Chapter 3

News of Hogwarts's downfall spread extremely quickly. Nearly all of the Order learned of the event beforehand, and it was the subject of much conversation. By 2:55 p.m. all the members of the Order of the Phoenix were at No. 12 Grimmauld Place; the meeting started slightly early.

"May I have your attention, please!" wheezed Dumbledore loudly from the front of the room, with the help of a Sonorus spell. The noisy background chatter cut off instantly as everyone listened to their white-haired leader.

"As you already know," Dumbledore began, "a large Death Eater army under the command of the late Lord Voldemort captured Hogwarts this morning. It is clear that Voldemort is truly dead; his ghost was seen leading the Death Eaters. Our primary objective today is to decide how best to defeat the Death Eaters once again. Unfortunately, Voldemort appears to have the support not only of over twenty thousand British wizards, but also that of the giants, the Acromantulas of the Forbidden Forest, the mountain trolls, and the Dementors, as well as a limited number of hippogriffs, dragons, and serpents.

"So, it is quite clear that if we are to face them directly, we must gather many more people to our cause.

"In addition, we have new information that may greatly assist us. Our resident scientist, Hermione Granger, has been studying the Avada Kedavra curse and has discovered, possibly, some ways to avoid its effects."

As Hermione mounted the stage, Dumbledore brought out his wand, pointed it at himself, and whispered "Quietus"—but since the word was still amplified by the same Sonorus spell that it was meant to end, it sounded with the volume of ordinary speech. He then pointed his wand at Hermione, muttering "Sonorus" as she started to speak.

"The Avada Kedavra we have now," she stated, her voice amplified by the spell, "is the wanded version of a wandless killing spell in Ancient Magic. The Ancient Magic version was used by a wizard against another wizard he or she wanted to kill. The drawback of the wandless Avada Kedavra was that it killed the caster and the target simultaneously, so it was seldom used.

"After wands were invented, someone discovered that saying the same Avada Kedavra incantation while waving the wand would produce a killing curse that killed only the target. Then the killing got out of hand and Avada Kedavra had to be banned, which is why it's now an Unforgivable Curse…"

Heads were beginning to droop in the audience, many of which feared that Hermione would spend the next hour talking about history. Ron whispered as discreetly as he could to Hermione, "Get to the point before we fall asleep!" She looked up, noticed the closing eyelids and drooping heads, and quickly nodded back to Ron, before continuing: "Anyway, the Avada Kedavra curse works similarly to a bow shooting arrows, which makes it possible to evade. The curse itself manifests as an emerald green energy pulse which shoots in a completely straight line out of the wand and kills whoever it touches. So in fact a person using Avada Kedavra must make sure his target is lined up perfectly with his wand at the moment he finishes saying 'Kedavra'. If you are out of the way when the caster says the last syllable, you're safe.

"What that means is that if someone tries to use Avada Kedavra on you, stay out of the way of the wand! Apparating or Portkeying out of the way works quite well.

"I think I'm close to finding a counter-curse to actually deflect the spell. In Ancient Magic, the target of an Avada Kedavra spell could be protected if someone else sacrificed themselves to protect the target. Once that occurs, the next Avada Kedavra aimed at the target would backfire on the caster. That's how Harry was protected from the curse ten years ago. We know that story. So if there's a wandless version of the protection spell, that involves sacrificing the caster, there must be a wanded spell that shields against Avada Kedavra—all we need to do is find the incantation. For now, though, if a Death Eater or anyone else tries to Avada Kedavra you, just apparate out of the way."

When she finished, Dumbledore assumed the stage once more. "Now, we will require each and every one of you to find anyone sympathetic to our cause. We will require all the assistance possible to fend off the Death Eaters. There is sure to be a meeting of the Wizengamot tomorrow, and I will try to obtain Ministry help. However, I am not entirely sure if we will receive it; I am beginning to suspect that many Ministry officials are sympathetic to Voldemort's cause themselves.

"That is all."

-----September 12, 2000----

Rita Skeeter had shrewdly printed extra copies of the Daily Prophet that day; for as she correctly anticipated, the Daily Prophet flew off the newsstands faster than ever before. Dumbledore was among the first to pick up a copy, reading it on his way to the Ministry. He looked at the enormous, bolded headline:

DEATH EATERS CAPTURE HOGWARTS

Below the headline was a large picture of the Death Eater army charging towards Hogwarts. Dumbledore noted that the picture had been taken as an aerial view from behind the Death Eaters, as he continued reading:

Hogwarts Castle – Yesterday morning, a large number of Death Eaters, apparently led by Lord Voldemort himself, stormed the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, quickly taking over the entire castle and forcing the teachers and students to flee. Several witnesses saw the Dark Lord's ghost at the forefront of the Death Eaters; it seems that even Voldemort's death three years ago poses no impediment to his ability to lead his followers. In fact, in the three years following Voldemort's death, the Dementors, Acromantulas, House Elves, and Mountain Trolls joined Voldemort's cause. One truly wonders, what good did Harry Potter's heroic defeat of the Dark Lord really do? It seems that Voldemort's opponents only assisted him by making him a martyr, drawing him massive sympathy and support. In death Voldemort is now a far, far greater threat than he was in life.

Dumbledore folded up the newspaper, putting it in his robes as he entered the Ministry to serve his official duties as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. In fact, the Wizengamot was going to meet that very morning, to decide how to deal with the threat of Voldemort's army.

He sat at the meeting table, one of the first to arrive. The other Wizengamot members filed in one by one. The freedom of the wizarding United Kingdom—and possibly the world—now hung in the balance as the court members debated their next course of action.