CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

The Great Muggle Debate

By the time they reached Mae's pub sirens could be heard in the distance. However, Harry's mind was still back at the café, back to when he was sitting next to Eva and the green light from Lucius's wand pass only inches in front of her forehead. If she had been sitting just a little further forward, it would have hit her. With no warning, she could have been dead. Just like that. Ripped from his life forever.

Didn't she understand that by continuing with her crazy crusade she would be only inches away from death all the time? She could never let her guard down. Never be at ease. She would constantly have to look over her shoulder to make sure that someone didn't have a wand aimed at her. And the battle hadn't even started yet…

But this incident had nothing to do with her crusade. Meeting in the café did not cause the horror to happen. Not having it wouldn't have prevented Lucius from tracking her down. No, she could have been alone at the Hog's Head with no one to look after her.

It was then that it dawned on Harry that looking over her shoulder was the way Eva lived now. Her words finally made sense to him. She wanted the world to be safe. She dreamed of a time when she wouldn't have to be constantly vigilant, when she could let her guard down. That time would not come until Voldemort and all of his followers were stopped.

Maybe her crusade wasn't so crazy after all. Maybe Muggles—some Muggles—should know about the wizarding world. Maybe they could help.

He knew one thing for sure. If it wasn't for her making him promise not to use magic, his wand would have been destroyed in a matter of minutes for violating the law. And if he had dueled with Lucius right in the café, what if he had lost? Running away may appear to have been an act of cowardice, but really, it was the smartest thing to do.

She had saved him once again. And how many more Muggles could do the same for other wizards?

"Ouch! Harry, you're hurting me," Eva whispered.

He had unconsciously been gripping her wrist as they walked. He let go. "Sorry."

"It's all right." She took his hand. He could feel that it was greasy from the cooking oil back at the café. Both of them reeked of smoke, but at least they would blend right in at the pub.

Once they entered, Nora immediately came running over to Eva, her eyes wet with tears. "Thank God you're okay!" she cried.

Eva leaned over and hugged her sister close. The five of them then joined Ginny, David, Rose, and Morgan at a table. The four of them were looking quite shaken.

"Everyone okay?" Eva asked. Everyone nodded. They were looking quite somber. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. This whole thing. I should have never let Malfoy see me that night." She turned to Harry. "If he would have never seen me, he never would have told his father and then he wouldn't have been able to track us down." Dumbledore's words echoed in Harry's mind. Anyone can get just about anywhere with a house-elf. "Now all those people are dead…" her voice trailed off.

"You had no control over that," David said. "I mean, that just… that was just so fast! That bastard took their lives in a matter of seconds!"

"I didn't know that a wizard could kill with only one spell," Morgan said somberly. "That was awful. What an evil, evil man."

"And he's not even the worst of it," Ginny spoke up. "There will be a lot more innocent killings if Voldemort has his way."

David grunted. "No wonder you guys need all the help you can get."

"You mean you still want to help us?" Ron questioned. "After all that?"

"I can't imagine doing anything else," Rose replied. "After experiencing it firsthand."

"And especially now that there's an explanation for all of the other, er, weird things…" Sam said. "I can't be ignorant to your cause."

"Me either," Morgan agreed. "And I feel like… I feel safer because I know the truth." She managed a smile. Harry saw that she had a set of dimples on both her cheeks. "I mean, I'm still scared shitless. But that doesn't mean I don't want to help."

"I can't imagine doing anything else," David said, staring at Eva. Harry didn't like the striking look in his eyes as he watched his girlfriend, but he knew he was trying to make up for what had happened at their first meeting.

Eva, too, seemed surprised by their willingness. Despite the horrors of the night, it was still somewhat successful. "Well, then I guess I'll be in touch with all of you," she said. She stood up from the table and shook Morgan and Sam's hands. She exchanged hugs with Rose and David. "Thank you," she whispered to David.

"For what?"

"For believing me."

The four Muggles got up from the table and said goodbye to everyone. Harry realized that they were quite lucky to all be walking out alive. There weren't many who battled with Lucius Malfoy and lived to tell about it.

"I think we ought to be getting back soon," Ginny said. She gestured to the clock on the wall. Harry hadn't realized that the sun had already gone down. "We've already missed dinner."

A sudden hush fell over the pub, and for one dreadful moment, Harry thought that Lucius had returned. "Turn it up!" someone called. The bartender increased the volume on the television behind the bar. There was a banner scrolling across the bottom of the screen that read, "BREAKING NEWS." There was an aerial shot of the burning café from above.

"…is believed that there are as many as four more could be inside, but authorities will not know until they are able to subdue the blaze. Two witnesses who were inside the pub claim that they saw a man come in with a gun and shot three people, including one of the workers. The two of them barely managed to escape with their lives, and by the time they had reached safety the building had started on fire."

Eva held her stomach as though she felt sick inside and looked to the floor.

"Authorities are not commenting on the situation at this moment, but I think it safe to say that they do believe foul play was involved. We'll keep you updated throughout the night…"

"Look!" Ron exclaimed. "Behind that police officer. In the trench coat. It's Fudge!"

