heard some mumbling on the other side of the door, Joy made the door transparent on our side and made it non-soundproof so we could hear everything they were saying but once we heard the complete plan of what they were going to do to you, Joy de-charmed the door and Harry pushed a stone-brick in the wall which opened an entrance into the grounds so we decided to rush up to your office and here we are!" Hermione took a large deep breath after saying all they had done all at once, which lead them to finding out Malfoy and Voldemort's plan. "You're not going to expel us, are you?"
"Expel you? I should reward you!" said Dumbledore, as all four of them (especially Hermione) let out a sigh of relief. "It was nothing but bad luck, yet good fortune which lead you through the confusing hallways and out into the grounds. It wasn't really your fault you got lost, for it was an honest mistake. For warning me about all this, I award 20 points to Gryffindor for each one of you!"
Large smiles, both of respite and happiness, swept across all of their faces.
"Thank you so much, Professor Dumbledore!" thanked Harry.
"My pleasure. Oh, would you mind telling me who these attackers are?" asked the Headmaster, with a touch of anger in the depths of his words.
No one really knew how to answer the Headmaster's question. They did know who the attackers were, but could Dumbledore really understand them? Malfoy would of course doubt it if questioned, but how could they prove that Lord Voldemort had come back? They didn't even know themselves how Lord Voldemort came back. Finally, Ron decided to answer the question for them.
"We couldn't tell who it was," answered Ron. "Even if the door was transparent on our side, the room was too dark to see who it was."
"Very well," said Professor Dumbledore. "You may all leave now and go to the Gryffindor common room. I will call a meeting with the staff to discuss this. Farewell!"
"Farewell!" they all said as they walked out of the room, down the twirling flight of stairs and out into the hallway.
They were thankful that the burden of telling Professor Dumbledore and the worry that they would get expelled was over. On their way to the common room, they passed Princess Glory, who surprisingly wasn't in an evil mood.
"Well hello there!" greeted Glory with a warm grin. "Were you coming from the Headmaster's office? Joy, you're not wearing make-up, and it looks like you were crying. What's going on?"
"Glory, I need to tell you something," said Joy, as she led Glory into an empty classroom.
The three of them listened to the whispering between Joy and Glory in the empty room, and then a sudden shrill scream coming from Glory.
"WWHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" screamed Glory, which made the floors and walls shake, broke a few windows and completely startled many students. Once the screaming was over, Joy and Glory came out of the empty classroom. Glory's face was as white as a ghost and she looked very uneasy.
"I-I-I..." stuttered Glory. "I have to... I have to go... now!"
Glory hurriedly ran away from where all of them were standing and rushed all the way to the Ravenclaw common room. Harry and his friends were quite surprised that Princess Glory would react like that to the news.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Hermione.
"We'll go to our common rooms, like we were trying to do before," said Joy. "We'll wait tomorrow for the decisions the staff made at the meeting."
"Come on, let's go," said Harry, as they walked down the hallway to the Gryffindor common room.
"I just hope we don't get lost again," chuckled Ron.
*****
That night wasn't a peaceful night whatsoever. The news of the plan of Dumbledore's attack spread so quickly that by the time Harry and his friends reached the Gryffindor common room, every single Gryffindor (and all the other students, teachers and staff members) knew about it.
Harry had a hard time doing anything but worrying for what would happen next. He had an awful nightmare of what might happen to Professor Dumbledore, which could have given anyone shivers down their spine. Harry wondered how everyone else was feeling after hearing the terrible news. He didn't know if he could get over it until everything was settled, and until the day of the attack had passed, although he wasn't even sure if he'd be calm by then (thinking if Dumbledore and the staff would be able to stop the attack).
Harry and everyone else in the school woke up very anxious and hurried to get ready to be one of the first ones to hear what the staff had decided. Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed to the Great Hall where everyone was whispering and gossiping about Dumbledore's planned attack. Harry didn't eat too much for breakfast because he was so nervous to hear what would happen. He could see Dumbledore talking to Princesses Joy and Glory in the corner of the room. After a while, the two girls rushed back to their house tables and Professor Dumbledore went to his head table, where all the staff looked quite tense (especially Hagrid). Joy sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table next to Ron and put some food on her plate.
"So, what did Dumbledore tell you?" asked Hermione.
"He says that there will be guards everywhere when he will go on his visit to meet the Minister," replied Joy. "If it was an unimportant meeting, Dumbledore would have cancelled it, but this meeting is very important. It concerns the attacks and this whole terrorism business."
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" asked Ron.
"No, Professor Dumbledore is going to explain it with more detail in about 10 minutes."
"I feel sorry for you, Joy," said Dean Thomas. "It's hard enough for all of us to think that someone would try and kill Professor Dumbledore. But you! He's your great-great-great-great-great... or great-great-great... Anyway, he's some kind of grandfather to you, and it would seem like such a loss to your family."
"Yes, I know," she responded, although Harry could see by the look on her face that it seemed to her that Dean was just rubbing the news in.
"I feel sorry for Princess Glory, too!" said Seamus Finnigan. "I heard she was completely white after you, Joy, told her the news. Poor lass!"
"She's not a lass, Seamus!" corrected Ginny Weasley, who was also very worried for Princess Joy and Princess Glory (especially Glory). "She's a princess, and a very stressed-out princess at this moment. A lot of the Ministries of Magic around the world don't want a monarchy anymore, and she's trying hard to prove to them that she's not the aristocratic and overpowered brat that they think she is. And don't think that Princess Joy is different than that, because she's working hard on that too."
"Yes I am, Ginny," said Joy, but Harry could see on her face again that she wasn't too pleased of what Ginny had said either. It was so strange that Joy was dating her older brother, Ron, and she was trying to be very nice to Ginny, but for some strange reason she was still boasting and practically worshipping Princess Glory. Was Joy doing something wrong?
"Colin, maybe we should have taken some more pictures of Professor Dumbledore," said Dennis, holding his camera.
"I know what you mean," agreed Colin. "It just seems like those 190 pictures we took of him aren't enough!"
"He probably found a way to not get attacked, right?"
"Of course he did!"
Both of them hugged each other, which seemed like a perfect moment to catch on camera. Once finished hugging, Colin turned to Harry.
"By the way, Harry, can Dennis and I take a few more pictures of you after breakfast?"
Harry absolutely hated them taking pictures of him, and he clutched his hand in frustration.
"Sure," he said in obligation.
Professor Dumbledore stood up from the head table and called for attention. In less than a second, all eyes were on him.
"I would like to have all your attention," said Dumbledore. "Yesterday evening, I had a visit from four students who reported to me about a secret plan they overheard to destroy me. The attackers planning to do this are unknown."
At that moment, Harry glared at Malfoy, and noticed that he had a tiny smirk on his face, the kind of smirk a secret criminal would have when no one else knew they were responsible for something bad. He also looked a bit frustrated, and Harry could see that he was probably frustrated from them four finding out his plan to destroy Dumbledore. Nonetheless, Harry turned around and continued to listen to Dumbledore.
"In a few days, I was supposed to go and give a very important visit to Mr. Fudge, the Minister for Magic, and I would be brought to the meeting by carriage. The murder plot was said to be that the carriage-driver would be someone who would be part of the scheming of my... death. He would drop me off into Batingham Forest, which is a large, dark forest near where the meeting would take place. In that forest, I would be... murdered..." Harry could tell it wasn't easy for Dumbledore to tell them about this plan, but alas, he kept on telling about it.
"During the staff meeting, many of the professors questioned the discovery of the plan and were thinking of letting it go. Even so, many other professors and staff believed that the plan was true. By the end of the meeting, we decided that for the rest of the week and the next week, there will be some guards around the school so that any suspicious events will be notified. As well, there will be security following me to the meeting with the Minister, and we have contacted Mr. Fudge on the discovery. If you have any questions, you are welcome to ask any of the professors and I."
Professor Dumbledore sat down, letting the students continue to whisper to each other. In a few minutes, breakfast was over and Harry had to face the awful flashing lights of Dennis and Colin Creevey, and he had to wait for what would happen to Professor Dumbledore on his visit to the Minister of Magic.
*****
It was the night when Professor Dumbledore was going to give his important visit to Cornelius Fudge. Harry stared out of a window in the Gryffindor common room in worry if something wrong might happen to the Headmaster that night. He and his friends were the only ones in the common room, for all the others had gone to bed. Maybe all their plans of security will go wrong, or maybe Malfoy and Voldemort have found another way to destroy Dumbledore, he thought to himself. He tried to think good thoughts, but it was no use. He had suffered a lot after the attack of Cho, but he wasn't sure what would happen if Dumbledore, the professor who had cared for him and protected him from Voldemort during all his time at Hogwarts, was murdered.
There was a lot of top security at the school the whole week to make sure nothing wrong would happen. They were the palace guards, who worked for Princess Joy, Glory and their parents at their palace (thus called palace guards). Harry remembered that Joy didn't want to have any guards at Hogwarts because she wanted her freedom. Even with her psychic capabilities, she hadn't predicted that she would need her guards anyway. The guards were dressed as black knights with a belt of readied weapons on their waists. They had a picture of each of the Princesses' coat of arms on each side of their shoulders. They even had strange, wizard-like walkie-talkies. The guards seemed kind of creepy to Harry, but then again, why would they hurt him?
Harry was still staring out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Dumbledore going into his carriage, until someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and found out it was Hermione, who was a bit tense as well.
"Are you all right, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"I'm fine. And you?"
"I'm all right, but I'm still tense."
"Me too. Is Joy all right?"
"She's quite tense too. Actually, she's more tense than both of us combined."
Harry and Hermione turned to see Ron and Joy. Joy was gripping very tightly onto a pillow with Ron laying his hand on her shoulder.
"Joy, are you going to be fine?" asked Harry.
"I think so," she answered. She stood up and went to the windows of the common room. She looked out one of the window into the dark grounds circulating the grand castle. "I've been worrying so much about what would happen tonight. Anything can go wrong! I know there will be guards in the carriage and in the grounds, but Malfoy and Voldemort are sly. They might find another way to- to...
"I just wish there could be a way, a way for me to make sure he was all right. If only there could be a way I could go with him, or... follow him..."
A daring smirk spread across her splendid face, one that Harry had never seen before on Joy. Harry had the feeling that she had a plan, a sneaky plan, hidden up her sleeve.
"Joy, I've seen you make many smiles, grins and smirks," said Ron, "but I have
never seen that look on your face before. Please tell me what you are thinking!"
"I've got a plan, a plan that could reassure me that Professor Dumbledore will be safe."
"What are you talking about, Joy?" asked Harry.
"I'm thinking that we can use Ron's via-mobile to follow Dumbledore."
"We're going to do what?" questioned Ron.
"Ron, you got your license not too long ago. This is your chance to show your skills at driving the via-mobile! We can wait outside in the via-mobile for Professor Dumbledore to go outside and enter the carriage. When he's gone, we'll follow him and make sure he'll be all right and that no attackers get a hold of him."
