"Hope you like grazing, Bella dear. I daresay nobody's going to find you for a good while yet. Until the next date, love. I'll send flowers."
Chucking to himself, Harry stalked over the litter of corpses that his bloodlust had left in its wake, not caring in the slightest about what he had just done. He only hoped that his friends back aboard the Hogwarts Express had managed to avoid any serious tragedy. Despite his attempts at acting nonchalant, he was aching all over and completely exhausted. That duel with Bellatrix had really depleted the last of his reserves.
Chapter Thirteen: Aftermath – Shifting Allegiances
Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. Otherwise, it's mine. Naturally, I'm making no money off this.
Harry splashed blood about as he walked through the river of gore that ran across the battlefield. He really had made a mess. His breastplate was somehow undamaged from Bellatrix's Killing Curse, but his body felt as if it had been run through a torture chamber. The decomposed gelatinous rot of the advance wave still glowed ominously near the entrance to the Hogwarts Express. He nearly tripped over a large stone as he trudged along. Looking down, he noticed that it was a part of a Death Eater's head, the one that Harry had petrified and shattered during his crazed charge. Even the internal organs had been turned to stone. He picked the fragment up and dashed it against the ground, completely shattering it. He took his time as he moved, fully content to allow the old man and his cronies to observe the damage before making his appearance. Surveying for himself, Harry saw that the train was completely ruined. Only the middle third remained relatively intact, and even it had taken significant damage from Bellatrix's ground troops.
As the adrenaline pumping through him began to subside, Harry felt a sharp pain in his right leg, where he had been impaled by a stone spike during his duel with the insane bitch. He grabbed the bottle of medicated water from inside his battle robes, relieved to see that it had somehow survived the battle, and poured a liberal amount onto his wound. He watched as the solution worked its magic and the gash healed over, leaving only a slight scar behind. The rainfall intensified as he walked on, washing some of the blood and gore from his body, though by no means cleaning him. Presently, he reached the ruined entrance to the train and stepped in, drawing his battle robes around his body in order to hide his wings.
The faculty had arrived before him and were moving about in a hurry along with other Order members, calming the distraught students and attempting to treat the injured. Some would require further medical attention at Hogwarts, and others would not survive, but most of the injuries were relatively light. As for Harry, he figured that Dumbledore would likely be at the front of the train, and headed for the rear the check on Ron and Hermione, hoping to delay having to deal with the old man for a short while. Upon reaching his destination, he saw a bawling Dennis Creevey comforting his older brother during his last moments. Harry could clearly see that Colin wasn't going to live. He placed a hand on the younger Creevey's shoulder for a second, and then moved on without a word, knowing from his memories of himself after Sirius's death that nothing he could say would be of any help to the young Gryffindor.
Catching up to his friends, he saw Ron holding a sobbing Hermione as McGonagall interrogated the twins. Bill and Fleur were also among the Order members present, as were Arthur and Molly. Harry wasn't sure whether or not Fleur was in the Order, but she was with her boyfriend regardless. Bill had received some emergency aid training during his days as a curse breaker, and was seeing to the injured Gryffindors. Harry leaned against a ruined compartment entrance, noting that his own had survived. Looking into the parallel room, he saw that Malfoy had long since disappeared and was likely cowering somewhere. He slid over and secured his bags, listening to McGonagall rant and rave.
"And where is Potter? Has anybody seen him?"
One of the twins, Harry couldn't tell which, answered the Deputy Headmistress. He still hadn't made his presence known yet.
"Sorry, professor. He stayed up front with the others when we came back here, and apparently went somewhere during the fight. None of the patrol teams have seen him."
"I can't imagine him abandoning his schoolmates. Where could he have gotten to?"
Harry decided to come out of hiding.
"I'm here, professor."
The woman turned about on the spot.
"Oh, thank Merlin! Potter, what happened here?"
"That's rather obvious, isn't it? Death Eaters attacked the train, and since the almighty Albus Dumbledore couldn't see fit to put measures in place to properly protect us, we were forced into taking action for ourselves. All circumstances taken into account, I'd say we did a pretty damn good job. Unfortunately, we did take some casualties..."
Several angry glares and nods accompanied Harry's criticism of the Headmaster. Looking over into Ron's eyes, Harry saw a hardness that wasn't there earlier. Something had changed inside him during the battle, and from the corpses on the ground near his two best friends, Harry could guess what it was. Ron had killed a man today, and so had Hermione, it seemed. McGonagall seemed to want to defend the old man, but couldn't find anything to say. She was saved from being forced to reply by the timely arrival of Severus Snape.
