HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE
I own nothing. Harry Potter and co. belongs to She-Who-Must-be-Worshipped, J. K. Rowling.
Chapter 7: Broken PiecesA storm was raging outside, screaming a ghastly song of chaos, beating the walls and roofs of the castle with its incessant downpour. Trees from the Forbidden Forest swayed, branches broke one after another. The growls of various creatures from the forest were drowned in the noise of the howling wind. The indefinite noise reigned, as if thousands of souls were crying to be heard.
Tonks managed to hold a shiver. The weather seemed to be agreeing with the past events. She strode beside Moody, heading towards the Great Hall, where all of the members of the Order were going to be meeting. A full gathering of the Order had never happened before, even during the first war. This was the first, but the situation had called for it. The world, wizarding and muggle alike, was in the edge of a precipice, its fate hanging in a balance.
Voldemort and his army had taken full control of London. The muggles that weren't able to escape were killed immediately; some were hiding underground while some were heading north now for their safety. Death eaters and dark creatures roamed the streets, searching for survivors and oppositions.
The Ministry of Magic was now regrouping. Minister Fudge had called all of the Aurors and officials back, hoping to get some foothold. But the attack at the Ministry had hurt them badly. It would take some time before they would be ready again.
Wizards and witches from all over the United Kingdom feared for their safety - even some took to camping near the gates of Hogwarts, hoping for a semblance of protection that Hogwarts was known for.
Tonks heaved a sigh as they reached their destination.
The Great Hall was dark, illuminated only by a few candles floating in the middle, where a long rectangular table could be seen. The original and important members of the Order were seated there. On each side, near the darkened walls, was a semi-circle table, placing the rectangular table in its middle. Members that had just recently joined the Order were seated at the sides. Tonks headed to the right side sitting in between Bill and Charlie Weasley.
"Where are the teenagers?" she asked Bill quietly.
"They are in their dormitories. Mum is with them, Ginny hadn't stopped crying ever since. Is it true? I mean.... you were there. Is Harry.... you know.... really dead?" Bill asked somberly.
"Yeah. Remus.... Remus said that he saw the weird creature.... threw Harry at the stone archway with the veil," Tonks replied, tears welling up in her eyes again.
"My God!" Bill gasped, his eyes moist and mouth dry. He knew Harry. He ate dinner with him at the Burrow. He had heard many stories of him from Ginny. He had visited him with his mum during the Triwizard Tournament. He was almost like a brother. He couldn't believe that he was gone, just like that.
"Where's Lupin by the way? He's not here," inquired Charlie, looking at the other tables.
"I haven't seen him since the Ministry. He just left after he told us what happened with Harry. I.... I don't know where he is right now," Tonks answered, shivering with the memory of the incident. She remembered the look on his eyes at that time. It was cold and empty, as if there were no life in them. It was as if he just gave up life. That he had nothing more to live for. She wanted to stop him from leaving right then and there but Shacklebolt had stopped her, saying that Remus needed to be alone first. Tears were falling freely from her eyes now, as she recalled the event, fearing that she had lost Remus too.
When everyone was seated, McGonagall, who was seated in the middle table, stood and ordered for silence. A few seconds later, the hushed whisperings stopped and everyone looked at her.
"As the Head of the Order, Albus Dumbledore, is incapacitated, I will be heading the meeting as I was charged as the second-in-command. Any opposition? None? Good."
"Excuse me," interrupted someone from the left table, "but what happened to Albus?"
"It would be better if Madame Pomfrey answered that question. Poppy?" McGonagall asked.
Madame Pomfrey stood from the far right table and took a deep breath before speaking. "Professor Dumbledore, at this time is incapacitated. When Aberforth found him lying outside the Ministry, he was already unconsciousness. On closer examination, I had found out that Albus' magical energy was low and his channels were burned, a clear indication of usage of magical energy in high level. His body wasn't able to hold such strong magic; hence, it shut down along with his mind. As it is, if Aberforth hadn't brought him into my attention quickly enough, Dumbledore would have died. Healers from St. Mungo's are now monitoring him at the hospital wing. But one thing is clear; Dumbledore would be out for a long, long time."
Gasps and murmurs of fear filled the room. Dumbledore wouldn't be able to lead them? How were they going to win this war?
"Silence!" McGonagall ordered. After a few moments of trying, the others finally relented and the room was filled with silence again. "All right. Now, the meeting has officially started. Questions unrelated could wait until we are finished. Now, the first order of business is the help we would be getting from the other countries. Tojikama, what's your take on this?"