"Hold on a minute!" shouted Ron. "You really expect me to drive a floating machine like that in these circumstances? I'm obviously going to screw up one way or another, and we've already experienced that kind of screw up, if you don't recall our crash into the Forbidden Forest!"
"Honey, I know you'll be fine!" encouraged Joy.
"Why can't you drive, Joy?"
"Ron, you have to practice driving the via-mobile. You haven't been driving lately and you should practice a bit more."
"Joy, this is a very difficult task! Why can't you drive it? You're a professional!"
"Actually, I wanted to drive in the back of the via-mobile," she implied. "If whoever is trying to destroy Dumbledore finds out that I'm driving behind them, they might try and go after us. I don't want any of you three getting hurt."
"You're right," admitted Ron.
"But Joy, there are so many guards in the grounds!" said Hermione. "We won't be able to pass them, especially with a large flying object! How are we going to follow Dumbledore without them seeing us?"
"The via-mobile has a special feature that makes it invisible," answered Joy.
"But don't the guards have maps that show where people are, like the marauder's map?" asked Harry. "They'll probably see us with the map."
"Those kind of maps are very useful and they can find anybody, invisible or not, but they won't be able to identify us if we're hovering above the castle."
"What?"
"Harry, the via-mobile hovers, which means we can hide above the castle! The maps can't detect those who are high up in the air."
"So, what's our strategy?" asked Ron.
"We're going to hide high above the Gryffindor tower until Professor Dumbledore's coach has left the castle. Afterwards, we'll follow the carriage through the roads while we're still in the air. We'll look down with omnoculars. If there's something wrong, we'll go down to the road. Understand?"
"Yes!" they all said in unison.
"Good. All of you, get ready. Ron, I need you to get your BCB containing your via-mobile. Harry and Hermione, I need you both to move the furniture so we'll have room for the via-mobile. Once we're in, I need you, Hermione, to cast a charm so we can open the wall over there to fit the via-mobile," she said as she pointed to a large, empty wall near the windows of the common room. "Try and cast the charm so that all of this will seem invisible to everyone else. As for me, I'll go get 4 omnoculars. You know what omnoculars are, right?"
"Of course," said Harry. "They're like muggle binoculars, except that they have cool features and they can replay things you've seen."
"All right. Hermione, are you sure you can do the charm?"
"I'll be able to do it. In truth, it feels strange to hear us making this plan to follow Dumbledore. If we can get past the guards, then anyone can."
"That's exactly why we're doing this; anyone can get past them. The guards are fantastic, but if you have a sly mind, you can get passed anyone."
Ron and Harry went to their rooms to put on heavier robes and scarves, and to get Ron's BCB, while Hermione and Joy went to get themselves ready too. Harry and Hermione came down before the other two and started to push the furniture away so that they'd have room for the via-mobile. While they were pushing the furniture, Harry spoke to Hermione.
"You know, Hermione, you've become a lot more daring since the first time I met you. I know I've already told you this before, but I wanted to tell you again. It's surprising you weren't against this plan."
"I know, sometimes I surprise myself. It's hard to look back at the girl who I was during my 1st year, and to think how different we both are. Sometimes, I wish I was still her, but sometimes I don't. But Joy has been more daring too. She was always brave, but now she's more into scheming, planning and ignoring the rules."
"It just goes to show that all four of us were meant to be put in Gryffindor," said Harry.
Ron and Joy finally came down and helped Harry and Hermione push the furniture out of the way. Ron pushed a few buttons which beamed out the via-mobile. Once it was out of the BCB, all of them hopped into the large, hovering vehicle. Ron and Hermione were in the front, and Joy and Harry were in the back. They all buckled up their seatbelts as Joy gave them the signal to get ready.
"Hermione, cast the charm!"
Hermione pulled down the window, stuck out her arm with her wand in hand, waved her wand and cast the charm.
"Morus openo invisiblus!" said Hermione.
Suddenly, the bricks of the wall started to shift and move as it created a large hole in the wall, just big enough to fit the via-mobile.
"Ron, press the invisibility button and move forward!"
"Got it, sweetheart!"
Ron pushed a small red button at the front of the via-mobile, which made the vehicle became invisible. Afterwards, he put a small silver key into the keyhole, turned it and started the via-mobile. He pushed the lever, pushed down on the pedal and away they went through the hole. Hermione turned around to do another charm to close the hole in the wall.
"Morus fermus finito!"
The bricks shifted and moved again until the hole had closed itself. Ron drove the via-mobile above the Gryffindor tower and waited there for Dumbledore to come out with his carriage and drive away. Joy handed the omnoculars to all of them. Harry was handed his omnocular, and once he received it, he adjusted the lens to look out his small window.
With the omnoculars and the height above the castle, Harry had an excellent view of the grounds. A thick layer of cotton-white snow covered the cold yards around the mighty school. He could see icy hills in the distance, and a blizzard-stricken Forbidden Forest at the edge of the dark and snowy horizon. The sky was a deep ocean of darkness with twinkling stars and a glowing moon dominating the sky. It was clear to see that it was a wonderful winter night.
In the corner of his omnocular lens, he could see a tiny carriage riding on the main path to the entrance, where a tiny figure of Dumbledore with three guards were waiting.
"Joy! Ron! Hermione! The carriage is coming!" shouted Harry as he pointed to the carriage coming forth. All of them held up their omnoculars, turned to his direction and watched the carriage drive to the entrance and stop. Once the carriage had stopped, the guards helped Dumbledore into the carriage.
Harry looked at the tiny dot that was in the driver's seat of the carriage. He adjusted his omnocular to look closer, and he could see that there was a man covered in wool robes in the driver's seat. He had a stern face on, and he had a bit of a peculiar look in his eyes. This man was obviously working for Malfoy and Voldemort.
He looked a lot closer at the carriage. It was nicely decorated, and it bore the Hogwarts coat of arms. Harry saw that it was quite strange that the carriage wasn't quite attached to the driver's seat. The seat where the driver was sitting was a small bench with four long rods and wheels which made it elevated to the two large, brown horses. The carriage was connected to the bench by a kind of hook or lock.
The guards hopped into the carriage and closed the door. The driver drove the carriage off onto the path and on their way to Mr. Fudge.
"The carriage is going," said Harry. "Ron, follow them!"
Ron pushed down on the pedal, and away flew the via-mobile, chasing after the carriage from high-up in the air. The flew over the paths and yards of snowy land under the dark sparkling sky of mid-February. Ron drove on for almost half an hour from which they were a long way from Hogwarts. Harry's eyes were getting a bit sore from looking into the omnoculars, and he was becoming a bit bored. Both the girls were getting a bit tired, while Ron was completely tense at the wheel. It was then, half an hour later, when Harry noticed something strange about the driver. He was talking into some little screen which he had never seen before.
"Joy?"
"Yes, Harry?" responded Joy, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Do you know what that screen is that the driver is holding?"
"Let me take a look," she said, as she focused her omnoculars onto the driver. "Oh, it's a telescreen!"
"What's that?" asked Harry.
"A telescreen is one of the many inventions that have been invented in Wizard Italy. It's like a telephone, except that you talk to a screen instead of into little holes in the phone. I wonder why the driver would have one. They're quite expensive."
"Can you look to see who the driver is talking to?" asked Harry.
Joy adjusted the omnocular to look closer. Once she got a sight of who the driver was talking to, she opened her eyes in shock.
"It's Malfoy!" she shouted. "He's talking to Malfoy!!!!"
"So the driver is one their side! I knew it!"
"Ron, pay close attention to any sudden moves that driver is going to make," instructed Joy. "He's talking to Malfoy on his telescreen, so he's bound to be up to no good."
"A tele- what?" asked Ron.
"I'll tell you later. Just keep an eye on that driver."
Ron did keep an eye on the mysterious driver. After a few minutes, he had noticed something suspicious about the driver.
"Hey, guys!" he called out, staring closer at the driver. "This dude is making a strange turn here."
A strange turn it was indeed, since the turn was rather drastic. The driver was going alongside a mountain. On purpose (although he made it seem like it was an accident), he drove right into the side of the cliff, and made an extremely sharp turn to the bend of the road. The turn was so sharp and so violent that the carriage (that was barely attached to the driver's seat by a lock) had gone on the side of the mountain and had flipped - twice!
The doors tore off from the jagged and rocky mountains and all the guards fell out. They either suffered a terrible fall or had banged against the mountain. Either way, they were all unconscious. Because of the horrible friction from the icy path and rocky mountainside, the carriage had torn apart. All that remained of the carriage was a large, rough plank of the wood of the carriage, that Professor Dumbledore was clinging onto for dear life. He was in total shock and was terror-stricken.
"OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!" shouted Princess Joy in choking tears. "OH MY GOODNESS!! LOOK AT THE CARRIAGE!!!! IT'S GONE!!!! WE'VE GOT TO SAVE PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!!!!!"
Harry was almost as shocked as Joy ('almost as shocked', not 'as shocked', considering that he kind of knew that the driver would do something ruthless, and because Joy was shouting with terror). He stared through his omnoculars in fright at the horrible scene below him and his friends.
"Ron, go down and save Dumbledore!" shouted Hermione, pointing at Dumbledore below them.
"I can't!" Ron replied back. "I don't know how!"
"Why didn't I listen to Ron?" questioned Joy to herself. "I would be able to save him!"
"Just go down, Ron!" instructed Harry. "We can't blame you for taking this kind of action."
Ron was scared stiff, as scared as he was when he came face to face with the giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest in their 2nd year.
Quickly, Ron drove the via-mobile downwards until it was hovering slightly above the path. Harry had wondered if Dumbledore might see them, but then he remembered that the via-mobile was invisible.
"Lower the window so we can hear anything they're saying," instructed Joy.
With the push of a button, Ron brought down all the windows. Bitter-cold air entered the vehicle, but they were too busy worrying about Dumbledore and catching anything he or the driver would say to notice the cold draft. They could hear Dumbledore screaming and shouting for help, which made them ache inside. The Headmaster tried to pull himself up from the large piece of wood.
"CAN YOU PLEASE STOP THE CARRIAGE, SIR?" shouted Professor Dumbledore as he tried to grip at the carriage's lock. "I'M FALLING OFF!!!! HELP!"
"You're not going to be having any help, Albus!" said the driver, looking back at Dumbledore. "No one's going to help you, and the only time this carriage is going to stop is if you fall off!"
An evil chuckle was heard from the horrible driver. Dumbledore took out his wand from his robes, trying to create a spell until the driver reached out his hand and took away Dumbledore's wand.
"You won't be needing this, Dumbledore!" chuckled the driver, as he tucked it into his pocket. He took out his own wand and waved it around. "Lockus Dumbledorio!"