"Potter, the Headmaster wishes to speak with you. Come with me."
Harry looked over to his most hated professor and saw none of the usual contempt within the man's coal black eyes. Rather, he was looking at Harry as if truly seeing him for the first time. There was even a hint of grudging respect present, though Harry was certain that nothing at all had really changed between the two of them. With a curt nod, Harry followed the man. As expected, the peace didn't last long, as Snape couldn't resist the urge to take one of his usual digs at Harry as they walked.
"So, Potter, I hear that you were miraculously absent from both fronts of your little battle today. Too afraid to risk your own hide? How very lacking in Gryffindor courage you are."
Harry wasn't about to rise to the man's bait.
"Oh, I was simply out flaunting my celebrity elsewhere, Snivellus. Take a look out the main entrance if you care to see the result."
Snape did indeed glance out the ruined entrance to the train as he walked by. What he saw made him stop in his tracks. Nearly twenty dead corpses, along with a huge cesspool of glowing rot that the man couldn't even begin to identify. A lone figure writhed about on the ground in the distance, as if having been subjected to an intense, prolonged bout of the Cruciatus. It almost looked like a cow, but Snape seemed unable to tell for sure from the distance, at least from what Harry could see. The greasy man's eyes darted back to Harry, as he spoke in a slightly breathless voice.
"Do you mean to tell me that this is your handiwork, Potter? You honestly expect me to believe that you are capable of dispatching several squadrons of the Dark Lord's followers on your own? Do not mistake me for a fool, boy."
Harry shrugged.
"I don't really care what you believe. Now let's go, wouldn't want to keep the old man waiting."
"You will address the Headmaster with the proper respect, Pott..."
Snape halted his sneering reprimand upon noticing that Harry had continued on without him. As for Harry, he received several appreciative nods from his fellow students as he passed. Arriving at the front compartment, he saw Dumbledore talking to Cho and Adrian as Madam Pomfrey, along with Professors Flitwick and Sprout tended to the injured. With the school mediwitch present, the injured were looking much better off on this end. Many of the students that had fought were muttering angrily to themselves, especially the Ravenclaws. Cho's obsidian eyes were burning with discontent, and Harry could see annoyance at having to listen to the old man's prattling etched onto her delicate face. Absentmindedly noticing that he was still holding his kodachi, Harry sheathed the blade at his waist. The sound drew the attention of those gathered. Cho tried to tackle him in a hug, but he caught her halfway and pulled her in gently, not wanting her to knock her head against his unforgiving breastplate. He ran a finger along her bloodstained face as she looked up at him.
"Where have you been, Harry? I was so worried..."
"I know, Cho. I didn't mean to leave, but somebody had to take care of the main force and you all had your hands full here. Good job holding the scum back. Did your side lose anybody?"
Cho nodded sadly.
"Yeah, Zacharias Smith was killed during the fighting. Oh, I'm so sorry..."
Harry had never really liked the cynical Hufflepuff, but had a newfound respect for him after the boy had given his life to protect his classmates. Still, Cho had no business blaming herself for his death.
"Don't be. It wasn't your fault."
Harry continued to hold the girl as Dumbledore walked up to them.
"Harry, I am relieved to see that you are safe. You say you fought off their main force? You were able to do this on your own?"
Harry nodded.
"Yes, professor. About fifty of them arrived on foot while our lines were busy with holding back the aerial assault. I kept them back somehow, but I'm tired and sore as all Hell now."
The old man smiled grimly, eyes twinkling. It wasn't to last for long.
"I can imagine so. The Death Eaters eventually retreated, I take it?"
Snape finally came walking up, and decided to jump into the conversation.
"No, Headmaster. Potter here claims to be responsible for the scene outside."
Dumbledore, who apparently hadn't yet seen the slaughtered remnants of the main force, strode over to a nearby compartment window and gazed outside. The old man turned as white as a sheet upon viewing the carnage and turned back to Harry. His tone was as forceful and severe as Harry had ever heard it.
"You did this, Harry? You killed those people?"
The dakaathi hybrid met his tone with one radiating cold fury. He wasn't about to take this crap from Dumbledore. Not this time.
