Chapter 18
Hard Times
"WE NEED TO GO BACK!" Harry shouted as he came crashing through the fireplace at number 12 Grimmauld Place. "THEY HAVE HIM, WE NEED TO GO BACK NOW!" Harry was thrashing through objects trying to find some floo powder.
"Harry." Mr. Weasley said as he grabbed Harry's shoulder. "What's happened?"
"Hagrid." Harry responded trying to calm down as much as possible. "The Death Eaters got through the door. Hagrid ran at them and then..."
Just then Tonks came flying out the fireplace followed in the next few seconds by Fred and George.
"TONKS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WE HAVE TO GO BACK WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM." Harry was thrashing around helplessly as Mr. Weasley restrained him.
"I'm sorry Harry." Tonks responded as her eyes fell sadly to the floor. "There were just too many of them."
"Is he ........ da dead." Hermione asked in a soft voice as tears began to well up in her eyes. She buried her head in Ron's chest, too nervous to even hear the answer.
"We don't know." Tonks replied as Mrs. Weasley came through the fireplace.
"Oh thank goodness." Mrs. Weasley said as she saw that they were all safe. She started looking over the bodies of Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione to make sure they were all right and then pulled them into bone shattering hugs.
"Molly what happened." Mr. Weasley asked as he approached his wife and pulled her tightly to him.
"I got to the ministry and started yelling about what was going on, but there were no Aurors there." Mrs. Weasley started. "Apparently there was a call that there was an attack on Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts!" The four students yelled almost in unison.
"Don't worry dears." Mrs. Weasley responded in a comforting tone that only a mother could possess. "It was a false alarm. There was no attack. Eventually, I got in contact with the Aurors and they went quickly to the Burrow. They were able to help us stabilize the situation."
"Are Charlie and Bill safe." Ginny asked.
"Yes dear, they're okay." Mrs. Weasley responded. "They both took a little damage but nothing too bad. They are helping the Aurors assess the situation now."
"What about Hagrid!" Harry asked loudly.
"We came from the ministry through the floo because it was going to take a few minutes for the aurors to crack the anti-aparation charm that had been put up." Mrs. Weasley responded. "When we came out, we saw a group of Death Eaters dueling with Tonks, the twins, and a few others. When the Death Eaters saw us, they immediately retreated. It appears that they had portkey's to get out of there quickly. Unfortunately, they took Hagrid with them."
"We have to get him back." Harry yelled as he threw his hands over his face and the rage inside him began to surface."
"We will." Mr. Weasley said starring confidently into Harry's eyes. "The sad truth Harry, is that they will most definitely keep him alive to bait us. To bait you." Harry knew he was right of course. He couldn't even imagine what kind of hardships Hagrid was going to have to endure.
As if reading his mind, Mrs. Weasley came up and put her arm around him tightly. "Hagrid is stronger than you can possibly imagine. He will come through this." Harry nodded and buried his head into Mrs. Weasley's bust.
"Molly." Mr. Weasley stated as he approached the fireplace and took a handful of floo powder that had been apparently been sitting on top of the mantle the whole time. "Call an emergency meeting, and get the kids back to Hogwarts. I need to go to the office."
Mrs. Weasley nodded and Mr. was gone in a flash through the fireplace.
"Alright then." Mrs. Weasley started. "We need to get you back to Hogwarts safely."
"I'll take them." Tonks spoke up. "We can take the floo to Hogsmeade and walk from there." Mrs. Weasley nodded.
"NO." Harry said in a tone slightly louder than his normal voice. "We're staying for the meeting."
"I'm sorry Harry, but it's not possible." Mrs. Weasley replied in a firm tone that told Harry he probably shouldn't question her. "The Order is only for wizards who are of age. I promise, we will let you know if there is any news on Hagrid."
"Yea don't worry mate." George said with a wink that Harry and the rest of his schoolmates understood. Harry conceded that having Fred and George there was almost as good as being there himself so he went along without a fuss.
They took the floo to Hogsmeade and got back to Hogwarts without incident. Tonks insisted that she escort them all the way back to Gryffindor Tower and didn't leave their side until the fat lady allowed them in.
