Dalf- In response to your comment, yes Umbridge did tell the students that
Fudge did not know that she sent the Dementors in OOP. However, for the
purposes of my story, when Umbridge was brought to trial she would do
anything to cover her own ass including accusing the minister. As to why
Fudge would skip town if he wasn't guilty, I don't want to give too much
away but let's just say there's a story behind his disappearance.
Melindaleo- Harry had a lot on his mind obviously and he didn't think about how being back in the chamber would affect Ginny. But he's about to find out!
Chapter 15
Secrets Revealed
Harry approached the pipe ready to jump down; when he realized that no one except Ron had come forward. Of course Hermione had heard all about their trip down the chamber in their second year, but she had never seen it up close. Neville was frozen in place and looked as though Hermione had hit him with another Petrificus Totalis spell. And Ginny had tears welling up in her eyes as she starred intensely at Harry.
"Don't worry." Ron screeched as he grabbed Hermione by the hand and led her to the front of the pipe. "I'll go first and then you follow." Hermione nodded in agreement as Ron jumped down the pipe with a scream. She followed after looking in Harry's direction and getting an affirmative nod.
"Neville, are you okay?" Harry said as he approached the boy and began to lightly shake him. Neville seemed to snap out of it a little and averted his attention off the pipe and to Harry.
"What is this Harry? What is going on?" The tone of Neville's voice showed more shock than fear.
"This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets Neville." Harry responded. "Just trust me and jump down the pipe. I'll explain everything shortly." Neville had always looked up to Harry and in an effort to show his loyalty he quickly agreed and jumped down the pipe to join Ron and Hermione.
"Ginny, I'm sorry. It didn't occur to me that this would affect you this much. But don't worry; we are all here with you this time. Nothing can hurt you." Harry said as he extended his hand out to Ginny. Initially, she didn't make any movements at all. Then as Harry began to pull his hand away, she threw her arms around his neck and began to cry forcefully on his shoulder.
"I can't do it Harry. There's nothing but bad memories down there. A lot of students almost died because of me. I just, I can't do it."
Harry continued to hold her as tight as he could. He didn't know what to say right away so he just reassured her that it would be all right. He noticed that all the color had drained from her face and her tears were soaking the top of his robes.
"Ginny." Harry said as he gently pulled her away from him and looked deeply into her eyes. "I know there's bad memories down there for you. I have some of those same memories. But we beat Tom last time we were down there. He's gone. He's not coming back. If you can't follow me down there, I understand. But I want you to know that I need you by my side just as much as I need Ron and Hermione." She starred at him for a few seconds and slowly the color began to come back to her face. She wiped away some tears and nodded her head.
"Alright then Harry," she replied, her voice still cracking a little. "I trust you."
Harry grabbed her hand and led her to the edge of the pipe. She was about to jump down, but before she did Harry squeezed her hand tightly and then kissed her. She responded to him immediately by putting her hands on the back of his head and pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. When they released, Ginny smiled and quickly jumped down the pipe. Harry delayed for a second before following and thought to himself that at that moment he could handle just about anything that came his way.
As Harry was flung out of the sludge filled pipe and landed on the cement floor of the Chamber, he saw his four friends starring back and forth between him and Dumbledore's body with curious looks on their faces. Harry was trying to figure out how he was going to begin his explanation. However, before he could start, Hermione spoke up.
"Who is this Harry?" She said as she looked down at the body of their fallen headmaster.
"Before I explain, I need for you all to understand something. Once I tell you everything there is no going back. The knowledge could be dangerous. If anyone finds out what you know, it could lead to torture or even death. I don't mean to scare you but it's the truth. If any of you don't want to know, I will understand." All four of them shook their head and gave Harry their consent to continue.
Harry walked towards the bed where Dumbledore lay and surveyed him to see if there had been any improvement. He picked up his hand, which was ice cold and checked that he still had a pulse. It was still there but was very faint.
"This is Dumbledore Hermione. He never really recovered from his coma as you can see. However, before I get into this, I want to start from the beginning."
There were large stones that came out from the wall around the room, which could be used to sit down on. Harry walked over to the wall and sat on one of the stones. The others, sensing that they should follow suite, sat down as well. Harry starred at Ginny for a second trying to get the strength to tell his tale.