"Yes, I did...fifty of them. I did what had to be done, to protect my classmates. Would you have preferred to see two hundred defenseless children dead in here instead? You have a sworn duty as Headmaster to safeguard the students, Dumbledore, and you failed miserably at it today. You have no right whatsoever to chastise any of us protecting ourselves. I'm not the only one among us that took a life today. Look around you, old man. Can you see the anger burning in the eyes of these young men and women? I've been back at the rear line, and they're all every bit as pissed. We all lost our innocence today because of your gross ineptitude. I didn't step onto the Hogwarts Express this morning planning to have to lead a small army of students into battle, and they came here to ride to school, not to be forced to brave the slings and arrows of combat. But we fought regardless, because we had no other choice. We're no longer children, and we don't want to hear your humanitarian rubbish. This is a war, in case you haven't noticed, and in war, people die."
The old man drew himself up, both righteous anger and sorrowful regret flashing through his eyes. Harry had been hoping to stave off a direct showdown with Dumbledore for as long as possible, but now was as good a time as any. Discontent among the students was at a peak following the old man's blunder, and Harry was handed a perfect opportunity to spray petrol onto the fire. The assorted nods and shouts that accompanied his diatribe made it clear that the effort was paying off. Still, the Headmaster wasn't ready to admit defeat yet.
"Be that as it may, Harry, they are still human beings, and I..."
"No, they are not. They tossed aside their humanity the day they knelt before Voldemort and accepted his mark, swearing to pillage and kill in the name of his madness. They're no better than base animals and I have absolutely no regrets about having to tear them apart in defense of my friends and classmates."
There were tears in the old man's eyes now. Harry almost felt guilty, or would have if his dakaathi nature would have allowed for it. He wasn't about to stop now, though.
"You truly believe that, Harry? You believe that all Death Eaters are mere swine, totally incapable of human thoughts and feelings, completely undeserving of any chance at redemption? Do you honestly presume to have the right to make that judgment?"
Albus Dumbledore was a worthy opponent. Flickers of doubt were beginning to appear in the eyes of Harry's supporters. Still, he knew that he could come out of this victoriously.
"I believe that any man or woman that is both willing and eager to torture and kill innocent children for some psychopath's amusement deserves to be granted no quarter. They made their choice, and they paid for it. Such conviction brought me to survive against nearly impossible odds today, and allowed a small, hastily assembled group of Hogwarts students to defeat a better trained and equipped force of adult dark wizards and witches."
The old man hung his head. The students continued to show their support for the young wizard that had led them to victory. From her position nestled in Harry's arms, Cho wore a mysterious smile. Snape looked positively murderous, but didn't dare to take a stand against Harry right then. Sprout was beside herself, and came over to console the Headmaster. Flitwick had a calculating expression on his face, as if pondering the validity what Harry had just said. He looked decidedly impressed with the young wizard for standing up to Dumbledore, at the very least. Harry looked around, noticing that the crowd had increased from earlier. Many of the Gryffindors and Slytherins that had fought in the battle were now assembled in the compartment, along with some students that hadn't. Eventually, the old man regained his bearings.
"It truly saddens me that you feel this way, Harry. I had thought better of you. However, the fact remains that we are currently aboard a ruined train in the middle of the Scottish highlands. We must make plans to transport the students to school. I will create the necessary Portkeys. Staff, please assemble the students and organize them into groups of fifty. Harry, I would like to see you in my office tomorrow afternoon."
Harry nodded in acceptance, having already scored his victory over the old man. It certainly seemed as if he would now easily find the necessary support within the student body to form that splinter faction. Perhaps the attack had been a blessing in disguise. Voldemort's assault had only served to further Harry's cause. The sojourn to Hogwarts occurred without any particular incident, and Harry found himself outside on the grounds, where he would normally have debarked from the carriages. Hearing Hagrid's traditional start of term shout returned a small sense of normalcy to the rattled students.
"Firs' years, o'er here!"
Some time later, a solitary figure apparated onto the battlefield outside the ruined Hogwarts Express. Lord Voldemort had heard no news from those assigned to attack the train, and had come to investigate, as well as accordingly punish his reconnaissance operatives for failing to report. The Dark Lord was not in the least prepared for the scene that greeted him. His entire ground force had been wiped out, slaughtered. This was not the work of Dumbledore and his pathetic Order of the Phoenix. The old fool had never been willing to use lethal force, perhaps the greatest of his many failings as a leader. Voldemort surveyed the damage as he walked about, careless of the blood and gore at his feet.
