Sticking Together
It took several minutes for conversations to start again, serious and subdued like at a funeral.
At the Slytherin table, Roy sat with the Incorruptibles and stared at the Daily Prophet without re-reading the article. He already knew it by heart. His clenched fists lay on the paper. He puffed with anger.
"Those bastards!" he muttered. "Those bastards, bastards, bastards! They can't have any evidence at all that Harry was going to murder her, they're just claiming it to ..."
Roy stopped. Slowly, the anger in his features gave way to an expression of concentrated thought.
"What are we doing now?" asked Julian.
Roy looked up. "First, let's align our Slytherins!"
Only when he stood up did he realise that all the Slytherins had just been waiting to see what the Incorruptibles would do. Now they also rose. In silence, the Slytherins left the Great Hall, and in silence they walked to their common room.
Once there, Roy started:
"No one who knows Harry Potter can believe for a second that he wanted to murder the Minister! This accusation is a lie! The meaning of this lie is clear from the content of Granger's emergency decree. This decree provides for the death penalty retroactively for offences that were not punishable by death at the time of the offence. It also provides for capital punishment for acts that are intrinsically less punishable and only punishable by death if the offender had political motives.
If something like this can be done once, it can be done forever. No one will be able to rely on what is written in a law anymore. It will always be under a political reservation, and every citizen is then in danger of being killed by the government for minor or even legal but retroactively prohibited acts if he's an opponent of the government!
Under normal circumstances, such a law would never have been accepted by the wizarding community! The murder charge is only meant to incite public outrage to accept and allow government opponents to be placed under exemption rules! You will see: They will quietly drop the murder charge against Potter, but the law they couldn't have passed without that accusation is giving them the means to bring him on the scaffold for treason or criminal assault or something like that!
A people accepting such a law ceases to be a free people! WE DON'T!"
Thunderous applause answered him. Roy clenched his fist:
"All the more, we won't tolerate one of us, a Slytherin, losing his father because of such a law and through judicial murder!"
The common room shook with cheers that lasted for minutes. When it finally died down, Roy continued:
"We don't know what robust evidence the Ministry has against Potter. But we do know one thing: The charge of high treason, even if they could prove it in a formal sense, cannot be made by this government, because it is itself a government of high traitors who therefore cannot be betrayed at all!"
Thunderous cheers again. Roy used the pause get control of his rage.
"What matters now," he continued a little more calmly, "is to turn the tables: This trial that the Minister is going to use to murder her oldest and best friend, must become a trial against Granger herself! If she cannot push her charges through, she will fall! And that's what she has to!"
Before the applause could erupt again, Roy continued speaking:
"One of us has been attacked by this government! Slytherin must now stand behind Albus like one single man, and behind his father too! And when I'm saying 'Slytherin', I don't just mean us here at Hogwarts, I also mean the old boys, many of whom are now in positions of influence, some of them in the Wizengamot who is expected to be the jury. Most of them are relatives of yours. Make clear to them that Slytherin has a stance, that they have to support that stance, and that not doing so is treason!"
Roy took a deep breath under his schoolmates approving cheers. He had been talking himself into a rage again. His breathing was heavy, his lips trembled. He did not notice Arabella's worried look.
"That's the least we can and will do! But I ask each and every one of you to ask yourselves what more you can do for Albus to stand by him now – now that he needs this support more than anyone else! The Sorting Hat tells us every year, you make real friends in Slytherin! Now is the time to prove it! Thank you!"
Victoire led Rose, Albus and James into an empty classroom. None of them wanted to sit down. Albus, still holding Rose's hand, had regained his composure.
"We all know Dad," he began, "and know that he and Hermione were always like siblings to each other. I hope none of us believe this murder rubbish."
"Of course we don't!" exclaimed James.
"No," said Victoire.
Rose looked at Albus for a long time, then she too shook her head.
"No," she whispered.
Albus decided to tell the others the truth about the background of Ulysses – as far as he could, that is, as far as he could without endangering his dad, himself and the other Incorruptibles, and above all without admitting his own complicity. It needed to be done! He took Rose's hands in his.
"Rose," he said in a low but firm voice, "I have to tell you something that I would have rather kept from you, so as not to worry you even more."
James and Victoire glanced at him in amazement, Rose looked confused.
"What?" she asked.
"When I promised you on the train on Sunday that everything would be all right with your mother, you wondered about that promise."
"Yes, I did," she said.
"It wasn't just a well-meaning comforting remark," Albus continued. "You know that my dad is trained as an Auror to detect and combat Dark Magic."
Rose nodded, eyes widening, while the other two listened spellbound.
"He has suspected for some time that your mum ..." He faltered. Telling Rose about it was harder than he'd thought. "... that she is under a curse."
"WHAT?" cried Rose, James and Victoire at the same time.
"Tell me that's not true," Rose pleaded helplessly with him.
