Chapter 4
Revelations to the Order
Dumbledore surveyed those present, "This meeting has been called to judge six people who wish to join the Order of the Phoenix. You have all proven yourselves loyal to both the Order and myself and have shown extraordinary courage throughout the past year. Your job tonight is to listen to their reasons as to why they believe they should be aloud to join the Order, under aged though they are."
Ron leaned over to Harry and whispered "Fred and George don't look to happy do they?"
"No, not surprising though." Fred and George had spent all of last year trying to convince the Order to let them join and had only just joined a few weeks ago and were looking extremely annoyed that the six had gotten a trial while still under aged.
Dumbledore's voice called them back to the present, "And so I present Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginerva Weasley, Laura Potter, and Neville Longbottom to explain to the Order Representatives why they should be allowed to join."
With everyone staring at them, Harry felt like the walk up to the front of the room was even longer than the one to the room by the Great Hall in his fourth year. When they all were facing the rest of the room Dumbledore spoke up again, "Let it be known how we will proceed: Author Weasley, Molly Weasley, Alastor Moody, William Weasley, Charles Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Minerva McGonagall will judge your reasons and when all is said and done they will vote. The vote must be unanimous for anyone to join. If one of them has any reasonable problems with someone then that person cannot join until all outstanding problems are solved.
"As the head of the Order of the Phoenix it is my job to make sure that no one is doing anything against the Order's code. That is all; I have already judged them and found them worthy. I assure you that if I had any problems with one of these six joining then they would not be here. Understood?"
A murmur of "Aye" could be heard from around the room, though Mrs. Weasley looked like she had been forced to drink a whole bottle of Skele-Grow. As Dumbledore sat down Ron pushed Harry to the front saying, "Laura told us to follow your lead, so you get to do all the talking, mate. You're our leader and the rest of us are just lackeys."
Glaring at his best friend Harry tried to imaging the best way to start, then remembered his cousin saying, 'They've been hounding Ada, Remus and Sirius to tell them since the Order was called back. If anything, what happened in June's made them even more desperate to know.' Taking a deep breath and once again gathering his famous 'Gryffindor Courage', he looked at the Order members present and asked quietly, "How many of you, besides Remus, what you spent all your time guarding last year?"
Mr. Weasley answered "We know that we were guarding something that You-Know-Who wanted very badly. More than that I am not at liberty to say in front of non-members."
This made Harry smile bitterly, "Then let me put it to you this way; how many of you know that what you were guarding from Voldemort -" everyone except Dumbledore, Remus, and Laura winced, "was a prophecy said to Albus Dumbledore telling when the person who could kill Voldemort was to be born and even how to identify him?"
Everyone looked stunned, apparently, Dumbledore had only told them what Mr. Weasley had said, Harry wasn't sure if he should be grateful or not. Moody turned to Dumbledore, "Albus is the boy saying that he knows more about something that has nothing to do with him what so ever than those that were guarding it?"
"Alastor, when you asked to know what it was exactly you were guarding I told you that it wasn't for me to tell you and that the person who could tell you would tell you when and if he was ready. I suggest you let Harry finish, he has a bigger part in this than you can imagine. Continue, Harry."
"Thank you Professor." Harry paused realizing that Laura was right. Telling them the truth was tons harder than he had first thought it would be, especially since everyone seemed to think that Dumbledore would be the one to kill Voldemort. Doubts were shooting around his mind like the Weasley's Wild Fire Wiz-Bangs Fred and George set off last year during Umbridge's reign of terror. "This is going to be really hard for me, as I only found out last month, so I need to ask for no more interruptions until I'm done.
"Sixteen years ago, Professor Dumbledore was meeting someone for the post of Divination Teacher. At the end of a rather failed interview this person cast the prophecy." He took a deep breath and continued, "It went like this:
'THE ONE BORN WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES.... BORN TO THOSE THAT HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES… AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWERS THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT… AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES.... THE ONE BORN WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES....'"