At the tip of the plank of wood near the lock where Dumbledore's hands were, two thick metal cuffs (attached to the metal near the lock) appeared. They clamped Dumbledore's hand to the plank, enabling him to move much. He tried pulling his hands from the handcuffs, but they wouldn't come out, and the handcuffs were stuck into the metal of the carriage's lock. The driver cackled loudly, as all four of the students witnessed the horrible sight from a distance along the path.
"We should catch up to them. Hurry!" shouted Hermione.
Ron pushed the pedal, and the via-mobile caught up to the broken carriage. They were just a few feet away from Dumbledore, dangling from the plank of wood with his hands cuffed to the lock. Suddenly, the plank broke off and crumbled under the wheels of the driver. The handcuffs were still attached to the medal connecting to the lock, so Dumbledore was being dragged in the path. He suffered many cuts and bruises from the rugged and frigid ground underneath him. The ice and snow had given him frostbites and the friction was ripping his robes. Joy couldn't stand the sight of it, but she tried to stay strong. It seemed to Harry as if she might cry.
The via-mobile and carriage driver (well, it wasn't quite a carriage anymore) were both approaching a snowy path beside a large and dark forest, which looked a lot like the Forbidden Forest.
"This is probably Batingham Forest," stated Hermione.
The forest was a lot bigger than the Forbidden Forest though, and a lot darker. A light mist could be seen hovering above the cold forest floor. Millions of pairs of eyes gleamed through the giant trees, which frightened the four students greatly. Ron looked closer at the driver ahead.
"He's making a turn into the forest," remarked Ron.
The driver made a violent turn into the forest, knocking Dumbledore into many trees. Ron followed the driver into the dark depths of the woods. The driver drove with twists and turns until he drove into a large circular space, surrounded by large trees which blocked most of the circle except for four spaces. The handcuffs which clamped Dumbledore disappeared, releasing Dumbledore into the circle with a painful fall. The driver drove off, leaving Dumbledore alone in the circle.
Ron was about to drive into the large space, until strange cloaked figures had apparated into the space, blocking Ron's via-mobile. Harry and his friends glared at the strange figures, and figured out that the strange figures were Death Eaters, armed with their wands. Badly hurt, Dumbledore stumbled up. He glared at the approaching Death Eaters with horror and fright. He tried to step away, but he was surrounded. They approached him very slowly, but Dumbledore tried to call out.
"Please, do not hurt me!" he pleaded. "I haven't done anything wrong!"
The Death Eaters ignored his plea and chuckled, but Harry couldn't take it anymore. Everyone else in the vehicle was petrified in fright.
"We have to save him!" said Harry, as he unbuckled himself and got out of his seat. "Come on!"
All of them leaped out of the via-mobile. Right before Ron was going to beam the vehicle up with his BCB, Joy grabbed his shoulder and pulled him aside.
"Ron, I need you to go back and rescue the guards," said Joy. "Go drive back to where they are and use a charm to heal them. Oh, and if something bad happens, I just want to tell you that I love you."
"Really?"
"Of course. Now hurry up and leave!"
As Ron drove off, the rest of them took out their wands and headed to Dumbledore's rescue. Right before any of the Death Eaters could lay a hand on Dumbledore, Harry and his friends ran in.
"Don't you dare do anything to Professor Dumbledore!" shouted Harry, pointing his wand to the Death Eaters, with his friends ready with their wands behind him.
"If it isn't famous Harry Potter and his little gang," snickered one of the masked wizard. "They even have Princess Joy with them! Now we get to murder 3 wizards and witches!"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" said Joy with a little smirk, as she approached the Death Eater and disarmed them, knocking his wand out of his hand with a spell.
"Death Eaters, get them!" shouted the masked wizard, as tens and tens of Death Eaters leaped into the space and attacked them.
The three battled them with charms and tried to find Dumbledore. After knocking out several Death Eaters, Harry found Dumbledore against a tree with three Death Eaters beating him with their wands and fists. Harry was horrified at what they were doing to his poor Headmaster, and hurried to Dumbledore's rescue.
"Alto-rictusempra!" shouted Harry, casting the spell on the Death Eaters.
Three large beams shot out of his wand and hit the wizards, making them unconscious. Once they were down, Harry hurriedly ran to Dumbledore. Dumbledore lay against the bare tree, bleeding with bad injuries. He looked up and saw Harry, and his eyes glared in happiness and shock. He gripped onto Harry for support, as he tried to get up.
"H-h-harry," he stuttered, "w-what are you d-d-doing h-here?"
"I don't have time to tell you, but you have to save yourself. Go and hide out of this space. I'll try and keep an eye on you."
Dumbledore nodded and sped off into the bare trees. Harry attacked the Death Eaters from the spot he was standing, glaring to make sure Dumbledore was okay. Harry received some bad wounds, including a very deep cut in his arm. Even so, he managed to stop very many Death Eaters.
He watched Hermione and Joy battle and were quite shocked. Hermione was very good at her battling spells, but Joy was a whole entire different story. The sweet and beautiful Princess had suddenly turned into a strong warrior. She used her wand as if she had used it her whole life (realizing that she only got her wand at 11 years old), and whipped her charms as if it was an art form.
After a long time with ten more Death Eaters attacking them, Ron ran into the space with the guards and a few Aurors. All these guards and Aurors attacked and handcuffed the Death Eaters. A few minutes later, the area was swarmed by Aurors and their Auror wizard-trucks. The knocked-out Death Eaters were put into a large truck where they were laid down on stretchers, and the others were put in Auror cars or trucks, where they would all be taken to Azkaban.
Dumbledore had appeared into the clear area and collapsed. Many people rushed to him, and he was quickly put on a stretcher. Once he came around to being awake, he was treated for his wounds and was asked about what happened. Harry walked to his friends in astonishment to what happened that night.
"Wow, I can't believe we attacked most of those Death Eaters by ourselves," said Harry.
"I know," agreed Hermione. "I never knew I could fight like that."
"I couldn't believe how you and Joy battled. It was amazing, especially Joy. Joy, you turned into a warrior woman!"
Joy giggled at the remark, but remained silent.
"All of you did a great job," said Ron. "When I came in with those guards and Aurors, I could not believe what all of you had done."
"You also did a great job of getting the guards and Aurors, Ron!" said Hermione. "Without you, the Death Eaters might not have gone to Azkaban."
"I didn't really send for the Aurors though. The guards had these kind of... screen gizmos..."
"They're called telescreens," corrected Harry.
"Anyway, the guards called up the Aurors for backup. Now I know what those... telescreens... are used for."
"Good, so now we can go back to the via-mobile," said Hermione.
They started walking to Ron's via-mobile, until one of the Aurors stopped them. He looked like a kind wizard, but they were still a bit scared about why he had stopped them.
"I'm sorry to disturb any of your plans," said the Auror, "but we need you all for questioning."
They all let out a moan, as the Auror brought them to a few other Aurors with quills and notepads. They asked them all questions such as: "Why had you come to rescue Professor Dumbledore?", "How did you leave Hogwarts?", "What have you seen tonight?", and many more. Harry felt a bit tense at the questioning, for he was a bit apprehensive if they tried to question something that would be too secret to reveal.
Once the questioning was over, Ron beamed up his via-mobile into his BCB and all four of them were driven back to Hogwarts by one of the Aurors. Witches and wizards never really used vehicles, unlike muggles, but all of them had found out that vehicles were becoming more popular among the wizard folk instead of brooms and carriages.
"I say it's about time our kind used automobiles," said the Auror. "Those brooms were quite uncomfortable to fly on, and the carriages are too slow. But of course, there are still going to make brooms and carriages for a very long time."
The friendly Auror drove off into the cold night along the icy path to their Hogwarts castle, with another Auror behind them with Professor Dumbledore. All four of them were quiet during the ride back to Hogwarts, though Joy remained eerily silent and "tuned-out" during the entire time.
The wizard-like vehicles stopped in front of the entrance to the school, and dropped the students and professor off. Professor Dumbledore, looking extremely stunned at what had happened that night, was badly hurt and was quite grateful to the students, lead them to the Hospital Wing where Madame Pomfrey took care of their injuries. Harry sat on one of the hospital beds in the Infirmary, and waited until Madame Pomfrey came to his aid (she spent most of her time with Dumbledore's injuries). Right after she had finished putting some Bruise-Be-Gone Lotion on Hermione's arm, she hurried to Harry's side. She examined the wounds Harry had received. Most of them were just small cuts and bruises, but the worst one was the extremely deep cut going down Harry's arm.
"My goodness!" cried Madame Pomfrey, looking at the cut. "This cut looks horrible!"
"Yes, I know," agreed Harry shyly. "It's rather deep."
"Deep indeed! It covers most of your arm. It's very open, dear. Large cuts like these can get bacteria, causing awful infections, which sometimes leads to poison!"
"Poison?"
"Yes, dear. I'm going to put some disinfectant on the cut, stitch this up and then bandage it."
"Stitch it up?" questioned Harry, who was quite skittish at the idea of stitches. He had never gotten stitches (mostly because the Dursleys hadn't cared for his health), and was anxious about the idea.
"Oh don't worry, it won't hurt that much."
Madame Pomfrey rushed into the Infirmary's supply room, and came out with two large bottle of disinfectant and water, 3 large swabs (which were at least 5 times bigger than the usual ones), bandages and a medical sewing kit. She laid everything down near the table beside the bed. She quickly took one of the giant swabs and put some water on it. She wiped the cut with the swab, trying to clean it.
Harry gazed around the large Hospital Wing, looking to see if his friends had already gone. There was no sign of Dumbledore, and he could see his three friends folding their winter wear and carrying it to the door. Hermione looked back at Harry to see what he was doing.
"Wow, that looks like a nasty cut," said Hermione, peaking at his large cut.
"Yeah, it really stings- OUCH!" he cried, as Madame Pomfrey wiped the rubbing alcohol on his cut, which burned badly.
"That must really hurt. Will it be a while for you to be finished?"
"10 minutes at the most. Madame Pomfrey is going to stitch up my cut."
"I hope everything goes well. We'll be in the common room putting our coats and stuff away. Afterwards, we have to go to Professor Dumbledore's office; he wishes to speak to us. We'll wait for you there, all right?"
"All right."
All of his friends waved goodbye to him and exited the Hospital Wing. He wondered what Professor Dumbledore would tell them in his office. He gulped in fear as he saw Madame Pomfrey taking out the medical needle and thread. He tried to find something that would take the idea of the painful stitching off his mind. Right across the room from him he saw Cho sleeping silently in her bed. He gazed at his beautiful girlfriend. She looks like an angel, he though to himself.
Suddenly, she started moving a bit, her eyes rolling around. She opened her eyes and blinked. She got up by leaning her forearm underneath her and stared at Harry, surprised to see him there.
"Harry, you're here," she said in shock. "What are you doing here?"
"I needed Madame Pomfrey to take care of my cut, and a few other wounds."
"The cut looks awful!" she said in worry. "Madame Pomfrey's going to stitch it up?"
"Yeah, she is," he said, glaring in horror at the approaching needle.
