*******Author's Note—Well, here it is, Chapter 5. Thanks for your reviews and your interest! This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but things are starting to really heat up now.
Crater212—You think Mira is a transfigured house elf? An interesting theory! We'll have to see how it plays out.
As for ships in the story, well, I'm not a H-Hr or a H-G shipper. As for Tonks… well, eeeeeeeeeew! I mean, he's 16 and she's like… my age! Gross! That 6 or 7 years can make a lot of difference. But, hey, way to get those creative-theoretical juices flowing! I will, however, reveal that there is a ship in the story. Actually, I imagine it'll get pretty obvious before too long. ^_^
Enjoy chapter 5, my fellow HP fans! Happy reading.
Neoepiphany***************
Chapter Five
The Daily Prophet's Special Report
Everyone gasped. Ginny dropped her biscuit.
"Another attack? You mean Voldemort?" Harry said. He felt curiously numb, like he swallowed a block of ice. He remembered how his scar had hurt earlier. He had thought it was because of the OWLs…
"I'm afraid so," Mrs. Weasley said quietly.
"Is—is everyone okay?" Hermione asked. Her face was white. "What happened?"
Mira sat a cup of tea down in front of Kingsley and Mrs. Weasley, before resuming her own seat. Mrs. Weasley spun her cup anxiously between her fingers.
"There were two deaths," Kingsley said, his voice even deeper than usual. "Both muggles. Two wizards had to be taken to St. Mungo's."
"Oh!" Ginny gasped.
"What happened?" Harry persisted.
"I suppose we might as well tell you everything. It'll be in the Prophet tomorrow… On the muggle news tonight…" Mrs. Weasley said relunctantly.
"We don't know everything yet," Kingsley said. "There are still Aurors and quite a few members of the Order of the Pheonix out there now trying to figure everything out. As far as we know… well—"
"It looks like it was just a bit of… of fun for them," Mrs. Weasley spat out the word angrily.
"They're going back to their old ways," Kingsley frowned, "now that they aren't in hiding anymore."
"A group of Death Eaters attacked a wizarding couple. Barnabus and Liza Dodge," Mrs. Weasley said sadly. "Good people. Always very helpful to the ministry. You-know-who probably remembered how much trouble they were to him last time. Not members of the Order of course, but still very harmful to him."
"What did they do to them?" Ginny asked.
"Had them both under the Cruciatus curse," Kingsley sighed. "But poor Liza… well, they jinxed her very badly. It'll take all the healers in St. Mungo's to put her right, poor thing."
"And at her age," Mrs. Weasley sighed.
"What about the muggles?" Harry asked.
"Wrong place, wrong time, I'm afraid," Kingsley said. "They came up to the house when they heard the commotion and saw the lights. Wanted to help. The Death Eaters killed them both right there on the front doorstep."
"Oh no," Hermione moaned. "The poor things!"
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "But after that, the Death Eaters left. Shot off the Dark Mark and disappeared."
Mira shook her head. "People will be in a panic," she sighed. "First Harry, now this—it's not going to be good."
"No kidding," Ron said. He looked numb.
"If only we'd known sooner," Mrs. Weasley sighed. "We could have tried to stop them… we might have helped poor old Liza."
"Unfortunately," Kingsley nodded, "they couldn't have picked a worse day. Today was the day that the two who attacked Harry were being moved to the ministry for trial so everyone was busy trying to see to it that something just like this didn't happen."
"But no one expected them to go after the Dodges," Mrs. Weasley shook her head sadly.
An uncomfortable silence lapsed over the table. Mira pushed a fresh cup of tea in front of Kingsley who nodded his thanks.
"Is there anything we can do, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked.
Mrs. Weasley smiled in a tired way. "No, thank you dear. I'm just glad that you four are here, where you're safe. I expect things are only going to get worse from here on out."
"Well, there is a bit of good news to cheer you up, Mum," Ginny said. Harry frowned at her. "Ron, Hermione, and Harry got their OWL results today."
"Did you?" Mrs. Weasley wheeled on Ron. "How many did you get?" she demanded.
Ron held out the parchment, which had been sitting on the kitchen dresser behind him. "See for yourself," he grinned.