As much as Harry didn't want to see the reactions of his friends, Harry forced himself to look at those around him. Dumbledore was looking distinctly grave, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Professor McGonagall were shocked. Fred and George were looking a lot like they had when they had discovered their father had been sent to St. Mungo's and couldn't do anything about it. Bill and Charlie had thoughtful looks on their faces. Tonks seemed to be in shock worse than anyone else there and was being held by Remus who wore a look that was identical to Laura's half-resigned half-determined look she had worn when she recited it for the six of them.
"You know Potter, that may not mean you." Moody said gruffly, the first to recover.
That caused Harry to sigh, "as much as I would like it to be true, Professor, it's not. There is no doubt that it is me. I was born as the seventh month dies, both my parents were in the Order and both had defied Voldemort -" again everyone winced, "three times. Voldemort marked me as his equal when the attack on Godric's Hollow failed and he gave me my scar. But yeah, up until then it could have also been Neville." He paused and turned to Laura, "You said your birthday was tomorrow, and were there when he died, could it be you?"
"Quick, aren't you? It took me a little longer to figure that out. But nope, you're forgetting that I'm a year older than you, so I was already born when the Prophecy was made.
"Now you've said the reason you should join. Are you going to leave the rest of us to fend for ourselves, or are you going to be nice and help us out?"
Turning back to the Order he said, "Okay, you've heard my reason, so now I'll give you theirs, as they seem to have elected me to be their spokes person." The five of them sniggered. "I am perfectly sure you all know my tendency to get into some kind of trouble involving Voldemort, and you should know that at least one of my friends ends up with me for most of it.
"Ron and Hermione have been there since the beginning, they were there for me from dealing with the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets in second, everything with Sirius in our third, they helped me with everything during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and went to the Department of Mysteries last year. Ginny was a major part of the Chamber incident, and both her and Neville went with us to the Department of Mysteries without questioning me as to why we needed to go.
"Do you really want to leave them in the dark? Not to mention having to deal with them bugging you twenty-four-seven to let them join?"
When Harry had stopped talking, Dumbledore stood and said, "I think that our judges have been given enough to judge from and I believe that our members are ready to discuss their decision with each other before they make the final decision. Would the six of you please step out into the hall while you await their decision?"
It was not a request, and they knew it. All at once they left with Dumbledore following behind. On their way there Ginny whispered to Harry, "Very nice. I don't think that I have ever seen Mum at a loss for words before. You've got to teach me how to do that."
When they were all sitting Dumbledore said, "Very good Harry, I think that you have them convinced. And judging from the lack of reaction from your friends, you have told them already."
"Yes, sir, they were surprisingly supportive and told me that they'd hex me if I tried to keep anything from them."
Dumbledore beamed, his eyes twinkling madly, "Then I take it Laura has told you what she is?"
Neville looked up from the Black Family Tree, which he had been studding, "Yes Professor. We were all a little shocked and scared at first, then Harry gave us one of the most convincing lectures I have ever heard. I think it effectively cut off any and everyone of our fears and objections."
"They were. I was surprised. At the least, I had expected them to reject me, and at the most, I had expected it to take a while for them to get used to it. They were just as accepting as Uncle James and Sirius were with Remus." Laura said beaming.
"You do realize that if the Order does accept you, you are going to have to tell them?" Dumbledore asked seriously.
The smile on his charges face disappeared faster than you could say 'Quidditch', "I am, aren't I? I guess I had better be ready to deal with their reactions." she sighed dejectedly, the look of her depression was enough to make everyone else depressed.
"Don't worry, Laura. Mum and Dad won't care, if they could accept Remus then I'm sure that they'll accept you, after all, I did say they're starting to think of you as their daughter. Fred and George will think it's cool, and Bill and Charlie are the most accepting people I know, plus I think all of them are staring to see you as a younger sister." Ginny said bracingly.
"And if they don't? I do not think that anyone will react any differently from everyone else I've told.
"That is not quite true, Laura. Minerva didn't treat Remus any differently and she already suspects that there is something different about you. Remus already knows and even if he didn't he wouldn't reject you. He knows too much about the segregation laws that surround half-breeds. I do not think that there is much to worry about." Dumbledore said softly, the twinkle vanishing from his eyes and looking very concerned."
"I can't stand the suspense; if I'm gonna have to tell them, it might as well be before they make their decision. I really don't want to be accepted into the Order to be put under suspicion five minutes after," sighed Laura, glumly.