He bit his lip very hard as the needle slid into his skin. It felt like tiny, stinging punctures diving numerous times into his skin, with a tense and tightening feeling from the thread. It was painful, but not as painful at he thought. He yelped every time the needle went into his skin. Cho looked at him in sympathy.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" she asked him sweetly.
"Yeah, it does - Ow!"
"I had stitches before. I got my appendix removed a year before I started Hogwarts, and once I had to get an injury stitched up when I was about 5 years old. I was trying to climb my neighbour's fence, which was sharp at the top, and I ended up cutting my knee and falling on my back. I was asleep during the appendix operation, but I wasn't when I got the cut on my knee."
"Ow!" yelped Harry. "Poor you. Ow!"
"It's all right."
"Ow! So why- Ow!- did you wake up? Ow!" asked Harry in concern.
"I had a large snack right before bed, and I guess my stomach hasn't recovered. I took some medicine to calm my stomach ache, but I still feel a bit uncomfortable."
"Don't worry- Ow!- you'll feel -Ow!- better in the -Ow!- morning."
"There, done!" said Madame Pomfrey, putting away the needle and thread. "Now all we have to do is put some more disinfectant on it, and then bandage it all up." She quickly took another swab, dabbed it with disinfectant, and smeared it on his cut, which burned mercilessly. Madame Pomfrey covered his arm in a wrapped bandage and tightened it up with a pin. "Finished!"
"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey!" said Harry gladly, as he stood up and picked up his winter wear.
"I forgot to ask you, Harry, how did you get those injuries?" asked Cho.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you later," he said, walking to the door.
*****
After Harry and his friends had put their stuff away, they headed to Professor Dumbledore's office. Like before, Joy said the password, which made the gargoyle statue come to life, revealing a spiralling staircase moving upwards as they all jumped on it, which lead them to Dumbledore's office door. Ron knocked on the door, and a friendly, "Come in!" from Dumbledore let them inside as they walked to the Headmaster's desk shyly.
"What did you want to speak to us about, Professor Dumbledore?" enquired Hermione.
Professor Dumbledore, who was bandaged up so much that he looked like a mummy, took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.
"Tonight was am absolutely awful night, one that might give me nightmares for years to come. Not only did I have to re-schedule my meeting with the Minister, but I could have really... been... murdered... tonight. I had no idea what was happening when I was clinging on for dear life to the last remaining piece of the carriage, and once my wand was taken away and my hands were clamped with handcuffs, I understood what was happening to me."
"Did you get your wand back?" asked Ron.
"Yes I have, and it was very kind of you to ask. They captured the driver of the carriage. His name was Sam Rovershire, whose family had ties with Lord Voldemort not long ago. They found out he had my wand, and they gave it back to me," he said, holding up his wand.
"To continue. I felt the most scared of my life this night, and I felt utter doom when those... wizards... were approaching me. Alas, when Harry, Joy and Hermione had come to my rescue, I was not just confused and shocked, but glorified. When Ron came with the guards and Aurors, I knew that for sure my life would be saved. Thank you, all of you, so very much, for saving me from a terrible and painful death."
He gave them all such a smile, that they all knew that he was extremely thankful, and they were happy to have done the good deed.
"However, you did break many school rules. If it wasn't for saving my life, I would have given you all detention. However, you went beyond your limits to save another's life. For this, Gryffindor will be given 55 points for each of you students, and you will all be given special awards."
They all cheered in excitement, hugging each other that they had all received awards. They all screamed out, "Thank you" to Professor Dumbledore, and it took them a while to calm down. Professor Dumbledore gave them all a warm smile, and cleared his throat, for he still had more to say.
"If I may ask, how did you get the notion of following me to see what was wrong?"
"I had a premonition," Joy said shyly.
"Really? That something wrong was going to happen?"
"Yes."
"Well, that premonition saved my life. Joy, I'd like to talk to you about being so worried about me," he said, which made the smile on Joy's face not so big.
"Joy, you have got to stop worrying about me. I thank you greatly for what you did, but you could have been badly hurt. Please, do not put yourself, and others in danger to try and save me. You are the one who needs to live long. You cannot risk your life so often."
"But Nono, I didn't get hurt badly," said Joy to Dumbledore. "I'm almost a Magic Monarch, for crying out loud! I'm stronger than almost everyone! I conquered Lord Voldemort! I'm powerful enough to save anybody! You don't have to be concerned for me."
"Joy, I just don't want you risking so much. It's wonderful what you are doing, I just sometimes become afraid if something bad will happen to you. I'm afraid something horrible will happen to you and it'll go without being noticed by you. I just want you to be careful! What if all those horrible wizards turned on you? What if it was only you there? It would be tens and tens against one. You could be defeated!"
"I'm strong enough, Nono! I couldn't let them kill you! I didn't want to lose you!!!"
A few tears streamed down Joy's cheek. Dumbledore stood up from his chair and hugged his great-great-great-granddaughter tightly.
"I'll talk you tomorrow, all right, Princess? All the stuff I said goes to you three too. I think you all should go to bed. It's quite late. I am even too tired to carry on the night."
They all nodded, understanding his wishes, and rushed to their dormitories and went to bed. Harry still couldn't realize how close Dumbledore was of being murdered. He drifted off into sleep, his mind replaying the horrible night.
Author's Note: I think I'm going to start doing the recaps of the previous chapter at the beginning. Anyway, next chapter's called: Secrets. The school finds out what happens, the bunch get their awards, and some secrets are exchanged. PLLLLEEEEAAASSSEEEE RREEEEEVVVVIIIEEEWWWW!!!!!!!!!!
Attack on Dumbledore
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else I mentioned in the other disclaimers.
Author's Note: Hey people! Yep, this is the 16th chapter (please hang on 'til the end!), and in this chapter, Harry, Joy, Ron and Hermione tell Professor Dumbledore that he'll be attacked and killed. But will that stop from him having his horrible death? Read on to find out!!!
Harry, Princess Joy, Ron and Hermione walked quietly around the grounds and into the castle, trying to make sure no one saw them. As the large old-fashioned castle door of the entrance slowly opened, Harry and his friends rushed in. Once they were finally in, they took a deep breath of relief. Afterwards, they rushed up the grand staircase and to the moving staircases as Her Royal Highness tried to wipe her tears away from her face.
"I think I should wash my face before we talk to Professor Dumbledore," said Princess Joy, as all of them hopped onto a moving staircase. "I don't want him to see me like this."
"Don't worry, Joy!" said Harry. "He's not going to make fun of you or anything, and I'm sure he'll understand you're worried for him."
"It's not that!" she said, rubbing her sniffling nose. "I'm supposed to be one of the Heads of the Wizarding World with my sister in less than two years. Crying like this just seems so unprofessional."
"If you insist, we'll find a girls' washroom," said Ron. "Hermione, do you know any nearby?"
"The closest one I can think of is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," replied Hermione. "I'm not too sure you want to go in there."
"It's all right. I'll go there," said Joy. "I've met Myrtle and talked to her a few times."
"Here's the floor to the girls' bathroom!" said Hermione, as she pointed to the floor the staircase was approaching.
All of them hopped off the flight of stairs and onto the floor. After walking through the hallway, they entered the wet and abandoned washroom which the annoying ghost, Moaning Myrtle, haunted. Harry and Ron were a bit skittish at first to enter, but then Hermione and Joy told them it was all right. While Joy turned on a faucet and washed her face, Harry spotted Moaning Myrtle floating in the corner, sighing and sobbing. She had noticed Harry looking at her and looked up in anger.
"What are you doing here, Harry?" she questioned. "This is a girls' bathroom!"
"Joy needed to wash up before we went to Professor Dumbledore," he answered.
"Well, all right... So Harry, how've you been?" she asked with blushing cheeks (it was the first time Harry had ever seen a ghost blush).
"Okay, I guess. It was a rough year last year, but I got through it. This year's been a bit more tolerable."
"I heard Cho was attacked a while ago," she said, as if it was juicy gossip. "Is she still in the hospital wing?"
"She's still weak, so she's going to stay there for a little while, and then she'll come out."
"And you?" questioned Moaning Myrtle to Ron in an obligating way.
"It's been great," said Ron. "Having a girlfriend is pretty cool, especially since Joy's my girlfriend."
"Oh. I would never know that, because I've never had a boyfriend!"
At that moment, Myrtle started to wail annoyingly as Joy turned off the faucet and dried her face with a towel. Moaning Myrtle noticed this and looked up at Joy.
"Hello, Your Royal Highness!" she said admiringly, as she completely ceased her crying. "You came to wash up?"
"Yes, Myrtle," Joy responded. "I was crying and I didn't want Professor Dumbledore to see me in that state."
"Why were you crying, and why are you going to see Professor Dumbledore?" she asked intriguingly.
"Well... uhm... " she stuttered, not knowing what to tell her. "I'll just put it in a simple matter: we found out that someone is going to try and murder Professor Dumbledore when he will go to visit the Minister for Magic in less than a week. I started crying because I didn't want my great-great-great-grandfather to face that."
"Oh my goodness!" cried Moaning Myrtle as she covered her mouth with her hands in shock.
"It's true," admitted Hermione, "but try and keep it a secret, all right?"
"Hermione, do you think I need to put on my make-up?" asked Joy, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Joy, Professor Dumbledore's your great-great-great-grandfather. He doesn't care if you wear make-up or not."
"That's true."
"I never got to put on make-up before I died," sighed Moaning Myrtle, "and I never will!"
She started sobbing again as everyone else gave a large sigh in frustration, except for Joy, who was smiling caringly.
"Don't worry about that, Myrtle!" she said with one of her famous smiles. "I own a beauty product line, which sells make-up made for ghosts! I'll send you a catalogue."
"That would be lovely!" said the ghost with happiness. "I can't wait... but I can't believe someone is going to try and murder Professor Dumbledore!"
And yet again, she started wailing and crying again as she floated to the corner where she was before. The four of them became quite annoyed and hurried back on the moving flight of stairs and onto the floor where Dumbledore's office was located. They walked down the hall towards the large stone gargoyle statue in front of Dumbledore's office, and stopped right in front of it.
"What's the password? Do either you two know?" asked Ron curiously to Harry and Joy.
"I know what the password is," said Joy, and then turned to the gargoyle statue. "Pumpkin crisps!"
Suddenly, the statue came to life and moved aside. The wall behind it opened, revealing a spiralling staircase which was escalating slowly.
All four of them hopped onto the staircase as it brought them upwards to the floor where stood a large wooden door with a wonderful griffon-shaped knocker made of brass. Harry and his friends stepped off the spiralling staircase and walked in front of the door.
Harry gently knocked the brass knocker and waited for a reply.
"Come in," said a soft voice coming from Professor Dumbledore.
Harry opened the door to the office. As he and his friends entered the office of Hogwarts' Headmaster, he marvelled at the room which he had seen quite a few times, but still amazed him.