Mrs. Weasley's eyes shot across the parchment. A grin sprouted on her worried face, and she threw her arms around her son.
"Bless me, Ron! I'm so proud of you!" she wailed. "Mind you, I'm not too pleased about that P," she said, sitting back, and examining him at arms length.
"It was in divinations!" Ron protested. "That Trelawney was a right old fraud, you know!"
"Well, as it's only divinations," Mrs. Weasley conceded, hugging Ron fiercely. His face went red.
When she pulled away, Mrs. Weasley was wiping a tear away. "And how did the two of you do?" she asked.
"Hermione got straight Os," Ginny said grinning.
"That's excellent, Hermione," Kingsley said, shaking her hand. She blushed and smiled.
"Congratulations!" Mrs. Weasley cheered, hugging Hermione as well.
"Thank you," she smiled.
"And Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, grabbing Harry's results paper off the dresser and scanning it as well.
Harry suddenly found himself enveloped in a massive hug, much like the one Mrs. Weasley gave to Ron. "I'm just so proud of you!" she said, now crying openly. Harry's face felt hot as she pulled away, hugging Ron and Harry's shoulders. Mira was gazing at them with a wistful smile from across the table.
"It's good to have something nice to cheer us up when there's such sad news," she said, sipping her own tea. "We'll have to have a party."
"Speaking of parties," Mira added, "somebody's birthday is Friday."
Harry's ears flushed.
"Hey, that's right!" Ron said, elbowing Harry. "You're going to be sixteen!"
"We'll have to have a party, of course!" Hermione grinned.
"I've never had a birthday party," Harry muttered, his ears feeling quite hot.
"That's precisely why we need to have one," Mira said. "Give me a list of your favorite foods and I'll make them all for the party. Whatever you want."
Mrs. Weasley rigorously avoided looking at Mira. "That'd be just the thing to cheer us up," she said, but her tone was less enthusiastic.
"I'd better be heading back, Molly," Kingsley said, standing. "I imagine they'll be needing some help with the Dodges. Just call me if you need to head out again."
"We've instituted a buddy system," Mrs. Weasley explained as Kingsley headed upstairs. "We're all going everywhere in pairs. That way, hopefully, we'll all be a bit safer. As your father was busy, Kingsley escorted me home."
They were a subdued group that afternoon. Ginny helped Mira to make a tremendous meatloaf for dinner (Ron groaned, "I hate meatloaf!") while Hermione and Ron bickered over something. Harry sat reading an old quidditch playbook of Charlie's and twisting Sirius's ring around his finger.
Just before supper, Moody, Tonks, and Mr. Weasley came in, all looking very tired.
"Mmm, is that meatloaf I smell?" Tonks grinned. She was wearing her hair bubblegum pink again today, but, perhaps because of the earlier tragedy, it was pulled in to a McGonagall-like bun rather than her usual short and spiky number.
"It is," Ginny smiled. "I helped Mira to make it. We figured there'd be a lot of people for dinner."
Moody scowled at Mira, his magical eye zipping back and forth over the oven where the meatloaf was baking, as if scanning it for foreign bodies.
Mr. Weasley flopped into one of the chairs, and leaned on his hand. "What a day. I'm totally exhausted." He sat a rather abused copy of the Daily Prophet on the table.
"They couldn't have chosen a worse day," Tonks agreed.
Moody said nothing, but he nodded and took a swig from his hip flask.
"Can I have a look at this, Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked, reaching toward the paper.
Mr. Weasley sighed. "I suppose so. But it's not very nice, Harry."
Harry unfolded the paper to find a big picture of a house in ruins. There were two chalk outlines on the outside pavement, no doubt where the muggles had fallen. Witches and wizards were bustling busily back and forth in the photograph. Below that was an inset photo of an older couple, smiling and waving: Barnabus and Liza Dodge. They had kind, smiling eyes.
"You-know-who Strikes Again!
Wizards Panic after the Second Fatal Attack in Days."
"Second?" said Ron, who was reading over Harry's shoulder. "When was the first?"
"Mine," said Harry. "Remember?"
