Chapter 31
Where Have All the Students Gone
Harry and Albus Dumbledore walked through the Forbidden Forest in silence for a few moments. There were many things that Harry wanted to talk to the esteemed headmaster about but he was waiting for him to make the first move.
"Let's stop here for a minute." Dumbledore said as took a seat on a large fallen tree. It seemed to Harry that he was a little out of breath.
"How are you feeling sir?" Harry asked.
"Oh, better Harry better." Dumbledore started. "Still a long way to go though I imagine." Dumbledore seemed to yawn a little and his gaze drifted toward the ground.
"Well it's nice to have you back all the same." Harry smirked.
"Unfortunately, I am not back Harry." Dumbledore replied raising his eyes to meet Harry's. "My magic is weak Harry. My body has gone through quite an ordeal over the past couple of months. I couldn't do the simplest thing like conjuring a chair to sit down on."
"I'm sure you just need your wand." Harry responded, pulling it from the inside pocket of his robes and thrusting towards the headmaster. "My wand was broken, so Aberforth gave me yours to use. But here have it back."
"Your wand was broken?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"Yea, I had a run in with Malfoy." Dumbledore seemed to smile a little as he pushed the wand back in Harry's direction.
"I'm afraid that no wand will improve me at this point." Dumbledore stated. "Besides, I believe that there was a reason that your wand was broken and you came in possession of mine. Keep it and use it well."
"Thank you sir." Harry said as he put the wand back into the inside pocket of his robe.
"Now on to this business with Hagrid."
"I'm sorry sir." Harry immediately jumped in. "I know you told me that I should listen and trust Aberforth, but I don't think he took the threat of the traitor seriously. I couldn't let Hagrid die. I had to…"
"I understand Harry." Dumbledore interrupted. "Hagrid is like a son to me, and I know he is a good friend to you too. I imagine I would have done the same thing as you. You see Harry; you must learn to trust people because we are going to need a lot of help to overcome Voldemort. But, you must also learn to trust your own judgments. I see that you are starting to do just that." Harry understood what Dumbledore meant. According to the prophecy, he was the one who would have to kill Voldemort so in the end he had to make his own decisions.
"Now, we should get to Grawp." Dumbledore added. "There's not going to be much of a forest left if we don't inform him that Hagrid is back."
"Wait sir." Harry said as Dumbledore stood up and began to walk again. "When you were in a coma, Aberforth found this vile of blood on you. Is it Voldemort's?"
"It is in a sense." Dumbledore replied. "It is the blood of Tom Riddle."
"Do you think it will work?" Harry asked. "If I put it on the spear will it be enough to kill him."
"I can't say for sure Harry. Voldemort has gone through many transformations since he was Tom Riddle." Dumbledore replied. "But I don't believe a man can change the blood that runs through his veins." Harry pulled the vile out of his pocket and studied it for a second. According to the legend, if Harry mixed this blood with his own and applied it to the spear, he may have a chance of killing a man who was virtually immortal.
"How did you get it?" Harry asked after a moment of thought.
"I'm afraid some of my more brilliant methods will have to remain a secret for now." Dumbledore smiled. "Let's just say that one hundred and fifty years on this Earth has taught me a thing or two." Harry smiled back and together the made their way through the forest once again. When they finally found Grawp, he had a tree in each of his hands and was repeatedly smashing them on the ground as if the earth were a set of drums. Fortunately, Dumbledore was able to calm him down and assured him that he would bring Hagrid to see him as soon as possible.
When they got back to Hagrid's hut, Hermione and Ron were sitting outside waiting for Harry and Dumbledore to return.
"I will keep in contact with you Harry." Dumbledore said as he opened the door to the hut. "Remember what I said. I stand by the fact that you can trust my brother. But trust your own instincts as well." Harry bid the headmaster farewell and joined Ron and Hermione. They made their way back to Gryffindor Tower as Harry explained the conversation that he had with Dumbledore.
"You should have asked him about the missing students." Ron spoke up.
"You're right." Harry replied. He couldn't believe that he had failed to discuss that with Dumbledore. "But I have a pretty good idea what that's about."
"What?" Ron asked.
"I think Voldemort wants to attack the school." Harry replied. Hermione stared at him for a long moment and then nodded in agreement.
"It makes sense." She added. "All the students that are missing are probably children whose parents are either Death Eaters or associated with Death Eaters. If there was a plan to attack the school, then they wouldn't want there children there when it happened."
Later that night, Harry sought out Professor Lupin and explained this theory to him. Lupin was one adult that Harry knew in his heart that he could trust.
"The staff has been discussing this too Harry." Lupin answered. "We have come to a similar conclusion. So we are going to take some necessary precautions. Dumbledore will make a speech tomorrow informing all students that an attack is possible and that they may take a leave of absence from school if they feel it is necessary. We are going to have the DA meet every night for those students that choose to stay."
