Chapter 11 - The Proclamation of Harry's Death
The shock had worn off and the overwhelming influence of Hermione and the rest of the older Gryffindors had trickled down to the least impressionable residents of their house. Unfortunately, the atmosphere at their common room was far from jubilant. Almost two weeks had passed and there was still no news as to the whereabouts of Harry and Ginny. So much for the DA and the Order's plan - they have not learned a single thing yet and it was driving them crazy.
"This is all my fault! If I had only listened..." said Hermione in anguish.
"If we had only listened, Harry might still be here with us. And if I hadn't been too stubborn..." said Ron with the same remorseful tone.
Neville, who was listening to their rantings, dropped the book he was holding with so much force that almost everybody turned to look at his direction. "Will you two please cut that out? You've been blaming yourselves since Harry's disappearance. It's not helping anybody, you know." he declared irritatedly. "It's nobody's fault and that's final. And if you really consider yourselves Harry's friends, you would be doing something constructive by now instead of whining pathetically!"
Ron and Hermione stared in surprise at the violent outburst of their usually laid back friend. They had forgotten that they were not the only ones suffering here and Neville's right. Moaning and moping wouldn't help them in their current predicament especially now that the Order members haven't visited Hogwarts yet.
"Do you have any suggestions, Neville?" asked Hermione politely.
"Why don't you pester your father until he gives you the informations we need?" said Neville moodily to Ron but before he could reply, the door opened to reveal the creepily somber Fred and George Weasley. They looked so tired and weak that nobody had the heart to question them. The twins eyed them guardedly before one of them spoke.
"We went to the ministry to visit dad." said Fred mournfully.
"And we were there when they brought the body..." said George, his voice wavering as he uttered the words.
"B-body? Whose body?" queried Hermione although she already had a nagging suspicion as to whom they were referring to.
"I - I think we better go to McGonagall now. Dad and the other members of the Order would be there shortly to discuss the --- " said Fred with the same strained tone. "...recent umm - developments."
"NO, TELL US! WHOSE BODY?!?" yelled Ron with a mixture of panic and anger.
"WE CAN'T!" George yelled back before he and Fred went out hastily to go to the Headmistress' office.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ron, Hermione and Neville followed their lead and immediately grabbed the DA's special galleon to call on the other members. Within minutes, several other DA members joined them at the office to wait for the arrival of the minister.
"What's the problem?" asked Parvati, who had just arrived with her sister.
"We don't know yet but I don't think it's good." replied Hermione wearily and carefully avoided the others' questioning stares for the time being.
Luna discreetly retreated to one corner, boring her nose down a musty historical book which partially shielded her from everyone's view. One by one, the Order members turned up with equally serious expressions on their faces.
"The quest is over...." Professor McGonagall began. "Someone tipped off the minister that a body of a wizard was found near Tom Riddle's graveyard...." At this point, the professor could not control her emotions anymore.
"I sent someone to investigate the matter and -- " Mr. Weasley sighed heavily. "It was Harry's body. Apparently, his body was thrown into a roaring well of fire disfiguring him almost beyond recognition."
"Almost beyond recognition? T-then is it possible that it wasn't H-harry?" asked Cho tearfully.
"We were not sure at first - until we saw the lightning shaped scar which was unique to him alone." replied the minister sadly. "And if you don't mind, I would rather not discuss the details of his death right now."
His listeners nodded fervently. Nobody really wanted to hear anyway. It was just too depressing.
"S-so Ginny really did it...my very own sister!" whispered Ron almost to himself. "I can't believe it! My little sister is a murderer!"
Although numb with shock, Hermione managed to explain what Luna had shown them to those who was not aware of it yet.
"You can hate us now, Luna." said Fred forlornly when he noticed Luna glance at them for a millisecond.
Luna slowly looked up from her book. "I don't hate you." she said evenly before returning to her reading.
Professor Snape watched the young girl's reaction carefully. Her response was not natural. It seemed a little forced and out of tune. She even appeared disinterested about the current topic of the conversation. Did Harry stray from the plan and communicated with her despite of their previous agreement? Or did any of the three slip up and somehow alerted Luna to their presence?