"Oh, right. Sorry."
Harry went on reading the article. "The wizarding world was stunned today when supporters of You-know-who attacked another wizarding family, this time killing two muggles and badly injuring both wizards.
Barnabus and Eliza Dodge, both retired, were taken to St. Mungo's Hospital this afternoon, where they are being treated for severe spell damage. The muggles, a Mrs. Doris Claymore and Mr. Frank Hartwright, were killed outright. Mrs. Dodge is listed in critical condition, while Mr. Dodge is expected to recover within a month.
'Attacks of this nature are only going to increase until He-who-must-not-be-named is brought down,' noted Alastor Moody, famed Ministry Auror responsible for the capture of many original Death Eaters. 'Self-protection is essential. Constant Vigilance!'
'The important thing is to not panic,' added another auror. 'Keep your head and defend yourself.'
The Dodges, both former members of the Magical Law Enforcement squad, were very outspoken against You-know-who during his last attack, and were responsible for the arrests of many of his suporters (Death Eaters). Ministry wizards theorize that this attack was an act of revenge similar to the attack on young Harry Potter two weeks ago."
"There you are, Harry," said Ron. "I knew they'd drag you into it."
Harry shrugged and kept reading.
"Potter, on whose condition ministry wizards refuse to comment, has not been seen since the attack, and is largely presumed dead.
'It broke my heart,' said Ms. Chloe Gladwaiter, 42, of East Bartlett. 'Little Harry Potter has meant hope to all of us for so long, and now he's gone.'
Eyewitness accounts from the scene of that attack indicate that a body was removed from the scene prior to the arrival of reporters."
Harry scanned the rest of the article. "It goes on about self-defense measures and that sort of thing for a while," he said. He pushed the paper away. It felt strange, reading about his own death in the newspaper.
"I don't like pretending to be dead," he said quietly. He thought about his friends at Hogwarts and wondered if they all thought he was dead too. His mind went to the other members of the DA. He wondered if Neville was worried. He thought of Cho, wondered if she was crying over his supposed death like she had Cedric's. Ron nodded sympathetically.
"All in all," he said, "I'll be really happy to get back to Hogwarts."
Crater212—You think Mira is a transfigured house elf? An interesting theory! We'll have to see how it plays out.
As for ships in the story, well, I'm not a H-Hr or a H-G shipper. As for Tonks… well, eeeeeeeeeew! I mean, he's 16 and she's like… my age! Gross! That 6 or 7 years can make a lot of difference. But, hey, way to get those creative-theoretical juices flowing! I will, however, reveal that there is a ship in the story. Actually, I imagine it'll get pretty obvious before too long. ^_^
Enjoy chapter 5, my fellow HP fans! Happy reading.
Neoepiphany***************
Chapter Five
The Daily Prophet's Special Report
Everyone gasped. Ginny dropped her biscuit.
"Another attack? You mean Voldemort?" Harry said. He felt curiously numb, like he swallowed a block of ice. He remembered how his scar had hurt earlier. He had thought it was because of the OWLs…
"I'm afraid so," Mrs. Weasley said quietly.
"Is—is everyone okay?" Hermione asked. Her face was white. "What happened?"
Mira sat a cup of tea down in front of Kingsley and Mrs. Weasley, before resuming her own seat. Mrs. Weasley spun her cup anxiously between her fingers.
"There were two deaths," Kingsley said, his voice even deeper than usual. "Both muggles. Two wizards had to be taken to St. Mungo's."
"Oh!" Ginny gasped.
"What happened?" Harry persisted.
"I suppose we might as well tell you everything. It'll be in the Prophet tomorrow… On the muggle news tonight…" Mrs. Weasley said relunctantly.
"We don't know everything yet," Kingsley said. "There are still Aurors and quite a few members of the Order of the Pheonix out there now trying to figure everything out. As far as we know… well—"
"It looks like it was just a bit of… of fun for them," Mrs. Weasley spat out the word angrily.
"They're going back to their old ways," Kingsley frowned, "now that they aren't in hiding anymore."