It had been a tough night, and the four students when straight to bed without so much as a word.
At breakfast the next morning, news about the assassination attempt on the minister was spreading like wildfire. Harry got an owl from Fred and George, which simply said that they didn't have any information yet and that they would keep in touch. Harry was having a hard time eating thinking about his first true friend Hagrid.
"Don't you think it a bit odd." Hermione said, breaking the silence that had lasted since the previous night. "A false alarm at Hogwarts exactly when the Aurors were needed at the Burrow."
"I was thinking the same thing." Ron replied. "Harry, maybe you should go to Aber... ah Dumbledore and ask him if he knows who made the report." Harry nodded in agreement. He would have to meet Snape for Occlumency lessons tonight so he could stop at Aberforth's office on the way.
"You okay Harry?" Ginny said noticing he hadn't said a word in ages.
"I'll be alright as soon as we know about Hagrid." He replied and got up from the table and left.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. He didn't even remember a single thing that had happened in class. He decided to skip dinner and went right to Aberforth's office.
"Ton Tongue Toffee." Harry said, and the spiral staircase began to take him up to the headmaster's office. When he got there, he saw that McGonagall and Snape were already there.
"Potter." Snape said when he saw him enter. "I didn't know students were allowed to come straight into the headmasters office uninvited."
"I'm sorry Severus." Aberforth interrupted. "I failed to inform you that I invited Harry here this morning."
"I see." Snape responded while giving Harry an evil glance.
"Who made the false alarm report yesterday?" Harry asked completely ignoring the fact that Snape was even in the room.
"We don't know Potter and it shouldn't be something that you concern yourself with." McGonagall said quickly.
"I shouldn't concern myself with it?" Harry yelled as the rage began to boil up again. "The Aurors were obviously drawn away from the Burrow by that false alarm and Hagrid's been taken as a result." A glass flew across the room and shattered as Harry starred down his Transfiguration professor.
"Raising your voice to a professor Potter." Snape chimed in greasily. "That will be ten points from Gryffindor." Harry was about to respond but Aberforth interrupted.
"All right, that will be quite enough." Aberforth said. "Severus, Minerva, I'd like a word with Harry." Professor McGonagall nodded calmly and headed for the door while Snape took a moment to stare at Harry.
"We will not be having Occlumency lessons tonight." Snape finally spoke. "I have other business to attend to." And with that he glided out with a twirl of his cloak.
"So what is really going on?" Harry asked once he was sure the other to professors had left.
"The truth Harry is that I truly don't know who sent out the warning to the Aurors." Aberforth said as he took off Dumbledore's glasses and rubbed his eyes gently. "It's certainly cause for some alarm. I tend to agree with you, I think someone was trying to draw the Aurors away."
"Is there any way we can find out?" Harry asked.
"The Aurors are running a trace on the letter as we speak trying to find out any information possible. We'll just have to wait and hope they come up with something."
"What about Hagrid?" Harry inquired.
"Are you still having dreams Harry?" Aberforth asked starring at Harry intently. Harry nodded. "You have to be able to block your mind completely from him before you can know."
"I could almost throw professor Snape out last time we had Occlumency. But how can I ever master it if he cancels our meetings?" Harry replied.
"I'm afraid that was my doing." Aberforth said with a sly smile. "I gave him a task so he wouldn't be available to you tonight."
"Why?" Harry said, now very confused.
"Because I will finish your training." Aberforth said as he quickly took at his wand and aimed it at Harry. Before Harry knew what was happening, he could feel Aberforth's presence in his mind. The first thing he saw was Hagrid crumbling before a group of Death Eaters, and then the world went black.
"You have to concentrate Harry." Aberforth said as Harry regained consciousness. "If he thinks that there is knowledge to be gained, Voldemort will invade your mind ruthlessly. We aren't leaving here tonight until you can throw me out at will." Harry nodded and braced himself, and once again Aberforth was in his mind. Memories were very suddenly rushing forth until once again Harry woke up on his back. Things continued like that for hours, but Harry didn't quit.