Hung around the circular room, were large framed portraits of former Headmasters and Headmistresses who were sleeping soundly. Shelves, shelves and more shelves of curious objects and volumes of books were put around the room. On one of the many shelves, the Sorting Hat was kept, and it too was sleeping. Beautiful furniture gave the room a taste of fine decor, and on one of the beautiful tables was a metal instrument that made tinkling noises and puffed out smoke. Harry remembered the temper tantrum he had at the end of his 5th year in Dumbledore's office, that included the smashing of most of the silver instruments (which he kind of regretted it afterwards). In one corner was a marvellous sword held in a glass case, which had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor and was what Harry Potter used to slay the basilisk in his 2nd year. In another corner, was a basin made of stone which held a silvery, shimmering water. This was the Pensieve, which Dumbledore had once shown Harry in his 4th year.
Even if the room was so familiar to Harry and brought back many memories, Harry could find a few differences in the room. Among many of the framed pictures hung a couple of pictures of Princesses Joy and Glory, their father, the Pink Lady, and a few other portraits of family members. Harry also spotted a couple of leather couches in the back. Hermione looked around in wonder at the magnificent room, as did Ron. The four of them advanced to the finely-carved wooden desk with claw-footed legs, where Professor Dumbledore was doing some paperwork and eating a bag of Pumpkin Crisps, with Fawkes sitting on his perch right next to Dumbledore's desk. Fawkes crowed, and Dumbledore looked up and gave them all a smile. He suddenly remembered that he was eating Pumpkin Crisps (which quite made him look unprofessional) and quickly hid the bag in his drawer, making Harry giggle at the scene.
"Good evening, Joy, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger," greeted the Headmaster formally. "What brings you to my office today?"
"We have something very important to tell you," said Hermione.
"Really?" asked Dumbledore with interest. "And what is this you have to tell me, I presume?"
"We overhead Ma-, I mean, a couple of people," said Harry, "planning an attack."
"Oh? Tell me more, Mr. Potter. Who, may I ask, is the one who is supposed to be attacked?"
"That's why it was so important to talk to you," said Hermione in a concerned manner.
"Well then, who is it?"
"The person who they've planned to attack w-was....was....." Harry felt it hard to continue. How would Professor Dumbledore take it? What would be his reaction? Harry suddenly realized what he was about to say: Someone was going to try and murder Professor Dumbledore. Nonetheless, Harry got up the courage to finish what he was saying. "Professor Dumbledore, the person who they've planned to attack is you."
Professor Dumbledore's eyes widened immensely, and he sat there in shock. Harry didn't think he could believe what he was hearing either. Dumbledore gulped down his fear and tried to face the music, asking them more questions.
"And how serious is this... attack, Mr. Potter?"
"Fatal, Professor Dumbledore," he answered. "It's fatal."
"So, they're planning to murder me?" questioned Professor Dumbledore. Harry could see the Professor trembling. He adjusted his glasses and questioned them more. "Is there any particular date that you overheard when they were going to... kill me?"
"They're going to attack you in 4 days," said Hermione, "when you're going to give a visit to Mr. Cornelius Fudge, sir."
"I see," he said deep in thought. Harry could not at all possibly guess how Dumbledore was feeling at that moment. It made Harry tremble a bit too. "What is the plan?"
"I'll answer this one," volunteered Joy. "Those who are scheming against you found out that you would be waiting in the grounds for your carriage to take you to Mr. Fudge. The carriage driver in the carriage would be a-" She paused for a moment, remembering that she couldn't say 'death eater', because those were the followers of Lord Voldemort and that would prove they'd been snooping around. "The carriage driver in the carriage would be someone who is a part of the scheming, and they wouldn't bring you to where you were supposed to go. On the way to the Minister, you would be passing by a large and dangerous forest."
"Batingham Forest, I think it is called," said Professor Dumbledore.
"Yes, I think so. The carriage-driver will take a turn right into the forest, and drop you off there. In the forest, many other... attackers, will trample you...torture... you... and eventually... kill... you..."
Joy burst out crying when she was done speaking. Ron let her rest on his shoulder, as Dumbledore gave a sigh, so sad that his really great-granddaughter was crying and stressing out over his supposed upcoming attack.
"There, there, Joy," said Professor Dumbledore. "Please do not cry. Everything will be sorted out. You do not have to stress over this so. If there is anyone who should be stressed, it is I. Don't worry yourself over me."
Dumbledore stood up from his seat, walked over to Joy and gave her a hug. Joy then started to cry on his shoulder. Even Fawkes, Dumbledore's faithful pet, was crying over the awful plan, which made everybody else want to cry too. Dumbledore gave Joy a tissue and told her to calm herself. He then looked at all of them in suspicion, and asked them another question, as he sat down in his chair.
"If I may ask, how did you four find out about this?" questioned Dumbledore.
The four of them looked at each other, and looked back at him. They had no idea what to say. It was Hermione's turn again to get herself together and to explain to Dumbledore what happened, although she was quite scared if they would all get into trouble.
"You see, Dumbledore," Hermione started off, "we were chatting in the halls for a while, not paying attention to where we were going. Once we finished talking, we looked around us and found out that we were lost in these strange hallways, so we walked around trying to find our way back to the common room but instead we found ourselves in a dead end but Ron accidentally pushed a button on the stone gargoyle and we found an entrance to a little room where we thought there was no way out in there but we found a door on the floor which was absolutely pitched black inside but then Ron fell in, and then Joy jumped in after him, then I did and then Harry went down the dark pit too and we found out that it was actually a slide which led to a stone circular room which had a large wooden door in it and because I heard some mumbling on the other side of the door, Joy made the door transparent on our side and made it non-soundproof so we could hear everything they were saying but once we heard the complete plan of what they were going to do to you, Joy de-charmed the door and Harry pushed a stone-brick in the wall which opened an entrance into the grounds so we decided to rush up to your office and here we are!" Hermione took a large deep breath after saying all they had done all at once, which lead them to finding out Malfoy and Voldemort's plan. "You're not going to expel us, are you?"
"Expel you? I should reward you!" said Dumbledore, as all four of them (especially Hermione) let out a sigh of relief. "It was nothing but bad luck, yet good fortune which lead you through the confusing hallways and out into the grounds. It wasn't really your fault you got lost, for it was an honest mistake. For warning me about all this, I award 20 points to Gryffindor for each one of you!"
Large smiles, both of respite and happiness, swept across all of their faces.
"Thank you so much, Professor Dumbledore!" thanked Harry.
"My pleasure. Oh, would you mind telling me who these attackers are?" asked the Headmaster, with a touch of anger in the depths of his words.
No one really knew how to answer the Headmaster's question. They did know who the attackers were, but could Dumbledore really understand them? Malfoy would of course doubt it if questioned, but how could they prove that Lord Voldemort had come back? They didn't even know themselves how Lord Voldemort came back. Finally, Ron decided to answer the question for them.
"We couldn't tell who it was," answered Ron. "Even if the door was transparent on our side, the room was too dark to see who it was."
"Very well," said Professor Dumbledore. "You may all leave now and go to the Gryffindor common room. I will call a meeting with the staff to discuss this. Farewell!"
"Farewell!" they all said as they walked out of the room, down the twirling flight of stairs and out into the hallway.
They were thankful that the burden of telling Professor Dumbledore and the worry that they would get expelled was over. On their way to the common room, they passed Princess Glory, who surprisingly wasn't in an evil mood.
"Well hello there!" greeted Glory with a warm grin. "Were you coming from the Headmaster's office? Joy, you're not wearing make-up, and it looks like you were crying. What's going on?"
"Glory, I need to tell you something," said Joy, as she led Glory into an empty classroom.
The three of them listened to the whispering between Joy and Glory in the empty room, and then a sudden shrill scream coming from Glory.
"WWHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" screamed Glory, which made the floors and walls shake, broke a few windows and completely startled many students. Once the screaming was over, Joy and Glory came out of the empty classroom. Glory's face was as white as a ghost and she looked very uneasy.
"I-I-I..." stuttered Glory. "I have to... I have to go... now!"
Glory hurriedly ran away from where all of them were standing and rushed all the way to the Ravenclaw common room. Harry and his friends were quite surprised that Princess Glory would react like that to the news.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Hermione.
"We'll go to our common rooms, like we were trying to do before," said Joy. "We'll wait tomorrow for the decisions the staff made at the meeting."
"Come on, let's go," said Harry, as they walked down the hallway to the Gryffindor common room.
"I just hope we don't get lost again," chuckled Ron.
*****
That night wasn't a peaceful night whatsoever. The news of the plan of Dumbledore's attack spread so quickly that by the time Harry and his friends reached the Gryffindor common room, every single Gryffindor (and all the other students, teachers and staff members) knew about it.
Harry had a hard time doing anything but worrying for what would happen next. He had an awful nightmare of what might happen to Professor Dumbledore, which could have given anyone shivers down their spine. Harry wondered how everyone else was feeling after hearing the terrible news. He didn't know if he could get over it until everything was settled, and until the day of the attack had passed, although he wasn't even sure if he'd be calm by then (thinking if Dumbledore and the staff would be able to stop the attack).
Harry and everyone else in the school woke up very anxious and hurried to get ready to be one of the first ones to hear what the staff had decided. Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed to the Great Hall where everyone was whispering and gossiping about Dumbledore's planned attack. Harry didn't eat too much for breakfast because he was so nervous to hear what would happen. He could see Dumbledore talking to Princesses Joy and Glory in the corner of the room. After a while, the two girls rushed back to their house tables and Professor Dumbledore went to his head table, where all the staff looked quite tense (especially Hagrid). Joy sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table next to Ron and put some food on her plate.
"So, what did Dumbledore tell you?" asked Hermione.
"He says that there will be guards everywhere when he will go on his visit to meet the Minister," replied Joy. "If it was an unimportant meeting, Dumbledore would have cancelled it, but this meeting is very important. It concerns the attacks and this whole terrorism business."
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" asked Ron.
"No, Professor Dumbledore is going to explain it with more detail in about 10 minutes."
"I feel sorry for you, Joy," said Dean Thomas. "It's hard enough for all of us to think that someone would try and kill Professor Dumbledore. But you! He's your great-great-great-great-great... or great-great-great... Anyway, he's some kind of grandfather to you, and it would seem like such a loss to your family."
"Yes, I know," she responded, although Harry could see by the look on her face that it seemed to her that Dean was just rubbing the news in.
"I feel sorry for Princess Glory, too!" said Seamus Finnigan. "I heard she was completely white after you, Joy, told her the news. Poor lass!"
"She's not a lass, Seamus!" corrected Ginny Weasley, who was also very worried for Princess Joy and Princess Glory (especially Glory). "She's a princess, and a very stressed-out princess at this moment. A lot of the Ministries of Magic around the world don't want a monarchy anymore, and she's trying hard to prove to them that she's not the aristocratic and overpowered brat that they think she is. And don't think that Princess Joy is different than that, because she's working hard on that too."
