Ministry Decree No. 788743/7448: Concerning Safety and Order for Wizards and Witches of the British Isles
The Ministry of Magic hereby declares that all witches and wizards are forbidden to panic or to spread panic to other wizards and witches.
Especially forbidden are: newspaper articles that will cause worry and fear to the public, expressing any opinions of fear or distrust of the Ministry or the current Minister in public or private, leaving the country without a good reason or the intent to return, changing your lifestyle in a way that shows fear or distrust in the Ministry's ability to protect you, expressing...
The new leaflet, that was distributed to all wizarding households in Britain and hung in every common room of Hogwarts, went on like that for another four pages. Harry doubted that anyone (besides Percy, probably) would read all of it. Despite the Decree –and despite the newspapers now mostly printing articles like 'Celestina Warbeck lifts secret of her colour-changing toenails' or 'How to spell your parrot to sing the latest hits' –stories about wizarding families fleeing the country or excessively buying dubious security measures on the black market were flying around the school.
Obviously the Ministry could not control the behaviour of every witch or wizard but instead it controlled the newspapers, public places, popular persons (Harry was sent a personal copy of the Decree, -and asked himself if Umbridge had anything to do with it) and Hogwarts. Fudge himself was seen meeting with all the Professors and Rookwood's eyes seemed sharper than ever.
But what swept Harry's good mood away faster than a Slytherin Quidditch victory was the realisation that after this Decree the Hogsmeade weekend would definitely take place.
Quidditch became a refugee for Harry, the only time he wouldn't think of the upcoming attack. While Ron drilled the other players in new strategies, Harry would mostly fly around, at the highest speed his Firebolt could manage, and just feel the wind in his face and hair.
During the long practises Kirke and Sloper had at least gained some endurance and now hopefully would last a whole game, though their aim was still off and more often than not they swung their bats at a Bludger and missed it completely. Ginny was the best of the Chasers by far but she often got impatient when the other two couldn't keep up with her and then tried to make all the scores on her own. This didn't go over well with Richard Burkes and he protested avidly and longishly when she messed up sure chances because she didn't pass him the Quaffle. Joanne Tailor, their third Chaser, was just quiet.
Ron got increasingly desperate with his Quidditch team that apparently was no team at all.
"Ginny! Didn't you see that Richard was just above the hoop? Why didn't you pass to him?! You can't carry on like that!"
"Like what? Seems like I'm the only one who's able to play a halfway decent game, why shouldn't I try to make as many goals as I can? And you should rather train them better than yell at me! But maybe you're just not good enough as a trainer!"
"You... How can you? You won't play again until you stop this childish behaviour! We are a team! You have to play like one!"
"You can't order me around like that." Ginny threw her broom over her shoulder. "And I don't even want to play in a team with such useless Chasers in it!"
After she had stormed off the pitch their reserve, Elizabeth Eaton, played Chaser but was clearly not as good as Ginny. Grudgingly Ron asked his sister to come back to the team after a few more practises but the other Chasers had not forgotten her comment about their uselessness.
Harry heard all the arguments; however he had decided that this was not his problem –he would not start worrying about it, he already had enough on his plate. Quidditch would only be a time for relaxation and fun for him this year –and a fierce competition during the matches –but no serious problem he would spend his time and energy on.
Although today he could not help but notice the changes that happened at Hogwarts as well as in the whole wizarding world. From his position high up in the sky he could see wizards working at the edges of the Hogwarts' grounds, waving colourful patterns of magic, building walls, drawing lines. Sometimes three or more of them would form a circle; some stood alone facing the Forbidden Forest with their arms raised. They were Aurors from the Ministry, some Unspeakables, a Safety Charmer and of course the teachers. Dumbledore had announced at lunch that they would strengthen the wards and increase the security of the school and that the students shouldn't get into their way until they were finished. Harry remembered the search for the hole in the wards and hoped the Aurors and teachers would close it, whatever it was. With the more frequent DA meetings and now Quidditch neither he nor his friends did have the time to research it.