"Come on - hate us. Hex us if it would make you feel better. We deserve it." argued George stubbornly but Luna ignored his plea for punishment.
Hermione felt a tiny glimmer of hope. Maybe, this was just another of Voldemort's tricks and Luna could still sense Harry's presence that's why she was taking everything so calmly. "You don't believe it was really him, Luna?" she tentatively asked the girl.
Luna looked up again, impatient at the disturbance, but Snape had caught her eye before she was able to deliver her scathing reply. She immediately understood the silent warning that Snape was sending her. Forcing a more sorrowful demeanor, she gradually turned to Hermione.
"Yes, I do." was her simple reply that crushed the tiniest hope that Hermione's question had inspired into the others' hearts. "But no amount of grieving would bring him back to life. There's only one thing that we could do - and that is to finally defeat the instigators of all this evil things ... Voldemort and his army."
"Luna is right. By tomorrow, Harry's death would be all over the wizard newspapers and we could soon expect Voldemort to make an explosive come back. We have to be prepared. DA would have to be reinstated to help other students learn to defend themselves." said the minister.
"Warnings have to be propagated to the wizarding community through the Quibbler. And I suggest that we drop the pretense. It is utterly unfair for Harry to let them think he had turned evil at the last moments of his life." said Neville.
McGonagall and Snape looked at each other hesitantly at Neville's words. It was not part of the plan but could they blame the others for thinking that way? They simply had to agree because doing otherwise would make everyone suspicious that something was amiss.
"Yes, I suppose it is the right thing to do. We'll let you take care of the Quibbler and the students' additional training." said Professor Snape.
"That would be a pleasure, Professor." stated Lee, resolute in giving a very useful defense lesson for the other students.
"The Order could proceed with its normal task of tracking them down and hopefully prevent any atrocities that they might be planning to do next." said Moody with the same heavy tone.
"I could inform Remus to try to seek the allegiance of the werewolves once again." said the minister.
"And of course we could depend on Hagrid to inform the giants about the current situation." said Professor McGonagall.
Several more suggestions were given and their grief was soon replaced with a grim determination to conquer evil. Details had been polished to perfection and with each progress, their agitation deepened, hungry for blood of those who made their lives so miserable that they almost forgot to live. Finally, when they felt they had already extracted all the creative juices in their minds, the meeting was adjourned and each left with renewed vigor.
Except for Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and Luna.
"What's the real plan?" promptly asked Luna when they were the only ones left. "And don't even try to fool me with your words. I know something's going on at Hogwarts." she added when she noticed the strange look that passed between the two professors.
"What do you mean?" asked Professor Snape to discern how much she really knew. He still had no intention to divulge too much information unless he had discussed it with Harry.
"Why is Harry parading around the Great Hall in an outlandish getup and why was he in Slytherin?" said Luna without even batting an eyelash.
"W-we don't know what you're talking about, Miss Lovegood." denied the headmistress but to no avail.
"Let me handle this, Minerva." said Snape then he turned to Luna. "How did you find out? Did he communicate with you?" he asked without confirming their own knowledge.
"No, I did not but I saw him at the Great Hall with Draco and Ginny." she replied.
"You were able to see through the disguise?" asked Snape in amazement. He could not believe it because only a handful of highly skilled wizards could correclty identify people whose appearance was protected by enchantments - not even Voldemort himself could do that.
"Yes. So could you please tell me now?" stated Luna matter-of-factly.
"Alright, Severus, kindly bring the them here." said the headmistress in a weary tone.
=====================================================================
Lander and Devon were already about to sleep on their bedroom after a terribly exhausting and boring conversation with Blaise and his troops when they heard a soft knock on the door as if afraid of wakening anybody else up. They both looked over to where Blaise was curled up and snoring to his heart's content. Confident that he was not bothered by the noise, they carefully opened the door to see who dared disturb them at this ungodly hour of night.
It was Callah aka Ginny. She was anxiously rubbing a fake galleon on her hands as if her life depended on it.
