Chapter Ninety-Five: Love, Luck, and Lightning

Daphne stepped out of the fireplace and nearly fell into Harry. Though Dad's Episkey had suppressed the worst symptoms of her concussion, it hadn't been cleared up completely, and her sense of balance was still a bit off. Of course, the sheer emotional impact of everything that had just happened and the resulting spike of adrenaline now wearing off might have something to do with that as well.

Harry helped her steady herself, and a few moments later Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, and Dumbledore emerged from the fire as well. The office was beginning to get quite cramped.

"If you'll follow me, I'll escort you to the hospital wing," Dumbledore said. "I believe the atmosphere in the school might still be somewhat hostile to you at present."

Dumbledore led them down the spiral staircase and through the halls. Everyone they came across looked shocked, not just to see Dumbledore, but also Harry and the disheveled state of him and the others with him.

No one spoke to them, however, for which Daphne was grateful. Her strength was fading fast now that the excitement was over.

When they entered the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey's expression went from annoyed, to surprised, to happy, to annoyed again in the span of a few seconds.

"Headmaster! You're back! And…what happened to these children?" she asked.

"They require your care, Poppy. Especially Mr. Weasley here seems a bit out of sorts. I suggest you tend to him, first. I shall be needing to talk to all of them, if at all possible, shortly, but for now, I must go and speak to the teachers."

"Professor McGonagall is in St. Mungo's, Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey said, her expression darkening. "Four Stunners to the chest at her age…it's a miracle she survived at all."

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "I see. I shall visit the hospital this evening, then. I had business in London anyway."

Daphne felt a chill going down her spine when Dumbledore said that last line, and she did not envy Fudge when Dumbledore returned to the Ministry that evening.

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "I will return shortly to speak with you all about what happened today. I presume Madam Pomfrey will want to keep you here overnight, so I would advise you all to get comfortable and follow her instructions carefully."

Harry nodded. "We will, Professor," he said.

Dumbledore nodded. "Good. Excuse me for a moment, then."

He left the hospital wing and closed the door behind him. At once, Madam Pomfrey descended on them like a whirlwind, examining each of them in turn, starting with Ron, who seemed to consider this funny.

Though she had a rather contemplative look on her face for a moment, she soon waved her wand and muttered an incantation.

Ron's vague expression became more focused at once and he groaned. "Uugh," he said. "What…what was that?"

"A fairly annoying curse," Madam Pomfrey said. "Not lethal, but I've got a few potions you'll need to drink to clear it up completely and you'll need to stay overnight. Get into that bed over there."

She then turned to Ginny, who indicated her ankle. Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over the area.

"It was broken, but partially mended, by the looks of it…" she said.

She waved her wand once more. "There. That should do it. You're free to go."

She then did the same to everyone else, cleaning up any blood as well while she was it. In the end, only Ron would have to stay the night, something he didn't like at all. Before he could complain too much, however, the door of the hospital wing opened again and Dumbledore and Dad came in.

"We'll have to impose for just a while longer, I'm afraid, Poppy," Dumbledore said.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "If I weren't so happy to see you back here, Albus, I'd have some words with you. As most of the patients are cleared to leave, and the remaining one needs to stay only for observation, however, I'll allow it this time."

She retreated to her office to leave the group free to talk.

Before Dumbledore could say anything, Harry said, "Sir, what happened after we left the Department of Mysteries? Is everyone…?"

"Everyone made it, Harry. There were only some minor injuries. It helped that the Death Eaters had already met more resistance than they likely expected to receive," Dumbledore said with his usual smile.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, and Daphne fully understood why, given Dad's miraculous survival.

"And the Death Eaters?" Harry asked.

"They were all captured and returned to Azkaban. Yes, including Lucius Malfoy. And I frankly think he'll be happy for it, too, since he didn't manage to retrieve the prophecy for his master, did he?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shook his head and retrieved the glass orb from the pockets of his robe. His expression, however, was troubled. "Sir…when Voldemort…possessed me…I don't think he knew that I knew the contents of the prophecy, but…he might have seen it, before he was forced out. Even with Occlumency, I couldn't stop him from possessing me…" he said.

"Do not feel ashamed about that, Harry. Your Occlumency skills, though good for your age, would never have held up against one of Voldemort's skill at Legilimency, not when faced with him in person. And through the connection that exists between you, it was not unthinkable that he would try something like this, though I had rather hoped to prevent it.

"However, the presence of your friends, their love for you and yours for them, will have hurt Voldemort far worse than he hurt you. I highly doubt that he will attempt to possess you again," Dumbledore said.

Harry didn't look completely reassured. "But the prophecy…"

"Is, as we have discussed before, not nearly as useful to Voldemort as he believes it is. If he has managed to extract it from your mind, which I doubt, then there is no real harm done. Though, with your permission, I would like to keep the record of the prophecy here at Hogwarts, for the time being. I will explain to Minister Fudge that it was destroyed, and we shall see how Voldemort reacts to that news.

"You are, in any event, free to share its contents with the Order of the Lightning Bolt, should you so choose. There is no longer any need for us to bait Voldemort with it, and after what happened today, rumors are sure to spread."