Hajime Tojikama was seated at the middle table along with McGonagall and the rest of the important members. When he was addressed, he cleared his throat first then spoke loudly. "What happened in the Ministry had hurt the magical community as a whole. The deaths of the Ministers had set the different countries in a state of panic. Their attention therefore lies in their own territory. They would have to stabilize their government first before they could do anything to help us. And that would take a lot of time. Therefore, I believe that help from the other Ministries wouldn't be arriving any time soon."
"That is troubling, indeed," observed McGonagall darkly. She then turned to Tonks, "Tonks, what is the capability of our Ministry as of now?"
Tonks gulped nervously and glanced around the room. "I'm not sure about the numbers but from what I gathered, I think the Ministry has fifty Aurors and a hundred MLEs (Magical Law Enforcers)."
"I see. Does anyone here have any idea on the number of the Dark Lord's forces?"
Moody, also seated at the center table answered her gruffly, "Well, the number of the Death Eaters that attacked London reached up to a couple of hundred. And with them, of course, was a number of Dementors. How many, that I do not know. How many more Voldemort is hiding, I have no idea." Almost all of the people in the room flinched at the name of the Dark Lord.
"And the Order?"
"I counted earlier. About 67 are capable in combat and 12 are better off doing paperwork. The number of people that didn't report today was 23. I don't know if they're still alive or they just fled to another country." Moody replied.
"Not enough," McGonagall whispered to herself but the others heard her. It was clear that they had no chance against the forces of the Dark Lord.
The swirling thick mist covered everything in sight, like a heavy curtain blanketing his eyes. Even though he had depended on his sight almost his entire existence, he felt no fear here. In here, he felt that he was completely safe, away from the peril that surrounded him in his entire life, away from all the troubles, the problems that had governed him since birth. Memories flashed through his mind, from his early days with the Dursleys to the battle that led him here. To his death. Everything was over now. There was no longer a need to fight or to struggle.
He felt the mist move rather than see it. He concentrated where the mist moved and saw two figures walking towards him, their faces covered by the mist. When they were near enough to be recognized, he gave a small gasp of surprise.
"Mum? Dad?" he asked uncertainly.
Cold wet breeze wafted through the open windows, stirring the red curtains in its wake. The torches on the walls flickered, casting odd shadows around the room.
It was cold. Bitterly cold.
Ron was lying on his bed in the Gryffindor Tower, his tired eyes focused outside the windows to the raging storm beyond that seemed to engulf everybody's lives. He didn't know what to feel or what to do. Ginny had locked herself in the girls' dormitory, crying her eyes out. Hermione, meanwhile, was probably with Viktor, trying to sort out what had happened just like what he was doing right now. He couldn't even bring himself to be angry that Vicky was with her; he was just too tired for it. It was as if his energies were drained out of him. He couldn't even bring himself to stand and close the windows. He just felt so lost... so alone. He wanted to lash out and break something or even cry just to get rid of the empty feeling that had gripped him. But to his distress, his body wouldn't obey any of his commands. What happened in the Ministry had left him feeling completely weak, useless, and guilty. He was not able to do anything to help. Once the creature stepped out of Courtroom ten, all of his senses left him. The only thing that he knew was fear. Fear beyond anything. Fear that rattled him to the bones, fear that crawled deep into his very core. He was weak; there was no other way around it. And because of his weakness, he wasn't able to help. Because of his weakness, Harry died.
"Yes Harry," Lily Evans-Potter replied, her lips trembling and tears threatening to fall from her eyes. His father smiled benignly at him and gave him a small nod.
Harry didn't waste any time and rushed towards them, engulfing them in a hug that was not enough to satisfy a lifetime's worth of loneliness and emptiness. His mother gave a sob and embraced him back while his father patted him on the back. The tears were freely falling now from their eyes. Harry craved this his entire life. Ever since he could remember, he had been jealous of Dudley for the love his parents showed for him. But now, he could feel the love of his parents for him coming out of them waves upon waves. He hugged them tighter, not planning to let go any time soon.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," cried Harry in a small voice.
"Why? What are you sorry about?" Lily asked, though she had a pretty good idea what it was about. Sirius had informed them that Harry had the tendency to blame himself for everything.
"It was my fault that you died. Because of that stupid prophecy, Voldemort came and killed you."
"Now don't go blaming yourself for that, Harry. It wasn't you fault," James reprimanded. "It was our time to go. Nobody could do anything to stop it; not us, not Dumbledore, and not even Voldemort himself."