"Are you sure? I'm not forcing you to, and no one else is."
She looked like she was pronouncing her own death sentence, "I'm sure."
"Then all of you follow me."
Then silence in the kitchen was broken by Charlie saying, "I think they should be let in. I mean, keeping them in the dark is going to do them a lot more harm than good, plus from what I hear, the Order finds out more from them than they do from us."
"I agree. They've been force to act like adults since they first started Hogwarts and they should be treated like adults." Bill agreed.
"But, if we let them join then we will be putting them in even more danger than before." Mrs. Weasley said frantically.
"Not true, Molly. In their first year Potter, Weasley, and Granger not only figured out that the Philosopher's Stone was at Hogwarts, but also how where it was, that someone was trying to steal it, and how to get past everything that was guarding it. In addition, they figured it out without any help from any of the staff besides the unintentional hints that Hagrid let slip. I think that they are more than eligible to join." Professor McGonagall said, torn between being proud of her students and disgust at herself for not believing then when they had come to her, a mistake that had almost cost Potter his life.
"How do we even know that the prophecy is true, and not just something that You-Know-Who made up to confuse us?" Author asked.
"Because the prophecy has already been fulfilled. Harry was born as the seventh month dies, was marked by Voldemort as his equal at Godric's Hollow, and has survived more encounters with Voldemort than anyone else I know of. And because the said person also made one more prophecy fourteen years later to Harry. This prophecy said that the dark lord's servant would be freed to rejoin his master, and the dark lord would rise 'greater and more terrible than ever before.' Than night the servant was both found and freed, one year later Voldemort was reborn."
"Peter" Remus breathed softly. "Was it -?" He looked Dumbledore, who nodded in confirmation. "Damn him to the pits of hell."
"Potter and his friends can join, but I'm not letting Laura in without knowing what 'secret' she's hiding and why what ever spell she cast at that painting felt like dark magic." Moody said, as stubborn and as paranoid as ever.
Dumbledore frowned, "Alastor, you've known Laura for almost ten years. I would think that you would have more trust in her than that."
"One can never be too careful Albus. You should know that."
"Yes, but I am warning you, although Laura is willing to show you before you make your decision, I do not think that it is big enough to sway your decision to allow the six to join. If you have no problems with Remus, then I see no reason for you to have any problems with Laura," he answered cryptically before exiting to let the children know, "Remus will tell you what you need to know while I get them."
All eyes turned to Remus, "What did he mean by that?"
Remus shook his head, "That is not for me to tell you. All I can say is that the reason she started school in America is that there are no segregation laws. The beginning of her life was a hell that no one here could possibly imagine. Laura is scared stiff that you will abandon her the moment she tells you."
'What could possibly be so bad that Laura would be scared to tell us?' Mrs. Weasley wondered, 'It would have to truly be horrible for someone who can face You-Know-Who and come away with only getting his with a minor curse to be that scared.' In that moment she resolved that she would not abandoned the girl she had come to love as one of her own.
Everyone was lost in their own thoughts and thus missed the look on the Transfiguration teacher. A thoughtful look also said that she knew more than what Remus had said.
"What could be so bad that could possibly make us hate her? Is she a werewolf?" Fred asked breaking everyone's train of thought.
"No, she can't be. We met her on a full moon, remember?" George said looking uncharacteristically grim.
"Shut up you two, here they come." Bill said as Dumbledore walked in followed by Laura flanked by Harry, Ron, and Hermione on one side, and Ginny and Neville on the other.
As they walked back from the drawing room, Harry watched his cousin closely; she seemed to get tenser with every step they took closer to the kitchen. This made Harry wonder what kinds of laws the wizards placed on half-breeds; it had to be truly horrible for it to make the girl so scarred to tell anyone that she was half-demon. Acting on impulse, Harry gave her a hug right before they entered the kitchen, "Don't worry about it. If anyone gives you a bad time about it we'll hex them into next week, won't we, guys?"
Everyone nodded and Ron added, "We'll stick with you no matter what. After all, that's what family's for, though I warn you, Fred and George are probably going to be begging you to help them with some of their experiments later."
