Dementors in Hogsmeade could mean only one thing: Voldemort had finally convinced them to switch loyalties and Azkaban prison was now lying empty of not just guards, but prisoners as well, since the Ministry had yet to devise a back-up system should such a thing occur.
Hermione eased around the doorway and looked up and down the street as Remus Lupin stepped back. She saw nothing, but the cold was unmistakable. Somewhere nearby, there were many dementors. She came back inside and closed the door quietly.
"Can you talk to Dumbledore?" she asked Aberforth.
"I can try the floo," he answered and moved to a door behind the bar, motioning for everyone to follow.
The office was dingy and such a layer of dust coated everything so that it looked almost like snow. Hermione tried not to let her robes touch anything for fear of the sneezing attacks that would likely result from disturbing the dust.
Aberforth, impervious to the dust he raised on the mantle as he groped for the pot of floo powder, knelt on the floor and tossed a pinch into the roaring fire. Once the flames sparkled green, he stuck his head in and called, "Albus? Albus, where are you?"
The witch and wizards standing in the office could hear no reply, though they listened with strained ears.
"Albus, this is no time for foolery," Aberforth said impatiently. After a moment he pulled his head back and said, "I'm not sure he's there."
Hermione scowled, thinking for a moment. "Can you leave him a note if I were to --"
He shook his head and answered, "The wards at Hogwarts prevent anyone from going further through the floo network."
"We can't trust an owl to make it there without being intercepted," Remus said and Hermione absently nodded her head.
"What about the Ministry?" Sturgis asked. "Can't Arthur do something?"
"Of course!" Hermione said, irritated that she hadn't thought of him first. "May I?" she asked Aberforth, and upon his approval took a pinch of floo powder and tossed it in the fire. Once it flared green, she stuck in her head and called, "Ministry of Magic! Arthur Weasley's office!"
She closed her eyes to the spinning and when she opened them again, she stared into the office of Arthur Weasley, Deputy Minister of Magic, and the Deputy Minister sat behind his desk, toying with a set of electrical plugs while staring at a parchment before him.
"Arthur!"
He dropped the plugs in surprise and stared at the floating head of Hermione Granger in his fireplace.
"Hermione! Is everything alright?"
"No, we've got trouble. There are dementors in Hogsmeade."
"Dementors?" he asked incredulously. "But what -- what happened to Azkaban? And why are you in Hogsmeade?"
"I don't know what happened there, but you might want to send someone out to check. We were escorting the students to the train and Albus asked us to stop by to talk to Aberforth before returning to the castle. At the moment we're trapped here unless we decide to take on all of the dementors."
Arthur came around his desk and crouched down by the fire. "How many are there?"
"We're not sure, but judging by how cold it just got, quite a few. How many were guarding Azkaban?"
"Although I don't know for sure, I believe around sixty to seventy. Is there any way you can get back to Hogwarts?"
"I don't know," she answered slowly. "Certainly not the normal path, but perhaps one of the secret passages. But what about the residents here? We can't just leave them with all those Dementors running loose."
"You're right, of course. Evacuate everyone you can to Hogwarts then. Have you informed Dumbledore yet?"
"No, we couldn't get him on the floo."
Hermione watched as a purple paper airplane -- an interdepartmental memo -- flew through the office door and Arthur it out of the air and he blanched suddenly upon reading it.
"What is it?"
"Kings Cross -- is being attacked! By Death Eaters!"
"We'll be there in --"
"No," Arthur interrupted. "We'll handle it, you get to Dumbledore and tell him everything."
Arthur quickly stood and swept from the office and Hermione pulled herself out of the fireplace, her knees aching from kneeling on the stone floor.
"I trust you all caught the gist of that," she said, looking from face to shocked face. "I guess we'd better work on our escape plan."
Ron's mouth full of sandwich fell open and he stared at Harry with wide eyes.
"Ron!"
His attention snapped back into place and he hurriedly swallowed his mouthful and asked, "Kings Cross? Under attack?"
"Yes!" Harry yelled, oblivious to the Ministry workers stopping to stare. "We've got to go now!"
"Wait a sec, we can't just take off without telling anyone," Ron retorted and he trotted over to the security stand where Eric Munch sat with his head in his hands. "Oi, Eric, a memo and a quill, please."
The watchwizard eyed him curiously but complied, both he and Harry watching as Ron scribbled on the violet paper. When he was finished, he folded it up expertly, tapped his wand on it and said, "Arthur Weasley, on the double."
He turned back to Harry. "Dad'll know what to do."
"But we've got to go now!" Harry protested. "He'll send back up, but that could take too long. Ron, we've got to protect the students!"
Ron relented and as they hurried through the Atrium towards the outgoing floos, a voice from the golden gates leading down into the Ministry held them back, "Hey boys, where you headed? Off to a long lunch?"