A squadron at the rear of the battlefield had been killed by more or less conventional means, at least from his perspective. One had been petrified and shattered, and two more incinerated by differing spells. The first had fallen victim to the metabolic burning curse, one of his personal favorites, a most painful spell. The other had been literally melted into a pool of goo, a spell that Voldemort had never seen before. One was frozen completely solid and likely had been for hours, again through a spell that he didn't recognize, and a few more had been cut apart. Crimson eyes narrowed slightly, at the same time dancing with glee. This had been the work of a very powerful student of the Dark Arts. Not even the best of Voldemort's followers could handle some of these spells without extreme difficulty, and judging from the arrangement of the corpses, this individual had done them on the move. Besides, only a spellcaster of extreme power could have been able to overcome Bella. Losing her would be regrettable, but not necessarily extremely detrimental to his cause. He could easily find another whore to bear his seed, and Voldemort would sacrifice most of his Inner Circle in order to procure the services of whoever had created this carnage, to say nothing of just Bella and a few squadrons of the rank and file.
The Dark Lord glanced over to his right, noticing a bloody dairy cow standing on her feet and looking straight at him, almost as if expecting something. For such a base creature to dare to look Lord Voldemort in the face was tantamount to begging for death, and he would happily provide. Voldemort raised his yew wand.
"Avada..."
The decidedly skeletal cow's eyes widened slightly, almost as if she knew what he was about to do to her. That made Voldemort curious. Looking back at the creature, he finally realized who she was. He could recognize those violet eyes silently begging for mercy anywhere. Bella. So, she was alive after all, and judging by the way that she was twitching, she had suffered through some serious torture. That pleased the Dark Lord, though he would still personally punish her for her failure later. Voldemort couldn't stop himself from chuckling slightly. This new adversary, whoever he or she was, definitely had a sense of humor. Voldemort found himself liking the person more and more by the second. Sighing, he reversed the spell on Bella. He would have preferred to leave her in her undignified state, but he needed to know what had taken place here.
"Anthropi Magus."
Bella returned to her normal, only marginally more attractive state, and immediately proceeded to prostrate herself before her master, kissing at his robes despite the blood and tissue matter present. Voldemort found the display amusingly revolting, and kicked the woman off of him, prompting a fit of wailing.
"Master, please don't punish me! It wasn't my fault! It was that..."
"Silence, Bella. Now tell me, who or what could have overcome four squadrons of my faithful supporters led by one of my Inner Circle?"
"It...it was the Potter brat, my lord. He killed the entire advance force with one attack and cut apart the rest in under a minute. I hit him with a killing curse, master, but he just shrugged it off with ease. Please don't be angry with me!"
Voldemort found that hard to believe, but also very disturbing if it was indeed true. Harry Potter, the celebrated icon of the light, had used the most forbidden of the Dark Arts and slaughtered other human beings by the dozen. And the advance force Bella had spoken of. Looking over toward the train, he saw an unrecognizable pile of rot glowing faintly. Such an attack...there was nothing even remotely like it within the confines of the known magical sphere.
"Do you speak the truth, Bella? Harry Potter did this?"
"Yes, master. He did it all by himself, the rest of his student army was fighting against the aerial force."
"I see...this is a most unexpected turn of events."
Unexpected, but potentially very rewarding for Voldemort, or at least he thought. If Potter had done this, then he was no doubt now at severe odds with the old man as a result, and would probably soon face trouble from the buffoons at the Ministry as well. Perhaps it was time for the Dark Lord to repeat his offer of four years ago. If the boy could be induced to come over to his side, the morale of the wizarding world would be completely crushed, and Voldemort would have solved his problem of succession as well as gain immediate access to Potter's hefty fortune and extremely potent magical power. Yes, Lucius's useless brat had immediately informed him of Potter's ascendancy to the lordship of the Black line. And not even Dumbledore could hope to stand against both Potter and Lord Voldemort. It was only a matter of making the brat a sufficiently lucrative offer to accompany the promise of a position as Voldemort's heir. But for now...
"Indeed unexpected, my lord..."
"Bella..."
"Yes, master?"
"You know the price of failure. Crucio."
Bellatrix Lestrange's screams filled the damp Scottish evening air as Voldemort opened his cloak slightly, unfurling and flexing a pair of midnight black wings.