Laura gave them a weak smile, "Thanks guys. This means a lot to me." And with that, they entered the room to what Laura thought was her doom.
Once they had entered, Moody seemed to go into automatic questioning mode, "Okay, girl, Albus tells us that you have something to tell us." Harry noted that he said this a little harsher than he probably should have.
Not looking anyone in the eye, eyes fixed on a spot over Moody's shoulder, Laura shook her head, "Not tell; show." she said this so quietly many people had to move closer to hear her, and the fact that she didn't comment on being called 'girl' made many people nervous. Laura hated being called 'girl'.
"Well then show us, come on. We don't have all day."
Laura sighed and darkness seemed to envelop her, as if she was covered in shadows. Harry could see that she was growing taller and a power seemed to be softly radiating from it. Many people in the room gasped when the darkness vanished and Harry could see why; in his cousin's place was a fully-grown demon. Although he knew that every demon had a second form he hadn't thought she would look like this; her shoulder length hair had grown to reach her waist, and with every small movement, sapphire shimmers went through her hair. She was taller than she had been, about six foot instead of the 5' 7" she normally was, Harry also noted with interest that her ears were longer than humans', they also pointed and that her clothes seemed to have transformed into robes of a deep sapphire blue to match her eyes. Overall, Laura was beautiful.
As if she had read his thoughts, Laura looked at him, her eyes holding all the fear and pain she held in her soul, and said, "It's one of our many curses. We are either extraordinarily beautiful, or exceedingly ugly; yet another thing that we are hated for." The anguish in her eyes was enough to make Harry walk up to her and hug her. To his surprise, Neville followed Harry, and after hugging her he asked her, "Is this really you, or are you like Remus? Normally human, but forced to change against your will."
Laura's answer wasn't one anyone had been expecting, "No, the form you usually see is the form demons usually take, especially to blend in with humans. What you see now is a reflection of my soul. As you can probably see it is a lot harder to hide our emotions in this form because of it. We never show this side of us because when we do we are rejected and are forced to follow all the laws set up to 'protect wizard kind from the horrors that those creatures love to inflict.' Go ahead and scream if you want, or yell. I'm used to it by now"
Mrs. Weasley was shocked at the bitterness in her voice yet she also saw what lay beneath it, Remus was right to say she was scared, it was written all over her. The completely lost look that seemed to echo around the room was enough to make the Weasley matriarch squash the rejection and hatred that had first come up within her and she said softly, "Laura, look at me. Yes it's true that I am afraid, I won't lie to you. But if you are willing to teach me like Remus did, then I am willing to learn that my fears aren't founded."
This time Laura didn't even bother trying to conceal the emotions playing across her face, and Harry saw shock, then disbelief, then as she realized that she spoke the truth, joy and pure happiness overcome her and everyone in the room knew that Mrs. Weasley had done the right thing.
"Thank you." the relief in her voice was overwhelming. She looked at everyone else, she already knew what her cousin and her friends decisions were but she needed to know what everyone else was thinking. Laura didn't bother looking at Remus, she had known his answer since he had recognized her when Dumbledore had first adopted her, and the smiles on the Weasley family's faces was answer enough for her. All who were left was McGonagall and Moody. She chose to look at McGonagall first
McGonagall was smiling, "If teaching and looking after a werewolf for seven years didn't teach me to be open minded then those seven years were a waste of time. Besides, I knew you too well when you were little to not already know who and what you are."
Laura's eyes widened in astonishment, "You knew?"
"Of course I knew. I spent too much time trying to keep you out of trouble when David and Misoka went out on Order missions. And I must say, I was shocked when I first saw you after so long, you had changed so much I almost didn't recognize you."
Hermione saw Laura's eyes darken like they did when she was trying to control her emotions, walked over to her, and squeezed her hand. When Laura cocked her head at her, she nodded and let go of her hand so that Laura could transform back.
When the darkness faded, they all realized that Dumbledore must have placed some kind of illusion charm on her hair to hide the blue shimmering in her hair. After looking over at Remus, who smiled sadly and shook his head, she said quietly, "Fudge found me two days after Harry had already gone to live with the Dursleys. He recognized who I was and decided to punish me, a half-breed, for 'surviving when the savior's mother and father did not.'"