Fascinated and forgetting about the Snitch Harry watched as one of the wizards began to wave his wand in a complicated move and produced a red web of thin threads that spread around him and started to cover the ground. Suddenly a patch of grass near the wizard caught fire –bright blue flames. The wizard turned his head and the thin red threads hesitated for a moment before –with a growling like a faraway thunder- whipping back and wrapping themselves around the screaming wizard. The others ran to him as he fell down but didn't seem able to help him until the screaming and writhing stopped as abruptly as it had begun. An Auror extinguished the flames. The whole Quidditch team watched horrified as Professor Sprout floated the now still form of the wizard to the castle.
"Is he dead?" Joanne whispered, and despite the situation Harry's first thought was that he had heard her voice for the first time.
No one knew and Ron ended the practise there, so they all trudged silently back to the castle. Rookwood arrived just after them but nobody wanted to ask him about the web and the wizard. He gave them a piercing stare, then ushered them in.
"You should be inside. This is not the right time for children to play out there."
Without waiting for a response he swept away.
After they had told her about the wizard and the web Hermione gasped shocked, then nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I think I know what it is –a Hunter's Net. It's a very effective way of protection but terribly difficult to cast. The slightest slip of concentration can cause the web to turn against you and might be fatal."
"Oh, fine! Now that we know what it is everything is OK and we can all go happily back to our homework, can't we?" Ron snapped sarcastically.
Hermione's eyes became wide. "I didn't mean... I didn't want to say..." But he had already turned around and walked off out of the common room.
"I know you didn't mean it like that, Hermione." Harry assured her as she continued to stare at the portrait hole. "Ron's just upset from the whole thing... it was horrible... He doesn't seriously think what he said."
"Oh, right, Harry, you're surely right." Swallowing hard Hermione stood up and with her head held high she rigidly went up to the girl's dormitories.
Feeling helpless and like a terrible friend Harry remained sitting by the fire. Had there been tears glistening on her cheeks? And where had those blue flames come from?
It seemed like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship. Sure, there were no rows, no arguments, no talking about the dead wizard at all, but they behaved around each other like strangers from then on. Hermione began spending more and more time in the library and planning DA meetings and Ron withdrew completely from everything and everyone. Neither of them acknowledged their argument when Dumbledore raised his glass in memory of the dead Auror after dinner.
For the first time since he had returned to Hogwarts Harry noticed himself brooding over Sirius again, feeling the desperation and loneliness, the guilt and the self-doubt. And, of course, the weight of the prophecy.
Strangely it was Luna who helped Harry most during that time. She would suddenly pop up in the most unlikely places and times –once she literally fell on him while he was walking to Charms. Harry did not ask why she had been sitting on a chandelier but she somehow always managed to get his thoughts away from the darker and more depressing subjects.
Another source of hope and light moments were the DA meetings. After managing the Patronus the members seemed determined to repeat the success with other spells and to put them into practise during their duels. They progressed at a rate Harry hadn't thought possible and soon he had to look up new, more challenging spells.
In the third week of October he finally decided to try a completely new approach. After dividing them into two groups he gave them a few minutes to devise a strategy and then gave the signal to fight each other. Needless to say it was an absolute chaos –and after five minutes none of the members was left standing and able to fight.
Harry blew his whistle for good measure and Ernie and Anthony, who were still half-heartedly exchanging spells even as they were lying on the floor, ceased their efforts and helped him to bring everyone else back to a sound body and mind. Luckily the worst that had happened was a badly bleeding arm where Colin Creevey had been hit with a stray icicle. Hermione, Neville and Hannah Abbott managed to heal him fairly quickly and it didn't quell his excitement during the rest of the meeting in the least.
"Well, that was a disaster," said Padma candidly. "We didn't have a strategy, we didn't work together, we took out the members of our own side. –Sorry, by the way, Susan, I didn't mean to freeze you. –We need to keep a cool head during a fight like this and not forget everything we've learnt as soon as we hear Harry whistle."
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I don't know how much of the fight you realised but I got the impression that you just fired off the first spell you could think of and then got knocked out by spells that weren't even meant for you."
Most DA members nodded slightly embarrassed at that. Ron answered thoughtfully, "Maybe we could do it like Quidditch." When everyone –except Hermione, who concentrated hard on polishing her wand -looked at him expectantly, he elaborated, "Like Chasers and Keepers. We could have some people in each group that focus on attacking and others who do protection spells. Of course we would have to work together better, and be flexible about it to adjust to the fight. Like a Chaser that grabs the Quaffle before the Keeper has to save a goal."
