Despite being quite tired, Harry awoke early. The state of the bed and room that he had probably had something to do with that. As he came out of the room he found himself face to face with the elderly proprieter of the Hog's Head, who immediately grunted "Bath's broken." He ambled off and Harry shot upstairs to room Nine. He knocked on the door and heard Ron's sleepy voice answer to come in.
"Blimey Harry, what is it with you two?" Ron said, bleary eyed as he stretched himself out of bed.
Harry looked around for someone else briefly, then said "Two?"
"You and Hermione, I swear, can't a body get a decent long sleep?" Apparently Hermione had already gotten up and was probably downstairs, having breakfast. "Any clue where the bath in this dump is?" asked Ron as he scratched his sides irritably.
"Barman says it's broken" said Harry.
"Bloody brilliant. I could kill Madam Rosmerta for getting herself imperiused and getting us stick in this hole."
"Well, kill her some other time, I'm going downstairs for breakfast."
"Be with you in a minute."
Harry bounded downstairs to find Hermione and Lupin at a table, talking quietly. Lupin saw him and waved him over. "Good morning, Harry, Hermione and I were just discussing some ideas that might help you." He pushed a plate of toast over at Harry who ate readily, giving Lupin a nod.
"Well," he said "The problem with tracking down Mungdungus Fletcher is that once he sees you Harry, he's apt to apprate right away. You roughed him up a bit last year, and he's not likely to stand around and chat."
"Great." said Harry. This was seeming more difficult as time went on. He felt a surge of anger again. How irresponsible for Dumbledore to allow Mungdungus to be in the order! "So, how am I supposed to get the blasted thing from him, if he even has it, when he's apt to pop off to Wales the minute he sees me?"
Hermione spoke up now "An anti-apparation jinx. It's our best bet. I think that if you hit him with one of those, you should be able to keep him in one spot long enough to get the locket."
"That's a good idea, Hermione, except what if he blocks it? If I try that and he gets away, he'll go so far underground that I'll never find him."
Ron had joined them now, he pulled up a chair and said to Hermione "Oi, budge up a bit"
"There's no room Ron, just go sit by Harry." Ron dragged the chair over rather grumpily and plopped down.
"I feel like I've been eaten alive last night. It's got to be breaking some sort of law, to run an Inn in this state. And what the hell is with the bath being broken? Right mess this is." Seemingly finished with his diatrabe, he grabbed a piece of toast and said "So, what's up?"
"We're trying to figure out how to keep Mungungus from disapparating so he can't escape." Harry explained "Hermione thnks an anti-appration jinx might do the trick, but I'm afraid he might block that."
"Well, I guess you're going to have to catch him unawares then" said Ron matter-of-factly. "You know, sneak up on him and hit him with it from behind."
"Yes." said Lupin, nodding. "And it would be best if it was done non-verbally.
"Er..." said Harry. He was not very good at performing spells without speaking.
"Well Hermione could do that." said Ron, grabbing more toast. "She's the best at non-verbal spells and could probably smack him with a jinx so as he wouldn't even know it!"
"Is this true?" asked Lupin. Hermione looked embarrassed, so Harry spoke "Yeah, it is. I'm no great shakes at nonverbal magic, haven't had enough practice really. But Hermione's got it down."
Before anything else could be said, the barman came over and said something to Lupin in a low voice, then walked over to the door and held it open.
"What, are we being chucked out?" asked Ron.
"Well, not quite Ron." said Lupin "We're going to go over to the school now, the will reading is going to begin in about a half-hour. He's closing up shop to head up there himself.
Harry remembered that the barman had been at Dumbledore's funeral, but wondered why he would be at the reading of Dumbledore's will. As they left, Lupin leaned towards them and explained in a low voice "That's his brother, you know. Not many people know that."
Ron and Hermione looked stunned. Harry though, smacked himself in the forehead. "Of course! That's Aberforth! No wonder he looks so familiar! I even saw his picture, Moody showed me. And no wonder the bloke always smells like goats, Dumbledore said something about him being prosecuted for improper charms on a goat once.
"That's sick." said Ron.
"I don't want to know!" said Hermione.
Lupin chuckled. "Keep that little tidbit to yourselves though, right? The last thing we want is for Death Eaters to make it so that there are no Inns in Hogsmeade.
He then stopped and turned to Harry. "So, Harry will you be joining us, or are you going to go look for Mungdungus?"
Harry thought carefully. Although part of him wanted very much to go to the reading, he knew that he should get a jump start on finding that locket. It was almost as though Dumbledore had forseen this possiblity, having Ron and Hermione invited in his stead. "No, you guys go on ahead." he said. "I'm going to go looking. I think I'll start asking around in bars and pubs and whatnot, someone is bound to know something."
"Brilliant idea, Harry!" said Hermione. Harry beamed, a compliment on intelligence from Hermione was sort of like Hagrid complimenting him on size. "Where will you start?" asked Lupin.