Moody, who had so far been emotionless, suddenly looked shocked, as did Kingsley and Tonks, "He didn't!"
"He did." Dumbledore said curtly.
"Did WHAT?" the twins chorused voicing every ones question, except Remus who had a stony look on his face.
"Fudge decided to punish me because I had survived and Lily and James didn't. He didn't care that my parents did not survive because Mum was a demon and Dad married a demon." Laura said in an emotionless voice
"What did he do to you?" Mr. Weasley asked as if afraid to know the answer. He knew how harsh Fudge could be.
Kingsley was about to answer when Laura shot him a warning look, "You'll find out when she's ready to tell you."
Apparently this was all she could take, as Harry saw her struggle with her emotions, it was a battle he fought plenty of times. He watched, wondering how she would deal with it. He didn't have to wait long as the next moment she spun around and stormed out the door only to be pulled back in by her guardian with a wave of his wand. "You can go when the Order says you can Laura, not before. But I don't think that you need worry about being rejected by anyone in this room, or you Harry, for that matter."
"Of course not! At least not by us. We know the risks we take by being Harry's friend, being yours is no different, and we are willing to take them. We swore we would stick together, and if either of you try and back out I will personally hex you into next week." Hermione said fiercely.
"But I don't want you to get hurt." Harry said desperately trying to get everyone to understand that being around him could and probably would get them killed.
"Harry, you idiot. I already told you you're stuck with us until you die. There's no way you're getting away from us if you don't want to be on the receiving end of my Bat Boggie Hex," Ginny said scowling, "How many times do we need to pound it into your head that you – are – not – getting – rid – of us!?"
Harry looked at Ron and Neville, who he realized, was looking a lot like he had that night they had had to leave him petrified on the common room floor. "As glad as I may be that I'm not the one that has to kill You-Know-Who, the least I can do is be there for you when ever you need me."
"But -"
"Damn it Harry, we've been through this already! We are not going anywhere. You are stuck with us until either you or us gets killed." Ron practically yelled, "I know I've been a prat in the past, but I'm still your friend and you're gonna need all the friends you can get."
"He's right you know;" Laura said looking like she had finally accepted that she wasn't going to be thrown out on the streets and now was looking slightly amused at the helpless look on his face, "Give in now before you make me do something both of us will regret. Cause I can guarantee you that I'm not going anywhere. And getting on the bad side of all six of us is not a good idea."
"We're not either abandoning you either. I promised myself that I would look after you when I first met you, and I intend to keep that promise." Mrs. Weasley said fiercely as if daring anyone to contradict her, the rest of the Weasley family nodding in agreement.
"And I made a promise to Sirius that if anything happened to him I'd look out for you. As I have no intention of being haunted every night you're stuck with me as well, cub." Remus said smiling.
"You have us too. Fudge is still being a jerk and most of the Ministry is following him, but we're with you." Tonks said.
Kingsley added, "We're trying to keep the Ministry from finding out that Sirius died as that would mean Fudge will try to seize every thing that belonged to him. We think that Sirius left the majority of his things to you, but we won't know for certain until the reading of the will."
"That's nine down, and only three more to go including Dumbledore in less than two hours. It's gotta be a record. No one's ever been accepted this fast." Laura whispered in Ginny's ear, who grinned and nodded.
McGonagall shrugged, "I've seen what you can do both in and out of school. Who am I to stop you from receiving the protection that may end up saving your lives?"
Ron whispered to Harry, "Did McGonagall just shrug?" shocked that his transfiguration teacher would use such an undignified gesture. But Harry wasn't paying attention to him, he was half in shock that all these people would be willing to have anything to do with him, especially since they now knew the consequences that came with him. Moody's voice pulled him out of his stupor:
"I know this is tuff for you, not even out of school yet knowing that you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. If you ever need help with auror training, send me an owl.
"And Laura? I apologize for being so harsh with you. Old habits die hard you know."
She smiled, "Yes Moody, I know."