"Yes I am, Ginny," said Joy, but Harry could see on her face again that she wasn't too pleased of what Ginny had said either. It was so strange that Joy was dating her older brother, Ron, and she was trying to be very nice to Ginny, but for some strange reason she was still boasting and practically worshipping Princess Glory. Was Joy doing something wrong?
"Colin, maybe we should have taken some more pictures of Professor Dumbledore," said Dennis, holding his camera.
"I know what you mean," agreed Colin. "It just seems like those 190 pictures we took of him aren't enough!"
"He probably found a way to not get attacked, right?"
"Of course he did!"
Both of them hugged each other, which seemed like a perfect moment to catch on camera. Once finished hugging, Colin turned to Harry.
"By the way, Harry, can Dennis and I take a few more pictures of you after breakfast?"
Harry absolutely hated them taking pictures of him, and he clutched his hand in frustration.
"Sure," he said in obligation.
Professor Dumbledore stood up from the head table and called for attention. In less than a second, all eyes were on him.
"I would like to have all your attention," said Dumbledore. "Yesterday evening, I had a visit from four students who reported to me about a secret plan they overheard to destroy me. The attackers planning to do this are unknown."
At that moment, Harry glared at Malfoy, and noticed that he had a tiny smirk on his face, the kind of smirk a secret criminal would have when no one else knew they were responsible for something bad. He also looked a bit frustrated, and Harry could see that he was probably frustrated from them four finding out his plan to destroy Dumbledore. Nonetheless, Harry turned around and continued to listen to Dumbledore.
"In a few days, I was supposed to go and give a very important visit to Mr. Fudge, the Minister for Magic, and I would be brought to the meeting by carriage. The murder plot was said to be that the carriage-driver would be someone who would be part of the scheming of my... death. He would drop me off into Batingham Forest, which is a large, dark forest near where the meeting would take place. In that forest, I would be... murdered..." Harry could tell it wasn't easy for Dumbledore to tell them about this plan, but alas, he kept on telling about it.
"During the staff meeting, many of the professors questioned the discovery of the plan and were thinking of letting it go. Even so, many other professors and staff believed that the plan was true. By the end of the meeting, we decided that for the rest of the week and the next week, there will be some guards around the school so that any suspicious events will be notified. As well, there will be security following me to the meeting with the Minister, and we have contacted Mr. Fudge on the discovery. If you have any questions, you are welcome to ask any of the professors and I."
Professor Dumbledore sat down, letting the students continue to whisper to each other. In a few minutes, breakfast was over and Harry had to face the awful flashing lights of Dennis and Colin Creevey, and he had to wait for what would happen to Professor Dumbledore on his visit to the Minister of Magic.
*****
It was the night when Professor Dumbledore was going to give his important visit to Cornelius Fudge. Harry stared out of a window in the Gryffindor common room in worry if something wrong might happen to the Headmaster that night. He and his friends were the only ones in the common room, for all the others had gone to bed. Maybe all their plans of security will go wrong, or maybe Malfoy and Voldemort have found another way to destroy Dumbledore, he thought to himself. He tried to think good thoughts, but it was no use. He had suffered a lot after the attack of Cho, but he wasn't sure what would happen if Dumbledore, the professor who had cared for him and protected him from Voldemort during all his time at Hogwarts, was murdered.
There was a lot of top security at the school the whole week to make sure nothing wrong would happen. They were the palace guards, who worked for Princess Joy, Glory and their parents at their palace (thus called palace guards). Harry remembered that Joy didn't want to have any guards at Hogwarts because she wanted her freedom. Even with her psychic capabilities, she hadn't predicted that she would need her guards anyway. The guards were dressed as black knights with a belt of readied weapons on their waists. They had a picture of each of the Princesses' coat of arms on each side of their shoulders. They even had strange, wizard-like walkie-talkies. The guards seemed kind of creepy to Harry, but then again, why would they hurt him?
Harry was still staring out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Dumbledore going into his carriage, until someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and found out it was Hermione, who was a bit tense as well.
"Are you all right, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"I'm fine. And you?"
"I'm all right, but I'm still tense."
"Me too. Is Joy all right?"
"She's quite tense too. Actually, she's more tense than both of us combined."
Harry and Hermione turned to see Ron and Joy. Joy was gripping very tightly onto a pillow with Ron laying his hand on her shoulder.
"Joy, are you going to be fine?" asked Harry.
"I think so," she answered. She stood up and went to the windows of the common room. She looked out one of the window into the dark grounds circulating the grand castle. "I've been worrying so much about what would happen tonight. Anything can go wrong! I know there will be guards in the carriage and in the grounds, but Malfoy and Voldemort are sly. They might find another way to- to...
"I just wish there could be a way, a way for me to make sure he was all right. If only there could be a way I could go with him, or... follow him..."
A daring smirk spread across her splendid face, one that Harry had never seen before on Joy. Harry had the feeling that she had a plan, a sneaky plan, hidden up her sleeve.
"Joy, I've seen you make many smiles, grins and smirks," said Ron, "but I have
never seen that look on your face before. Please tell me what you are thinking!"
"I've got a plan, a plan that could reassure me that Professor Dumbledore will be safe."
"What are you talking about, Joy?" asked Harry.
"I'm thinking that we can use Ron's via-mobile to follow Dumbledore."
"We're going to do what?" questioned Ron.
"Ron, you got your license not too long ago. This is your chance to show your skills at driving the via-mobile! We can wait outside in the via-mobile for Professor Dumbledore to go outside and enter the carriage. When he's gone, we'll follow him and make sure he'll be all right and that no attackers get a hold of him."
"Hold on a minute!" shouted Ron. "You really expect me to drive a floating machine like that in these circumstances? I'm obviously going to screw up one way or another, and we've already experienced that kind of screw up, if you don't recall our crash into the Forbidden Forest!"
"Honey, I know you'll be fine!" encouraged Joy.
"Why can't you drive, Joy?"
"Ron, you have to practice driving the via-mobile. You haven't been driving lately and you should practice a bit more."
"Joy, this is a very difficult task! Why can't you drive it? You're a professional!"
"Actually, I wanted to drive in the back of the via-mobile," she implied. "If whoever is trying to destroy Dumbledore finds out that I'm driving behind them, they might try and go after us. I don't want any of you three getting hurt."
"You're right," admitted Ron.
"But Joy, there are so many guards in the grounds!" said Hermione. "We won't be able to pass them, especially with a large flying object! How are we going to follow Dumbledore without them seeing us?"
"The via-mobile has a special feature that makes it invisible," answered Joy.
"But don't the guards have maps that show where people are, like the marauder's map?" asked Harry. "They'll probably see us with the map."
"Those kind of maps are very useful and they can find anybody, invisible or not, but they won't be able to identify us if we're hovering above the castle."
"What?"
"Harry, the via-mobile hovers, which means we can hide above the castle! The maps can't detect those who are high up in the air."
"So, what's our strategy?" asked Ron.
"We're going to hide high above the Gryffindor tower until Professor Dumbledore's coach has left the castle. Afterwards, we'll follow the carriage through the roads while we're still in the air. We'll look down with omnoculars. If there's something wrong, we'll go down to the road. Understand?"
"Yes!" they all said in unison.
"Good. All of you, get ready. Ron, I need you to get your BCB containing your via-mobile. Harry and Hermione, I need you both to move the furniture so we'll have room for the via-mobile. Once we're in, I need you, Hermione, to cast a charm so we can open the wall over there to fit the via-mobile," she said as she pointed to a large, empty wall near the windows of the common room. "Try and cast the charm so that all of this will seem invisible to everyone else. As for me, I'll go get 4 omnoculars. You know what omnoculars are, right?"
"Of course," said Harry. "They're like muggle binoculars, except that they have cool features and they can replay things you've seen."
"All right. Hermione, are you sure you can do the charm?"
"I'll be able to do it. In truth, it feels strange to hear us making this plan to follow Dumbledore. If we can get past the guards, then anyone can."
"That's exactly why we're doing this; anyone can get past them. The guards are fantastic, but if you have a sly mind, you can get passed anyone."
Ron and Harry went to their rooms to put on heavier robes and scarves, and to get Ron's BCB, while Hermione and Joy went to get themselves ready too. Harry and Hermione came down before the other two and started to push the furniture away so that they'd have room for the via-mobile. While they were pushing the furniture, Harry spoke to Hermione.
"You know, Hermione, you've become a lot more daring since the first time I met you. I know I've already told you this before, but I wanted to tell you again. It's surprising you weren't against this plan."
"I know, sometimes I surprise myself. It's hard to look back at the girl who I was during my 1st year, and to think how different we both are. Sometimes, I wish I was still her, but sometimes I don't. But Joy has been more daring too. She was always brave, but now she's more into scheming, planning and ignoring the rules."
"It just goes to show that all four of us were meant to be put in Gryffindor," said Harry.
Ron and Joy finally came down and helped Harry and Hermione push the furniture out of the way. Ron pushed a few buttons which beamed out the via-mobile. Once it was out of the BCB, all of them hopped into the large, hovering vehicle. Ron and Hermione were in the front, and Joy and Harry were in the back. They all buckled up their seatbelts as Joy gave them the signal to get ready.
"Hermione, cast the charm!"
Hermione pulled down the window, stuck out her arm with her wand in hand, waved her wand and cast the charm.
"Morus openo invisiblus!" said Hermione.
Suddenly, the bricks of the wall started to shift and move as it created a large hole in the wall, just big enough to fit the via-mobile.
"Ron, press the invisibility button and move forward!"
"Got it, sweetheart!"
Ron pushed a small red button at the front of the via-mobile, which made the vehicle became invisible. Afterwards, he put a small silver key into the keyhole, turned it and started the via-mobile. He pushed the lever, pushed down on the pedal and away they went through the hole. Hermione turned around to do another charm to close the hole in the wall.
"Morus fermus finito!"
The bricks shifted and moved again until the hole had closed itself. Ron drove the via-mobile above the Gryffindor tower and waited there for Dumbledore to come out with his carriage and drive away. Joy handed the omnoculars to all of them. Harry was handed his omnocular, and once he received it, he adjusted the lens to look out his small window.
With the omnoculars and the height above the castle, Harry had an excellent view of the grounds. A thick layer of cotton-white snow covered the cold yards around the mighty school. He could see icy hills in the distance, and a blizzard-stricken Forbidden Forest at the edge of the dark and snowy horizon. The sky was a deep ocean of darkness with twinkling stars and a glowing moon dominating the sky. It was clear to see that it was a wonderful winter night.
In the corner of his omnocular lens, he could see a tiny carriage riding on the main path to the entrance, where a tiny figure of Dumbledore with three guards were waiting.
"Joy! Ron! Hermione! The carriage is coming!" shouted Harry as he pointed to the carriage coming forth. All of them held up their omnoculars, turned to his direction and watched the carriage drive to the entrance and stop. Once the carriage had stopped, the guards helped Dumbledore into the carriage.