"That's probably a good idea." Harry responded and quickly thought of something else. "ON the topic of protecting the castle, there is a secret passage into the castle through the humpback witch. Do you think we should seal that up? We wouldn't want any rats getting in."
"Ah yes." Lupin answered. "I forgot about that. I will personally make sure that it is sealed up."
"Good." Harry answered as he stood up to leave. "Well then I will be getting back."
"Wait." Lupin motioned for Harry to sit back down. "There is one more thing I need to ask of you."
"Of course." Harry replied. "What is it?"
"If there ever was an attack on the school…" Lupin started. "The house elves could be invaluable to us. They have very powerful magic and they are fiercely loyal. We were wondering if you could talk to Dobby about training them up so that if an attack came, they could respond quickly."
"That's a very good idea." Harry replied. "Yes I'll talk to him about it."
"Good." Lupin answered. "I'm not going to be around for the next couple of days so Professor Snape and the rest of the staff will be handling the DA lessons. Try and help them out as much as possible."
"I'm not sure how much input Snape will let me have." Harry started. "But I'll do my best."
"I'm sure you will." Lupin replied with a chuckle.
Harry said a quick good-bye and good luck and then went down to the kitchens to seek out Dobby. As he made his way down, Harry thought about what it must be like for Professor Lupin to have to transform into a Werewolf. Even with the Wolfsbane potion, it couldn't be a very pleasant experience. But hopefully someday they would come up with a cure.
"Excuse me Mr. Potter. It is after curfew, what are you doing out of bounds." A familiar voice said as Harry was about to make his way through the door to the right of the main staircase which led to the Hogwarts kitchen.
"I'm really sorry." Harry replied sarcastically as Ginny made her way towards him. It was obviously her night to be on patrol.
"Just don't let it happen again." Ginny smiled. She looked behind her to make sure that the prefect she was on duty with wasn't looking and then she slid up to Harry to give him a quick kiss on the lips. Harry threw his arms around her and deepened the kiss which caused Ginny too push him away. "Harry, not in the middle of the hallway."
"Sorry." He said laughing.
"So where were you going?" She asked.
"Down to see Dobby." He replied. "And I should really get going. I'll explain later." He gave her another quick kiss and then made his way down the corridor. Eventually he came to the portrait of the bowl of fruit. He tickled the pear and was able to enter through the newly materialized door knob.
"Mr. Harry Potter sir." A house elf that Harry had never seen before said. "How can we be of service?"
"Oh hello." Harry replied. "I was wondering if I could speak to Dobby."
"Of course sir." The elf replied. "Fitzy is getting Dobby for you right away." And with a snap of his figures and a light pop, he was gone. It seemed like only a few seconds before Fitzy popped back with Dobby right behind him.
"Harry Potter it is good seeing you." Dobby said. "Can Dobby help Harry Potter in some way? Is he needing something to eat?"
"No Dobby, nothing like that." Harry replied. "Is there somewhere we could talk in private?"
"Of course Harry Potter sir. Follow me." Dobby led Harry to a maintenance closet. It had a small bed and a few desks in it."
"The thing is Dobby, certain information that we have received suggests that there may be an attack on Hogwarts soon." Harry said. Dobby was paying fiercely close attention. "And I wanted to know if we can count on you and the other house elves to help us protect the castle if something is to happen." Dobby's face lit up as if Harry had just given him the thing that he must coveted in the world.
"We is being honored to serve Harry Potter and Hogwarts in any way you is needing." He finally replied.
"Excellent." Harry replied. "I want you to be their leader Dobby. Train them up. Make sure they all know what to do in case there is an attack."
"You can count on Dobby sir." He squeaked. "He is not letting Harry Potter down." Harry thanked Dobby and then arranged to meet up with him in a couple of days to discuss the progress he was making. It would be very beneficial to have the house elves on their side. Harry had seen what Dobby could do and if the rest of them had similar magical abilities than they could really make a difference.
The next day at breakfast, Aberforth got up to make the announcement that Harry was expecting.
"Before we start breakfast, I have a few things to say." Aberforth started. "As you know, He who must not be named has returned to power. It has come to my attention that he may have targeted this school as a potential objective. While I am very confident in the precautions that we have taken to keep the school safe, I feel that I must convey to you the seriousness of the situation. Any student who feels he or she needs to leave may do so without penalty." Discussion immediately broke out all around the Great Hall.
"He's going to attack the school!" Lavender Brown shouted. There were fearful comments going around everywhere. Aberforth had his hands raised trying to control the crowd, but it seemed futile. So Harry did the only thing he could think of. He went to the staff table and shot gold sparks out of his wand. When it seemed that he had the crowd's attention, he addressed them.