"The first thing that you need to know is that I know the prophecy. After my confrontation with Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore sent me back to his office. He told me that he was the witness to the prophecy. Professor Trelawney made it a long time ago. So he was able to recite the prophecy to me. I have gone over it my head enough times so I have memorized it by now." Harry braced himself to tell his friends the prophecy, but it was not easy.
"Go ahead Harry." Ginny said as she got up and sat down next to Harry grabbing hold of his hand.
"Alright, here goes." Harry responded with a nod. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power 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 with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
As he finished up, he looked up to see very confused looks on the faces of Ron and Neville. They obviously didn't realize exactly what the prophecy meant. Hermione's face had fallen as if she had just witnessed her best friend die.
"What does it mean Harry?" Neville was the first person brave enough to speak up.
"Well Neville, before I tell you what it means I should tell you that when the prophecy was made, no one was sure who it was about. There were two families that denied Voldemort three times and had a child born at the end of July. The Potters and the Longbottoms. The prophecy never specifically states that I am the one who has the power to vanquish Voldemort."
"Are you tra tryin to say that this could be about me?" Neville exclaimed. Harry saw all the blood rush up to Neville's face and he thought that he could almost hear his heart beating rapidly.
"I'm not sure to tell you the truth Neville. The decision was made that the prophecy must be about me because it says that the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal and I of course have this scar. In all likelihood, I am the one that the prophecy is referring to, but I thought that you should be aware that you met the criteria as well."
"I still don't understand what the prophecy exactly means." Ron proclaimed.
"What it means Ron," Hermione voice started to crack a little, "is that whomever the prophecy is about, will have to either kill Voldemort or be killed."
"Exactly." Harry added. He heard Ginny sniffle beside him and saw a tear welling up in the corner of Hermione's eyes. "Don't worry. I don't plan on being killed and that is why I chose to tell you guys everything. Ron, Hermione, I could never have gotten through all the years at Hogwarts without you. You have saved my ass on many occasions and I know that if I'm going to kill Voldemort I am going to need you. Ginny, you've proven yourself to be a very loyal and powerful companion. Coming down here shows how brave and trusting you are."
Ron was beaming proudly and Hermione's spirits it seemed had risen. Ginny continued to sob quietly but her facial expression told Harry that she was more inspired than sad. Then Harry tuned his attention to Neville.
"Neville, you were right by my side last year when I truly needed you. You're a lot better wizard than you give yourself credit for. Something tells me that you are going to be more important to this war than any of us could know" Neville lifted up his head and straightened his chest and gave Harry an affirmative nod. "I'm going to need you all if we are going to be successful.
The five teens sat there in silence for a few minutes as they contemplated Harry's words.
"Alright then. I have much more to explain to all of you."
"Can we get to Dumbledore yet?" Hermione asked. "I would really like to know who has been impersonating the headmaster."
"Ok Hermione. Here goes." Harry replied. "When Dumbledore came to Grimmauld Place this summer and collapsed it was because he went to find the spear of Isis. He was ambushed and it took all the energy he had to get back with the spear and stay alive."
"Wait a minute Harry." Ron interrupted. "What the heck is the spear of Eyeses?"
"The Spear of Isis Ron." Hermione corrected him. "It's a legendary spear. See Ron a long time ago there was a man named ..."
"It's a long story." Harry cut off Hermione. He wasn't surprised that Hermione knew exactly what the spear was, but he didn't feel a lengthy explanation was needed. "Basically, this spear was used to kill a man that was trying avoid death in a similar way to Voldemort. Dumbledore felt that this spear could kill Voldemort." Hermione nodded and Harry could tell that she was a little upset that she didn't get to give a full explanation.
"So Dumbledore actually has the spear?" Hermione asked excitedly. "As far as I knew, the spear was just a legend. No one had ever actually found it."
"Actually, Hermione. I have it." Harry said as he pulled the necklace out from under his robe and showed it to them. "Dumbledore transfigured it. It takes a simple incantation to transform it back."
"This is great!" Ron jumped in excitedly. "I mean I know it won't be easy but if we can find a way to stab Voldemort with that thing we can kill him."