Harry turned to see Nymphadora Tonks grinning at them as she approached, this time her hair short and black with pink tips.
"The students are being attacked at Kings Cross," Harry said and was about to ask for her help but she beat him to it.
"Then what are we standing here for?" she demanded and, with a hand on each of their backs, shoved them towards the fireplace. "Let's get moving!"
"Wait," Harry said, fumbling in his robes, "take the potion first."
Ron and Tonks both found their vials and gulped the contents. Harry pulled out his wand and nodded at them.
"See you there."
He stepped into the fireplace and announced, "Platform nine and three-quarters!"
He arrived in a fireplace on the other side of nine and three-quarters, the Hogwarts Express shielding them from view of the fighting he could hear from the across the train. It seemed a number of students and parents had retreated to the train as he could see scared faces in the windows. The Dark Mark hung black and sinister in the empty air above everything.
Ron and Tonks quickly followed him through and they advanced cautiously to the front of the silent train. Hexes flew past them, bolts of light missing their targets or glancing off protective spells and zooming off into nothing. Harry peeked around and saw chaos. A haze filled the air, punctuated by shafts of light as spells erupted from wands, and many bodies, both adults and children, lay on the ground, too many for him to count.
He spotted a knot of five Death Eaters about twenty feet away, busy firing curses at the students and parents. When he motioned towards the group, Ron and Tonks nodded, their wand hands ready and itching for action. Harry nodded once and they burst around the train, each with a hex on his or her lips.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled and three wands flew up in the air as Ron and Tonks both cried, "Stupefy!"
Two of the Death Eaters dropped immediately and the remaining three whirled, clearly surprised at the attack from behind, and one scrambled for a wand on the ground.
"It's Potter!" the same Death Eater yelled.
"Stun him only!" another answered. "The Dark Lord wants him alive, but kill the others!"
The third faced Ron and a green jet shot forth, but Ron dropped to the ground and countered with petrificus totalis and the Death Eater dropped. Harry and Tonks took out the other two and bound all five tightly with rope.
"Don't go anywhere," Ron muttered as he picked up the five wands and stuffed them in a pocket in his robes.
Harry spotted Yori Saito, one of the aurors from the train, deflecting some curse from a Death Eater but he cast avada kedavra before she had a chance to recover and she fell to the platform. The killing curse flew from Harry's lips without effort and the offending Death Eater also dropped. Harry knelt beside Yori and she blinked up at him, having taken the potion as soon as fighting broke out.
"It really does work," she whispered as he helped her up.
"Be careful," he advised her. "You can only take one more and still fight. After the third, you'll be no help --"
"Move!" she yelled, pushing Harry hard and a hex grazed his shoulder as she raised her wand. "Stupefy!"
Another Death Eater hit the ground and since the area around them was clear, Harry took a quick moment to take stock of the situation. McGonagall stood at the far end of the platform, her black hair flying out of its customary bun as she deflected a curse and countered with one of her own, looking none the worse for wear. Britt Oudekirk and Dwaine Garvey stood between some terrified first-years and four Death Eaters, locked in fierce battle. A curse hit Dwaine and he fell hard just as Tonks took out one of the four and Yori ran over to join them.
He didn't see Flitwick or Emmeline Vance, but some of the parents were fighting, as well as some of the braver older students, five of which had cornered a pair of Death Eaters and disarmed them. Harry rushed over to them.
"Incarcerous." Rope wound its way around the two Death Eaters and Harry turned to the students. "Good work. I want you lot to secure the train."
"But we can fight!" one of them argued, a Gryffindor of course, and Harry couldn't help but remember how Ginny, Neville and Luna had argued with him in fifth year….
"No, my first responsibility is to keep you safe, but you can protect the other students on the train." A few stared back at him, sullen looks on their faces as if they would try to argue, but they complied at last when he barked, "GO!"
The students ran towards the train and Harry turned around to see a Death Eater charging towards Ron, but Harry shot out a spell which tripped him up and Ron stupefied him. Cords shot out of Ron's wand and wound around the unconscious form.
Suddenly, the twenty-odd remaining Death Eaters grimaced and apparated away, and Harry noticed the Dark Mark burning on the left arm of a captured Death Eater.
"What's going on?" Ron asked breathlessly as he ran over to Harry. "They're just taking off!"
"Look," he said, motioning to the Dark Mark. "He's summoning them back."
A sharp pain in his scar made him wince and Ron became worried. "What?"
Harry shook his head, a hand massaging the burning lightning bolt on his forehead, and waited for the pain to pass before answering, "I thought before he was mad, but now … he's fucking furious."
"What before? What happened?"
Harry explained the dream on the train and Ron looked at him thoughtfully. "Maybe it's a good thing, him being angry."
