Chapter 14 – Back to the Hogwarts Express

The next twenty days passed rapidly for Harry and his friends. They saw little of each other as they pursued various activities to prepare for the eventual confrontations with Riddle and his Death Eaters. The Death Eaters had not surfaced since the attack that cost Charlie Weasley his life. No one expected that silence to last for long.

Harry spent his early mornings running and continuing to improve his physical stamina. The rest of his day he spent researching various Dark Arts, including Dark creatures and rituals. Harry often felt the need to take long showers or rides under his cloak on his broom.

The Dark Arts had a seductive practicality to them. It seemed anything was possible to those willing to pay the price. Harry learned that the first Horcrux was created to preserve the life of a wizard who would be going on a quest to save his children from a Dark wizard. The first victim was the equivalent of that Dark Lord's Death Eaters. Wouldn't most fathers be willing to sacrifice their own soul to save their children?

Most of the Dark Arts feel under two categories. The first were created by wizards like Riddle who seemed to be seeking power for only his own gain. The other group seemed to be crusaders for a particular cause, often with the best of intentions. Harry placed Salazar Slytherin in this group. It bothered Harry that many of the causes and fights that spawned these Dark creations were ones that he could support.

Harry found a journal written by one of the first Slytherins at Hogwarts. Initially, the journal spoke of all four of the founders in the warmest terms. The young wizard played on a school team that seemed to include students from all four houses. Indeed, his best friend was in Gryffindor. The journal described the location of the Gryffindor common room and its layout too well for it not to be a first hand account.

The rift between Slytherin and Gryffindor began when a Muggle mob burned Salazar's wife at the stake for being a witch. Nateria Slytherin seemed to be a healer who traveled the countryside helping her neighbors. A wandering friar stirred up fear among the local Muggles against magic. Nateria was caught sleeping in an inn. Knocked unconscious, she never had a chance to use her magic to save herself or summon help.

Salazar flew into a rage at the news. He and his best friend, Godric Gryffindor immediately traveled to the village, but it was too late. After taking his wife's remains back to Hogwarts, Slytherin returned alone and slew the entire village. He would have moved on to the next village but he was stopped by the other three Founders. Rowena Ravenclaw, Nateria's older sister, appealed to her brother-in-law to stop. She asked him if Nateria would approve of his actions.

Slytherin did stop, but refused to teach any students but Purebloods ever again. He blamed all Muggles for the death of his beloved wife. Anyone with Muggle blood was held to be jointly responsible for her death.

His anger and obsessive hatred of Muggles led to a rift between the Four Founders. Three years later, when the other three sought to talk to him about letting go of his hate, a fight broke out. Half of the Great Hall was destroyed in the battle. Eventually Slytherin fled and never returned to the school.

Harry read the journal with a new appreciation for the founder of his rival House. How different would Hogwarts be if that stupid friar had kept his bigotry to himself or Slytherin had been able to contain his anger to just the guilty parties. Harry was not sure what disturbed him more, the fact he could understand, if not condone, Slytherin's actions, or that the young wizard writing the journal was named Harolde Potter.

While Harry worked on his studies, his friends were not resting either. Hermione split her time between the Doorway project Harry had assigned her and helping the Weasley twins with research and development on various products. Hermione researched the workings for the Floo network and the items like the vanishing cabinet. She felt she was close to a break through and was to demonstrate her findings today.

Hermione's time with the twins left her particularly astonished. They routinely performed magic well above N.E.W.T level. She always knew the twins were gifted but they exceeded all of her expectations. Both of them should have received O's on every subject. It seemed that if the spell or potion could be used in a prank, they could master it. The trick seemed to be finding a prank that required the magic in order for them to bother to learn the spell. Hermione told Harry that if the Hogwart's professors had couched all of their assignments in pranks and mayhem then the twins would have set all-time school academic high scores, rather then the all-time detention record.

Ron surprised them all in a few short weeks. Harry asked Ron to help by taking some of the twin's management burden by running Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and working on the expansion plan with Mike. To everyone's surprise, including his own, Ron made a fantastic businessman. In three weeks, he had organized the purchase of three additional locations with the money budgeted for two. In addition to the shops in Hogsmead and Paris, he also included one in Salem, Massachusetts in the United States. Salem contained the United States oldest and most prestigious magical school.

Ron, with Mike acting as an agent, also secured a warehouse in London that was fairly new and in great shape. The front half of the warehouse was used by a normal Muggle company for receiving shipments from outside the country. Ron presented the plan by saying the Death Eaters would look for the normal, hidden wizard methods and miss the plain sight warehouse in a nice building. Plus the rent from the tenant paid most of the building's cost.

The hidden business genius Ron exhibited shocked his friends and family. The twins reported that their profits increased 15 in the three weeks Ron ran the business. Suddenly the center of attention, Ron grew bashful and simply said, "It is just like chess, plan the strategy and then execute it while preventing your opponent from getting behind you."

Ginny helped where she could and studied her DADA. Ginny wanted to master all of the sixth year material quickly so she could work on the seventh year material with the others. Ginny was determined not to be left out when the others went into danger.

Unlike the others, Ginny did not seek to continue training as an Auror after leaving Hogwarts. After her father was bitten by Riddle's snake in her fourth year, Ginny became deeply interested in the healing arts. She had spent time talking to Madame Pomfrey and the healers at St. Mungo about healing as a career choice. Ginny was determined to be able to fight the Death Eater's but set her long term sights beyond the coming fight.