"Actually Ron, it's not that easy." Harry replied. "First we need to find a way to get Voldemort's blood. Then we need to combine it with my own blood. And just to make things a little tougher, we'll have to stab Voldemort in the heart with it."
"Oh Harry, this is impossible." Hermione spoke up. "How are we going to be able to accomplish all this?"
"We can talk about that later. First I need to finish the story." Hermione nodded in agreement and Harry noticed that Neville and Ginny were unusually quite this whole time. They didn't have as much experience dealing with crucial situations as Harry, Ron and Hermione did and it was probably a little overwhelming.
"So Dumbledore was set up and was ambushed by Death Eaters when he went to get the spear which is how we know that there is a traitor in the Order. Dumbledore only shared the information about the spear with the Order and no one else. Then he gave the spear to me. I knew that at some point, somehow I would have to get Voldemort's blood in order for the spear to work, but Dumbledore and I never worked out a plan. Then the next thing I knew he relapsed into a coma. No one knows why."
Ron got up and made his way over to Dumbledore's body. "If this is Dumbledore then who is up there running the school?"
"Quoting him, he's also Dumbledore. Just not Albus."
Upon hearing this, Ginny and Neville looked absolutely puzzled. Harry figured that they probably didn't even know that Dumbledore had a brother. Ron's face was contorting into different shapes as he tried to figure out what Harry meant, and Harry could tell that Hermione had figured it already.
"Aberforth?" Hermione said with a sly smile.
"Yes." Harry responded and turned to Neville and Ginny to explain. "You see, Dumbledore has a brother named Aberforth. Apparently he has been working under cover for the Order for years. He has worked as the bartender at the Hog's Head for all these years. And this year he took on another undercover job. He became Professor Abe Altesterio, teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Professor Altesterio is Dumbledore's brother?" Neville asked. Harry could see that he was still trying to take all this in.
"Yes."
"This is unbelievable Harry." Ron said as he came over and sat down once again. "I don't know how you could keep all this to yourself."
"It wasn't easy Ron. But like I said before, I was doing what I thought was best." He could tell that both his best friends felt a little betrayed that they weren't told all this earlier. But he figured they would go easy on him this time.
"So is Professor Alt-, er Aberforth using Polyjuice potion to impersonate Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.
"No, actually it's amazing how closely they resemble each other. Aberforth simply grew his beard and put on Dumbledore's robe and glasses."
"So where do we go from here?" Ginny barked out suddenly as if she had just broken out of a trance.
"Actually, there's one more thing." Harry said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a vile of blood. "Aberforth found this on Dumbledore after he collapsed."
"Do you think that could be Va Vol Voldemort's blood?" Neville stammered.
"I don't know." Harry replied. "It would certainly make things a lot easier on us. But no matter if it is or it isn't, Dumbledore had it for a reason and we need to find out."
Hermione was already working it out in her head. "There must be a way to identify the blood. Of course I'll need to get into the restricted section of the library."
"That shouldn't be a problem." Harry added. "I'll get a note from Aberforth." Harry got up and began to walk over to the tunnel as if to indicate that it was time to go. Neville and Ginny followed closely behind, however Ron and Hermione didn't budge.
"Hold it Potter." Ron squawked out. Hearing his best mate call him by his last name eerily reminded him of Malfoy. "You haven't told us about your vision with Snape." Harry stopped dead in his tracks and quickly returned.
"My God your right." Harry said as though he was talking to himself. "That is the most important thing." Ginny and Neville came back and Harry started to explain the vision he'd had of the giants, Dementors and Death Eaters while going through Occlumency lessons with Snape.
"Do you think it was real Harry?" Ron asked.
"Yea. Voldemort would have no reason to plant a vision like that in my head." Harry started pacing back and forth in front of his friends. "I think that it's clear that Voldemort is assembling an army. He is going to strike it's just a question of when."
"You don't think he'd attack Hogwarts do you?" Ginny asked nervously.
"I don't know. I don't think that he would as long as Dumbledore is here but we have to prepare either way. Aberforth and Professor Lupin know what is at stake so they are going to teach us as much as they can but I also had another idea. I think that we should meet ourselves once a week to do some extra training for a couple of hours. Just the five of us. Hermione, I'm sure you can find a few books in the restricted section that will help us." Hermione nodded.