"Yeah, McGonagall said that too, but I'm not so sure."
Andrew McKay limped over to them, bleeding from a gash on his left thigh, and he said, "Glad you came back, Harry, and with company, no less." He turned to Nymphadora who had just finished checking the ropes on the captured Death Eaters. "Tonks, go make sure there's no one else on the train."
The pink and black haired witch nodded and boarded the Hogwarts Express.
"So where did they go?" McKay asked of no one in particular, when suddenly a thought struck Harry.
"Why don't we find out?" he asked, and to their surprise, Harry went to the nearest unconscious Death Eater and grabbed the left arm.
His fingers brushed the Dark Mark and an image appeared, a meadow he didn't recognise. He turned back to Ron and shook his head.
"I don't know, they're probably regrouping, which means we need to get everyone out of here before they decide to come back."
As Harry spoke, witches and wizards in dark blue robes streamed onto the platform, past the scorched ticket booth and empty guard chair, both occupants having been the first victims of the Death Eaters' attack. Right behind the Ministry Police were the Healers from St. Mungo's in their lime green robes.
McGonagall joined them, a black bruise forming on her forehead and spots of blood on her robes. The distraught look upon her face seemed to reflect what Harry and the other aurors had feared, and her words only confirmed it.
"Nine students were killed," she said, her voice cracking as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. "Luckily the rest either were still on the train or made it back to safety."
"Shit," Ron breathed.
"Let me guess, none from Slytherin," growled Harry.
She nodded. "In fact, the ones with suspected ties to Death Eaters disappeared, before or during the attack, I'm not sure."
"How many parents were killed?" asked McKay.
"I don't know, but at least that many."
"What a fucking disaster," McKay said, shaking his head. "If only Fudge had agreed to send more. I tried to argue but…."
"We all know how the Minister likes to do things," Harry said, anger burning in the brilliant green eyes. "But at least they didn't attack the train en route. It would've been like shooting fish in a barrel."
A few heads nodded and Tonks emerged from the train with Flitwick trailing behind. The tiny wizard looked shaken but had no visible wounds.
"Train's all right, just some scared kids and a few scared mums and dads, too."
"Where's Emmeline?" McGonagall asked Flitwick, since the other member of the Order had last been assisting him with the invisibility charms before the attack.
He appeared near tears as he said, "She's -- she's gone. She heard the commotion outside and went to look and a wayward killing curse caught her before she could take the potion."
McGonagall gasped and clutched at her chest, this time unable to stop the tears that sprang to her eyes and streamed down her cheeks as she whispered, "Emmeline!"
While Flitwick attempted to console her, Harry and Ron shared a dark look.
"We need to get back to the Ministry and talk to your dad quick. I have a feeling this could have been just a diversionary tactic."
Ron's eyebrows leapt up. "Then we'd better go."
McKay said, "You three go on. We can manage here without you."
With three cracks, the three apparated to the Ministry and immediately raced through the atrium, past Eric the watchwizard and to the lifts and Harry jabbed the up arrow repeatedly and impatiently. Finally an elevator arrived and they piled into it, Tonks waving away a wizard who tried to follow them in as Ron mashed the button for the first floor and the administrative offices and he muttered something under his breath to the panel.
"What was that, Ron?" asked Tonks.
"Just a little password Dad told me; it takes you straight to the floor you want without stopping for anyone else."
Within moments, the car stopped and they piled out before they could hear the announcement for the floor. They were in a corridor leading right and left, and Ron started towards the right.
"This way," he said, unnecessarily since the other two also knew where Arthur Weasley's office sat, but they followed him regardless through the winding corridors before finally reaching a heavy, walnut door with a gold plate reading Deputy Minister of Magic, Arthur Weasley.
Ron opened the door, said hi to Arthur's personal assistant, a dour old wizard by the name of Philip, then continued on to the interior office, ignoring Philip's directives to stop. Bursting into the office, Ron stopped dead, causing Harry to run into his back and Tonks to run into Harry and she nearly knocked over all three of them. Harry peered over to see why Ron had stopped and his heart sank. The office was empty.
"If you would have stopped to listen, I could have told you that Mister Weasley is now with the Minister, and I would suggest not disturbing them."
"We'll see about that," Ron said.
Immediately they backtracked out of the office and through the corridors, past the lifts and through more hallways until they arrived at Fudge's office.
"Let me handle this," Harry said.
He opened the door to the office and a brilliant smile flashed across his face when he saw the witch at the desk.
"Lydia! So nice to see you again, and so soon!"
Her face blushed crimson right up to her short blonde hair and she beamed back at him. "Hello, Mister Potter."
"I heard that Arthur Weasley is in there with the Minister, is that correct?"