Harry had largely ignored the goings on during the Sorting Ceremony. He really didn't much care about the first years or their house placement. They were too young to be of much use to him. Protecting them had only been a matter of political convenience for Harry, as well as an excuse to finally be able to flex his magical muscle. And now, Dumbledore was about to make the staff announcements for the upcoming year. Harry decided to pay attention, seeing as this would concern him, at least in DADA. He did notice, looking at the staff table, that Filch was furious about something. He must have already seen that the Weasley twins were back for another year.
"First, please join me in welcoming back to the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Alastor Moody!"
Mild applause greeted Moody's slow trek to the Head Table. Hogwarts had experienced the teaching of an impersonator of the man, and now it would get the real thing. Of course, only a select few knew about the presence of Barty Crouch, Jr. within the castle a few years back. Harry was annoyed with the announcement. He could learn a lot from the retired auror, but moving about the castle undetected would now be exponentially more difficult due to his infernal magical eye. Dumbledore motioned for the applause to stop and continued.
"I imagine that you'll all find Defense class much more tolerable this year than last. However, I would like to announce the instructor for our Magical Stealth and Tracking course, a new optional elective offered to NEWT level students. This class is being offered as an aid to students interested in applying to enter into the auror ranks upon graduating from this institution. Professor Moody had initially volunteered to teach it, but I feel that it is most important that his energies be focused on Defense Against the Dark Arts. However, I was most fortunate to find that a lovely young lady had just moved into Hogsmeade last week from Japan..."
Harry blanched at that. A lovely young Japanese woman that had just moved into Hogsmeade. He knew right then and there what was coming, and was both infinitely pleased and extremely pissed off by the prospect. She had never been to Japan in her life. At least she had been able to fool the old man that far...
"Please welcome to Hogwarts, Professor Hitomi Kurahawa!"
Hitomi made a show of appearing out of nowhere right next to her chair, drawing a few amorous looks from some of the boys in the Great Hall. Taking her seat, she immediately sought out Harry's eyes and smirked, mouthing something at him. He shook his head and looked down at his plate. What had she been thinking? He did want to see her again, and even begrudgingly found it rather cute that she had actually followed him, but was not at all happy with the idea of her staying at Hogwarts, and as one of his own instructors no less. He would have to make it through lessons with her and somehow avoid letting anybody catch on to the fact that they were intimate. Harry's enemies inside the school would have a field day with that information, not to mention the massive explosion that would invariably occur if and when a certain Chinese Fireball sitting over at the Ravenclaw Table happened to find out about them. At the very least, Hitomi could have given him some advance warning. Harry's life had just become much more complicated.
The feast finally commenced, much to Harry's satisfaction. He was famished, having exerted himself completely during the battle earlier. Upon arriving at school, he had allowed his two pets to have the run of the grounds. They'd be happily occupied for awhile, at least. As he ate, Harry was asked to recount the events of his battle with Bellatrix's forces outside the train. Everybody in Gryffindor listened as Harry told the story, and he met with surprisingly little outrage upon revealing that he had killed the Death Eaters wholesale. Hermione was absolutely horrified, but kept her own counsel. Most of the others were either sympathetic or neutral. Harry's leadership during the fight had not been lost on his housemates. Neville had been particularly interested in his duel with Bellatrix herself, and had nearly choked upon hearing that Harry had turned her into a cow and left her that way.
Eventually, he was left talking to Ron.
"So, mate, how do you like that new Stealth professor? Quite the looker, eh?"
Harry glanced over to his friend and spoke in quiet voice.
"Definitely. I'd like to get inside those robes."
"Better not say that too loud, Harry. Wouldn't want Cho finding out, would we?"
Harry answered Ron's amused expression with one of his own.
"Don't even joke about that, mate. You know she blasted somebody's head off today? And how did you find out that we were an item again, anyway?"
"No kidding? Damn, that's heavy. As for finding out, gossip travels fast around this joint. You ought to know that by now. Besides, you two weren't exactly secretive about it, from what I hear."
That was true, but having accomplished his actual goal of veering the subject away from Hitomi, Harry kept Ron occupied with talk of the battle for the remainder of the feast. Hermione stayed quiet, for the most part absorbed in her own thoughts. Soon enough, the meal ended, and Dumbledore rose to give another speech. Harry truly hoped that it would be the last of the night.