Sure enough, there was a portly little man with gray hair shaking his head and speaking firmly. However, Harry couldn't make out what he was saying.

"No doubt the obliviators have arrived too," Ginny added. "Clever to exchange wand for gun."

Eva turned to Harry, looking grave. "Sometimes I think that man is too clever for his own good."

Harry decided that he would stay with Nora. He knew that Eva was going to drop a bombshell on her and wanted the sisters to have as much time together as possible. Ginny and Ron said they could make it back to Hogwarts before curfew without being spotted, so they wouldn't need the invisibility cloak or the map.

Once they were safe and sound back in the room at the Hog's head, Eva plopped down on her bed and patted the space next to her for her sister to sit down on. "Nora, I…I think I need to talk to you about a few things," Eva said. "About what Malfoy said."

"I already know," Nora replied.

"You do?"

She nodded. "I know that man is the same one from Christmas Eve. The same one who showed up at our house two years ago." She started crying again. "Oh, Eva! I know I should have told you as soon as I found out that murderer went to Hogwarts, but I just couldn't! I knew that you'd pull me out of school and I just wanted to stay and learn everything about magic. I even asked Harry to protect me, to look out for me…" She sobbed and threw her arms around Eva.

"Shh… Nora, there's more to it than that." She sighed, stroking Nora's curls. "I probably should have told you a long time ago, but I just didn't have all the details. I know that you would want to know about your father, but I didn't even have a name."

"What are you saying?" Nora asked, sitting up.

"I'm saying that," she took a deep breath, "Lucius Malfoy is your father."

Nora's face turned from red, to white, to green. "You mean… I'm a Malfoy?"

"No!" Eva cried. "You're a Finnigan, through and through! Don't you dare ever think otherwise. Lucius Malfoy has not had a single hand in your making."

"So all those people he killed tonight… he was really looking for me?"

Eva grabbed her younger sister in a fierce hug. "I would never let him have you. I'd never let him lay a hand on you."

"But that means that Draco is my… my brother." She looked as though she were going to be sick.

"Half-brother," Harry corrected. "But Nora, that doesn't change who or what you are. You are still the same person you were yesterday." Well, maybe not quite, considering all the death she had witnessed earlier in the evening. "It doesn't change anything."

Nora was silent. Eva looked at Harry, chewing on her lower lip. She had just crushed her sister. She rubbed Nora's back. "I'm sorry, Nora."

"But why did he kill mum?" Nora questioned, her voice cracking. "Why did he want to kill me? He's my father."

Eva didn't know how to explain it in a way where it wouldn't crush her. It was quite hard for an eleven-year-old to take, let alone understand. "He knows that you're with the good guys, Nora. You came from his bloodline and you are a threat to him. And mum… mum was in the way."

"So he killed her." Tears rolled down Nora's cheeks. She hastily wiped them away with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "And now I'm in the way."

"No," Harry said. "Now we're all in the way."

Nora sniffled. "I… I think I'd like to go back now." She got up from the bed.

"Are you sure?" Eva questioned, looking concerned. "You can stay a little longer if you want."

"No. I want to go."

Eva tried to look understanding, but it was hard because she was frowning. She stood up and put her arms around Nora. She gave her a tight squeeze, but it seemed to barely register with her younger sister. Perhaps she was in shock.

"If you need anything, anything," Eva said, "just let me know. I will come get you from Hogwarts myself if I have to."

Nora simply nodded and walked to the door. "Goodnight."

"G'night," she replied. Harry got up and followed her, getting the invisibility cloak out of his bag. "Take care of her Harry," Eva whispered. "Please."

Harry gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I will. I promise."

After seeing that Nora got to bed—or at least to the first year's dormitory—Harry sat down on his bed to work on his speech for the debate the next day. However, as he looked over his old paper and notes, he couldn't help but feel that he would be lying. How could he stand up for something that he no longer believed?

Frustrated and distracted by the evening's events, Harry crumpled up his papers and threw them outside the curtains of his four-poster. He was just going to have to wing it.

He fell asleep, exhausted from the nights events. He decided to forgo breakfast in favor of more sleep. However, it wasn't long before the curtains of his bed were ripped open and a stream of sunlight filled Harry's dark cacoon. A very angry-looking Hermione was standing over him.

"Do you know how lucky you are to be alive!" she shouted, outraged.

Harry sat up, thankful that he had fallen asleep with all of his clothes from the day before still on. "Yeah, actually, I do."

She sat down next to Harry and looked him straight in the eye. "Don't ever go do something so stupid without me again. It was much worse being here, sitting around, waiting."

Harry opened his mouth, about to say that it was entirely her idea to stay behind in the first place, but decided better of it. Hermione knew that. She was just trying to make her peace with him.

"When Ginny told me what happened, I had half a mind to march in here last night. What if you had done magic, Harry? What if you had lost your wand… or worse, your life?"

"Look, you don't have to tell me how serious it was, Hermione. I know, all right?" He thought back to the green light shooting only inches away from Eva's forehead. "Believe me, I know."

Suddenly, Hermione hugged Harry. "I'm sorry. I should have been there." Harry returned her hug, a little bewildered, but nonetheless thankful that she seemed to understand why he had to do what he did last night. "Do you think Fudge knows it was Lucius?"

