Chapter 44 – Moving On
The portkey took Harry and Hermione directly to the Hospital Wing.
Harry balanced on one foot as Hermione helped ease his robe off. Hermione called out, "Madam Pomfrey! It's Granger. I have Harry Potter with me. The Headmaster sent us by portkey. Harry's badly injured."
Madam Pomfrey sailed out from her office.
"Tell me something I didn't know, Granger. As soon as I heard that most of the school was dashing willy-nilly off to a battle, as if it were a Sunday picnic mind you, I knew that this one would be occupying a bed here." Madam Pomfrey only needed to have a quick look at Harry's now-quite-swollen left leg and bloody t-shirt to get an initial idea of the injuries. "Any injuries I can't see, Potter? No? Good, nothing magical, just body wounds. Lie down there. Get him some blood restorer and an extra large bottle of leeches, Granger. We're going to have to drain the swelling in his leg."
"Yes, Madam," said Hermione, retrieving the potion and a large jar of scrawny leeches from the cabinets. "Madam Pomfrey?"
"Give him a tablespoon of it," said Madam Pomfrey, as she started checking the dressings on Harry's hand and shoulder. "Good job here, Granger, under the conditions. Get me the scissors so we can cut these away and apply the proper potions to start these healing."
"Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione repeated.
"What is it, Granger? Haven't you got those scissors yet? Maybe Edgecombe can retrieve them. Where is she anyway? Tending to the injuries at the battle, I suppose. I'd like to have her back here."
"So would we, Madam. Marietta won't be coming back."
"What? Of course she will. Classes are over, but she's still got to take her NEWTs. She'll need those to go on in healer training."
"No, Madam, she won't be coming back. She was the only student killed in the battle."
Madam Pomfrey turned to look intently at Hermione. "Granger, are you sure?"
"Yes, Madam. I checked carefully, twice. And Harry used legilemency to try to …"
"No!" interrupted Madam Pomfrey, turning sharply to Harry. "Are you alright, Potter? I'm no legilemens, but I've heard that's awful. Very tough people have been left quite unbalanced from the experience."
Harry looked down, unsure of what to say. Hermione spoke for him.
"It was hard on him, Madam, especially since Harry had become quite fond of Marietta."
"As had I."
"I think he's coping with it, certainly better than I would."
Madam Pomfrey continued about her business of tending Harry's wounds then, but was very silent, except to give instructions. Harry noticed several times that her eyes were very moist.
Mrs. Weasley was there by noon and she and Hermione took turns feeding Harry, since his right shoulder and left hand were both healing and bandaged.
"Harry," teased Mrs. Weasley, "I know you enjoy a bit of pampering, but you needn't go to such extremes to get it."
Harry tried to laugh, but only could manage a half-hearted smile; he threw his arms around her, as well as he could, for a great hug.
"Yes, Harry," she said. "Hugs are always available."
Getting rest was not so easy, as Harry was visited by most of the DA, including all above second year, who generally wanted more to tell him about their participation in the battle than to hear about what happened with him. That was fine with Harry; he didn't care to relive his own part every few minutes.
When Ron visited, he complained about Harry losing them another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but he did so with a smirk.
Then Ron got serious. "Harry, I was wrong about Marietta."
"You mean that she had some backbone, after all."
"Well, that's true, but that's not what I meant. None of us could have known what kind of guts she'd prove to have. I'd be okay about making that mistake. I'm talking about never really giving her a break. We've all done foolish things, and have needed second chances. McGonagall should have sacked me from the team, or at least from being captain, but she set me tasks to help me get better. Whether Marietta proved to have courage or not, she showed a lot of character taking up again with the DA and not giving her a second chance was my failing. I'm sorry."
"That's big of you, Ron. There've been times when neither of us has been willing to apologize for things we've done. Maybe we're doing a little growing up. It's about time – for both of us. Now if you really want to make it up properly, you can stay here while I meet with the Edgecombes. They're due in half an hour."