After hours of practice, Aberforth surged into Harry's mind, but this time Harry felt like he could physically grab a hold of him. He closed his eyes and could see a picture of Aberforth in his head. He closed off his mind and just focused on his penetrator.
"Goodbye Aberforth." Harry said with a smirk as he threw his instructor out of his mind and opened his eyes.
"Very well done Harry." Aberforth said. "But we must keep working." Harry agreed and they went back at it. It was a lot easier to practice now that he had the confidence that he could control his own mind. They continued at it until Aberforth could not extract a single though from Harry's mind and Aberforth finally called it quits when Harry took him off guard and quickly penetrated his mind.
"Very impressive Harry." Aberforth said as he quickly threw Harry from his thoughts. "I dare say I wasn't expecting that."
"Thanks." Harry responded. "Now that you are confident that Voldemort cannot invade my mind, can you tell me what you know about Hagrid?"
"Of course Harry." Aberforth responded. "The only problem is that we don't know much. We have spies trying as we speak to find out where they are keeping him. Rest assured, we will get him back. Now then you should go get some rest. It's after 1:00."
Harry felt exhaustion start to creep on him and agreed that he needed to get back. When he got back to the Gryffindor common room, he saw Ginny curled up in one of the large couches in front of the fireplace, fast asleep.
"Ginny." Harry whispered as he gave her a light shake. "Wake up."
"Harry." She said as she stretched her arms, yawned and then sat up.
"What are you doing out here?" Harry asked.
"I was waiting for you." She replied. "When I didn't see you at dinner and then you weren't back in the common room, I got nervous. Ron and Hermione said that they were sure you were fine but I wanted to make sure."
"Thanks." Harry said as sat down on the couch next to her. She quickly cuddled right up to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Her curled his arm around her and squeezed her tightly towards him.
"I know how close you were to him." Ginny said. "Just don't block us out. These are hard times for everyone. We need to stick together to get through them." Harry sat there for a minute, continuing to hold Ginny close as he contemplated her words. She was right. He promised himself in the beginning of the year that he was going to get revenge on Voldemort and this was just more fuel to add to the fire.
"Your right Ginny." Harry said as he tilted her face up towards him and captured her in the most passionate kiss of his life to date. "Thanks."
They sat there for a few more minutes after that until Harry felt his eyes begin to close.
"We better get to bed Harry." Ginny said slyly as she looked up at him. He agreed and they made their way to their separate dorms, but not before sharing one more kiss.
Harry fell asleep quickly thinking about how Ginny had the power to make him feel better when no one else could.
The next morning, Harry woke up in a better mood than he had been in for a long time. He was still worried about Hagrid, but was now focused again.
"DA meeting tonight." Harry said in an upbeat tone as he grabbed some pieces of toast and sausage.
"What has gotten in to you." Ron said as he was eyeing him suspiciously. "Yesterday you didn't say a word and were gone for half the night, and today your suddenly happy. What gives?"
"Nothing." Harry said as he flashed Ginny a brief smile. She smiled back and blushed and Harry hoped that Ron didn't notice the encounter. "I just realized that I wasn't doing Hagrid any good by sulking. So I've refocused myself." Ron just shrugged his shoulders and was satisfied with Harry's answers.
"So where were you last night Harry?" Hermione inquired.
"Well Hermione, you'll be happy to know that I finished up my Occlumency lessons with... the headmaster."
"That's great Harry." She responded. Just then, Hedwig swooped down and a letter flew gracefully into Harry's lap.
H R HR,
We can't say much now. We're on a special assignment. But we have news. Meet us in that special room on Friday night. Remember, third times the charm.
F and G
"Special Room." Ron said shaking his head. "What are they talking about."
"Your so daft sometimes Ron." Hermione replied. "The room of requirements. Remember you have to walk past it three times."
"Hopefully they have some good news." Harry said as they all got up to leave the Great Hall.
Author's note: I tried not to leave this on a big cliffhanger. Next chapter Fred and George will have some info about Hagrid. For all of you fans of the Hagrid, he's not dead..... yet. Keep reviewing, it keeps me going.