Harry shrugged. "I dunno. The important thing is that he doesn't know it was us who Lucius was after in there."

Hermione nodded. "Are you ready for the debate?"

"Not at all," he replied with a grin. "But you'll be happy to know that I'm finally going to make that big speech you've wanted me to make all year."

Neville was sweating profusely as he stood behind the large wooden podium in the Great Hall. The staff table had been removed from the elevated stage area, and instead there were two podiums with a row of chairs behind them. Dumbledore, Professor Avis, and a number of students from Harry's Muggle Studies class, including a few seventh-years, were seated in the chairs. Professor Avis, for a change, was dressed in her Hogwarts staff robes and looked the most normal Harry had seen all year. Although, he didn't quite like it as much.

Students from each house were gathered at the four tables on main floor. In front of them was another row of chairs for the special guests that Professor Avis had spoken about. Mr. Weasley was there, as well as Rufus Scrimgeour, who had explained that he was attending in Fudge's absence. No doubt Fudge was doing some cleaning up that afternoon. Dempster Wiggleswade was also there representing the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Next to him was also a young woman named Alexis Gandenschmoot, who wrote for the Daily Prophet. Neville's grandmother was there as well, with her large red handbag in tow. All but the elder Ms. Longbottom looked bored to death as Neville spoke.

"…and in that particular case, not only were Muggles unknowingly essential to the continued use of the dung bomb, but also its advertising." He paused and gulped for air. "In conclusion, I believe that we should tell Muggles about magic for all the reasons I have discussed today: socially, hostility, economically, and ethically. After all, we know about them. It is only fair and just that they, in turn, know about us. T-Thank you."

The Great Hall seemed to explode into applause. Neville smiled. A few cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table, while the Slytherins scowled at such an idea. To think that Harry had been on the same side as Malfoy made him shiver in disgust.

Professor Avis got up from her seat and put an arm around Neville. "Thank you, Neville. That was excellent. Very insightful. Very thought-provoking." She nodded to Neville's grandmother in the crowd, who was, for once, beaming at her grandson. "Now, we will here our opposing viewpoint from Mr. Harry Potter." She gestured to Harry.

The guests in the front row all sat up in their seats. The reporter from the Daily Prophet opened her notepad and dabbed her quill on the page. Hermione was right. When Harry spoke, people listened. It was his duty to warn everyone of the darkness to come.

"Good afternoon students, professors, and guests," Harry began, "and thank you for hearing me out today. Though you may be surprised—shocked—at what I am about to say, I know that it is my responsibility to speak to you. I do not wish to be the bearer of bad news, nor do I mean to scare anyone. What I say today is a warning." He glanced at Hermione, who was sitting at the very front of the Gryffindor table. There was a smile in her eyes. Dumbledore's eyes also twinkled as Harry continued.

"Voldemort is at large. Each day he spends in hiding is another day for him to prepare. He gains more and more powerful. It is only a matter of time before he attacks.

"What does this have to do with Muggles, you may ask? After all, this is supposed to be a debate, a Muggle Debate that Professor Avis worked so hard to put together." He looked at his professor, who gave a small, sheepish nod. "I once believed that Muggles had no place in our world. I believed that they were useless. However, in light of recent events," he looked directly at Rufus Scrimgeour, "I have changed my mind. I have seen innocent Muggles killed senselessly, without reason or a chance to defend themselves. I have seen them die for no reason at all. Perhaps if some of them knew of the dangers of our world, those innocent Muggles would still be alive today.

"But Muggles are not useless. Muggles have their own magic. In fact, Muggles could be our secret weapon in the fight against the Dark Lord. Not only have they managed to survive without the use of magic, they do so ingenuously. So, not only do I agree with Neville's position—that Muggles should know about magic because it is only fair—but I also add to his argument that they can help us. Voldemort has powerful tools to bring to battle. The time may come when we need their help, and we can't be afraid to ask for it.

"Perhaps not all Muggles ought to be told about our world. But there are some Muggles who already know that everything is not what it seems. There are Muggles who aren't so blind to our world. It is these Muggles that we should reach out to.

"The war is coming," Harry concluded, "and we need to get all the help we can get. Thank you." He backed away from the podium. The Great Hall was in stunned silence. Hermione was the first one to clap, joined by Ron and Ginny, then the applause seemed to spread around the room. The men from the Ministry were frowning, except for Mr. Weasley, who was clapping and looked hopeful. The reporter was busy scribbling away on her notepad. The Slytherin table was positively furious, and Harry thought he could hear Draco muttering obscenities under his breath.

Professor Avis got up from her seat, grinning, and put an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Thank you, Harry. Despite the fact that you did not stick to the content we discussed in class, your points are valid." She turned to the audience. "Thank you, everyone, for joining us for the, er, debate today. I apologize that it did not go quite as planned, but I believe that I couldn't have asked for a better result."

Harry sighed in relief. It looked like at least he was going to get a good grade.

A/N: I know. All the Muggles did was start a fire. It's not exactly ingenious, but whatever.