Albus sighed. "This curse is the reason why you have hardly recognised her lately. She is controlled by an alien will."
Rose looked as if something was about to happen to her.
"Albus," Victoire cried, shaking his shoulder as if to wake him from a dream, "that ... that's not possible!"
"You read that emergency decree in the Daily Prophet, didn't you?" Albus replied sadly. "Do you really think Hermione, I mean the real Hermione would be able to do something like that?"
The three others shook their heads. Albus continued:
"On Boxing Day," he told James, "while you were in the Burrow, our dad came across the evidence. And he promised to break this curse."
He turned back to Rose:
"That's why I could promise you that everything would be fine. I knew he would do something, I just didn't know what. I'm quite sure that's why he went to the Ministry: to rescue her, not to kill her!"
"And now that he's been arrested," Rose said tonelessly, "there's no rescue ..."
Albus pulled her close to him. "There is always a chance of rescue!" he tried to comfort her, but this time she pushed him away.
"That's what you said on Sunday!" she cried, "and now everything is worse than before!" She flung herself into Victoire's embrace and wept and sobbed in the deepest despair.
Albus, who was watching the scene with James, whispered to his brother: "Shouldn't I have told her?"
"If you hadn't, she would have to believe," James murmured back, "that her mother or her uncle were a murderer. Compared to that, it's almost comforting to know that Hermione is the victim of a curse that may still be broken."
It took Rose quite a while to calm down again, while Victoire was stroking her hair complacently. Finally Rose let herself go from the embrace.
"I'm sorry, Al," she said, "I know it's not your fault. Thank you for telling me. But what do we do now?"
"Actually, we would have to free Harry from prison and Hermione from this curse," Victoire reflected. "But we can't free Hermione without Harry's help because none of us know how to fight Dark Magic. So, we should focus on getting Harry free first. Do you agree, Rose?"
Rose nodded, but you could tell she would have agreed to the opposite, too. For the moment, she couldn't think clearly.
Victoire sighed. "The problem is that we are completely powerless. We're stuck here at Hogwarts while Hermione has the whole Ministry machinery on her side."
"But you're Gryffindors, just like Hermione and Harry!" exclaimed Albus excitedly. "If Gryffindor publicly declares its disapproval of the Emergency Decree and its application ..."
In theory, it was a good idea. Indeed, Hogwarts' special status in the fabric of wizarding society meant that, when united, the students of a house could exert an influence that Muggle students would not even dream of. It was not for nothing that Hermione always kept an eye on Hogwarts and sought control of the school; it was not for nothing that Roy in critical situations always rallied his Slytherins behind him first.
James and Victoire, however, only exchanged wistful, pitying glances.
"Hopeless!", Victoire found.
"But why?" persisted Albus, who didn't abandon an idea so quickly. "You're a Prefect, and your colleague Ethelbert ..."
"... would probably agree too," Victoire cut him off, understanding what Albus was getting at. "It's just that our position in Gryffindor is by no means comparable to the one your friend Roy has with the Slytherins. At the latest since Patricia Higrave also supports him, MacAllister is virtually in command of an army. The Gryffindors are a kind of army too, but Hermione's army, and we, Ethelbert and I, will be lucky if that army doesn't just trample over us."
"Yes, but you also enforced peace with Slytherin ..."
"We did," Victoire confirmed, "but only by the skin of our teeth, and since then we've been busy practically every day trying to appease fanatical Hermione supporters who even suspect us of disloyalty because of this. The little bit of authority I still hold is really only because I'm Hermione's niece."
Albus stared at her open-mouthed.
"Believe her," James confirmed. "You have no idea how the Gryffindors are sworn to Hermione! And, let's face it, until three months ago Victoire and I were no different. It was MacAllister who first made us think about what we were actually doing. Most Gryffindors, however, especially those whose opinions count with their classmates, would jump from the seventh floor without hesitation if Hermione told them to."
"Would they murder, too?" asked Albus anxiously.
James and Victoire exchanged a quick glance.
"I think they would," said James.
"Phew ..." Albus had to digest that first.
"Do you now understand," Victoire asked, "why it is completely useless to expect Gryffindor to publicly criticise Hermione? We'll be lucky if they don't incite her."
Albus nodded resignedly. "In that case, I guess there's also no point in telling them about the curse?"
"For heaven's sake!" replied James. "They would say we were slandering Hermione to get Dad out."
Both were silent.
"I don't think we can come up with anything useful today," Victoire finally said. "We should let it all sink in and sleep on it first."
They left the classroom, in front of which they separated because Albus had to go to the basement.
"One more thing," Victoire said. "Since I am the clan elder here at Hogwarts, just ask and I will be there for you anytime you need me. That applies to you too, Al!"
"Despite being a Slytherin?" asked Albus, who managed to grin slightly in spite of the circumstances.