"Hey, darling! Missed me already?" asked Devon confidently, wrapping his arms around her lovingly. He thought he was the reason she was there.
"Did you feel it too?" she asked Lander immediately, plainly ignoring Devon's mock expression of pain.
"Yes and I chose to ignore it. You should, too." Lander replied while Devon examined the galleon curiously.
"What the hell is this thing?" Devon asked and Lander hastened to explain while Callah tapped her foot impatiently.
"What do you think it means?" pressed Callah with a concerned look on her face.
"It simply means that they had already found out that Harry Potter was dead. That's very clever of Snape. He engineered it all." he answered with a smile. "So, we better ignore it and head for bed now. The action would start tomorrow."
CLICK
They all turned to the door and saw the Head of the House approach them silently.
"You should all come with me to the Headmistress' Office. There's something that we all need to discuss." he said simply and headed for the door without waiting for their reply.
=====================================================================
The next day...
The three new Slytherins headed for the Great Hall with the loud-mouthed Pansy and Blaise and his cronies.
"Hah! Look at those sniveling idiots. I bet they heard the good news already." said Pansy with pure delight on her face and tried to sit beside Devon but Callah was quicker.
"Don't even think of it. He's mine." said Callah and she glared at her venomously. Pansy raised her perfectly shaved eyebrows at that but she shrugged if off and slided to the vacant chair beside Lander instead.
"Hiya, handsome. Want me to give you a Slytherin tour later?" she asked, fluttering her delicate lashes at him.
Lander cringed inwardly at the sight but maintained his cool. He could get information from her especially when there was no one else to warn her.
"Sure, babe, anytime." he drawled in his best imitation of Draco.
Pansy flashed Callah a triumphant look and returned to her food.
"What 'good news' are you talking about?" asked Lander in between mouthfuls.
"Potter's dead. Their hero was gone and there's no one to save them anymore." answered Blaise, looking very proud as if he was the one who did it.
"Oh, really? I wonder what's the big deal with that Potter kid. I mean he can't be more powerful than the dark lord, is he?" asked Callah conversationally.
Pansy frowned at her insinuation. "No one can ever hope to be more powerful than the dark lord. That Potter is just a nuisance to him, you know...playing saviour all the time." she sneered.
"What about that Malfoy kid? I heard someone mention his name on the way here. Something about that boy being the Slytherin catch or something. Where is he?" asked Devon to check if they knew something already.
"Oh, that brat?" exclaimed Pansy as if she found the mere mention of the name extremely irritating to her sensitive ear drums. "We have no news about him yet. Last thing we knew he was being punished for his disobedience but now he's disappeared with that sleazy blood traitor. I don't know what he saw in her."
"Never speak of his name again. He's considered taboo in our house these days. My father said that his father is now personally hunting them down including the other traitor." declared Blaise arrogantly, giving the impression that the topic should be concluded immediately.
Devon and Callah nearly choked on their meals but went on without commenting. Lander seriously considered the information they had just unearthed. Lucius was looking for Draco, Ginny and Wormtail. That meant Voldemort and his minions knew about their defection already and that only meant that they had to be extra careful about their detective work. Sooner or later, they would hear about the 'cool transferees' and they were not that stupid not to figure things out. He just hoped that it would be later.
Suddenly, the tables were bombarded with overexcited owls. Newspapers and parchments were being dropped everywhere.
"May I have the attention of everyone please." shouted Professor McGonagall before the students could peruse the day's paper. All eyes turned to her at once. "I regret to announce that Harry Potter is no longer with us. He perished in the hands of Voldemort and he died saving our world. Please do not let the papers deceive you. Harry remained loyal to the light side until his death." She carefully looked around the tearful and shocked faces of the students...there were even some from the Slytherin table. "Yes, it is Voldemort. In this light, may I inform you that aside from the protection that this castle offers, I have arranged for some very capable students to train you all to defend yourselves in case all things fail. It will not be graded but please try to do your best. The final test will be during battles against evil and failure could cost you your life. That is all. You may go to your classes now."