"The Leaky Cauldron." said Harry. Not that he thought it was a particuarly good place to start, but it was the only bar outside of Hogsmeade that he knew catered to wizards and witches.
"Good idea of a start, Harry." said Lupin, smiling.
"Yeah," said Ron "and you could probably get a good poke around Diagon Alley while you're at it.
Harry nodded, that was definately a good idea. "See you around then" he said to his friends.
"Do be careful, Harry" said Hermione as she gave him a brief hug. Lupin shook his hand "The very best of luck, Harry" Finally Ron gave him a punch on the arm. "Don't go picking up any girls in these bars Harry, my sister might have a thing or two to say about it." Harry grinned and concentrated on the long street known as Diagon Alley. Then he turned, and disapparated.
"Well then!" said Lupin "Let's get moving, it's going to start very soon.
"It's going to be so weird to be at Hogwarts when it's summer." said Ron "Although," he added quickly "You couldn't tell it's summer of course."
The rest of the short trip unfolded in silence as they trudged slowly throught the knee deep snow up towards Hogwarts castle. Ron was reminded of the trip up to the castle last year when Katie Bell had been cused by an ancient opal necklace. As they approached the gates of Hogwarts, they saw a few other figures moving towards the castle. Some of them were unfamiliar but Ron saw the barman from The Hog's Head, as well as Nymphadora Tonks, who joined them silently, looping an arm through Lupin's and giving him a brief kiss. Ron looked at Hermione, who was smiling. Looks like they had taken the advice of Ron's mother after all.
He felt Hermione's arm encircle his and turned scarlet. This was something he was going to have to get used to. At the gates, they saw Professor McGonnagal, who was deeply wrapped up in tartan scarves and shawls, greeting oncomers. Hermione nudged Ron as they apprroached and whispered in his ear "Look at the castle, Ron. It's winter at Hogwarts also!" He turned to her, a bit confused and said "Well, what else did you expect?"
"Well I thought it might be like Horatio's house, you know? There's incredibally powerful magic here at Hogwarts and I'm sure that if Professor McGonnagal was able to repel this blizzard, then she would have. Do you know what this means?"
"Of course I don't know what it means, Hermione. I'm not you. Just tell me, will you?" She looked a bit put off, so Ron put his arm around her and said "C'mon, I don't mean to be snippy. It's cold, my toes are frozen, my arse feels like it's going to fall off, I'm not nearly as smart or insightful as you, okay?" Hermione looked at him with her very McGongal-ish eyes for a few more moments and then cracked a smile. "Okay, Ronald. It means that whatever magic is protecting that one area at Godric's Hollow is more powerful than the magic protecting Hogwarts. Or at least it's more keyed to stopping Voldemort."
Ron had to admit he was getting used to hearing the name. He barely flinched that time. "Well, you know that makes me think..." he said slowly "Harry was doing spells without a wand, do you think that's something he could always do, but didn't know it, like how he speaks parseltongue? Or is it because of that bubble?"
Hermione thought it over and then finally said "It could be either, really. Or it could be both, Ron. Think about it! Maybe Harry had that ability deep within him, and visiting that area caused it to sort of, I don't know...surge out?"
"Brilliant, as always." said Ron. Hermione smiled and managed to hold him a bit closer, while still trudging towards the gate.
At the gate, they were greeted by Professor McGonnagal, who surprisingly enough, was smiling. "Hello Remus, Nymphadora!" she said, wringing their hands. "Please, Minerva..." Tonks began. "Yes, yes, Tonks, I keep forgetting how much you don't like your name. And ah, Mister Weasley and Miss Granger. Albus' final wishes were quite explicit that you two attend."
"I suppose we're supposed to be subbing for Harry?" asked Hermione. "I can't think of what Professor Dumbledore would have wanted to leave us in his will."
"Well, I'm sure it will all be clear shortly." Said Professor McGonnagal. "Anyway, as you four are the last to arrive, please follow me up to the castle.
They started off, but suddenly Ron called out "Er, Professor McGonnagal?"
"Yes Mister Weasley?"
"Do you think, er...If we had time, we might be able to stop off, and you know, erm...visit Professor Dumbledore?"
Professor McGonnagal's eyes misted up a bit and she nodded. "Yes, Mister Weasley, I think we do have time to visit the tomb.
At Dumbledore's tomb, the five figures stood solemnly, heads bowed. Ron felt a sudden sadness thinking that many people's following years at hogwarts, including his final year, would be marked by the constant sadness that only the sight of a tomb could bring on. If the school was even open, it would certainly be difficult to have any sort of fun with the white tomb on the grounds. Ron thought back to his relatively carefree days at Hogwarts and thought, for the first time since he came of age last year, of himself as an adult. He wondered if the passage into adulthood was supposed to be full of sorrow, and whether or not he ever would recapture the feelings he experienced in those days.
Hermione, who's face was streaming with silent tears, turned to Professor Mcgonagal and quietly asked if there was any plans to reopen the school.