"What about Luna." Neville asked. "She helped just as much as anyone last year."
"Of course you're right Neville." Harry said shaking his head. He we embarrassed to admit to himself that he had forgotten about Luna. "We'll ask Luna if she wants to participate as well."
Everyone seemed satisfied and Ron started to lead the way towards the pipe. However, this time it was Harry that stopped them all.
"Before we go back, I just want to reiterate that no one must find out that Aberforth is impersonating Dumbledore. If it somehow gets back to Voldemort, we'll have Death Eaters here before you can say Quidditch." Harry knew that they all understood how crucial this was but he had to say it nonetheless.
Ron was looking at the pipe with the rope coming out of it and studying it. "How are we supposed to get out of here Harry? Climb this rope?" As he finished this sentence he had reached out and grabbed the rope with one hand. He was immediately shot up through the pipe but must have lost his grip because he came flying down the pipe and crashed on to the cement floor.
"Sorry mate. I guess I forgot to mention that." Harry said with a chuckle. The whole group enjoyed a nice laugh including Ron who was able to find the humor in the situation after a few seconds of rubbing his head. Ron was brave enough to go first even after his experience and as he grabbed hold of the rope he quickly disappeared from the chamber. Hermione and Neville followed his example, which left Harry and Ginny alone at the bottom of the Chamber. Ginny approached the rope but Harry stopped her by grabbing her hand before she could touch it.
"I just wanted to say thank you for being so brave." Harry said with a smile. Ginny returned the smile and then motioned at the rope.
"I think going up looks scarier then going down." They both laughed briefly.
"Don't worry it's actually fun." Harry added. He put his arm around Ginny and squeezed her closely to him. As he turned his attention back to the rope, he noticed that Fawkes had appeared.
"Hey Fawkes." Harry said as the beautiful Phoenix perched itself on his shoulder. Harry stroked her under her beak briefly. She jumped up off Harry's shoulder and flashed her tail towards the pair.
"I think he's here to give us a ride." Ginny said as she flashed Harry a smile. Harry grabbed on to the tail of Fawkes and then reached out his hand to Ginny.
"Are you ready"
She ignored the hand and instead wrapped her arms around Harry's waist. And a second later they were flying back up the chamber.
Melindaleo- Harry had a lot on his mind obviously and he didn't think about how being back in the chamber would affect Ginny. But he's about to find out!
Chapter 15
Secrets Revealed
Harry approached the pipe ready to jump down; when he realized that no one except Ron had come forward. Of course Hermione had heard all about their trip down the chamber in their second year, but she had never seen it up close. Neville was frozen in place and looked as though Hermione had hit him with another Petrificus Totalis spell. And Ginny had tears welling up in her eyes as she starred intensely at Harry.
"Don't worry." Ron screeched as he grabbed Hermione by the hand and led her to the front of the pipe. "I'll go first and then you follow." Hermione nodded in agreement as Ron jumped down the pipe with a scream. She followed after looking in Harry's direction and getting an affirmative nod.
"Neville, are you okay?" Harry said as he approached the boy and began to lightly shake him. Neville seemed to snap out of it a little and averted his attention off the pipe and to Harry.
"What is this Harry? What is going on?" The tone of Neville's voice showed more shock than fear.
"This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets Neville." Harry responded. "Just trust me and jump down the pipe. I'll explain everything shortly." Neville had always looked up to Harry and in an effort to show his loyalty he quickly agreed and jumped down the pipe to join Ron and Hermione.
"Ginny, I'm sorry. It didn't occur to me that this would affect you this much. But don't worry; we are all here with you this time. Nothing can hurt you." Harry said as he extended his hand out to Ginny. Initially, she didn't make any movements at all. Then as Harry began to pull his hand away, she threw her arms around his neck and began to cry forcefully on his shoulder.
"I can't do it Harry. There's nothing but bad memories down there. A lot of students almost died because of me. I just, I can't do it."
Harry continued to hold her as tight as he could. He didn't know what to say right away so he just reassured her that it would be all right. He noticed that all the color had drained from her face and her tears were soaking the top of his robes.