"But-"
"But nothing. All that had happened; our deaths, your scar, Voldemort's rebirth, and the battle at the Ministry, all of it led you here, where you belong," his mother interrupted.
"To my death? Now that seems stupid," Harry pointed out. He was much more calmer now and his tears had stop from falling. Just like with Remus, the open admission of his parents that their deaths weren't his fault, seemed to lift another burden from his shoulders. He was with his parents and everything would be all right now.
"No Harry, not to your death, but to your destiny," James said ominously in a deep voice, his eyes widening for emphasis. Lily rolled her eyes in a very Hermione-like way and hit James at the back of his head.
"My destiny? You mean, the prophecy?"
"Well, that's a part of it, yes," answered Lily before James could open up his mouth.
"But how? I'm dead right? How could I defeat Voldemort if I'm dead?"
"No Harry. I'm afraid that you're very much alive," James said amusingly.
"But-" Harry started but was once again interrupted by his mother.
"It isn't your time yet. Right now, we are in the Gates of the Land of the Souls, and as you are not dead yet, you are not allowed to enter."
"Then, what? I don't understand," Harry said confusedly and looked the part too. James had to stifle his laugh as not to offend his son.
"Everything that happened until now is just fate setting the players up. Your real journey starts here."
Heavy rain were cascading around her, soaking her to the skin. For hours she stood there, not moving an inch. It was bitingly cold, and yet, she welcomed it. What she was feeling right now was much, much worse. There was an empty hole in her heart and she felt that it was eating her alive from the inside, slowly and painfully. There was no cure, no escape.
Hermione Jane Granger couldn't hold it any longer and fell down to her knees. The tears mixing with the rainwater as it fell down to the flooded field of the Quidditch pitch. It was too much! The pain, the grief, the sorrow, the loss, everything.... everything had taken hold of her and she couldn't handle it any longer. She looked up to the darkened skies and screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to release all of her pain into the world. She was even hoping for death just to absolve her of these cursed feelings.
Oh Harry, why did you leave us?
"My real journey?" Harry asked worriedly.
Lily Potter looked at her son pityingly. It wasn't really fair. He had been through so much for so young and yet, everything was just starting. Fate had deemed it that Harry would live a life of difficulty. But she knew he would be able to surpass it all. He was strong. He was powerful. But more than that, he was her son.
"Don't worry, Harry," she said. "You will find out soon enough. But now is not the time for that. Oh, I love you so much!" She hugged him once again fiercely and looked at him lovingly. "We have so much to talk about."
"Yup," his father added, grinning at him. "Now, do tell me about old Sevvy."
Viktor Krum watched Hermione from afar, hoping that she would be able to move on eventually. Realizing that she wouldn't be leaving there anytime soon, he turned and started walking back towards the entrance hall. When he was near, he suddenly stopped and looked up to the skies, "I vill look after her, Harry." Then started walking again towards the front doors.
They stayed like that for hours, talking about his adventures in school. Harry hadn't felt this in his whole life. He was talking to his parents, laughing with them, telling them his experiences and feelings. All of his life, he craved for this, this blissful feeling of having a happy family together.
Moments later, his father patted him in the back and smiled at him benignly. "There's someone here who wants to see you."
The mist around them moved again, and from it came another person Harry had no idea he would meet again.
"Cedric?"
He had failed them. Completely and utterly failed them. He was supposed to look after Harry but failed in his responsibility. Harry was dead. He was supposed to give him a chance to a happy life that fate had deprived him off.
Remus Lupin was sitting in the living room of his small shack located far away from London. After the event in the Ministry, he immediately went here, where he sat brooding all night.
He gave a frustrated growl and threw the bottle on his hand at the wall, shattering it completely. He was about to walk away when he saw a picture at the far wall. He went that way and examined closely the picture of the Marauders at the dark wall, their faces grinning at him happily.
Lupin balled his fists hardly, the rage overcoming him; not noticing that his hands were already bleeding. He closed his eyes tightly and moments later, he relaxed. When he opened his eyes again, the rage was completely gone, his face unnaturally serene.
If anybody had just seen him then, they would tremble in fear, for they would have seen death. Controlled, planned, and disciplined death; living in the mind of this man.
You will be avenged.
"Hello Harry," Cedric smiled at him. Harry was completely silent. He wasn't expecting this at all.
"Er.... Hi...." he said nervously.
"Relax would you, I'm not going to bite your head off," Cedric said jokingly. After that, Harry clearly relaxed and before he knew it, he was telling Cedric all of his feelings, from how sorry he was for his death ("I do not blame you for that Harry!") to his failed attempt of a relationship with Cho.