The shock had worn off and the overwhelming influence of Hermione and the rest of the older Gryffindors had trickled down to the least impressionable residents of their house. Unfortunately, the atmosphere at their common room was far from jubilant. Almost two weeks had passed and there was still no news as to the whereabouts of Harry and Ginny. So much for the DA and the Order's plan - they have not learned a single thing yet and it was driving them crazy.
"This is all my fault! If I had only listened..." said Hermione in anguish.
"If we had only listened, Harry might still be here with us. And if I hadn't been too stubborn..." said Ron with the same remorseful tone.
Neville, who was listening to their rantings, dropped the book he was holding with so much force that almost everybody turned to look at his direction. "Will you two please cut that out? You've been blaming yourselves since Harry's disappearance. It's not helping anybody, you know." he declared irritatedly. "It's nobody's fault and that's final. And if you really consider yourselves Harry's friends, you would be doing something constructive by now instead of whining pathetically!"
Ron and Hermione stared in surprise at the violent outburst of their usually laid back friend. They had forgotten that they were not the only ones suffering here and Neville's right. Moaning and moping wouldn't help them in their current predicament especially now that the Order members haven't visited Hogwarts yet.
"Do you have any suggestions, Neville?" asked Hermione politely.
"Why don't you pester your father until he gives you the informations we need?" said Neville moodily to Ron but before he could reply, the door opened to reveal the creepily somber Fred and George Weasley. They looked so tired and weak that nobody had the heart to question them. The twins eyed them guardedly before one of them spoke.
"We went to the ministry to visit dad." said Fred mournfully.
"And we were there when they brought the body..." said George, his voice wavering as he uttered the words.
"B-body? Whose body?" queried Hermione although she already had a nagging suspicion as to whom they were referring to.
"I - I think we better go to McGonagall now. Dad and the other members of the Order would be there shortly to discuss the --- " said Fred with the same strained tone. "...recent umm - developments."
"NO, TELL US! WHOSE BODY?!?" yelled Ron with a mixture of panic and anger.
"WE CAN'T!" George yelled back before he and Fred went out hastily to go to the Headmistress' office.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ron, Hermione and Neville followed their lead and immediately grabbed the DA's special galleon to call on the other members. Within minutes, several other DA members joined them at the office to wait for the arrival of the minister.
"What's the problem?" asked Parvati, who had just arrived with her sister.
"We don't know yet but I don't think it's good." replied Hermione wearily and carefully avoided the others' questioning stares for the time being.
Luna discreetly retreated to one corner, boring her nose down a musty historical book which partially shielded her from everyone's view. One by one, the Order members turned up with equally serious expressions on their faces.
"The quest is over...." Professor McGonagall began. "Someone tipped off the minister that a body of a wizard was found near Tom Riddle's graveyard...." At this point, the professor could not control her emotions anymore.
"I sent someone to investigate the matter and -- " Mr. Weasley sighed heavily. "It was Harry's body. Apparently, his body was thrown into a roaring well of fire disfiguring him almost beyond recognition."
"Almost beyond recognition? T-then is it possible that it wasn't H-harry?" asked Cho tearfully.
"We were not sure at first - until we saw the lightning shaped scar which was unique to him alone." replied the minister sadly. "And if you don't mind, I would rather not discuss the details of his death right now."
His listeners nodded fervently. Nobody really wanted to hear anyway. It was just too depressing.
"S-so Ginny really did it...my very own sister!" whispered Ron almost to himself. "I can't believe it! My little sister is a murderer!"
Although numb with shock, Hermione managed to explain what Luna had shown them to those who was not aware of it yet.
"You can hate us now, Luna." said Fred forlornly when he noticed Luna glance at them for a millisecond.
Luna slowly looked up from her book. "I don't hate you." she said evenly before returning to her reading.
Professor Snape watched the young girl's reaction carefully. Her response was not natural. It seemed a little forced and out of tune. She even appeared disinterested about the current topic of the conversation. Did Harry stray from the plan and communicated with her despite of their previous agreement? Or did any of the three slip up and somehow alerted Luna to their presence?