"Ginny." Harry said as he gently pulled her away from him and looked deeply into her eyes. "I know there's bad memories down there for you. I have some of those same memories. But we beat Tom last time we were down there. He's gone. He's not coming back. If you can't follow me down there, I understand. But I want you to know that I need you by my side just as much as I need Ron and Hermione." She starred at him for a few seconds and slowly the color began to come back to her face. She wiped away some tears and nodded her head.
"Alright then Harry," she replied, her voice still cracking a little. "I trust you."
Harry grabbed her hand and led her to the edge of the pipe. She was about to jump down, but before she did Harry squeezed her hand tightly and then kissed her. She responded to him immediately by putting her hands on the back of his head and pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. When they released, Ginny smiled and quickly jumped down the pipe. Harry delayed for a second before following and thought to himself that at that moment he could handle just about anything that came his way.
As Harry was flung out of the sludge filled pipe and landed on the cement floor of the Chamber, he saw his four friends starring back and forth between him and Dumbledore's body with curious looks on their faces. Harry was trying to figure out how he was going to begin his explanation. However, before he could start, Hermione spoke up.
"Who is this Harry?" She said as she looked down at the body of their fallen headmaster.
"Before I explain, I need for you all to understand something. Once I tell you everything there is no going back. The knowledge could be dangerous. If anyone finds out what you know, it could lead to torture or even death. I don't mean to scare you but it's the truth. If any of you don't want to know, I will understand." All four of them shook their head and gave Harry their consent to continue.
Harry walked towards the bed where Dumbledore lay and surveyed him to see if there had been any improvement. He picked up his hand, which was ice cold and checked that he still had a pulse. It was still there but was very faint.
"This is Dumbledore Hermione. He never really recovered from his coma as you can see. However, before I get into this, I want to start from the beginning."
There were large stones that came out from the wall around the room, which could be used to sit down on. Harry walked over to the wall and sat on one of the stones. The others, sensing that they should follow suite, sat down as well. Harry starred at Ginny for a second trying to get the strength to tell his tale.
"The first thing that you need to know is that I know the prophecy. After my confrontation with Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore sent me back to his office. He told me that he was the witness to the prophecy. Professor Trelawney made it a long time ago. So he was able to recite the prophecy to me. I have gone over it my head enough times so I have memorized it by now." Harry braced himself to tell his friends the prophecy, but it was not easy.
"Go ahead Harry." Ginny said as she got up and sat down next to Harry grabbing hold of his hand.
"Alright, here goes." Harry responded with a nod. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power 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 with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
As he finished up, he looked up to see very confused looks on the faces of Ron and Neville. They obviously didn't realize exactly what the prophecy meant. Hermione's face had fallen as if she had just witnessed her best friend die.
"What does it mean Harry?" Neville was the first person brave enough to speak up.
"Well Neville, before I tell you what it means I should tell you that when the prophecy was made, no one was sure who it was about. There were two families that denied Voldemort three times and had a child born at the end of July. The Potters and the Longbottoms. The prophecy never specifically states that I am the one who has the power to vanquish Voldemort."
"Are you tra tryin to say that this could be about me?" Neville exclaimed. Harry saw all the blood rush up to Neville's face and he thought that he could almost hear his heart beating rapidly.
"I'm not sure to tell you the truth Neville. The decision was made that the prophecy must be about me because it says that the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal and I of course have this scar. In all likelihood, I am the one that the prophecy is referring to, but I thought that you should be aware that you met the criteria as well."
"I still don't understand what the prophecy exactly means." Ron proclaimed.
"What it means Ron," Hermione voice started to crack a little, "is that whomever the prophecy is about, will have to either kill Voldemort or be killed."
"Exactly." Harry added. He heard Ginny sniffle beside him and saw a tear welling up in the corner of Hermione's eyes. "Don't worry. I don't plan on being killed and that is why I chose to tell you guys everything. Ron, Hermione, I could never have gotten through all the years at Hogwarts without you. You have saved my ass on many occasions and I know that if I'm going to kill Voldemort I am going to need you. Ginny, you've proven yourself to be a very loyal and powerful companion. Coming down here shows how brave and trusting you are."
Ron was beaming proudly and Hermione's spirits it seemed had risen. Ginny continued to sob quietly but her facial expression told Harry that she was more inspired than sad. Then Harry tuned his attention to Neville.