"Now that we've all tucked in, I must address a most serious matter. Today, Lord Voldemort's forces assaulted the Hogwarts Express. Unfortunately, the attack was planned and executed in a manner that prevented both myself and the staff from reaching the location in a timely fashion. The potential loss of life among the student body was indeed staggering. However, the student body was protected thanks to the heroic efforts of nearly one hundred extraordinarily brave young men and women, a few of whom lost their lives today. Let us first observe a moment of silence for the following students: Colin Creevey of Gryffindor House, Zacharias Smith of Hufflepuff House, and Vincent Crabbe of Slytherin House. Let us honor as well as the many students wounded in the defense effort, and the multitudes among the ranks of the Death Eaters that perished in the day's assault."
Nobody spoke during the observed moment, though the old man received his share of nasty looks for propounding the notion that the fallen Death Eaters should be honored. The brief respite ended, and Dumbledore spoke again.
"Today's victory was won with the mutual cooperation of students from all of the four houses of Hogwarts. Slytherins fought alongside Gryffindors, and Ravenclaws toiled alongside Hufflepuffs. Let this be a standing testament to what can be accomplished when we all join hands together. As long as hope and spirit exists within each of us, the forces of darkness can never extinguish the glow of the light. We are all in this struggle together, and only through embracing one another can we hope to overcome the tumultuous times ahead. The loss of life on both sides was indeed regrettable, but nevertheless, this day will long be remembered as a crushing victory for the forces of the light, a day during which a hastily assembled army of Hogwarts students convincingly defeated the hordes of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Exceptional deeds deserve exceptional rewards, and I would now like for each and every student that braved the horrors of war this day to stand and be recognized."
Every student that had fought in and survived the battle and was in condition to attend the feast stood. Dumbledore announced each of them by name, to the frenzied applause of the staff and the younger students. Harry found the entire ceremony to be largely unnecessary, and a part of him believed that it was only Dumbledore making an attempt to get back into the good graces of the student body. Harry wasn't mentioned by name during this general listing.
"...To each of these students, I am privileged to award twenty house points. Congratulations to all of you, and you have our eternal gratitude. And finally, I have one more person to recognize. This young man has long been a steadfast hero and a shining example to us all. He has suffered more in his short life than those three times his age should ever have to. Today, he responded quickly to the enemy threat, organized and commanded the resistance, and stood alone against a charge of nearly fifty Death Eaters, exerting all of his energies to protect his friends and classmates. He dueled and defeated one of Voldemort's most dreaded commanders, and very nearly paid the ultimate price for his efforts. It is my honor to award one hundred house points to Gryffindor in the name of Harry James Potter."
Harry found it amusing that Dumbledore failed to mention how he had dealt with the Death Eaters. He hadn't remembered telling the old man about the duel with Bellatrix either, though news tended to travel notoriously fast at Hogwarts, just as Ron had just said. Somebody had probably seen them fighting and had spread it around. At any rate, Harry received a standing ovation from the majority of the school. Only a few students in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw remained seated, as did about half of the Slytherins. Dumbledore smiled jovially, but Harry thought he could see an underlying look of concern in his twinkling eyes. It was to be expected, though. Harry had directly challenged the old man earlier, and doubted that he had seen the end of it yet.
"We have all had a most taxing day. The feast is now at an end, and I'll not subject you to the annual rendition of the school song. Good night, students. Sleep well, and good luck with your studies. Have an excellent term."
And so, the Sorting Feast ended. Most of Gryffindor headed for the dormitories, but Harry had other plans for the evening. He gave his trunk to Ron to take up into their room, and headed off into the corridors alone. He wasn't looking for anything in particular. Rather, he was waiting for a certain somebody to find him. He wanted some answers. First, though, he stopped in the Room of Requirement. He desperately required a hot shower, and took one in the produced stall. He also tossed a few quick cleaning charms onto his battle outfit, and then rinsed and dried it. After that, he continued prowling about the castle, and was eventually intercepted by his target and pulled quickly into a darkened empty classroom.
"Hey there, Harry."
He frowned slightly back at his first lover and now professor.
"Tell me, just what in Merlin's name are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that I want your tongue in my mouth. Now kiss me."
The kunoichi pulled him into a rather intense kiss. How he had missed that flavor. He drank it in covetously, not particularly caring who might interrupt them at that moment. Hitomi moaned slightly as he nipped at her neck, playing their usual game, all annoyance forgotten.
"Where're your personal chambers?"
"I'm staying with grandpa down in a small place in Hogsmeade. He opened a Japanese robe shop down there. It's only been operational for a few days, but it's doing surprisingly good business. We live in the upstairs floor. Two bedrooms and a kitchen, small bathing room and lounge. It's pretty comfortable, actually."
"No late night meetings, then?"