Minutes later, Harry was feeling completely elated. He had finally made peace with his parents and Cedric. It was as if a heavy load was carried away from his back. The only person remaining was Sirius.
Lily, as if reading Harry's thoughts, interrupted him before he could ask. "Sirius is not here."
"What do you mean?"
"You will find out soon enough Harry," whispered James conspiratorially with a matching blink of his right eye.
Soon enough, the mist started swirling again and Harry's parents and Cedric looked at him sadly.
"It is time," Lily told him.
"Now is not the time to be afraid!" shouted Mad-Eye. "There are people out there that need to be saved. Are we just going to sit here and do nothing? It is our responsibility to continue the fight, not just for Albus, not just for ourselves, but also to the whole world!"
"Indeed, Alastor," agreed McGonagall wholeheartedly. "We must take swift action. Tojikama, I assume you're going to stay and help us? Good. You take those you want and what you need. Form a group that will be our main strike force, train them if needed. Moody, you will be in charge for fortifying the castle. Secure the grounds and make sure you make it as impregnable as you're able to. Hogwarts must remain safe and in our hands! Tonks, you and Shacklebolt would be our eyes and ears inside the Ministry. They may be also fighting the Dark Lord, but we still need to know what their actions are going to be. Mundungus, you go and roam the streets, see if there are other groups that will be willing to aid us in this war. Use caution! Charlie, go back to Romania and see if the dragon trainers are willing to help us. We are going to need their help. Bill, you go and try to convince the goblins to join us in this battle, either they participate actively or passively. Fenwick, as before, you will be the head of our counterintelligence group, prepare your people and put them in place as Snape is out for the meantime. We need to know how strong the army of the Dark Lord is! Pomfrey, you know what to do. Bring Dumbledore back to us as fast as you can. Jones, see what you can find about the creature that killed the members of the Wizengamot. If the Dark Lord has a follower that strong, we will need something to counter it. And to the others, go get your family and those you trust to Hogsmeade and make it a fort. That will be our prime defense against the Dark Lord's army. Arthur, we need your twins to build us an easy way for communicating. Do tell them for me. All right everyone! We need to move fast and silent. We do not want the Dark Lord to know our plans. Secrecy is the utmost priority. This meeting has been officially closed. Go now and may Merlin guide us all."
"What's going on?" shouted Harry to his parents alarmingly. The mist was moving swiftly now, separating him from his parents and Cedric.
"The magic here is too pure to hold a mortal body, so it is now trying to balance itself by removing you," James told him calmly.
"What, what do you mean?"
"It means you will be leaving us Harry. But do not worry, we will meet once again, and in that time, it will be for eternity," Lily said, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Take care of yourself, Harry. And please, don't think too much of everything, try to have fun once in a while," James said happily.
The mist continued to swirl around him, and Harry saw that his parents were slowly moving away.
"NO! MUM! DAD!"
The storm continued to rage around her, giving voice to her sullen feelings. Hermione watched as a lightning streaked the darkened sky, illuminating the grounds for a moment.
She had no idea how long she had been here, nor did she care. But hours later, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find Tonks standing behind her, a look of pity covering her face.
Hermione turned to look one more time at the sky, hoping that she would find the answers that she needed.
"Tonks, I want to go home."
The mist left, along with his parents and Cedric, and Harry found himself floating in the air, a thousand feet between him and the ground.
And much to his horror, he began to fall in an alarmingly great speed towards the grass-filled ground.
A/N: Another chapter finished!!! Please review....
Anyway, what do you think.... in this story, should Harry be a hero-that-kills type or a hero that doesn't approve of killing?
Lunatic Pandora1: yeah....i thought so too.
I-want-to-fly: Lol.... sorry, I can't help leaving cliffhangers. It's just so much fun leaving it that way. You've been reviewing since chapter 2! Thank you very much! I always find myself waiting for your review before I start writing the next chapter.
Krispin Loretta: thanks! the chapter takes after me.... an effin insane person. Lol.
Freja-the-goddess: see, they're both alive! You're not going to hurt me anymore, right? Lol.
ninny: dude, of course he's still weak at first. But of course, I'm going to make him more powerful later. It makes sense that way. Thanks for leaving a review.
Teen Queen: thank you!
333,halfevil: thank you! Here's the next chapter, so I guess I'm not going to suffer, right? Lol. Cool name by the way.
Gabwr: I'm having difficulty pronouncing your name. Hehehe....thanks for reviewing.
edgar bynoe: wow. thanks for the compliment.
Okay..... review people!