"A group of Death Eaters attacked a wizarding couple. Barnabus and Liza Dodge," Mrs. Weasley said sadly. "Good people. Always very helpful to the ministry. You-know-who probably remembered how much trouble they were to him last time. Not members of the Order of course, but still very harmful to him."
"What did they do to them?" Ginny asked.
"Had them both under the Cruciatus curse," Kingsley sighed. "But poor Liza… well, they jinxed her very badly. It'll take all the healers in St. Mungo's to put her right, poor thing."
"And at her age," Mrs. Weasley sighed.
"What about the muggles?" Harry asked.
"Wrong place, wrong time, I'm afraid," Kingsley said. "They came up to the house when they heard the commotion and saw the lights. Wanted to help. The Death Eaters killed them both right there on the front doorstep."
"Oh no," Hermione moaned. "The poor things!"
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "But after that, the Death Eaters left. Shot off the Dark Mark and disappeared."
Mira shook her head. "People will be in a panic," she sighed. "First Harry, now this—it's not going to be good."
"No kidding," Ron said. He looked numb.
"If only we'd known sooner," Mrs. Weasley sighed. "We could have tried to stop them… we might have helped poor old Liza."
"Unfortunately," Kingsley nodded, "they couldn't have picked a worse day. Today was the day that the two who attacked Harry were being moved to the ministry for trial so everyone was busy trying to see to it that something just like this didn't happen."
"But no one expected them to go after the Dodges," Mrs. Weasley shook her head sadly.
An uncomfortable silence lapsed over the table. Mira pushed a fresh cup of tea in front of Kingsley who nodded his thanks.
"Is there anything we can do, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked.
Mrs. Weasley smiled in a tired way. "No, thank you dear. I'm just glad that you four are here, where you're safe. I expect things are only going to get worse from here on out."
"Well, there is a bit of good news to cheer you up, Mum," Ginny said. Harry frowned at her. "Ron, Hermione, and Harry got their OWL results today."
"Did you?" Mrs. Weasley wheeled on Ron. "How many did you get?" she demanded.
Ron held out the parchment, which had been sitting on the kitchen dresser behind him. "See for yourself," he grinned.
Mrs. Weasley's eyes shot across the parchment. A grin sprouted on her worried face, and she threw her arms around her son.
"Bless me, Ron! I'm so proud of you!" she wailed. "Mind you, I'm not too pleased about that P," she said, sitting back, and examining him at arms length.
"It was in divinations!" Ron protested. "That Trelawney was a right old fraud, you know!"
"Well, as it's only divinations," Mrs. Weasley conceded, hugging Ron fiercely. His face went red.
When she pulled away, Mrs. Weasley was wiping a tear away. "And how did the two of you do?" she asked.
"Hermione got straight Os," Ginny said grinning.
"That's excellent, Hermione," Kingsley said, shaking her hand. She blushed and smiled.
"Congratulations!" Mrs. Weasley cheered, hugging Hermione as well.
"Thank you," she smiled.
"And Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, grabbing Harry's results paper off the dresser and scanning it as well.
Harry suddenly found himself enveloped in a massive hug, much like the one Mrs. Weasley gave to Ron. "I'm just so proud of you!" she said, now crying openly. Harry's face felt hot as she pulled away, hugging Ron and Harry's shoulders. Mira was gazing at them with a wistful smile from across the table.
"It's good to have something nice to cheer us up when there's such sad news," she said, sipping her own tea. "We'll have to have a party."
"Speaking of parties," Mira added, "somebody's birthday is Friday."
Harry's ears flushed.
"Hey, that's right!" Ron said, elbowing Harry. "You're going to be sixteen!"
"We'll have to have a party, of course!" Hermione grinned.
"I've never had a birthday party," Harry muttered, his ears feeling quite hot.
"That's precisely why we need to have one," Mira said. "Give me a list of your favorite foods and I'll make them all for the party. Whatever you want."
Mrs. Weasley rigorously avoided looking at Mira. "That'd be just the thing to cheer us up," she said, but her tone was less enthusiastic.
"I'd better be heading back, Molly," Kingsley said, standing. "I imagine they'll be needing some help with the Dodges. Just call me if you need to head out again."