"Come on - hate us. Hex us if it would make you feel better. We deserve it." argued George stubbornly but Luna ignored his plea for punishment.
Hermione felt a tiny glimmer of hope. Maybe, this was just another of Voldemort's tricks and Luna could still sense Harry's presence that's why she was taking everything so calmly. "You don't believe it was really him, Luna?" she tentatively asked the girl.
Luna looked up again, impatient at the disturbance, but Snape had caught her eye before she was able to deliver her scathing reply. She immediately understood the silent warning that Snape was sending her. Forcing a more sorrowful demeanor, she gradually turned to Hermione.
"Yes, I do." was her simple reply that crushed the tiniest hope that Hermione's question had inspired into the others' hearts. "But no amount of grieving would bring him back to life. There's only one thing that we could do - and that is to finally defeat the instigators of all this evil things ... Voldemort and his army."
"Luna is right. By tomorrow, Harry's death would be all over the wizard newspapers and we could soon expect Voldemort to make an explosive come back. We have to be prepared. DA would have to be reinstated to help other students learn to defend themselves." said the minister.
"Warnings have to be propagated to the wizarding community through the Quibbler. And I suggest that we drop the pretense. It is utterly unfair for Harry to let them think he had turned evil at the last moments of his life." said Neville.
McGonagall and Snape looked at each other hesitantly at Neville's words. It was not part of the plan but could they blame the others for thinking that way? They simply had to agree because doing otherwise would make everyone suspicious that something was amiss.
"Yes, I suppose it is the right thing to do. We'll let you take care of the Quibbler and the students' additional training." said Professor Snape.
"That would be a pleasure, Professor." stated Lee, resolute in giving a very useful defense lesson for the other students.
"The Order could proceed with its normal task of tracking them down and hopefully prevent any atrocities that they might be planning to do next." said Moody with the same heavy tone.
"I could inform Remus to try to seek the allegiance of the werewolves once again." said the minister.
"And of course we could depend on Hagrid to inform the giants about the current situation." said Professor McGonagall.
Several more suggestions were given and their grief was soon replaced with a grim determination to conquer evil. Details had been polished to perfection and with each progress, their agitation deepened, hungry for blood of those who made their lives so miserable that they almost forgot to live. Finally, when they felt they had already extracted all the creative juices in their minds, the meeting was adjourned and each left with renewed vigor.
Except for Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and Luna.
"What's the real plan?" promptly asked Luna when they were the only ones left. "And don't even try to fool me with your words. I know something's going on at Hogwarts." she added when she noticed the strange look that passed between the two professors.
"What do you mean?" asked Professor Snape to discern how much she really knew. He still had no intention to divulge too much information unless he had discussed it with Harry.
"Why is Harry parading around the Great Hall in an outlandish getup and why was he in Slytherin?" said Luna without even batting an eyelash.
"W-we don't know what you're talking about, Miss Lovegood." denied the headmistress but to no avail.
"Let me handle this, Minerva." said Snape then he turned to Luna. "How did you find out? Did he communicate with you?" he asked without confirming their own knowledge.
"No, I did not but I saw him at the Great Hall with Draco and Ginny." she replied.
"You were able to see through the disguise?" asked Snape in amazement. He could not believe it because only a handful of highly skilled wizards could correclty identify people whose appearance was protected by enchantments - not even Voldemort himself could do that.
"Yes. So could you please tell me now?" stated Luna matter-of-factly.
"Alright, Severus, kindly bring the them here." said the headmistress in a weary tone.
=====================================================================
Lander and Devon were already about to sleep on their bedroom after a terribly exhausting and boring conversation with Blaise and his troops when they heard a soft knock on the door as if afraid of wakening anybody else up. They both looked over to where Blaise was curled up and snoring to his heart's content. Confident that he was not bothered by the noise, they carefully opened the door to see who dared disturb them at this ungodly hour of night.
It was Callah aka Ginny. She was anxiously rubbing a fake galleon on her hands as if her life depended on it.