Hard Times
"WE NEED TO GO BACK!" Harry shouted as he came crashing through the fireplace at number 12 Grimmauld Place. "THEY HAVE HIM, WE NEED TO GO BACK NOW!" Harry was thrashing through objects trying to find some floo powder.
"Harry." Mr. Weasley said as he grabbed Harry's shoulder. "What's happened?"
"Hagrid." Harry responded trying to calm down as much as possible. "The Death Eaters got through the door. Hagrid ran at them and then..."
Just then Tonks came flying out the fireplace followed in the next few seconds by Fred and George.
"TONKS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WE HAVE TO GO BACK WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM." Harry was thrashing around helplessly as Mr. Weasley restrained him.
"I'm sorry Harry." Tonks responded as her eyes fell sadly to the floor. "There were just too many of them."
"Is he ........ da dead." Hermione asked in a soft voice as tears began to well up in her eyes. She buried her head in Ron's chest, too nervous to even hear the answer.
"We don't know." Tonks replied as Mrs. Weasley came through the fireplace.
"Oh thank goodness." Mrs. Weasley said as she saw that they were all safe. She started looking over the bodies of Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione to make sure they were all right and then pulled them into bone shattering hugs.
"Molly what happened." Mr. Weasley asked as he approached his wife and pulled her tightly to him.
"I got to the ministry and started yelling about what was going on, but there were no Aurors there." Mrs. Weasley started. "Apparently there was a call that there was an attack on Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts!" The four students yelled almost in unison.
"Don't worry dears." Mrs. Weasley responded in a comforting tone that only a mother could possess. "It was a false alarm. There was no attack. Eventually, I got in contact with the Aurors and they went quickly to the Burrow. They were able to help us stabilize the situation."
"Are Charlie and Bill safe." Ginny asked.
"Yes dear, they're okay." Mrs. Weasley responded. "They both took a little damage but nothing too bad. They are helping the Aurors assess the situation now."
"What about Hagrid!" Harry asked loudly.
"We came from the ministry through the floo because it was going to take a few minutes for the aurors to crack the anti-aparation charm that had been put up." Mrs. Weasley responded. "When we came out, we saw a group of Death Eaters dueling with Tonks, the twins, and a few others. When the Death Eaters saw us, they immediately retreated. It appears that they had portkey's to get out of there quickly. Unfortunately, they took Hagrid with them."
"We have to get him back." Harry yelled as he threw his hands over his face and the rage inside him began to surface."
"We will." Mr. Weasley said starring confidently into Harry's eyes. "The sad truth Harry, is that they will most definitely keep him alive to bait us. To bait you." Harry knew he was right of course. He couldn't even imagine what kind of hardships Hagrid was going to have to endure.
As if reading his mind, Mrs. Weasley came up and put her arm around him tightly. "Hagrid is stronger than you can possibly imagine. He will come through this." Harry nodded and buried his head into Mrs. Weasley's bust.
"Molly." Mr. Weasley stated as he approached the fireplace and took a handful of floo powder that had been apparently been sitting on top of the mantle the whole time. "Call an emergency meeting, and get the kids back to Hogwarts. I need to go to the office."
Mrs. Weasley nodded and Mr. was gone in a flash through the fireplace.
"Alright then." Mrs. Weasley started. "We need to get you back to Hogwarts safely."
"I'll take them." Tonks spoke up. "We can take the floo to Hogsmeade and walk from there." Mrs. Weasley nodded.
"NO." Harry said in a tone slightly louder than his normal voice. "We're staying for the meeting."
"I'm sorry Harry, but it's not possible." Mrs. Weasley replied in a firm tone that told Harry he probably shouldn't question her. "The Order is only for wizards who are of age. I promise, we will let you know if there is any news on Hagrid."
"Yea don't worry mate." George said with a wink that Harry and the rest of his schoolmates understood. Harry conceded that having Fred and George there was almost as good as being there himself so he went along without a fuss.
They took the floo to Hogsmeade and got back to Hogwarts without incident. Tonks insisted that she escort them all the way back to Gryffindor Tower and didn't leave their side until the fat lady allowed them in.