"And maybe something like Healers," Neville added. "Most of us were hit with a stunning spell, or Impedimenta, or similar curses that need only a simple counter curse."
They went on with the group fighting after that, trying out these ideas and various others. Harry decided to partake in the battles and let some other members take a break and give the signals –on the one hand he wanted to get some practise himself, on the other hand watching a fight would enable them to spot the most common faults easier than while they were in the middle of flying curses.
Parvati Patil gave the signal for the next fight to start and Harry immediately sent a stunner at the opposite team. Flashes of magic buzzed around him while he dived for cover behind a shield someone had conjured. Susan next to him got hit with an Impedimenta and Justin stumbled over her. Dennis Creevey was jumping up and down with excitement and got hit by a bludgeoning spell from his brother. Harry felt disorientated and then suddenly the shield broke. He doubled his efforts and fired off spells as fast as he could, all the while crouching low behind Susan's body. A Furunculus Hex meant for him hit her and Harry felt bad for using her as a shield, but he didn't have time to enervate her.
"Quinquerare!" Terry shouted behind him and protected by the new shield Harry could finally regain some of his wits. It wasn't as bad as it seemed –though there was a lot of magic flying around he could ignore most of it because it was either protection from his own group or hexes that got stopped by the shields.
Ron duelled with Zacharias Smith at the other side of the room; both of them were covered in rather nasty looking hex marks.
"Aaaarg!" Ginny had used her famous Bat-Bogey Hex against a screaming Lavender and Harry was glad he wasn't facing her. Then he didn't have time to look on any longer because he noticed Hermione getting nearer with her wand trained on him.
With a dangerous smile she mumbled a spell that Harry didn't hear but he decided to drop to the floor nevertheless. And it was a good thing he already was down there – her spell turned the floor into ice and with an "Ow" several people lost their balance and hit the ground. All the protection spells around him broke and Hermione's smile widened.
Harry started as she moved her wand in one sweeping motion and conjured a tight net that moved in his direction. No, she wouldn't win that easily!
He countered with an Incendio that made her falter but unfortunately some of the burning parts of the net dropped onto his robe, which nearly caught fire. Harry wrenched back and put up his own Protegro shield. While he scrambled away from Hermione he bumped right into Terry and that was nearly enough for her to get a stunner at him.
"Aah! Sorry! Stand back! Sorry!" Neville came skidding over the ice and Hermione stunned him instead immediately. But then she had to jump aside to get out of his falling body's way and got onto the ice she had conjured herself.
"Stupefy!"
"Stupefy!"
Harry shouted the stunning spell at the same as Terry next to him and between the two spells Hermione couldn't dodge fast enough and dropped to the ground stunned.
Harry exchanged a quick glance with the Ravenclaw, then they moved on to the rest of the fighting DA members. There were only a few left and Harry threw himself into the battle with Terry doing most of the defencive work. It went on a bit longer like that -and then Harry saw a red spell speeding up at him from the corner of his eyes but before he could react he got hit and everything went black.
In the end Ron was the last one able to continue –if you didn't count Lavender that is, who could have continued but was hiding under some tables from the Bat-Bogeys.
They had started at ten o'clock on Sunday morning, skipped lunch –except a few sandwiches provided by the Room of Requirement –and kept on until late in the afternoon. They had tried fighting in pairs, always one attacker and one defender, and in small teams within the groups, they had tried some sort of a chain of command with one chief in each group giving orders, and they had tried to plan a whole fighting strategy in advance, with the coordinated use of different spells by every member.
Ron had led a group during that last strategy, which involved soaking their opponents, fog, the Bat-Bogey Hex, confounding and freezing charms. It would have worked had not Hermione at the last moment thought of a clever storm spell that thoroughly shook up their minutely planned attack and before they could reorganise themselves they had been overwhelmed.
When they left shortly before dinner they had not found the ultimate way to fight in a chaotic battle but had gained at least some experience; and were all thoroughly exhausted.
Harry was glad the DA was coming along nicely but at the same time concerned about his own achievements. True, he was better than most DA members, but was that enough? The prophecy had singled him out; he could not hide between the others.
So during his next free period, while Ron and Neville were in Divination and Hermione in Ancient Runes, Harry walked in front of the Room of Requirement, turned three times and concentrated hard on an opponent for a duel. When he opened the door and stepped in he instantly froze.