Harry looked at Dumbledore, the last person standing in the way of them joining the Order of the Phoenix. What he saw surprised him; gone was the mask that only showed happiness and a few other emotions. His headmaster's face could be read like a book, happiness and sadness were there, also mixed with apprehension. "Harry, I am not going to stop you or you're friends from joining the Order of the Phoenix. In fact, I encourage it. I know that I have greatly damaged our relationship by keeping things from you, and I want you to know that I have learned from my mistakes and it will not happen again… If you will let me, I would like to try to earn your trust and your friendship back if you'll let me."
He was shocked. Not only was an apology the last thing he was expecting, but he could see that the headmaster had meant every word of it. Harry stood there not sure of what he should do.
Catching his dilemma Laura rolled her eyes and pushed her cousin toward her mentor, who caught him in a hug.
Stunned Harry just stood there for a moment unused to his headmaster's unusual display of affection before hugging him back. "Apology accepted," he whispered.
At those words, a golden light started emitting from Harry to surround everyone present. Hearing his friends gasp, Harry turned to see that while everyone else was wrapped in gold light his friends were each surrounded by their own color light. Ginny's was red, Ron's was sky blue, Neville's was bronze, Hermione's was a deep ocean blue, and Laura's was a silvery black. Feeling a sudden warmth around him, Harry looked down to see that he was surrounded by silver light. Yet just as suddenly as the light had come the light was being absorbed into the body of who ever it was surrounding. When the light had almost been fully absorbed everyone felt a burning sensation on a different part of their body. Then everything stopped.
Neville was looking fearful, "What just happened?"
Laura was grinning, "Well cousin, if what just happened is what I think it is then Harry' s just got himself a whole new family."
"Hu?"
"Very intelligent, Mr. Potter. You keep this up and you just may pass into first year charms." Laura said rolling her eyes, "Remus I thought you said that the boy was smart?"
"He was three years ago. Maybe all those bludgers to the head have finally taken affect."
"Hey! For your information the last time I was hit by a bludger was a year before I met you."
Dumbledore stepped in before things got out of hand, "What I believe happened, and I think Laura agrees, was the Binding Magick on the Eternity level." All the adults in the room gasped, but the teens and the twins looked confused, even Hermione didn't know what that meant.
"Would someone mind telling us what that means?" Hermione asked looking very annoyed that she didn't know what the adults were talking about.
"The Binding Magic is very rare, the most common form being the soul mate bond which in itself is rare. Next is the Slave Bond, which is dark magic, I believe that Voldemort has managed to use it to bind the Death Eaters to him. The last form, the Eternity Level, is so rare that there are precious few facts known about it.
"One is that there are two circles, the inner or first circle, and the outer or second circle. Each individual member is some how bonded to the others, but how is not known." Dumbledore said deep in thought trying to remember what he had read about it, "There is also a specific number for both the first and second circles, but I can only remember that the first circle has five members besides Harry."
"Why me?"
"Because you, in some form or other, are the reason we are here. And you are the one that we all pledged to serve. Consider it a binding magical contract for life. There's no getting out of it."
Harry moaned, "So I'm stuck with you guys?"
"Sounds like it, mate. Why do you sound so depressed about it?" Ron asked confused.
"Just ignore him, Ron. Harry's just being his usual Gryffindor self. He'll get over it eventually, although," Ginny said grinning wickedly, "if he takes to long we may have to help him."
Harry winced, "I think I'd rather get over it by myself, thank you very much."
Mrs. Weasley cut in before Ginny could answer, "Okay, that's enough. I want all six of you in bed now. You have a long day tomorrow and I want you up at seven. Go!" and she started herding them out of the room. The Order members took this as their queue to leave and all at once left leaving behind Dumbledore and Laura, who had somehow managed to avoid being forced out by the Weasley matriarch.
She looked at the headmaster with an accusing glare, "You didn't tell them."
He looked at her, "Tell them what?" he asked calmly.
"There are thirteen members of the outer circle, there were only twelve present."
"I know. I want to wait until I know both how to identify the members of each circles, but also who the last member of the circle is.
"Now if I am not mistaken when Mrs. Weasley said 'the six of you' I am almost positive that that included you. You may want to be in bed when Mrs. Weasley gets back down, or the both of us will have to face her wrath."
"I'm going, I'm going." And as Laura walked up to join the others Dumbledore disappeared with a POP.