Harry looked at the tiny dot that was in the driver's seat of the carriage. He adjusted his omnocular to look closer, and he could see that there was a man covered in wool robes in the driver's seat. He had a stern face on, and he had a bit of a peculiar look in his eyes. This man was obviously working for Malfoy and Voldemort.
He looked a lot closer at the carriage. It was nicely decorated, and it bore the Hogwarts coat of arms. Harry saw that it was quite strange that the carriage wasn't quite attached to the driver's seat. The seat where the driver was sitting was a small bench with four long rods and wheels which made it elevated to the two large, brown horses. The carriage was connected to the bench by a kind of hook or lock.
The guards hopped into the carriage and closed the door. The driver drove the carriage off onto the path and on their way to Mr. Fudge.
"The carriage is going," said Harry. "Ron, follow them!"
Ron pushed down on the pedal, and away flew the via-mobile, chasing after the carriage from high-up in the air. The flew over the paths and yards of snowy land under the dark sparkling sky of mid-February. Ron drove on for almost half an hour from which they were a long way from Hogwarts. Harry's eyes were getting a bit sore from looking into the omnoculars, and he was becoming a bit bored. Both the girls were getting a bit tired, while Ron was completely tense at the wheel. It was then, half an hour later, when Harry noticed something strange about the driver. He was talking into some little screen which he had never seen before.
"Joy?"
"Yes, Harry?" responded Joy, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Do you know what that screen is that the driver is holding?"
"Let me take a look," she said, as she focused her omnoculars onto the driver. "Oh, it's a telescreen!"
"What's that?" asked Harry.
"A telescreen is one of the many inventions that have been invented in Wizard Italy. It's like a telephone, except that you talk to a screen instead of into little holes in the phone. I wonder why the driver would have one. They're quite expensive."
"Can you look to see who the driver is talking to?" asked Harry.
Joy adjusted the omnocular to look closer. Once she got a sight of who the driver was talking to, she opened her eyes in shock.
"It's Malfoy!" she shouted. "He's talking to Malfoy!!!!"
"So the driver is one their side! I knew it!"
"Ron, pay close attention to any sudden moves that driver is going to make," instructed Joy. "He's talking to Malfoy on his telescreen, so he's bound to be up to no good."
"A tele- what?" asked Ron.
"I'll tell you later. Just keep an eye on that driver."
Ron did keep an eye on the mysterious driver. After a few minutes, he had noticed something suspicious about the driver.
"Hey, guys!" he called out, staring closer at the driver. "This dude is making a strange turn here."
A strange turn it was indeed, since the turn was rather drastic. The driver was going alongside a mountain. On purpose (although he made it seem like it was an accident), he drove right into the side of the cliff, and made an extremely sharp turn to the bend of the road. The turn was so sharp and so violent that the carriage (that was barely attached to the driver's seat by a lock) had gone on the side of the mountain and had flipped - twice!
The doors tore off from the jagged and rocky mountains and all the guards fell out. They either suffered a terrible fall or had banged against the mountain. Either way, they were all unconscious. Because of the horrible friction from the icy path and rocky mountainside, the carriage had torn apart. All that remained of the carriage was a large, rough plank of the wood of the carriage, that Professor Dumbledore was clinging onto for dear life. He was in total shock and was terror-stricken.
"OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!" shouted Princess Joy in choking tears. "OH MY GOODNESS!! LOOK AT THE CARRIAGE!!!! IT'S GONE!!!! WE'VE GOT TO SAVE PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!!!!!"
Harry was almost as shocked as Joy ('almost as shocked', not 'as shocked', considering that he kind of knew that the driver would do something ruthless, and because Joy was shouting with terror). He stared through his omnoculars in fright at the horrible scene below him and his friends.
"Ron, go down and save Dumbledore!" shouted Hermione, pointing at Dumbledore below them.
"I can't!" Ron replied back. "I don't know how!"
"Why didn't I listen to Ron?" questioned Joy to herself. "I would be able to save him!"
"Just go down, Ron!" instructed Harry. "We can't blame you for taking this kind of action."
Ron was scared stiff, as scared as he was when he came face to face with the giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest in their 2nd year.
Quickly, Ron drove the via-mobile downwards until it was hovering slightly above the path. Harry had wondered if Dumbledore might see them, but then he remembered that the via-mobile was invisible.
"Lower the window so we can hear anything they're saying," instructed Joy.
With the push of a button, Ron brought down all the windows. Bitter-cold air entered the vehicle, but they were too busy worrying about Dumbledore and catching anything he or the driver would say to notice the cold draft. They could hear Dumbledore screaming and shouting for help, which made them ache inside. The Headmaster tried to pull himself up from the large piece of wood.
"CAN YOU PLEASE STOP THE CARRIAGE, SIR?" shouted Professor Dumbledore as he tried to grip at the carriage's lock. "I'M FALLING OFF!!!! HELP!"
"You're not going to be having any help, Albus!" said the driver, looking back at Dumbledore. "No one's going to help you, and the only time this carriage is going to stop is if you fall off!"
An evil chuckle was heard from the horrible driver. Dumbledore took out his wand from his robes, trying to create a spell until the driver reached out his hand and took away Dumbledore's wand.
"You won't be needing this, Dumbledore!" chuckled the driver, as he tucked it into his pocket. He took out his own wand and waved it around. "Lockus Dumbledorio!"
At the tip of the plank of wood near the lock where Dumbledore's hands were, two thick metal cuffs (attached to the metal near the lock) appeared. They clamped Dumbledore's hand to the plank, enabling him to move much. He tried pulling his hands from the handcuffs, but they wouldn't come out, and the handcuffs were stuck into the metal of the carriage's lock. The driver cackled loudly, as all four of the students witnessed the horrible sight from a distance along the path.
"We should catch up to them. Hurry!" shouted Hermione.
Ron pushed the pedal, and the via-mobile caught up to the broken carriage. They were just a few feet away from Dumbledore, dangling from the plank of wood with his hands cuffed to the lock. Suddenly, the plank broke off and crumbled under the wheels of the driver. The handcuffs were still attached to the medal connecting to the lock, so Dumbledore was being dragged in the path. He suffered many cuts and bruises from the rugged and frigid ground underneath him. The ice and snow had given him frostbites and the friction was ripping his robes. Joy couldn't stand the sight of it, but she tried to stay strong. It seemed to Harry as if she might cry.
The via-mobile and carriage driver (well, it wasn't quite a carriage anymore) were both approaching a snowy path beside a large and dark forest, which looked a lot like the Forbidden Forest.
"This is probably Batingham Forest," stated Hermione.
The forest was a lot bigger than the Forbidden Forest though, and a lot darker. A light mist could be seen hovering above the cold forest floor. Millions of pairs of eyes gleamed through the giant trees, which frightened the four students greatly. Ron looked closer at the driver ahead.
"He's making a turn into the forest," remarked Ron.
The driver made a violent turn into the forest, knocking Dumbledore into many trees. Ron followed the driver into the dark depths of the woods. The driver drove with twists and turns until he drove into a large circular space, surrounded by large trees which blocked most of the circle except for four spaces. The handcuffs which clamped Dumbledore disappeared, releasing Dumbledore into the circle with a painful fall. The driver drove off, leaving Dumbledore alone in the circle.
Ron was about to drive into the large space, until strange cloaked figures had apparated into the space, blocking Ron's via-mobile. Harry and his friends glared at the strange figures, and figured out that the strange figures were Death Eaters, armed with their wands. Badly hurt, Dumbledore stumbled up. He glared at the approaching Death Eaters with horror and fright. He tried to step away, but he was surrounded. They approached him very slowly, but Dumbledore tried to call out.
"Please, do not hurt me!" he pleaded. "I haven't done anything wrong!"
The Death Eaters ignored his plea and chuckled, but Harry couldn't take it anymore. Everyone else in the vehicle was petrified in fright.
"We have to save him!" said Harry, as he unbuckled himself and got out of his seat. "Come on!"
All of them leaped out of the via-mobile. Right before Ron was going to beam the vehicle up with his BCB, Joy grabbed his shoulder and pulled him aside.
"Ron, I need you to go back and rescue the guards," said Joy. "Go drive back to where they are and use a charm to heal them. Oh, and if something bad happens, I just want to tell you that I love you."
"Really?"
"Of course. Now hurry up and leave!"
As Ron drove off, the rest of them took out their wands and headed to Dumbledore's rescue. Right before any of the Death Eaters could lay a hand on Dumbledore, Harry and his friends ran in.
"Don't you dare do anything to Professor Dumbledore!" shouted Harry, pointing his wand to the Death Eaters, with his friends ready with their wands behind him.
"If it isn't famous Harry Potter and his little gang," snickered one of the masked wizard. "They even have Princess Joy with them! Now we get to murder 3 wizards and witches!"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" said Joy with a little smirk, as she approached the Death Eater and disarmed them, knocking his wand out of his hand with a spell.
"Death Eaters, get them!" shouted the masked wizard, as tens and tens of Death Eaters leaped into the space and attacked them.
The three battled them with charms and tried to find Dumbledore. After knocking out several Death Eaters, Harry found Dumbledore against a tree with three Death Eaters beating him with their wands and fists. Harry was horrified at what they were doing to his poor Headmaster, and hurried to Dumbledore's rescue.
"Alto-rictusempra!" shouted Harry, casting the spell on the Death Eaters.
Three large beams shot out of his wand and hit the wizards, making them unconscious. Once they were down, Harry hurriedly ran to Dumbledore. Dumbledore lay against the bare tree, bleeding with bad injuries. He looked up and saw Harry, and his eyes glared in happiness and shock. He gripped onto Harry for support, as he tried to get up.
"H-h-harry," he stuttered, "w-what are you d-d-doing h-here?"
"I don't have time to tell you, but you have to save yourself. Go and hide out of this space. I'll try and keep an eye on you."
Dumbledore nodded and sped off into the bare trees. Harry attacked the Death Eaters from the spot he was standing, glaring to make sure Dumbledore was okay. Harry received some bad wounds, including a very deep cut in his arm. Even so, he managed to stop very many Death Eaters.
He watched Hermione and Joy battle and were quite shocked. Hermione was very good at her battling spells, but Joy was a whole entire different story. The sweet and beautiful Princess had suddenly turned into a strong warrior. She used her wand as if she had used it her whole life (realizing that she only got her wand at 11 years old), and whipped her charms as if it was an art form.
After a long time with ten more Death Eaters attacking them, Ron ran into the space with the guards and a few Aurors. All these guards and Aurors attacked and handcuffed the Death Eaters. A few minutes later, the area was swarmed by Aurors and their Auror wizard-trucks. The knocked-out Death Eaters were put into a large truck where they were laid down on stretchers, and the others were put in Auror cars or trucks, where they would all be taken to Azkaban.
Dumbledore had appeared into the clear area and collapsed. Many people rushed to him, and he was quickly put on a stretcher. Once he came around to being awake, he was treated for his wounds and was asked about what happened. Harry walked to his friends in astonishment to what happened that night.
