Chapter 3
It was a few days later when Harry and Hermione were ready to face the great hall again for a meal. McGonagall had told them that they could take a few days off but they both refused, not wanting to think about it too much. The elves had been bringing them meals in their common rooms and that was where they had spent most of their time. When they weren't doing homework or eating, they were often in each other's arms, comforting each other and it had been quite a few times when one or the other had broken down into tears. Harry, despite everything, had been enjoying the time he spent with Hermione more than he thought he should. These feelings brought on the first bits of guilt as he was the only one who knew that Ron had liked Hermione. He had confided in Harry in 4th year after the ball, and harry had supported him fully as the thought his protective feelings for her were purely brotherly. Now, he didn't think so. He wondered endlessly what Ron would have thought, but inside he knew what would have happened. Ron's vicious jealously would have come out again and those two would have been fighting for months if not forever. He was not ready to put Ron out of his life yet, as pretty much every waking moment was spent thinking about him but he didn't want to let the memory of Ron control his life.
With that thought in mind, Harry squeezed Hermione's hand tightly and walked through the door into the great hall.
Neither of them could fail to notice the somber mood that had settled upon the castle in the last few days. Granted, that was probably to be expected as one of their classmates had died and the dark lord that had terrorized the magical world had returned. But today, as they walked to the Gryffindor table, an unusual silence reigned across the large hall. Harry and Hermione noticed that nobody was eating just sitting, expectantly looking towards the staff table. Only the two friends knew what was going on; McGonagall had approached them and told them that Dumbledore was going to talk to the whole school at dinner today and she had asked if they wanted to say a few words. Harry had originally agreed while Hermione decided to leave the talking up to Harry but thinking about it Harry thought would rather wrestle the giant squid than stand up in the front of the school and talk about Ron.
There hadn't yet been a conversation that included Ron, that hadn't ended with either or both of them crying.
A loud ahem caught Harry and Hermione's attention and they both copied the rest of the student body by directing their gazes towards the headmaster who had come forward. It wasn't surprising, that Harry had been harboring a few ill feelings towards the headmaster. Of course, if the headmaster had confided in Harry about Voldemort perhaps trying to break into his mind he would have never gone to the ministry of magic, so Ron would still-. Harry cut that thought off, remembering Sirius' advice. The headmaster starting his speech brought Harry right out of his thoughts however.
"Students and staff of Hogwarts, we have gathered here to honor the memory of Ronald Bilius Weasley. His funeral will be held in the holidays; however I wanted to allow a student to say a couple of things. I will pass straight onto Harry Potter" Began Dumbledore. Seeing this clear cue, Harry stood up with shaky legs. Before he could start speaking a charm flew at him from next to him. A quick glance at Hermione reassured him however. His now, magically enhanced voice, began to speak. "Ron was one of my best friends and also one of my bravest. He went unquestioningly with me on all of my adventures and was there fighting beside me again at the department of ministries. Earlier on, he had been put out of the fight and he was left unable to speak, with weals round his throat. Just as I realized this, I began to go over to him, but the killing curse got there before me." At this, his voice broke silently and he covered his face with his hands. He didn't have to worry about everyone looking at him as most people in the hall seemed to be in a similar state.
After only a few moments of a silence, Harry regained his voice and continued. "However the reason Ronald Weasley was killed was because of the return of Voldemort." A few people gasped at this but he carried on resolutely. "Voldemort came to take a prophecy that was made about me and him that said in the end one of us has to defeat the other." Getting into the flow of this, Harry decided to say what he and Hermione had planned. He hadn't gone over this with professor McGonagall but it had to be said. "I want to know that Hogwarts is safe. I want us to stand against Voldemort, not against purebloods, not against Slytherin or any other house. Against Voldemort. Is this what we want, living our lives in terror, losing friends, classmates, family? Siding with Voldemort will not see you exempt to this. We all know how he treats his follows. Torturing, killing, maiming them. Is that what we want for our future? Ron's death has not only opened my eyes, it has strengthened my resolve for the future. To create a future we all want to live in. I am just ashamed that it took the death of one of my closest friends to make me realize what we are fighting for." Snapping out of the moment, Harry look slightly embarrassed about the long speech he had just made, but was saved from saying anything more by Dumbledore speaking.
"Harry has shared some valuable words with us today. Some of you may not take his word, but what he said was equal to the warning the sorting hat gave us all at the start of the year. We need to be united within Hogwarts, lest we destroy ourselves from within. We know people associate Slytherin with Voldemort, but may I tell you, from what I gathered from some of my conversations with the sorting hat, Salazar Slytherin was a resourceful, noble and brave man. The sorting hat sorts people into houses. He gathers what those house's traits are by what the house is viewed by in our time. In the start, Slytherin house was for people with noble ambitions, with the resourcefulness to make those ambitions become reality. However as times change, so do the houses. Sadly for generations now, Slytherin has been viewed on as cunning with ambitions. Nothing has been said to say that these ambitions are negative but that is just what people outside of the house assume. Yet all it takes for this to change is a student's mindset."
On that note, Dumbledore sat down, and the great hall exploded with noise, from the staff as well as the students. "Albus, surely you don't mean to say that the houses are what they are simply because of how our society views them." Minerva cried out.
"But of course, Minerva" Dumbledore replied smoothly. A spoonful of rice pudding was halfway to his mouth before he paused and said "Oh and I heard that Godric Gryffindor was quite like the young Neville while Salazar was compared to Harry" With that, Dumbledore happily began eating his rice pudding, his eyes twinkling at the sides as he watched Minerva's face pale considerably.
A/N Outofthisworldgal: So did Fudge not walk in when Dumbledore and Voldey were battling it out and is still saying that Voldey is still not back? Or is there another reason Dumbledore is going at Fudge?
Ma answer: Yes, Fudge did see Dumbledore and Voldemort battling and is forced to accept that Voldemort is back. The reason for Dumbledore going at fudge was because of Sirius. He was spotted at the Department of Ministries by aurors so Dumbledore has to explain himself. He is trying to allow Fudge to administer veritaserum to Sirius to confirm his innocence.
A/N2 Thanks to everyone who reviews, I love reading them If you have any questions or preferences as to how the story plays out, please either review or pm me and I will be happy to either answer them or try and include them. Also that last bit about how to sorting hat views society and stuff like that was quite hard to write down so if anyone is confused pm me and I will try to explain.