"I still think you're a perfect fit for Slytherin," Victoire replied with a smile, "but this time, you may take it as a compliment."
"I'm sorry about the 'dumbass'," Albus said.
"I'm sorry for really having been one, and I also regret the ten points."
She hugged him goodbye and kissed him on the cheek – which Albus inwardly particularly enjoyed, as Victoire was seventeen and ravishingly beautiful -, then even the two brothers hugged each other – which they did very rarely – and finally Albus and Rose held each other for minutes – while James' smirk grew bigger and bigger.
Albus was about to leave when Victoire called:
"Albus?"
"Yeah?"
"It is a sign of a good character that you ignored that immature rascal's stupid grin" – she pointed at James with a smile – "to comfort your cousin."
She winked at him. "Ten points for Slytherin."
Albus beamed, waved to them all once more and then headed swiftly towards the Slytherin rooms.
He was breathing easier now. His father was in danger, but he wasn't yet lost and not everything was collapsing: The family stuck together, and when in doubt, they stood by Harry, not Hermione. Albus' newly patched friendship with Rose hadn't broken, quite the opposite. His mum hadn't been arrested, otherwise the Daily Prophet would probably have mentioned it. The Incorruptibles also seemed to remain undisturbed, and Roy – he would surely come up with some good idea!
When he approached the common room door, Scorpius, who had obviously been waiting for him, rushed towards him and said seriously:
"Albus, you know you can always count on my support?"
"Of course I do," Albus smiled, "and moral support means a lot to me, too."
"That's honourable," Scorpius said with a grin, "but it seems to me that you haven't grasped it: When I say I support you, it means House of Malfoy is supporting you! And this means more than just moral support. Don't worry about your dad, we got my grandfather out of much more difficult mess! I have already sent an owl to my father."
"Do you really think he'll do anything?" asked Albus, sounding as if he doubted it.
Scorpius looked a little offended:
"Never in the eight-hundred-year history of the House of Malfoy," he declared with dignity, "have we ever refused helping a friend who needed us. And my father will not be the one to introduce such a bad habit. Of course, he will do something!"
Now Albus hugged him.
"You really are a ... great bloke. But – what can you actually do?" he asked.
"First of all, your father needs a first-class lawyer, we can arrange that for him. For the rest, we know many influential people, including members of the Wizengamot. Many of them are our friends. Others owe us a favour, some simply respect us and care about what we think. Well" – he grinned – "and there are others who are not our friends, but about whom we know things that the public should better not know. And still others with cash problems ..."
He grinned even bigger.
"And remember," he added, "we are not the only ones. All the Slytherins are behind you. MacAllister gave a speech that knocked them all for six! Everyone, really everyone, is trying anything to help you. Most of them are urging their families to help your dad ..."
They had now reached the entrance to the common room. Since no one but Scorpius was around, Albus laid his hand on the snake's head.
"Good evening, Albus." Even Cassiopeia's Parseltongue seemed to sound warmer and more sympathetic than usual. After all, she was a Slytherin, too.
"Good evening, Cassiopeia."
The common room was packed, everyone was there. Some stood around, excitedly discussing, many were about to write letters. Further back, Albus saw Roy talking to Patricia.
No sooner had he entered than the first classmates stepped up to him, welcomed him with raised thumbs, patted his shoulders, hugged him ...
"Cheer up!" – "Don't let it get you down!" – "We'll show her!"
Under such and similar chants, they pushed Albus deeper into the room. Jennifer thrust a few sheets of parchment into his hand:
"There's not much I can do for you, but I've done your homework so you have one less problem. Arabella helped it along with a scripture forgery charm to make it look like you."
He was now standing next to Roy, who didn't notice him because he was still talking to Patricia:
"And you think your grandpa can do something?"
"He's a loyal civil servant and won't become a revolutionary in his old age, if that's what you mean," she replied, "but he's a grey eminence among senior Ministry officials, his word carries weight with his colleagues, and he has an inimitable way of letting criticism shine through. That will make an impression precisely because he's so loyal, count on it."
Roy nodded with satisfaction and looked up.
"Hullo Roy," said Albus.
Roy did not even take the time to return the greeting. As he had done in the morning, he gripped Albus by both shoulders.
"We'll bail him out, no matter how! We promised and we will! Harry won't die under an executioner's axe, we'll prevent it if it's the last thing I do!"
Roy tried hard to speak as calmly and firmly as ever, but a tremor in his voice betrayed how agitated he was.
"I know you will!" exclaimed Albus. "And I also know what you've already done for me so far. Thanks for everything!"
He sat down in the next armchair and watched the hustle and bustle around him: Everyone was behind him. None of them would abandon him. Silently, he asked the Speaking Hat to forgive him for doubting his wisdom on the first evening. Today he was grateful for being a Slytherin. Wonder how Rose is now with the Gryffindors?
The thought caused him a pang.