It had been a tough night, and the four students when straight to bed without so much as a word.
At breakfast the next morning, news about the assassination attempt on the minister was spreading like wildfire. Harry got an owl from Fred and George, which simply said that they didn't have any information yet and that they would keep in touch. Harry was having a hard time eating thinking about his first true friend Hagrid.
"Don't you think it a bit odd." Hermione said, breaking the silence that had lasted since the previous night. "A false alarm at Hogwarts exactly when the Aurors were needed at the Burrow."
"I was thinking the same thing." Ron replied. "Harry, maybe you should go to Aber... ah Dumbledore and ask him if he knows who made the report." Harry nodded in agreement. He would have to meet Snape for Occlumency lessons tonight so he could stop at Aberforth's office on the way.
"You okay Harry?" Ginny said noticing he hadn't said a word in ages.
"I'll be alright as soon as we know about Hagrid." He replied and got up from the table and left.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. He didn't even remember a single thing that had happened in class. He decided to skip dinner and went right to Aberforth's office.
"Ton Tongue Toffee." Harry said, and the spiral staircase began to take him up to the headmaster's office. When he got there, he saw that McGonagall and Snape were already there.
"Potter." Snape said when he saw him enter. "I didn't know students were allowed to come straight into the headmasters office uninvited."
"I'm sorry Severus." Aberforth interrupted. "I failed to inform you that I invited Harry here this morning."
"I see." Snape responded while giving Harry an evil glance.
"Who made the false alarm report yesterday?" Harry asked completely ignoring the fact that Snape was even in the room.
"We don't know Potter and it shouldn't be something that you concern yourself with." McGonagall said quickly.
"I shouldn't concern myself with it?" Harry yelled as the rage began to boil up again. "The Aurors were obviously drawn away from the Burrow by that false alarm and Hagrid's been taken as a result." A glass flew across the room and shattered as Harry starred down his Transfiguration professor.
"Raising your voice to a professor Potter." Snape chimed in greasily. "That will be ten points from Gryffindor." Harry was about to respond but Aberforth interrupted.
"All right, that will be quite enough." Aberforth said. "Severus, Minerva, I'd like a word with Harry." Professor McGonagall nodded calmly and headed for the door while Snape took a moment to stare at Harry.
"We will not be having Occlumency lessons tonight." Snape finally spoke. "I have other business to attend to." And with that he glided out with a twirl of his cloak.
"So what is really going on?" Harry asked once he was sure the other to professors had left.
"The truth Harry is that I truly don't know who sent out the warning to the Aurors." Aberforth said as he took off Dumbledore's glasses and rubbed his eyes gently. "It's certainly cause for some alarm. I tend to agree with you, I think someone was trying to draw the Aurors away."
"Is there any way we can find out?" Harry asked.
"The Aurors are running a trace on the letter as we speak trying to find out any information possible. We'll just have to wait and hope they come up with something."
"What about Hagrid?" Harry inquired.
"Are you still having dreams Harry?" Aberforth asked starring at Harry intently. Harry nodded. "You have to be able to block your mind completely from him before you can know."
"I could almost throw professor Snape out last time we had Occlumency. But how can I ever master it if he cancels our meetings?" Harry replied.
"I'm afraid that was my doing." Aberforth said with a sly smile. "I gave him a task so he wouldn't be available to you tonight."
"Why?" Harry said, now very confused.
"Because I will finish your training." Aberforth said as he quickly took at his wand and aimed it at Harry. Before Harry knew what was happening, he could feel Aberforth's presence in his mind. The first thing he saw was Hagrid crumbling before a group of Death Eaters, and then the world went black.
"You have to concentrate Harry." Aberforth said as Harry regained consciousness. "If he thinks that there is knowledge to be gained, Voldemort will invade your mind ruthlessly. We aren't leaving here tonight until you can throw me out at will." Harry nodded and braced himself, and once again Aberforth was in his mind. Memories were very suddenly rushing forth until once again Harry woke up on his back. Things continued like that for hours, but Harry didn't quit.