"We've instituted a buddy system," Mrs. Weasley explained as Kingsley headed upstairs. "We're all going everywhere in pairs. That way, hopefully, we'll all be a bit safer. As your father was busy, Kingsley escorted me home."
They were a subdued group that afternoon. Ginny helped Mira to make a tremendous meatloaf for dinner (Ron groaned, "I hate meatloaf!") while Hermione and Ron bickered over something. Harry sat reading an old quidditch playbook of Charlie's and twisting Sirius's ring around his finger.
Just before supper, Moody, Tonks, and Mr. Weasley came in, all looking very tired.
"Mmm, is that meatloaf I smell?" Tonks grinned. She was wearing her hair bubblegum pink again today, but, perhaps because of the earlier tragedy, it was pulled in to a McGonagall-like bun rather than her usual short and spiky number.
"It is," Ginny smiled. "I helped Mira to make it. We figured there'd be a lot of people for dinner."
Moody scowled at Mira, his magical eye zipping back and forth over the oven where the meatloaf was baking, as if scanning it for foreign bodies.
Mr. Weasley flopped into one of the chairs, and leaned on his hand. "What a day. I'm totally exhausted." He sat a rather abused copy of the Daily Prophet on the table.
"They couldn't have chosen a worse day," Tonks agreed.
Moody said nothing, but he nodded and took a swig from his hip flask.
"Can I have a look at this, Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked, reaching toward the paper.
Mr. Weasley sighed. "I suppose so. But it's not very nice, Harry."
Harry unfolded the paper to find a big picture of a house in ruins. There were two chalk outlines on the outside pavement, no doubt where the muggles had fallen. Witches and wizards were bustling busily back and forth in the photograph. Below that was an inset photo of an older couple, smiling and waving: Barnabus and Liza Dodge. They had kind, smiling eyes.
"You-know-who Strikes Again!
Wizards Panic after the Second Fatal Attack in Days."
"Second?" said Ron, who was reading over Harry's shoulder. "When was the first?"
"Mine," said Harry. "Remember?"
"Oh, right. Sorry."
Harry went on reading the article. "The wizarding world was stunned today when supporters of You-know-who attacked another wizarding family, this time killing two muggles and badly injuring both wizards.
Barnabus and Eliza Dodge, both retired, were taken to St. Mungo's Hospital this afternoon, where they are being treated for severe spell damage. The muggles, a Mrs. Doris Claymore and Mr. Frank Hartwright, were killed outright. Mrs. Dodge is listed in critical condition, while Mr. Dodge is expected to recover within a month.
'Attacks of this nature are only going to increase until He-who-must-not-be-named is brought down,' noted Alastor Moody, famed Ministry Auror responsible for the capture of many original Death Eaters. 'Self-protection is essential. Constant Vigilance!'
'The important thing is to not panic,' added another auror. 'Keep your head and defend yourself.'
The Dodges, both former members of the Magical Law Enforcement squad, were very outspoken against You-know-who during his last attack, and were responsible for the arrests of many of his suporters (Death Eaters). Ministry wizards theorize that this attack was an act of revenge similar to the attack on young Harry Potter two weeks ago."
"There you are, Harry," said Ron. "I knew they'd drag you into it."
Harry shrugged and kept reading.
"Potter, on whose condition ministry wizards refuse to comment, has not been seen since the attack, and is largely presumed dead.
'It broke my heart,' said Ms. Chloe Gladwaiter, 42, of East Bartlett. 'Little Harry Potter has meant hope to all of us for so long, and now he's gone.'
Eyewitness accounts from the scene of that attack indicate that a body was removed from the scene prior to the arrival of reporters."
Harry scanned the rest of the article. "It goes on about self-defense measures and that sort of thing for a while," he said. He pushed the paper away. It felt strange, reading about his own death in the newspaper.
"I don't like pretending to be dead," he said quietly. He thought about his friends at Hogwarts and wondered if they all thought he was dead too. His mind went to the other members of the DA. He wondered if Neville was worried. He thought of Cho, wondered if she was crying over his supposed death like she had Cedric's. Ron nodded sympathetically.
"All in all," he said, "I'll be really happy to get back to Hogwarts."