"Hey, darling! Missed me already?" asked Devon confidently, wrapping his arms around her lovingly. He thought he was the reason she was there.
"Did you feel it too?" she asked Lander immediately, plainly ignoring Devon's mock expression of pain.
"Yes and I chose to ignore it. You should, too." Lander replied while Devon examined the galleon curiously.
"What the hell is this thing?" Devon asked and Lander hastened to explain while Callah tapped her foot impatiently.
"What do you think it means?" pressed Callah with a concerned look on her face.
"It simply means that they had already found out that Harry Potter was dead. That's very clever of Snape. He engineered it all." he answered with a smile. "So, we better ignore it and head for bed now. The action would start tomorrow."
CLICK
They all turned to the door and saw the Head of the House approach them silently.
"You should all come with me to the Headmistress' Office. There's something that we all need to discuss." he said simply and headed for the door without waiting for their reply.
=====================================================================
The next day...
The three new Slytherins headed for the Great Hall with the loud-mouthed Pansy and Blaise and his cronies.
"Hah! Look at those sniveling idiots. I bet they heard the good news already." said Pansy with pure delight on her face and tried to sit beside Devon but Callah was quicker.
"Don't even think of it. He's mine." said Callah and she glared at her venomously. Pansy raised her perfectly shaved eyebrows at that but she shrugged if off and slided to the vacant chair beside Lander instead.
"Hiya, handsome. Want me to give you a Slytherin tour later?" she asked, fluttering her delicate lashes at him.
Lander cringed inwardly at the sight but maintained his cool. He could get information from her especially when there was no one else to warn her.
"Sure, babe, anytime." he drawled in his best imitation of Draco.
Pansy flashed Callah a triumphant look and returned to her food.
"What 'good news' are you talking about?" asked Lander in between mouthfuls.
"Potter's dead. Their hero was gone and there's no one to save them anymore." answered Blaise, looking very proud as if he was the one who did it.
"Oh, really? I wonder what's the big deal with that Potter kid. I mean he can't be more powerful than the dark lord, is he?" asked Callah conversationally.
Pansy frowned at her insinuation. "No one can ever hope to be more powerful than the dark lord. That Potter is just a nuisance to him, you know...playing saviour all the time." she sneered.
"What about that Malfoy kid? I heard someone mention his name on the way here. Something about that boy being the Slytherin catch or something. Where is he?" asked Devon to check if they knew something already.
"Oh, that brat?" exclaimed Pansy as if she found the mere mention of the name extremely irritating to her sensitive ear drums. "We have no news about him yet. Last thing we knew he was being punished for his disobedience but now he's disappeared with that sleazy blood traitor. I don't know what he saw in her."
"Never speak of his name again. He's considered taboo in our house these days. My father said that his father is now personally hunting them down including the other traitor." declared Blaise arrogantly, giving the impression that the topic should be concluded immediately.
Devon and Callah nearly choked on their meals but went on without commenting. Lander seriously considered the information they had just unearthed. Lucius was looking for Draco, Ginny and Wormtail. That meant Voldemort and his minions knew about their defection already and that only meant that they had to be extra careful about their detective work. Sooner or later, they would hear about the 'cool transferees' and they were not that stupid not to figure things out. He just hoped that it would be later.
Suddenly, the tables were bombarded with overexcited owls. Newspapers and parchments were being dropped everywhere.
"May I have the attention of everyone please." shouted Professor McGonagall before the students could peruse the day's paper. All eyes turned to her at once. "I regret to announce that Harry Potter is no longer with us. He perished in the hands of Voldemort and he died saving our world. Please do not let the papers deceive you. Harry remained loyal to the light side until his death." She carefully looked around the tearful and shocked faces of the students...there were even some from the Slytherin table. "Yes, it is Voldemort. In this light, may I inform you that aside from the protection that this castle offers, I have arranged for some very capable students to train you all to defend yourselves in case all things fail. It will not be graded but please try to do your best. The final test will be during battles against evil and failure could cost you your life. That is all. You may go to your classes now."