"Wow, I can't believe we attacked most of those Death Eaters by ourselves," said Harry.
"I know," agreed Hermione. "I never knew I could fight like that."
"I couldn't believe how you and Joy battled. It was amazing, especially Joy. Joy, you turned into a warrior woman!"
Joy giggled at the remark, but remained silent.
"All of you did a great job," said Ron. "When I came in with those guards and Aurors, I could not believe what all of you had done."
"You also did a great job of getting the guards and Aurors, Ron!" said Hermione. "Without you, the Death Eaters might not have gone to Azkaban."
"I didn't really send for the Aurors though. The guards had these kind of... screen gizmos..."
"They're called telescreens," corrected Harry.
"Anyway, the guards called up the Aurors for backup. Now I know what those... telescreens... are used for."
"Good, so now we can go back to the via-mobile," said Hermione.
They started walking to Ron's via-mobile, until one of the Aurors stopped them. He looked like a kind wizard, but they were still a bit scared about why he had stopped them.
"I'm sorry to disturb any of your plans," said the Auror, "but we need you all for questioning."
They all let out a moan, as the Auror brought them to a few other Aurors with quills and notepads. They asked them all questions such as: "Why had you come to rescue Professor Dumbledore?", "How did you leave Hogwarts?", "What have you seen tonight?", and many more. Harry felt a bit tense at the questioning, for he was a bit apprehensive if they tried to question something that would be too secret to reveal.
Once the questioning was over, Ron beamed up his via-mobile into his BCB and all four of them were driven back to Hogwarts by one of the Aurors. Witches and wizards never really used vehicles, unlike muggles, but all of them had found out that vehicles were becoming more popular among the wizard folk instead of brooms and carriages.
"I say it's about time our kind used automobiles," said the Auror. "Those brooms were quite uncomfortable to fly on, and the carriages are too slow. But of course, there are still going to make brooms and carriages for a very long time."
The friendly Auror drove off into the cold night along the icy path to their Hogwarts castle, with another Auror behind them with Professor Dumbledore. All four of them were quiet during the ride back to Hogwarts, though Joy remained eerily silent and "tuned-out" during the entire time.
The wizard-like vehicles stopped in front of the entrance to the school, and dropped the students and professor off. Professor Dumbledore, looking extremely stunned at what had happened that night, was badly hurt and was quite grateful to the students, lead them to the Hospital Wing where Madame Pomfrey took care of their injuries. Harry sat on one of the hospital beds in the Infirmary, and waited until Madame Pomfrey came to his aid (she spent most of her time with Dumbledore's injuries). Right after she had finished putting some Bruise-Be-Gone Lotion on Hermione's arm, she hurried to Harry's side. She examined the wounds Harry had received. Most of them were just small cuts and bruises, but the worst one was the extremely deep cut going down Harry's arm.
"My goodness!" cried Madame Pomfrey, looking at the cut. "This cut looks horrible!"
"Yes, I know," agreed Harry shyly. "It's rather deep."
"Deep indeed! It covers most of your arm. It's very open, dear. Large cuts like these can get bacteria, causing awful infections, which sometimes leads to poison!"
"Poison?"
"Yes, dear. I'm going to put some disinfectant on the cut, stitch this up and then bandage it."
"Stitch it up?" questioned Harry, who was quite skittish at the idea of stitches. He had never gotten stitches (mostly because the Dursleys hadn't cared for his health), and was anxious about the idea.
"Oh don't worry, it won't hurt that much."
Madame Pomfrey rushed into the Infirmary's supply room, and came out with two large bottle of disinfectant and water, 3 large swabs (which were at least 5 times bigger than the usual ones), bandages and a medical sewing kit. She laid everything down near the table beside the bed. She quickly took one of the giant swabs and put some water on it. She wiped the cut with the swab, trying to clean it.
Harry gazed around the large Hospital Wing, looking to see if his friends had already gone. There was no sign of Dumbledore, and he could see his three friends folding their winter wear and carrying it to the door. Hermione looked back at Harry to see what he was doing.
"Wow, that looks like a nasty cut," said Hermione, peaking at his large cut.
"Yeah, it really stings- OUCH!" he cried, as Madame Pomfrey wiped the rubbing alcohol on his cut, which burned badly.
"That must really hurt. Will it be a while for you to be finished?"
"10 minutes at the most. Madame Pomfrey is going to stitch up my cut."
"I hope everything goes well. We'll be in the common room putting our coats and stuff away. Afterwards, we have to go to Professor Dumbledore's office; he wishes to speak to us. We'll wait for you there, all right?"
"All right."
All of his friends waved goodbye to him and exited the Hospital Wing. He wondered what Professor Dumbledore would tell them in his office. He gulped in fear as he saw Madame Pomfrey taking out the medical needle and thread. He tried to find something that would take the idea of the painful stitching off his mind. Right across the room from him he saw Cho sleeping silently in her bed. He gazed at his beautiful girlfriend. She looks like an angel, he though to himself.
Suddenly, she started moving a bit, her eyes rolling around. She opened her eyes and blinked. She got up by leaning her forearm underneath her and stared at Harry, surprised to see him there.
"Harry, you're here," she said in shock. "What are you doing here?"
"I needed Madame Pomfrey to take care of my cut, and a few other wounds."
"The cut looks awful!" she said in worry. "Madame Pomfrey's going to stitch it up?"
"Yeah, she is," he said, glaring in horror at the approaching needle.
He bit his lip very hard as the needle slid into his skin. It felt like tiny, stinging punctures diving numerous times into his skin, with a tense and tightening feeling from the thread. It was painful, but not as painful at he thought. He yelped every time the needle went into his skin. Cho looked at him in sympathy.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" she asked him sweetly.
"Yeah, it does - Ow!"
"I had stitches before. I got my appendix removed a year before I started Hogwarts, and once I had to get an injury stitched up when I was about 5 years old. I was trying to climb my neighbour's fence, which was sharp at the top, and I ended up cutting my knee and falling on my back. I was asleep during the appendix operation, but I wasn't when I got the cut on my knee."
"Ow!" yelped Harry. "Poor you. Ow!"
"It's all right."
"Ow! So why- Ow!- did you wake up? Ow!" asked Harry in concern.
"I had a large snack right before bed, and I guess my stomach hasn't recovered. I took some medicine to calm my stomach ache, but I still feel a bit uncomfortable."
"Don't worry- Ow!- you'll feel -Ow!- better in the -Ow!- morning."
"There, done!" said Madame Pomfrey, putting away the needle and thread. "Now all we have to do is put some more disinfectant on it, and then bandage it all up." She quickly took another swab, dabbed it with disinfectant, and smeared it on his cut, which burned mercilessly. Madame Pomfrey covered his arm in a wrapped bandage and tightened it up with a pin. "Finished!"
"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey!" said Harry gladly, as he stood up and picked up his winter wear.
"I forgot to ask you, Harry, how did you get those injuries?" asked Cho.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you later," he said, walking to the door.
*****
After Harry and his friends had put their stuff away, they headed to Professor Dumbledore's office. Like before, Joy said the password, which made the gargoyle statue come to life, revealing a spiralling staircase moving upwards as they all jumped on it, which lead them to Dumbledore's office door. Ron knocked on the door, and a friendly, "Come in!" from Dumbledore let them inside as they walked to the Headmaster's desk shyly.
"What did you want to speak to us about, Professor Dumbledore?" enquired Hermione.
Professor Dumbledore, who was bandaged up so much that he looked like a mummy, took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.
"Tonight was am absolutely awful night, one that might give me nightmares for years to come. Not only did I have to re-schedule my meeting with the Minister, but I could have really... been... murdered... tonight. I had no idea what was happening when I was clinging on for dear life to the last remaining piece of the carriage, and once my wand was taken away and my hands were clamped with handcuffs, I understood what was happening to me."
"Did you get your wand back?" asked Ron.
"Yes I have, and it was very kind of you to ask. They captured the driver of the carriage. His name was Sam Rovershire, whose family had ties with Lord Voldemort not long ago. They found out he had my wand, and they gave it back to me," he said, holding up his wand.
"To continue. I felt the most scared of my life this night, and I felt utter doom when those... wizards... were approaching me. Alas, when Harry, Joy and Hermione had come to my rescue, I was not just confused and shocked, but glorified. When Ron came with the guards and Aurors, I knew that for sure my life would be saved. Thank you, all of you, so very much, for saving me from a terrible and painful death."
He gave them all such a smile, that they all knew that he was extremely thankful, and they were happy to have done the good deed.
"However, you did break many school rules. If it wasn't for saving my life, I would have given you all detention. However, you went beyond your limits to save another's life. For this, Gryffindor will be given 55 points for each of you students, and you will all be given special awards."
They all cheered in excitement, hugging each other that they had all received awards. They all screamed out, "Thank you" to Professor Dumbledore, and it took them a while to calm down. Professor Dumbledore gave them all a warm smile, and cleared his throat, for he still had more to say.
"If I may ask, how did you get the notion of following me to see what was wrong?"
"I had a premonition," Joy said shyly.
"Really? That something wrong was going to happen?"
"Yes."
"Well, that premonition saved my life. Joy, I'd like to talk to you about being so worried about me," he said, which made the smile on Joy's face not so big.
"Joy, you have got to stop worrying about me. I thank you greatly for what you did, but you could have been badly hurt. Please, do not put yourself, and others in danger to try and save me. You are the one who needs to live long. You cannot risk your life so often."
"But Nono, I didn't get hurt badly," said Joy to Dumbledore. "I'm almost a Magic Monarch, for crying out loud! I'm stronger than almost everyone! I conquered Lord Voldemort! I'm powerful enough to save anybody! You don't have to be concerned for me."
"Joy, I just don't want you risking so much. It's wonderful what you are doing, I just sometimes become afraid if something bad will happen to you. I'm afraid something horrible will happen to you and it'll go without being noticed by you. I just want you to be careful! What if all those horrible wizards turned on you? What if it was only you there? It would be tens and tens against one. You could be defeated!"
"I'm strong enough, Nono! I couldn't let them kill you! I didn't want to lose you!!!"
A few tears streamed down Joy's cheek. Dumbledore stood up from his chair and hugged his great-great-great-granddaughter tightly.
"I'll talk you tomorrow, all right, Princess? All the stuff I said goes to you three too. I think you all should go to bed. It's quite late. I am even too tired to carry on the night."
They all nodded, understanding his wishes, and rushed to their dormitories and went to bed. Harry still couldn't realize how close Dumbledore was of being murdered. He drifted off into sleep, his mind replaying the horrible night.
Author's Note: I think I'm going to start doing the recaps of the previous chapter at the beginning. Anyway, next chapter's called: Secrets. The school finds out what happens, the bunch get their awards, and some secrets are exchanged. PLLLLEEEEAAASSSEEEE RREEEEEVVVVIIIEEEWWWW!!!!!!!!!!