Ron didn't particularly want to be in that meeting, but he knew that if he was going to accept leading others into a battle, he had to accept dealing with the aftermath as well. Harry couldn't give the details that Ron could, so as hard as it was for him, Ron stood his ground and answered every question he could. Hermione was there, too, and told what she knew.
"Mr. Potter," said Madam Edgecombe, "I can't tell you what it meant to us that you included Marietta in your group. She seemed very subdued when she came home last summer. We thought it was just the potions accident: she never would let us see under her mask. When she got your owl this summer and she said she had been invited to head a team of your group, she actually cried and trembled with excitement. It was marvelous to see such enthusiasm. We had never thought of our Marietta as brave, but she seemed to take to this defense training like nothing she had ever done before. I have started to see why. Madam Bones described finding you and Miss Granger beside Marietta at Gringotts, obviously griefstricken. And I see how painful it is for Mr. Weasley here to even explain the circumstances. Clearly, the leadership cares desperately for its members. That is excellent for an army: each member must know that he or she counts their fellow's safety as important as their own and be confident that their fellow feels the same. With that, each soldier knows she is a part of something greater than herself. We're heartbroken at losing her, of course, but we appreciate that Marietta could experience that sense of belonging and purpose and we're proud of how she acted to protect her fellow students."
"That she did," said Harry, clenching his eyes. "She showed courage none of us knew she had."
After the Edgecombes had left, Ron put his head down, propping it up by his forehead in his hands. "That really sucked!" he said, with disgust. "Here I was the git who had to place people, and got their daughter in harm's way, and they were acting all sweet and even appreciative. I wish they had slapped me or yelled or something."
Hermione rubbed his shoulders. "Ron, you know you didn't ask her to go up there. Still, you faced them really well. If it means anything, Ron, I'm impressed."
Ron looked up at Hermione appreciatively.
Harry smiled. "I felt the same way when Cedric was killed. I hope you'll understand when I say 'Good! I'm glad you feel this way.' If we face another situation involving a great number of fighters, you're almost certainly who we'd ask to take command. It makes me feel better about training people that you aren't taking this like it's wizard chess or quidditch. You can't set the pieces back up and there are no referees. People get hurt, people die, holes get left in other people's lives: war sucks!"
Harry was kept until Tuesday morning. He dreaded the next DA meeting. Of course, the Battle of Gringotts' had to be discussed and it would be up to him to say something. When all had assembled, he addressed them:
"I hope it scarce needs to be said how proud I am of all of you this Sunday. When there were people needing help, and there was something we could do, you all stepped forward. It was brave and wonderful. Those who did not make it because of age have nothing to be ashamed of – I know you were willing. I know you are able. Unfortunately, you're probably going to have other chances to prove your mettle. I also want to praise all of you accepting Weasley and McMillan's efforts to organize you. If you all had acted independently, no doubt many of you would have been injured or worse. At the least, you probably would have ended up hexing each other. Instead, there was not even one student's spell which was applied other than where it should be. Let that be a lesson to you – we are all far more powerful working together than working separately."
"Tragically, we also lost one of our own." Harry paused, swallowed hard and composed himself. "While we are saddened of course by the deaths of dozens of goblins, Marietta Edgecombe was one of us, our friend. She was a very effective team leader, who spared no effort to help her team members. It was in no small part due to her willingness to take the most dangerous assignment Sunday that you were able to get into safe positions and avoid injuries yourselves. Never forget the generous, courageous, selfless act of our good comrade. I think a minute of silence is in order."
After a minute Harry continued. "That brings me to another matter. Edgecombe's team needs a new leader, and next year we will need several new team leaders both to take over for the seventh years who will not be able to return as Fred and George Weasley have been doing and also to break into more teams, so that we can progress even faster. I have spoken with other team leaders over the past couple of days, and we will be asking other students to accept roles as team leaders over the summer. However, for the class sessions today and Thursday, our last two for the school year, we would like to ask Ted Nott to take the responsibilities in Edgecombe's team. All that being said, and now that we have all seen a bit of what we're training for, let's get back to business."