"I know you're all frightened. You have every reason to be. And if you feel like you have to leave, then I understand. But Voldemort and his Death Eaters are out there again and until they're gone, no one is going to be safe no matter where they are. I say we stay and train and if they come, we stand up to them. The castle is well protected and believe me, if they try to invade it, they'll find it is not very easy. I want to stress to you all to remember what the sorting hat said. If we all work together, we can win the war. That includes all four houses." The crowd was silent even after Harry's impromptu speech.
"Thank you Mr. Potter." Aberforth stated and started to address the now attentive crowd again. "I must concur with Mr. Potter's statement. It would be foolish to not have any fear, but I believe together we can rise above our fears. So for all students who stay, there will be DA meetings led by the entire staff every night after dinner. The end of term is now two weeks away and I have decided to postpone the end of term examines. And as a special treat, the Yule bawl will go on as planned. It will be on the night of December 23rd. I have made arrangements for the Weird Sisters to provide the nights entertainment. Now on to breakfast."
Slowly the crowd started to talk again. The conversations were still about the fear of Voldemort, but at least it seemed like the panic had died down.
"Great speech mate." Ron said when Harry returned to the table.
"Thanks." Harry replied. "Hopefully it made a difference."
"Oh I think it did." Hermione said as her eyes shifted to someone approaching the Gryffindor table. Harry turned around to see a familiar Slytherin coming towards him.
"Potter." Blaise Zabini said with a nod of his head.
"Zabini." Harry replied.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm ready to protect the school if I'm needed."
"Everyone's needed." Harry replied. "I don't care what house you or anyone else is in."
"There are some Slytherin's that don't support you know who." Zabini continued. "My uncle was murdered by his followers a number of years ago."
"I'll see you at training then." Harry replied. Zabini nodded and then turned around to head back to the Slytherin table. Earlier in the year, Zabini had been Malfoy's second in a duel against Harry. Harry had been very surprised at how fair and proper Zabini had acted. It sure seemed like he was different than other Slytherins he had known.
"Hopefully there are more Slytherins like him." Harry commented to the others.
"Personally, I wouldn't care if the whole bloody lot of them left." Ron sniggered.
"Ron!" Hermione squawked. "Be reasonable. Harry's right. We will need all the help we can get."
"Maybe." Ron reasoned. "But I don't fancy being in a war and having one eye on the enemy and the other on some Slytherin." Ron's point was valid Harry thought. But he was taking Dumbledore's advice and trusting his instincts, and his instincts told him that the remaining Slytherins could be an asset.
"Look, it's Errol." Ginny commented snapping Harry out of thought. The old decrepit owl dropped a letter in Ron's lap and then promptly smashed right into the side wall of the Great Hall."
"Don't know how that bloody bird stays alive." Ron remarked as he unfolded the letter and began to read. "It's from Mum. She says that she wants us all back at headquarters over holiday. And Hermione, she said she going to ask your parents to join us as well."
"That's great." Hermione exclaimed. "Of course I love all the time I spend with you guys over break but I do really miss my parents sometimes. Plus, I'm sure they will want to get to know you guys."
"Sounds great." Harry replied. "But I just don't know about leaving the school. Wouldn't that be a great time for Voldemort to try and attack?"
"Actually no." Hermione stated. "Death Eaters are all about causing pain and death. They would want to attack at a time when the most students are here."
"I guess you're right." Harry retorted. "Plus being at headquarters, we would know if there was an attack straight away. We could get there quickly if we were needed."
"Well on a lighter note." Ginny started. "Anyone have a date to the ball yet." She flashed her eyes at Harry and gave him a mischievous smile.
"Actually, me and Ron were thinking about going with the Patil twins again. You know since it worked out so well last time."
Hermione laughed. "Well just to let you boys know, Ginny and I will not remain dateless very long." After they comment the girls had a particularly smug look on their faces and they promptly picked up their books and left Harry and Ron in their wake.
"What in the bloody hell was that all about?" Ron asked. "I swear Harry I will never figure them out. What do they want, some grand gesture? I just figured it was a given that Hermione would go with me."
"I don't know Ron…" Harry began. "You better watch out. Remember Hermione's last date was an international Quidditch star. You have a lot to live up to." Harry got up and left Ron at the table thoroughly frozen with the most confused look on his face that Harry had ever seen.
Author's Note: Thanks for the great reviews everyone. I appreciate them. I know the last couple of chapters were a little bit boring. But I needed to set some things up or else I would just have action sequences that go nowhere. Don't worry though; I think everyone will like the next chapter. It will be long and will feature the Ball among other things. I also would like to say that the idea of the house elf army came from another story that I read. I would like to give the author credit, but I cannot remember where I read it. So if anyone knows the story that I am talking about please let me know so that I can give the proper credit. Thanks again, keep reviewing.