Harry quickly handed over the glass orb, seemingly glad to be rid of it.

"Thank you, Harry. I will see to it that it remains hidden here," Dumbledore said, putting the orb away into his own robes.

"Now," he went on, looking gravely at Harry and the others. "You have now had a taste of what it is like to be on the front lines of a wizarding war. I believe you have handled yourselves extremely well, though I am dismayed that it was necessary at all.

"Fudge's decision to have you arrested was not made under Lucius Malfoy's Confundus Charm, though it was certainly done to appease him. Among a series of bad decisions, it was indubitably his worst, and I shall remind him of that thoroughly this evening."

"Sir, how did you know the Minister had been Confunded at all?" Hermione asked timidly.

"Lucius was kind enough to inform me of it when I subdued him," Dumbledore said.

"You used Legilimency on him?" Daphne asked, knowing that someone like Malfoy would not reveal something like this lightly.

Dumbledore smiled. "Very little. While Lucius is normally a composed man skilled at using Occlumency, he was rather frightened of his master's wrath when I approached him…and perhaps, somewhat frightened of me as well. I found his resistance rather paltry, if truth be told, though it certainly made things easier, both for me and for himself. Quite ironic, really, since I believe it was he who taught Professor Snape Occlumency in the first place. I daresay his pupil has rather outclassed him."

"Daphne told me that Severus was the one who told her and her friends how to get to the Ministry," Dad said. "While I'm all for teaching her and her friends how to fight and defend themselves — this is a war, after all — actually sending them into a dangerous situation like this–"

"I wasn't going to leave Harry on his own!" Daphne interrupted. "Nor would Ginny or the others! If we'd had time we would've taken the whole Order of the Lightning Bolt with us–"

"You could have died!" Dad said, interrupting Daphne now. "Snape's callous pragmatism could've gotten all of you killed. I'm not blaming you for wanting to help Harry. I'm blaming Snape for giving you the means to do it."

"Pragmatism was only part of Severus's motivation," Dumbledore said softly. He gave Daphne a meaningful look. "There is more to his decision than is apparent. For one thing, it speaks rather highly of his confidence in Daphne and her friends. Had he not believed them capable of succeeding, he would not have sent them. He would not heedlessly throw away lives; he seeks to save them."

Daphne thought she knew what else Dumbledore's look had meant to convey, but since it was related to the secret, she couldn't comment on it.

"And if they'd arrived any later, the Death Eaters would probably have gotten the prophecy," Harry said. "They'd only just managed to drag me into the Hall of Prophecy when Daphne and the others arrived to interrupt them, because they had to wait with getting me there until the Ministry was clear. And once they'd get their hands on the prophecy, I doubt they'd let me leave alive. At the very least, they would've taken me to Voldemort."

"I'm not debating the usefulness of the action," Dad said in a strained voice. "At the very least, it would have created a diversion, stalling for time until the Order of the Phoenix could arrive, and that's exactly what you did — and like Professor Dumbledore said, you performed admirably. But I can't help but be livid at someone who would actively put my daughter in harm's way like that, regardless of his motivations."

"You're one to talk; you faced down Voldemort himself despite knowing you couldn't win. And you're the one who somehow took a Killing Curse and lived," Daphne said.

Dad grinned self-consciously. "It didn't hit me. It hit the floorboards he'd bound me with; I pulled them upward just before the spell hit," he said.

"Even then, you were ridiculously lucky that you were in time! A split second later and–"

"I did get lucky," Dad interrupted.

He reached into his robes to retrieve a small vial. At the very bottom of the vial was a single drop of a bright, golden liquid.

"This is Felix Felicis," he said. "Ever since the Azkaban mass breakout, I've known that You-Know-Who would likely attack the Department of Mysteries himself, because Rookwood would have told him he'd have to. I still worked there a lot, though, so I needed a way to increase my odds of survival, should he turn up unexpectedly. So, I procured a vial of Felix Felicis, enough for around two-and-a-half hours of luck. If he'd show up, I'd drink the potion, and then trust to its effects to get me out of there."

He smiled a bit guiltily. "I'm not quite as able as you are to face death so bravely."

"So when you heard that Harry had been arrested and we were there…" Daphne said.

Dad nodded. "I took the potion and came over as fast as I could. Without it, I would never have been able to survive a fight with him. Using Disapparation in a duel is difficult enough even when you vastly outclass your opponent because it takes so much concentration. I only had the confidence to do it now because the Felix Felicis made sure I'd succeed.

"And even then, it took everything I had to even last this long. When his last Killing Curse hit the floorboards, I wanted to get back up immediately, but the potion's effects told me not to, that playing dead would have a better chance of keeping me alive."

Daphne shook her head and laughed. "I'd never have thought of using something like Felix Felicis to fight Voldemort…" she said.

"Why doesn't the whole Order drink it when they go on a mission, if it's so useful?" Ginny asked.

"Felix Felicis is incredibly difficult to brew," Hermione answered immediately. "Aside from taking a lot of time, there is no margin for error and taking too much of it can lead to dangerous levels of hubris."