After hours of practice, Aberforth surged into Harry's mind, but this time Harry felt like he could physically grab a hold of him. He closed his eyes and could see a picture of Aberforth in his head. He closed off his mind and just focused on his penetrator.
"Goodbye Aberforth." Harry said with a smirk as he threw his instructor out of his mind and opened his eyes.
"Very well done Harry." Aberforth said. "But we must keep working." Harry agreed and they went back at it. It was a lot easier to practice now that he had the confidence that he could control his own mind. They continued at it until Aberforth could not extract a single though from Harry's mind and Aberforth finally called it quits when Harry took him off guard and quickly penetrated his mind.
"Very impressive Harry." Aberforth said as he quickly threw Harry from his thoughts. "I dare say I wasn't expecting that."
"Thanks." Harry responded. "Now that you are confident that Voldemort cannot invade my mind, can you tell me what you know about Hagrid?"
"Of course Harry." Aberforth responded. "The only problem is that we don't know much. We have spies trying as we speak to find out where they are keeping him. Rest assured, we will get him back. Now then you should go get some rest. It's after 1:00."
Harry felt exhaustion start to creep on him and agreed that he needed to get back. When he got back to the Gryffindor common room, he saw Ginny curled up in one of the large couches in front of the fireplace, fast asleep.
"Ginny." Harry whispered as he gave her a light shake. "Wake up."
"Harry." She said as she stretched her arms, yawned and then sat up.
"What are you doing out here?" Harry asked.
"I was waiting for you." She replied. "When I didn't see you at dinner and then you weren't back in the common room, I got nervous. Ron and Hermione said that they were sure you were fine but I wanted to make sure."
"Thanks." Harry said as sat down on the couch next to her. She quickly cuddled right up to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Her curled his arm around her and squeezed her tightly towards him.
"I know how close you were to him." Ginny said. "Just don't block us out. These are hard times for everyone. We need to stick together to get through them." Harry sat there for a minute, continuing to hold Ginny close as he contemplated her words. She was right. He promised himself in the beginning of the year that he was going to get revenge on Voldemort and this was just more fuel to add to the fire.
"Your right Ginny." Harry said as he tilted her face up towards him and captured her in the most passionate kiss of his life to date. "Thanks."
They sat there for a few more minutes after that until Harry felt his eyes begin to close.
"We better get to bed Harry." Ginny said slyly as she looked up at him. He agreed and they made their way to their separate dorms, but not before sharing one more kiss.
Harry fell asleep quickly thinking about how Ginny had the power to make him feel better when no one else could.
The next morning, Harry woke up in a better mood than he had been in for a long time. He was still worried about Hagrid, but was now focused again.
"DA meeting tonight." Harry said in an upbeat tone as he grabbed some pieces of toast and sausage.
"What has gotten in to you." Ron said as he was eyeing him suspiciously. "Yesterday you didn't say a word and were gone for half the night, and today your suddenly happy. What gives?"
"Nothing." Harry said as he flashed Ginny a brief smile. She smiled back and blushed and Harry hoped that Ron didn't notice the encounter. "I just realized that I wasn't doing Hagrid any good by sulking. So I've refocused myself." Ron just shrugged his shoulders and was satisfied with Harry's answers.
"So where were you last night Harry?" Hermione inquired.
"Well Hermione, you'll be happy to know that I finished up my Occlumency lessons with... the headmaster."
"That's great Harry." She responded. Just then, Hedwig swooped down and a letter flew gracefully into Harry's lap.
H R HR,
We can't say much now. We're on a special assignment. But we have news. Meet us in that special room on Friday night. Remember, third times the charm.
F and G
"Special Room." Ron said shaking his head. "What are they talking about."
"Your so daft sometimes Ron." Hermione replied. "The room of requirements. Remember you have to walk past it three times."
"Hopefully they have some good news." Harry said as they all got up to leave the Great Hall.
Author's note: I tried not to leave this on a big cliffhanger. Next chapter Fred and George will have some info about Hagrid. For all of you fans of the Hagrid, he's not dead..... yet. Keep reviewing, it keeps me going.