He had not been specific enough about his wish –or maybe too specific. Cold red eyes stared at him, the snakelike face twisted into a cruel smile and the long, skeletal fingers pointed the wand at him. Harry gasped and then suddenly got the power over his unmoving limbs back. In one fast movement he was out of the room and closed the door with a bang.
It could not really be Voldemort, could it? Another Voldemort? Could he come out? But nothing happened and when his heartbeat had calmed down somewhat Harry remembered that nothing could be taken out of the Room of Requirement –Hermione had once tried to take some defence books with her but they simply vanished when she stepped through the door.
He took a deep breath and gathered his courage to try again –thinking about an opponent he could control this time. Once inside a much less frightening sight awaited him. A figure in dark cloak and with a featureless face stood staring at the wall. It didn't move.
"Erm," Harry said, "How does this work? Do I tell you what to do?"
The figure nodded.
"OK, I want you to duel me when I say 'Begin'. You won't use any lethal spells, or the Unforgivables. You stop when I loose my wand or when I tell you to stop. Understood?"
It nodded again.
"Good. Then, er, begin."
At once the figure raised its wand.
When Harry thought about it later the best word to describe it was 'intense'. The figure provided by the Room was better than he was. It was faster, knew more spells and had a few tricks up his sleeve that fooled him every time. But in the end he had managed to grasp a few of these tricks -for example, how to choose your spells so you could combine the wand movements and fire them off faster.
So Harry started to train a while before every DA meeting and whenever he had some spare time –which wasn't very often. He did not know if that would be enough but it was the best he could manage.
On Tuesday, the last week of October, Graham Cole dropped a load of Manticore dung onto Harry's cloak during Herbology. Harry found the short note "same time, same place" when he cleaned away the dirt, asking himself if it was some required trait for all Slytherins to behave as unpleasant as possible all the time.
But during the meeting in the evening Cole was polite, and businesslike. "I've overheard Malfoy talking with Crabbe and Goyle over the weekend. He wasn't very careful about it –apparently he had told them this before, several times. The Slytherins have signed up for the Hogsmeade weekend as usual, but on Saturday morning Malfoy will convince nearly everyone to stay –I think they're going to pretend they ate some bad food. The only ones that he won't hold back are the Muggleborns."
Harry sighed. It seemed it was definitely going to happen. "Who knows about this? I mean this can't be only Malfoy's plan... Has he really that much influence in Slytherin?"
"Everyone knows who his father is... Even when he was in prison he still had a lot of influence. There are other students whose parents are Death Eaters, some of them might know about Hogsmeade, too. In any case they'll listen to Malfoy, and help him. And the others... well, you don't cross Malfoy."
"And you?"
Cole's face became more guarded. "What about me?"
"Are you going? Will Malfoy convince you?"
"I didn't sign up."
Harry had the distinct feeling that there was something more, something the Slytherin didn't tell him but he couldn't put his finger on it. While he was still trying to figure it out Cole turned to move away. "I have to go back. I can't stay out after curfew too often or someone might get suspicious."
Then he was gone and Harry was left to wonder who might get suspicious. Ron and Hermione sure would have asked what he was doing but believed him still in Occlumency with Dumbledore. But Cole didn't seem to have any close friends.
After Harry left the Room of Requirement he had to fight the sudden urge to laugh hysterically. There would be an attack on lots of Hogwarts' students, maybe the biggest attack of Voldemort so far, and he -he -was the only one who knew about it, and he couldn't tell anyone, and a few students who hadn't had many decent Defence lessons were the only ones to protect the others...
"Are you OK, dear?" asked the fat lady concernedly.
"Four-leaf clover"
She crossed her arms and muttered about "bad mannered youths! In my time children were taught how to behave properly!" while he climbed in through the portrait hole and ignored her.
Hermione was sitting at in one of the chairs, with books covering every available space around her. Harry remembered her knitting hats for the house-elves last year and wondered why she hadn't said a single thing about S.P.E.W since they had returned to Hogwarts. She sighed and stretched her arms before picking up a slim book again. From the neat, red paperback Hermione had in her hands now to the dusty, leather-bound tome at her feet Harry knew what she was reading; they were all Defence books.