"Ten points to Gryffindor for your knowledge, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said with a smile, and Hermione blushed lightly.

Ron grinned at her. "Showing off by proving you've read every single book ever is just in your blood, isn't it?" he asked in amusement.

"Shut up, you," Hermione said, though she looked pleased with herself.

Daphne, however, was thinking of something else. She recalled her meeting with Valentina Barese at the camping site of the Quidditch World Cup, where she'd first heard about Felix Felicis. She vaguely recalled that the potion worked by influencing probability…and Divination showed the most likely future at any given moment…so what would happen if she were to try and use her Divination after drinking some Felix Felicis? Would it allow her to see how to avert a certain future? Would it…allow her to change Harry's fate?

"Dad," she said. "That last drop of Felix Felicis in that vial…can I have it?"

"I doubt it'd be useful to you," Dad said. "An amount this small would only give you a minute or two at most."

"That's plenty," Daphne said.

Harry and the others were giving her confused stares, but she ignored them. She'd tell Harry later. It occurred to her that neither she nor Harry had told Ginny about the vision of the clearing yet. Perhaps that was something they'd need to get to over the summer holidays.

"Well, if you think it'll help you," Dad said, and he handed her the vial.

Daphne carefully put it away, already eager to use it at a later moment.

"So…what happens now, sir? After everything that Umbridge did this year…" Harry said.

"The old situation will be restored where possible," Dumbledore said. "Dolores Umbridge will not set foot in Hogwarts again, her decrees will be repealed, and Professor Trelawney and Hagrid will get their job back. The Inquisitorial Squad will be disbanded, effective immediately.

"In light of what happened…I will also revoke Mr. Malfoy's Prefect badge, as he seems to have been rather abusing his station. I will need to deliberate with Professor Snape as to who shall receive it in his stead, but that will be done in due time."

Dumbledore paused for a moment and let his eyes wander over Daphne and the others. "I believe that, with the war awaiting us now, it would be wise to continue your efforts with the Order of the Lightning Bolt. The seven of you have shown yourself to be skilled and resourceful — I was not joking when I said the members of the Order of the Phoenix were very glad for the work you had already done in fighting the Death Eaters. It is very possible that your actions have prevented our side from sustaining severe injuries."

His expression became more serious. "However, despite the Ministry having opened their eyes, I believe it would still be prudent to keep your activities under wraps as much as possible. The bonds of friendship between the Ministry and me, inasmuch those ever truly existed, have been frayed too much to expect them not to be wary of me, and by extension Harry.

"Indeed, Harry might soon find himself approached by the Ministry under guise of rebuilding the bridges they have so thoroughly burned. How you respond to such a request, if it comes, I leave up to you, though I believe I am not mistaken when I say that it will likely not appeal to you much."

He smiled at Harry, who grinned back a bit sheepishly.

"You and the rest of your Order have succeeded at remaining undetected under the nose of a person determined to find you. If the other members of the group are amenable…you may carry on as before — though I should note that, as the group will officially remain a secret, you must still not be caught after hours lest you receive a detention."

"I would like for the meetings to continue," Luna said softly. She'd been so quiet thus far that Daphne had almost forgotten she was there.

"So would I," Neville said.

Harry smiled at them both. "We'll keep it going. I had a lot of fun at the meetings, and it's clear that we need to practice more, in case we ever need to fight for real again," he said.

"I do have one question, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Though I am an old man, I still retain my youthful curiosity…if you are willing to tell me…where did your Order meet all year?"

Harry laughed, and Daphne and the others couldn't help but laugh as well. She'd never imagined there would be a moment when Albus Dumbledore would want to learn something about Hogwarts from his own students.

Harry quickly looked around at the others, who all nodded with grins on their face, and then told Dumbledore — and Dad, of course — about the Room of Requirement and how to enter it.

Dumbledore beamed when Harry finished talking. "Ingenious!" he said. "Quite interesting that the House-Elves of Hogwarts know so much more about the castle's secrets than even I do. It serves as a good reminder that I should converse with them on a more regular basis." He smiled at Harry. "I'm sure Dobby would appreciate it, too. Perhaps he'll allow me to give him a raise…"

So with that, the year's main plot comes to an end. We'll have the usual closing chapter next time, after which we'll be entering year six.

Concerning Dumbledore's knowledge of the Room of Requirement: in the books, he only mentions it (not by name) once, in Goblet of Fire. In this fic, I am therefore assuming that he did not know about it. I'm aware he does in the Fantastic Beasts movies, but in this AU, events happened differently. Only the seven original books are canon.

As for how the plot of Half-Blood Prince will go if the Order of the Lightning Bolt keeps using the Room of Requirement…you'll see. At this point it won't surprise you that I will use a cop-out. This fic might as well have been called 'In Spite of a Nail'. Were I reading this fic, rather than writing it, the fun for me would be in trying to figure out how the canon events will take place, rather than if they will. Of course, all of this is assuming I'll use the plan I currently have when the time comes to write those chapters, which is never guaranteed with me.