"Neville, you were right by my side last year when I truly needed you. You're a lot better wizard than you give yourself credit for. Something tells me that you are going to be more important to this war than any of us could know" Neville lifted up his head and straightened his chest and gave Harry an affirmative nod. "I'm going to need you all if we are going to be successful.
The five teens sat there in silence for a few minutes as they contemplated Harry's words.
"Alright then. I have much more to explain to all of you."
"Can we get to Dumbledore yet?" Hermione asked. "I would really like to know who has been impersonating the headmaster."
"Ok Hermione. Here goes." Harry replied. "When Dumbledore came to Grimmauld Place this summer and collapsed it was because he went to find the spear of Isis. He was ambushed and it took all the energy he had to get back with the spear and stay alive."
"Wait a minute Harry." Ron interrupted. "What the heck is the spear of Eyeses?"
"The Spear of Isis Ron." Hermione corrected him. "It's a legendary spear. See Ron a long time ago there was a man named ..."
"It's a long story." Harry cut off Hermione. He wasn't surprised that Hermione knew exactly what the spear was, but he didn't feel a lengthy explanation was needed. "Basically, this spear was used to kill a man that was trying avoid death in a similar way to Voldemort. Dumbledore felt that this spear could kill Voldemort." Hermione nodded and Harry could tell that she was a little upset that she didn't get to give a full explanation.
"So Dumbledore actually has the spear?" Hermione asked excitedly. "As far as I knew, the spear was just a legend. No one had ever actually found it."
"Actually, Hermione. I have it." Harry said as he pulled the necklace out from under his robe and showed it to them. "Dumbledore transfigured it. It takes a simple incantation to transform it back."
"This is great!" Ron jumped in excitedly. "I mean I know it won't be easy but if we can find a way to stab Voldemort with that thing we can kill him."
"Actually Ron, it's not that easy." Harry replied. "First we need to find a way to get Voldemort's blood. Then we need to combine it with my own blood. And just to make things a little tougher, we'll have to stab Voldemort in the heart with it."
"Oh Harry, this is impossible." Hermione spoke up. "How are we going to be able to accomplish all this?"
"We can talk about that later. First I need to finish the story." Hermione nodded in agreement and Harry noticed that Neville and Ginny were unusually quite this whole time. They didn't have as much experience dealing with crucial situations as Harry, Ron and Hermione did and it was probably a little overwhelming.
"So Dumbledore was set up and was ambushed by Death Eaters when he went to get the spear which is how we know that there is a traitor in the Order. Dumbledore only shared the information about the spear with the Order and no one else. Then he gave the spear to me. I knew that at some point, somehow I would have to get Voldemort's blood in order for the spear to work, but Dumbledore and I never worked out a plan. Then the next thing I knew he relapsed into a coma. No one knows why."
Ron got up and made his way over to Dumbledore's body. "If this is Dumbledore then who is up there running the school?"
"Quoting him, he's also Dumbledore. Just not Albus."
Upon hearing this, Ginny and Neville looked absolutely puzzled. Harry figured that they probably didn't even know that Dumbledore had a brother. Ron's face was contorting into different shapes as he tried to figure out what Harry meant, and Harry could tell that Hermione had figured it already.
"Aberforth?" Hermione said with a sly smile.
"Yes." Harry responded and turned to Neville and Ginny to explain. "You see, Dumbledore has a brother named Aberforth. Apparently he has been working under cover for the Order for years. He has worked as the bartender at the Hog's Head for all these years. And this year he took on another undercover job. He became Professor Abe Altesterio, teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Professor Altesterio is Dumbledore's brother?" Neville asked. Harry could see that he was still trying to take all this in.
"Yes."
"This is unbelievable Harry." Ron said as he came over and sat down once again. "I don't know how you could keep all this to yourself."
"It wasn't easy Ron. But like I said before, I was doing what I thought was best." He could tell that both his best friends felt a little betrayed that they weren't told all this earlier. But he figured they would go easy on him this time.
"So is Professor Alt-, er Aberforth using Polyjuice potion to impersonate Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.