Deciding not to disturb her –and because he did not want to face any questions about his strange mood –he went up straight to his dormitory.
"...can't. He's seen Cedric die, and Sirius. He's still –I don't know, we've never really talked about Sirius, you know?"
Harry stopped dead in front of the slightly open door.
"But I know he's not yet over it -if you can ever get over something like that. He certainly doesn't need me whining over some wizard I didn't even know. I myself don't know why it matters that much to me." Ron's voice hoarsely continued.
"Don't you think he'd understand? He-" It was Neville's patient voice that answered.
"Of course he would. But he's already got enough to worry about. And besides, what would he think of me... I mean..." Ron trailed off.
Harry could almost see his best friends' ears getting red and retreated quietly from the door. It must have cost Ron a lot to admit that to Neville, and he would definitely not like it if he found out that Harry had heard it. He had hoped Ron would eventually tell him about the wizard, and why it had shocked him so much. Sitting down in one of the armchairs in the corner of the common room Harry surveyed the Gryffindors. Last year he, Ron and Hermione had been sitting together near the fire. Now the rowdy bunch of first years occupied their seats.
Leaning back in his chair Harry stared at a painting in the opposite corner, whose inhabitant must have walked out of the frame, and waited until either Ron or Neville would come downstairs again or Seamus or Dean would go up to sleep.
Harry looked out of the dormitories window. There should have been a storm raging on, or at least some dark clouds in the sky to match his feelings but the morning of the Hogsmeade weekend dawned brightly and the day promised to become sunny and warm.
"I'm going to Zonkos first and then Honeydukes! And the Three Broomsticks! Hogsmeade is soo cool! My brother has told me everything about it!" Dennis Creevey had a group of third years standing around him, all of them equally excited about their first Hogsmeade visit. Dean and Ginny climbed laughing through the portrait hole out and Lavender checked her lip-gloss a last time in the reflecting windows before joining Parvati and Seamus on their way down to breakfast.
"Harry! Harry! –Something wrong with you? I've been calling you for five minutes! Let's get down to the Great Hall."
He followed Ron, barely registering Hermione's questioning face. Breakfast consisted of the older students remembering their first Hogsmeade weekends and anticipating a day outside of the castle, while the third years couldn't wait to finally see the village for themselves. The younger students listened enviously and consoled themselves by thinking about the Halloween feast in the evening. Harry crumbled his toast. Even the DA, even with all the practise they had done in the last few weeks and with his warning about Hogsmeade, was carefree and looking forward to the trip.
Over the heads of his fellow Gryffindors he could see that the Slytherin table was half-empty and suddenly he met Cole's gaze, who nodded once, nearly imperceptibly, before turning back to his plate.
And then breakfast was over and with most other students rushing to the entrance Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Hall and joined the line where Filch checked all the names off.
"-now, Severus, you can't just blame all the Gryffindors without proof! You can't prohibit them from going to Hogsmeade without any evidence at all!"
"Minerva, I hope you don't expect me to believe that half of Slytherin house just ate something spoiled while in none of the other houses anyone feels the slightest bit ill? This was some sort of stupid prank and I'm well aware of from where most of the stupid pranks in this school originate! I don't see any reason why the Slytherins should miss the Hogsmeade trip while those who are responsible for it enjoy themselves."
"Be reasonable, Severus, -" McGonagall continued to argue while Harry for the first time ever wished Snape would be successful with his prejudices against Gryffindors. He suddenly wished he had done something with the food –with the food of the whole school, so everyone would be sick... -Snape! He was a spy! Shouldn't he know about the attack? Maybe that's why he was trying to hold them back. But no, then he simply could have told Dumbledore...
Then McGonagall apparently had convinced Snape that without proof he couldn't do anything and Snape, with a last nasty look at Harry, turned back down to the dungeons, where the Slytherin common room was. Rather disappointed looking Filch continued to tick students off his list.
"Phew! I was becoming worried he'd get his way," Ron said.
"You know, it's kind of suspicious that only Slytherins became ill..." Hermione answered but Ron seemed to have already withdrawn into his own thoughts again.
"Mind if I come with you?" Neville joined them on their way through the gates of Hogwarts and was soon talking with Hermione about the importance of plants in healing draughts. Harry and Ron followed silently a few steps behind them.