She nodded and answered, "Yes, but I don't think it's a good time to disturb them --"
"Oh, it'll be alright, I've got information that they both need."
"Well…" she trailed off, looking from Harry to Ron to Tonks, who had just knocked over a potted plant with the hem of her robes and the effortlessly clumsy witch scrambled to right it and return the spilt dirt to the pot. "If you think they need the information…."
"Lydia, I'll take full responsibility if he gets angry."
She acquiesced and Harry knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for a response. Cornelius Fudge, at his desk, and Arthur, sitting across from the Minister, looked up in surprise at Harry's sudden intrusion.
"Harry, if you will excuse me, I'm talking to the Deputy Minister at the moment," Fudge said at the same time as Arthur was asking, "What happened at Kings Cross?"
Harry largely ignored Fudge while he directed his attention to Arthur, saying, "We captured some of the Death Eaters but the rest fled once they received summons from Voldemort. They could be regrouping now."
"If that's the case, there's a good chance it's in Hogsmeade."
"Hogsmeade!" Ron cried. "But I thought he was supposed to attack the Ministry first, not Hogwarts!"
"That's what we thought too," his father answered, running a hand over his head.
"But why do you think he's there?" Harry asked, desperate to know the full scope of things.
"Because I spoke with Hermione by floo about twenty minutes ago and she was trapped there by dementors, the ones that had been guarding Azkaban."
Harry cursed and, looking at Fudge, Tonks asked, "What about the prisoners?"
Fudge declined to answer so Arthur said, "A few were still there, those not affiliated with Voldemort or his supporters, since they had no way off the island."
"Great," Ron muttered, "more to fight off."
"So what's being done about Hogsmeade?" persisted Harry as he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Did you send someone?"
Arthur shook his head. "I instructed her to clear out everyone she could and report back to Dumbledore to tell him everything."
"You can't leave her to fight off those dementors alone! There had to be at least fifty dementors at Azkaban, not to mention how many are outside of Ministry control!"
"There are no dementors outside of --" Fudge began, but Harry cut him off with a glare.
"You know that's not the truth," he said coldly and the blood drained from the Minister's face. Harry turned back to Arthur.
"She has Remus and Sturgis with her."
"Look, I think you could be right about them regrouping in Hogsmeade for an attack on Hogwarts, I think it makes sense. Voldemort's really angry about something, and he pulled those Death Eaters out of Kings Cross even though we were still outnumbered, so he might be desperate enough to condense all his forces and stage one giant attack on Hogwarts. And if that's the case, then Hermione certainly can't handle all that, with or without Remus or Sturgis. She'll need our help."
Arthur held Harry's gaze for a long moment while the former decided what to do, until Fudge decided to assert himself as the Minister of Magic. He rose from his chair and placed his hands on his desk, a stern look upon his face as he turned to Harry.
"I will send someone to Hogsmeade immediately, but you are to remain here, Harry, as Dumbledore and I discussed previously. He does not need your assistance in protecting Hogwarts, as you well know."
Ron sucked in a breath as he recognized the look of pure fury on Harry's face. He'd been on the receiving end of that face before and it wasn't pleasant.
"My best friend is in danger, as Hogwarts could be, and I'm not about to risk either of them to save your sorry arse."
"Harry," Fudge began, "if you leave, I will be forced to bring disciplinary action against you --"
"Sod off, Fudge," Harry growled over his shoulder and he stalked through the open door and past an open-mouthed Lydia who had been standing just outside listening.
Ron looked at Fudge then back to his father, shrugged and followed Harry out the door with Tonks close behind and they caught up with him, pacing, at the lifts.
"Harry, Ron, wait!" Arthur's voice floated from down the corridor and a moment later he appeared, slightly out of breath. "I'm going with you."
A/N:
So I decided to go ahead and post ch 35 alone, since somehow I managed to bang this chapter out over the last two days. (Maybe inspiration after seeing Prisoner of Azkaban?) I'm not sure how long it will be until ch 36 is ready, and I don't really want to hazard a guess, so bear with me and I'll try to get it out ASAP. And yeah, it's a semi-cliffhanger, but I think I've been going to easy on you guys lately.
Leyna, thanks for pointing out the typo; I fixed it immediately since I'm compulsive like that. You're right about missing stuff. I went back and re-read a few chapters to make sure I wasn't screwing with my plot and found a handful of typos that I had missed before!
Errie, you are so right about Lupin's moustache … completely horrible, should've been shaved off! And happy birthday to you as well.
So here's a reason to review … list your favorite scene from PoA. Mine: tie between Snape the Boggart, the Shrieking Shack, and the Time Turner. And what did you think of Michael Gambon as Dumbledore? Honestly, I absolutely loved him. He seemed more the Albus from the books, all twinkly and meddling.