Unbeknownst to Dumbledore, Daphne and I Snape had been summoned by Voldemort hours earlier:
Meanwhile:
Dumbledore was attempting to tell me I was going to accept his "Greater Good", and comply with his demands. Bull Shit!
Had not Fate dropped all of this on me? With this declaration by Albus, well I found it almost amusing, almost.
Then! All hell broke loose.
Daphne and I were in the habit of holding hands ever since Wesley's attempt. She would have been kidnapped alone had I not had a hold of her, besides holding hands was a comforting interplay.
Daphne had given me a hand squeeze and a tug. Yes we were going to leave before we let the old idiot have a good piece of our minds.
We stood and approached the door to leave his effigy, when the door flow open with Professor McGonagall entering in a storm. That storm pushed Daphne and I to the side and towards a row of tall book shelves.
"Albus! There are Death Eaters attacking Hogsmeade Village!"
"Relax my dear. Since this is not a student weekend it is up to the Aurors to handle the situation."
"BUT!" was all that she uttered, when the door flew open once again to let Snape to storm in an agitated state. We slid into the tall shelves and became as inconspicuous as possible.
"Albus! Not only is Voldemort not gone but…" Snape fell into one of the chairs that we had occupied, and not in his normal sneering state.
"Now everyone please take a seat and try to calm down." Dumbledore was twinkling and was applying a calming mood. But he seemed off as he asked Snape to explain; even though McGonagall was sill in the room. I wondered if this news had even him confused.
"Albus not only is the Dark Lord still here but while he was gathering his forces, for an attack on Hogsmeade Village in his favorite graveyard, Death made a visit in that same grave yard."
"Surly you jest Severus." Dumbledore responded. I was unable to think beyond that Snape was right because of his state of mind. Snape was not one that ran around yelling that the sky was falling.
"Albus, while you made us search during the Welcoming Feast you said Trelawney's statements were not a sighting but a bit of too much sherry." McGonagall was looking like she was in killing mode.
"Let us relax for a moment and let Severus tell his interesting tail." Dumbledore twinkled even more.
"Albus, it was a calling so we all knew he was still with us. So as you insisted if I was called I appeared with the rest of the Death eaters. He was running his mouth of how he was the greatest and order the the attack on Hogsmeade village. There was not much more than him warning that there would be server response for failure when a Grim appeared in the graveyard."
"Merlin that's what Trelawney said!" McGonagall exclaimed.
"Well that was only the start. There then appeared a thing dressed as death carrying the grim reaper's scythe that followed the Grim.
"Crap, that's what Trelawney got out before yelling, we were all going to die!" McGonagall was loosing it.
What was perceived does not have to be the same as objective reality. But what was being told was not far from where I was raised and educated. There were gods and Fate so Death was not hard to imagine. I than heard the great leader of the light try to?
"Severus this must be an illusion of Voldemort as a projections to forward his goals."
"Albus Death appeared, the Dark Lord crawled to his lair and every one disappeared to carry out his orders. Actually it was more like very one fled in fear."
Everyone left Dumbledore's office, I wondered if anyone had noticed us.
Of course Voldemort's attack on Hogsmeade village brought everything to the front. The pressure was on me from all sources. The only thing was to acquiesce to some of the demands. The destroyer of the Dark Lord had responsibilities and must … Merlin what Crap!
I had no better idea than show up at the Wizengamot and let all my title be exposed but that had to wait until they meet and there was the ministers presentations of medals and awards. Well the first award kind of got interrupted by an Auror barging in shouting.. "The Dark Lord has appeared in Diagon alley demanding that Harry Potter make an appearance."
That was enough for me; I was not part of this game. I was not a horcrux, nor could I believe in some frauds prophesy. Or Dumbledore assertions for the "Greater Good." The fate had said I was not responsible so…
In front of the press I made a statement.
"I the Lord of many houses, but with no responsibilities to end your Dark Lord problems will today say ado. I and mine are heading to our retreat in Italy and will only return after you have dealt with your Dark Lord. Arrivederci.
While I would have liked to see their reactions Daphne was more intelligent and she activated our portkey.
We were in Florida in a blink and a flurryof house elf packing. Falkes delivered the Dailey profit the next day. I wondered if Dumbledore had notice Fawkes being missing. Probably not due to the storm about my statement and then there was the ministers reaction.
The elves notified Sirius that we were safe and to give England hell. Daphne and I relaxed and awaited the next bomb or explosion. We enjoyed the beaches and the sea. We did get some strange looks as winter approached but the locals were not use to English weather. Here in winter was like an English summer.
Then the Prophet reported:
"I Ragnot a representative of Gringotts request that anyone who knows of the evil artifacts that disappeared from Gringotts contact us. These items are an abomination to both of our world and your wizard world. They will be destroyed and those responsible punnished."
Following that article was of most interest to us. "Our sources, that whishes to remain unknown, reported that what happened was that a Grim entered the main hall of Gringotts and shortly a dark clothed entity followed carrying a staff.
"Daphne, do you have an opinion on this? I mean one time he has a scythe and the next he has a staff?
"Harry my love; can you explain most of what has happened to you? This may be a clue or a distortion of reality. So lead on my love and I will follow you to the end."
I almost, but how could I respond, so I kept my yob shut?
Our intent and our wishes came to screeching end. The Wizengamot was attempting to confiscate my wealth and Hogwarts so…
Daphne and I returned to Hogwarts and I got to yell at the Wizengamot.
/Scene Break/
While I had my table and rotating friends I kept busy. Hogwarts was not all a self sustaining entity. Yes when there was a problem the headmaster being in control of the wards could direct magic or direct the elves to fix the problem. However this headmaster was more interested in other things so I found more than enough to keep me busy, Hogwarts itself could not do everything. A sagging roof or a stairway that would soon collapse with students on board did make my interest. My interest also asked me, with Dumbledore being in control of the wards why these problems did not make his Greater Good list.