Hogsmeade was not like Harry remembered it. Some of the smaller shops had obviously closed down and had 'For Sale' signs in the windows. There were nearly no villagers in the streets but lots of serious looking wizards stood in every corner. They seemed to try to blend in but in their dark blue cloaks -which were nothing special, except for the fact that each of them wore the same –it was a rather futile attempt. "They must be Aurors!" whispered Ron and a tall wizard near them, who had apparently heard him nevertheless, shot them a sharp look.
Harry was glad to see them. Even if the Ministry followed that stupid policy of 'nothing has changed and there is absolutely no danger' –and maybe that was why the Aurors tried to be inconspicuous –they apparently wanted to make sure nothing happened to the Hogwarts' students. Harry grimaced. Most probably Fudge just didn't want his popularity drop even further.
Nothing happened during the morning. Hermione bought a book about ancient charms and Neville some toad-treats for Trevor; the toad apparently wasn't feeling too well. Even Ron brightened up a little in Honeydukes and Harry began to hope that it had been a false alarm. In the afternoon a cold wind began to pick up and they went to the Three Broomsticks for a hot Butterbeer.
Inside was barely any space left and they had to squeeze themselves around a tiny table right next to the door. Obviously most of the students had had the same idea and Ron and Neville barely managed get the Butterbeer for them all.
"Hiya Harry!" Dennis Creevey cried from the other side of the room, but over the laughing and talking he could barely be heard. Harry waved half-heartedly back. A fourth year girl was balancing five Butterbeers to a table of cheering classmates when she suddenly stumbled and the hot beverage along with shards of glass flooded the table of the now shrieking girls.
"Don't spread it, dears! I'll clean you up in a minute!" Madam Rosmerta waved her wand, muttering drying charms over the ruckus. At this moment Harry felt it. There was a coldness creeping up at them, a coldness that was not natural. A coldness like you would never be happy again.
He sat his glass abruptly down, grabbed his wand and turned to the door.
"Harry?"
He didn't listen. Slowly he opened the door and carefully looked outside. The wind blew up several leaves.
"What is it, Harry? Something wrong?" Ron stepped out next to him.
And then everything seemed to happen at once. Screaming students ran around a corner of the street. The Aurors were shouting and went into their direction. The small house at the corner collapsed suddenly. Around the corner came two huge figures. Harry had thought Grawp was big but apparently he was rather small for a giant.
People poured out of the Three Broomsticks to see what the commotion was about. Other people fled from the direction where the giants now were throwing debris at the Aurors.
A third giant rounded the corner and swung a young tree at two Aurors, sweeping them off the street and through the window of a shop. Two more giants followed him and began wreaking havoc among the Aurors.
The people in the street began to panic. Some wanted to seek refuge in the Three Broomsticks, whereas those inside did not want to become trapped in a building that might collapse just as easily if the giants set their mind to destroying it. Villagers from the houses and shops nearby joined them in the street, some running and screaming, others too shocked to move.
And then the coldness swapped over the street like a wave of icy water and turning around Harry saw that on the other side of the street, opposite of the giants, Dementors were gliding nearer. Harry knew they lived off happy thoughts but apparently they feasted on fear and panic as well. The students and villagers were trapped between them and the giants, and they were in no hurry to attack.
Everybody began to run in different directions. Harry had lost Neville and Hermione in the crowd, only Ron was still near him. He saw Anthony with several Ravenclaws fleeing from the Dementors, and Seamus and the Patil twins running in the opposite direction, away from the giants. Ernie dragged a young Hufflepuff boy along who was paralysed by the Dementors. Few and far between were witches and wizards that had the presence of mind draw their wands and use their magic.
Harry saw the fleeing students and residents of Hogsmeade and in a moment of amazing clarity could see the massacre this would end in if no one did anything. "DA!" he screamed, "Stop! Fight!"
A.N.: I know, I know... It's been a while... -Real life has been interfering, and then my computer broke down and wouldn't let me upload anything... But it should get better now.
As you might have noticed I changed my name slightly -I finally managed to get the ' in Fortuna's. Really don't know why that didn't work before. Hope it doesn't create any problems.
And for all those who are on AuthorAlert: I will re-upload several chapters from my other fic, that have been beta'd. So feel free to ignore them, and don't get your hopes up -I'm not that fast!
Please R&R!