"It just wouldn't be the same without our futon. Besides, you can slip out of the castle."
"You brought the guest bedroom futon with you?"
She looked at him as if he were crazy.
"Of course I did. It's ours."
He just pulled her into another kiss, running his hands along her lithe body. She pulled back and bit down gently in his earlobe, slipping her tongue inside.
"You know, I should be mad at you for not telling me you were coming. I'll be in your Stealth and Tracking class, just so you're aware."
"I know you will be. Lazy Harry, wanting to take a class that you've already learned most of the material for. And I did tell you I was coming. Just, this is easier than sneaking in through your dormitory window. Though I still reserve the right to do that if I so choose."
"Whatever am I going to do with you?"
Hitomi smiled mischievously at Harry.
"Hopefully fuck me out of my gourd several nights a week. You are aware that I'm going to give you a whole slew of detentions this term, right? Better keep your nights free."
"Sounds fun. You'll have to hunt me down if I forget."
"Oh, I will. Well, I have to be at the staff meeting in five minutes. See you tomorrow, my love. Make sure to be late for my class, so I can punish you for it."
"Will do. Do me a favor, let me know if the old bastard says anything about me?"
"Sure, Harry."
With one last kiss and a wink, Hitomi departed. Harry decided to head back to the Room of Requirement. He still had a few hours before he was due to meet up with Cho, but he would appreciate a little peace and quiet. The day had already been hectic, and he knew that the morrow would be worse, once news of the battle became public knowledge. Harry looked down at his masterpiece wand as he left. The moonstone shards illuminated the classroom with a faint glow.
A few hours later, at about the same time that Cho strode happily down the corridor to meet Harry in the Room of Requirement, Albus Dumbledore sat alone in his office, hands folded. The day's events had left him with much to ponder. The staff meeting had just terminated a few moments ago. As expected, Severus had repeatedly attempted to press for Harry Potter's immediate expulsion from Hogwarts during the meeting as punishment for his actions. A bit more surprising was the fact that a few of his lesser colleagues had seconded the motion, though none of them had ever actually taught Harry in any fashion. Naturally, Minerva and Rubeus had both immediately leapt to the boy's defense, citing that his actions had saved the lives of countless students, and that he should be lauded as a hero. Severus had countered with the fact that he had also nearly started a riot among the students and had directly defied the Headmaster in the aftermath. The debate was pointless, Albus thought. The thought of pursing disciplinary action against the boy had long since left his mind.
As for himself, Albus agreed with parts of both arguments, and was unwilling to choose a side, much to the consternation of both. Harry had indeed fought valiantly, and had saved many lives and prevented an absolute catastrophe from taking place. If Tom's forces had successfully assaulted the train and slain the children of the wizarding world, the repercussions would have shaken the very foundations of Hogwarts, and indeed the entire magical community of Britain. Albus would certainly have been out of a job, and public confidence in the school would have been irreparably shattered for generations to come. But still, the ease with which Harry was able to kill, and to callously justify it, saddened Albus to the deepest depths of his soul. With as much power as Harry had exhibited in the battle, he surely could just as easily have held the Death Eaters back with basic spells for long enough for help to arrive. The fact was that he had slaughtered those people needlessly and ruthlessly. Beyond that, as Severus had stated, Harry had nearly incited a riot amongst his student soldiers against the Hogwarts staff in general and Albus in particular after the fight had ended. Worse, he had known exactly what he was doing. Wherever Harry Potter's loyalties were at the moment, they were not entirely with Albus.
That thought led the old man to consider the possibilities of the boy throwing his lot in elsewhere. By far the most horrifying possibility was that he idea that he would go over to Tom. True, Harry had killed many of the Dark Lord's minions today, but the serpentine wizard would dismiss that easily enough. Human lives were of no value to him beyond their usefulness. Tom would surely correctly guess that Harry's use of dark magic had driven a wedge of sorts between him and Albus, and would no doubt make an attempt to capitalize. The Headmaster fully expected Tom to attempt to contact the boy with a recruitment offer within the coming days, knowing the guaranteed effect upon the morale of the rest of the wizarding world should Harry accept. Still, the chances that he would even consider such a proposal were remote. That he would accept was impossible. The boy despised Lord Voldemort and everything that the man stood for, and that much surely hadn't changed in the last few months. Tom and his followers had been directly responsible for the deaths of Harry's parents and godfather, after all.