"No, actually it's amazing how closely they resemble each other. Aberforth simply grew his beard and put on Dumbledore's robe and glasses."
"So where do we go from here?" Ginny barked out suddenly as if she had just broken out of a trance.
"Actually, there's one more thing." Harry said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a vile of blood. "Aberforth found this on Dumbledore after he collapsed."
"Do you think that could be Va Vol Voldemort's blood?" Neville stammered.
"I don't know." Harry replied. "It would certainly make things a lot easier on us. But no matter if it is or it isn't, Dumbledore had it for a reason and we need to find out."
Hermione was already working it out in her head. "There must be a way to identify the blood. Of course I'll need to get into the restricted section of the library."
"That shouldn't be a problem." Harry added. "I'll get a note from Aberforth." Harry got up and began to walk over to the tunnel as if to indicate that it was time to go. Neville and Ginny followed closely behind, however Ron and Hermione didn't budge.
"Hold it Potter." Ron squawked out. Hearing his best mate call him by his last name eerily reminded him of Malfoy. "You haven't told us about your vision with Snape." Harry stopped dead in his tracks and quickly returned.
"My God your right." Harry said as though he was talking to himself. "That is the most important thing." Ginny and Neville came back and Harry started to explain the vision he'd had of the giants, Dementors and Death Eaters while going through Occlumency lessons with Snape.
"Do you think it was real Harry?" Ron asked.
"Yea. Voldemort would have no reason to plant a vision like that in my head." Harry started pacing back and forth in front of his friends. "I think that it's clear that Voldemort is assembling an army. He is going to strike it's just a question of when."
"You don't think he'd attack Hogwarts do you?" Ginny asked nervously.
"I don't know. I don't think that he would as long as Dumbledore is here but we have to prepare either way. Aberforth and Professor Lupin know what is at stake so they are going to teach us as much as they can but I also had another idea. I think that we should meet ourselves once a week to do some extra training for a couple of hours. Just the five of us. Hermione, I'm sure you can find a few books in the restricted section that will help us." Hermione nodded.
"What about Luna." Neville asked. "She helped just as much as anyone last year."
"Of course you're right Neville." Harry said shaking his head. He we embarrassed to admit to himself that he had forgotten about Luna. "We'll ask Luna if she wants to participate as well."
Everyone seemed satisfied and Ron started to lead the way towards the pipe. However, this time it was Harry that stopped them all.
"Before we go back, I just want to reiterate that no one must find out that Aberforth is impersonating Dumbledore. If it somehow gets back to Voldemort, we'll have Death Eaters here before you can say Quidditch." Harry knew that they all understood how crucial this was but he had to say it nonetheless.
Ron was looking at the pipe with the rope coming out of it and studying it. "How are we supposed to get out of here Harry? Climb this rope?" As he finished this sentence he had reached out and grabbed the rope with one hand. He was immediately shot up through the pipe but must have lost his grip because he came flying down the pipe and crashed on to the cement floor.
"Sorry mate. I guess I forgot to mention that." Harry said with a chuckle. The whole group enjoyed a nice laugh including Ron who was able to find the humor in the situation after a few seconds of rubbing his head. Ron was brave enough to go first even after his experience and as he grabbed hold of the rope he quickly disappeared from the chamber. Hermione and Neville followed his example, which left Harry and Ginny alone at the bottom of the Chamber. Ginny approached the rope but Harry stopped her by grabbing her hand before she could touch it.
"I just wanted to say thank you for being so brave." Harry said with a smile. Ginny returned the smile and then motioned at the rope.
"I think going up looks scarier then going down." They both laughed briefly.
"Don't worry it's actually fun." Harry added. He put his arm around Ginny and squeezed her closely to him. As he turned his attention back to the rope, he noticed that Fawkes had appeared.
"Hey Fawkes." Harry said as the beautiful Phoenix perched itself on his shoulder. Harry stroked her under her beak briefly. She jumped up off Harry's shoulder and flashed her tail towards the pair.
"I think he's here to give us a ride." Ginny said as she flashed Harry a smile. Harry grabbed on to the tail of Fawkes and then reached out his hand to Ginny.
"Are you ready"
She ignored the hand and instead wrapped her arms around Harry's waist. And a second later they were flying back up the chamber.