"We have decided that it is best if the school remain open." she said quietly "However I doubt there will be very many students left to teach, as without Albus, the school is not considered to be the stronghold it once was."
As they all seemed to make the silent decision that this was the time to leave, they started up towards the castle again, while Hermione asked "What about the staff? Will you still teach Transfiguration and head Gryffindor house? And what about Defense Against The Dark Arts?"
Professor McGonnagal heaved a sigh and said "I will continue to teach, however it is improper for a headmistress to belong to one of the school houses, So I delegated the role of head of Gryffindor house to Professor Sinestra. As for the Defense Against The Dark Arts post, we are still looking." She said no more on the subject.
After entering the catle, they silently climbed the stone steps towards the Great Hall, which was absent of the usual long house tables, and instead had a number of wooden chairs, all facing towards the long staff table, at which sat a few elderly wizards. Professor McGonnagal left them to sit at the Head's seat, while Ron, Hermione, Lupin and Tonks quietly found seats.
As they sat, Ron leaned over towards Lupin and whispered "Why don't you come back and teach Defense? I'm sure the few people who will send their children to Hogwarts won't care if you're a werewolf very much, and you were the best teacher we had." Lupin smiled faintly "I'm afraid I'm a bit too busy with my work for The Order, Ron. But thanks for the vote of confidence nevertheless."
After a while, the quiet whispering between the residents of the Great Hall died down and one of the wizards at the staff table stood up and cleared his throat. Ron recognized him as the man who spoke at Dumbledore's funeral.
The man cleared his throat loudly once more and spoke "I would first of all like to thank you all for coming here under such short notice. I hope your trips have been safe, as it is so very dangerous to travel these days...I daresay it shows a strong devotion by each of you for the late Albus Dumbledore to brave the journey here today. Let's get started, shall we?"
He then picked up a scroll of parchment and flattened it out, clearing his throat one more time. "Firstly we have the matter of Professor Dumbledore's vault at Gringotts, which was counted and tallied at just over eleven hundred galleons." At this Ron raised his eyebrows in disbelief. He thought Dumbledore would have had more money than that. "Seven Hundred Galleons are to be left to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Several people in the small audience applauded. Dumbledore's devotion to the school continued even after he was dead, it seemed. "Two Hundred Galleons shall be left to Ms. Minerva McGonnagal." There was another, smaller smattering of applause and Ron saw Professor McGonnagal drying her eyes. "The remaining two hundred Galleons and odd change shall be left to Mr. Harry Potter." More scattered applause. Ron turned to Hermione and asked "What, do we stand up or something?"
"No, I don't think so, Ron. Professor McGonnagal didn't, I suppose we'll have to arrange everything after the reading."
"Blimey though, he didn't leave anything to Horatio! I wonder why?"
"I suspect it's becuase nobody's supposed to know about him." Hermione said wisely. Ron had to admit that it looked like Horatio lived in comfort, so it probably wasn't that big of a deal.
As the afternoon wore on, the man read off who would receive several of Dumbledore's worldly possessions. It seems that everyone that arrived recieved at least one thing. At one point, Herminoe had to get up to accept, in Harry's stead, a ring that they suspected was a former Horcrux. It looked as if the ring and the money would be the only things Harry would be inheriting until they heard Harry's name again.
"Finally, To Mr. Harry Potter..." The man trailed off and coughed. Ron waited anxiously for the rest of the sentance, but it never came. Instead the man examined the document carefully, even holding it up to the light as if to verify it's authenticity. Professor McGonnagal came over and they both looked at the document, and Ron distinctly saw her eyes widen in surprise. He leaned forward and heard snatches of their muttering which contained such phrases as "highly unusual" and "unprecedanted"
After what seemed like an eternity of this, Ron's patience finally broke and he called out "Well, what is it?" Hermione nudged him, and he saw Professor McGonnagal's nostril's flare a bit, but it did seem to finally get things going, as Dumbledore's executor finally looked up and said. "Dumbledore has left Mr. Potter his pensieve."
There were several gasps and a load of muttering from the crowd. Ron looked over at Hermione and said "What's the fuss?" Hermione looked excited "Don't you see, Ron? That's all of Dumbledore's memories and thoughts, that's very private. I don't think any wizard has ever left their pensieve to another in their will. Usually they are destroyed to respect the deceased's privacy!" "Bloody hell!" said Ron "Then why's Dumbledore want to leave his to Harry?"
"Think for once, Ron. It's to help him track down the rest of the..." she let herself trail off, thinking it unwise to say the word "Horcrux" out loud at the moment. They looked up finally and saw teh executor beckoning to them. Hermione got up and was presented with a rather large box, which she tried to lift up unsuccessfully. "Ron!" she called accross the great hall and several people tittered as Ron dashed accross to help her.
"This thing is heavy!" he said as they carried it back towards their chairs. "Oh really?" Hermione said sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed!"