However, there was another possibility. The Ministry of Magic had surely investigated the scene of the battle by now and reported back to Cornelius Fudge, and many of the students had likely sent owls to their parents detailing the attack, as well as the roles of Harry and his student compatriots in the defense. Several of the children currently attending the school had parents in high positions at the Ministry, and at least a few of them would have immediately contacted Fudge with the news of the battle. The Headmaster had actually been waiting for most of the last few hours for Cornelius to come barging into Hogwarts at the head of a small platoon of aurors demanding the immediate arrest and incarceration of Harry Potter for the use of dark magic. At the very least, he expected the Minister to once again attempt to have him ousted as Headmaster due to his failure in detecting and stopping the attack himself. Albus would have deflected the blustering windbag in either case, but he hadn't heard so much as a peep from the Ministry all evening.
That could mean only one thing. Cornelius was biding his time, waiting to sniff out the wizarding public's attitude concerning the battle and the circumstances of its resolution before taking any action. Albus knew exactly what that reaction would be. His words at the end of the feast had not been hollow. Harry, despite the unsavory methods he had employed, had acted admirably today. He had responded immediately to the threat, put together a working defense within minutes, and commanded the battle with an efficiency and skill to rival any trained officer. Further, his solitary stand against the final charge was exactly the sort of tale that legends were made of. Once the story of the battle was made public, likely in the morrow's editions of the news parchments, the magical public at large would more or less universally rally around Harry Potter and celebrate the boy and his student soldiers as heroes.
His many shortcomings aside, Albus knew that Cornelius Fudge was a consummate politician. The Minister would be quick to publicly toss his full support behind the boy in an attempt to salvage his own floundering career, and would no doubt attempt to forge a direct alliance pact with the young wizard. That could be very dangerous to Albus's position. Harry's inherent strength and charisma combined with Fudge's political experience and powerful propaganda machine presented a very formidable arrangement. While perhaps advantageous on some level to the light as a whole, such a promise of mutual support would also allow both Harry and Cornelius to become increasingly bold in undermining Dumbledore in the future. Aside from that, Albus just didn't like the idea of potentially being largely left out of the loop. Hopefully, their past antipathy would prevent them from reaching any manner of an accord.
At any rate, Albus knew that in order for him to have any hope of remaining in his position as leader of the light and winning the war against Voldemort, he would need to secure Harry's support for the future. Harry had come into his own, both as a fighter and as a leader, during the battle today. The vast majority of the students were staunchly behind him. Had Harry but given the word earlier, Hogwarts would be in a state of open revolt even as Albus sat in his office now. Perhaps he had intended his entire display as a symbolic gesture, a statement of exactly what he was capable of doing. Albus had always taken Harry's loyalty for granted, but not any longer. Harry was a young wizard of immense power, magically, financially, and politically, and he obviously wasn't going to tolerate being led around like a child for any longer. Through his actions today, Harry had, whether by design or otherwise, overtly placed himself in such a position that the side that managed to procure his lasting assistance would almost invariably come out the final victors of the war. Dumbledore intended to procure that scramble before any other potential contenders were even able to reach the field. There was only one thing for him to do. On the morrow, Albus would officially induct Harry Potter into the Order of the Phoenix. He still had his misgivings about the boy's direction, but to keep him away from further corruptive forces was the most pressing matter. The rest could be dealt with as circumstances allowed.
Popping a lemon drop into his mouth, Albus looked sadly over to Fawkes, where the resplendent phoenix sat stoically on its perch.
"What has our world come to, old friend?"
Fawkes was unable to reply, save for a soothing trill.
(End Chapter Thirteen)
Author's Note: Well, here's your next installment. I would have gotten this out a bit earlier, but I had to study for a midterm this week. On the subject, expect less frequent updates over the course of the next six weeks or so. I will still try to put out at least one installment per week if at all possible, but I have no less than five extended research papers and a presentation looming on the horizon and final exams on top of that.
The Anthropi Magus spell used in this chapter is borrowed from Damien Darkstar's"Spells & Creatures" compilation.
Not much action here, I know, but I hope that Hitomi fans are satisfied, at least. I originally wanted to do the Cho scene to end the chapter, but I decided instead to leave you all with thoughts of Harry's future alignment fresh in your minds. Regardless of what I choose to do on that front, the next chapter will be devoted mostly to Harry starting to assemble his army within the school and making plans to wreak complete and utter havoc within Hogwarts. Thanks for all the reviews, and keep me posted on your thoughts.