The only one in the neat cottage feeling too much free time was, ironically, Dobby. Although the four all slept at the house and ate dinner there, they rarely met at the same time. Dobby kept light, nutritious meals ready at anytime. Since Harry, Hermione and Ginny spent much of their time in the Room of Requirement; there was not much to clean up. Dobby happily ran errands and got the four friends anything they needed. Dobby purchased all of their school books and any other needed supplies from Diagon Alley. Many establishments were used to house-elves requesting goods for their masters, but usually they arrived with a letter and a Gringott's draft. Dobby arrived with a pouch of Galleons and proceeded to buy everything Harry and his friends needed on his own. Dobby was happier then he ever dreamed possible. From slave to a family of Dark Wizards to a free elf in the employ of (in his opinion) the greatest, kindest Light wizard in the world.

On the night of August 31st, Hermione gathered her friends in the kitchen of Harry's house. She insisted that the group sit for one dinner together before leaving for Hogwarts in the morning. Ron appeared just before the 6 o'clock dinner looking particularly harried. After the friends settled at the table, Dobby started serving dinner.

The dinner was a fairly quiet affair. Hermione ordered that no business could be discussed during dinner. Harry and Ginny sat holding hands under the table and just ate their dinner. Hermione and Ron started bickering about the inclusion of carrots in the menu. Harry knew Ron would eat carrots, but his two friends enjoyed sniping at each other. Harry suspected they enjoyed the making up part even more, but there were some things Harry was happier not knowing.

After dinner was finished, Hermione cleared her throat. "I would like to show the three of you what I worked on at Harry's request." Seeing she had everyone's attention, she continued, "The problem with the Floo Network is it is possible to end up in the wrong destination or be intercepted en route."

Harry flinched at the memory of his accidental trip to Knockturn Alley before his second year.

"I looked at the cabinet used by Malfoy last year and came up with this as a result." Hermione walked to the doorway between the kitchen and the hall. Without drawing her wand, Hermione said, "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes; Diagon Alley!"

The doorway was suddenly filled with a silvery light that looked like liquid silver. After a second it cleared slightly and Fred and George's workshop could be seen on the other side.

Hermione turned to her gaping friends. "I call it a Portal. It will take you instantly to the named destination without any way of being intercepted. Like a Portkey, you don't have to use magic yourself to use it so underage wizards won't get into trouble."

Harry, impressed with her creation, asked, "How hard is it to make a Portal?"

Hermione shrugged, "Any seventh year should be able to cast the spell itself. The tricky thing is the Portal will only accept connections from approved Portals. For example, Riddle could cast a Portal but this one would not accept the connection. I can also set it to accept the open commands from particular voices."

"Hermione, that is brilliant!" Ron said. "How long does it stay open?"

"About five minutes. You also cannot connect to another Portal while that Portal is in use. I have currently set up Portals to each of the Weasley shops, the warehouse, the Burrow and here. I will set up one or two at Hogwarts."

Ron whistled, "That will make running the shop so much easier. We can move product and staff around to wherever it is needed the most." Harry and Ginny laughed at seeing Ron start developing business strategies immediately in his head.

Harry grinned and shook his head, "Sorry Ron. We need to keep this quiet for a while. I want to use this for our advantage without letting Riddle, the Ministry, or the Order knowing."

Ron frowned briefly, "Of course not. You can't give an advantage like this away. The fight with the Death Eaters is much more important."

"Hermione, I am really impressed. I knew you would be able to come up with something, but I did not believe it would be before the Christmas break. This will make things much simpler for us this fall. You are not just the brightest witch in our class; you are by far the best in the school." Hermione blushed at Harry's praise.

"Thank you, Harry. I really enjoyed the challenge. I may keep researching this for other applications or improvements."

Harry smiled, "I am sure you will. I have a bit of an announcement to make as well." Harry paused a moment. "I figured out how to destroy a Horcrux. It is not really that hard, but it can be dangerous."

"I destroyed the first Horcrux that was Riddle's diary. Professor Dumbledore destroyed the second one, Slytherin's ring. But he did not have to physically destroy it. He had to convert it back to what its original use was. He had to wear it. The energy released is why his hand was so badly injured. To destroy the locket, we simply have to open it. For Hufflepuff's cup, we may need to drink out of it."

Ginny looked grim with Harry's news. "How can we drink out of it without being killed by the energy released? Look at what happened to Dumbledore's arm." Ginny looked grim with Harry's news.

Harry shrugged, "I am still working on that aspect. I will continue to study the magic behind it. I also want to talk to any of the returning Slytherins. They may have heard things from their families without knowing what they heard."

Hermione reached down into her lap and pulled out a small cap. "This is something I came up with working with Fred and George. Actually, I came up wit the idea and those two mad geniuses created it."

Looking at the cap, Ron asked skeptically, "What does it do?"

Hermione smirked, "Remember making the Polyjuice potion?

"You mean the one that gave you a tail and whiskers?" her boyfriend answered.

"You will pay for that. Watch." With that, Hermione plucked a hair from Ron's head

"Ouch! What did you do that for?"

Hermione did not answer she placed the hair in the cap and then put it on her head. Instantly Ron was looking at himself.

"Bloody hell!" Ron yelled

"Bloody hell!" Ron/Hermione called out in perfect imitation. Then Ron/Hermione removed the cap and she was just Hermione again. "You just need a piece of hair, a drop of blood or a nail clipping. Then it works just like a Polyjuice Potion without the brewing."

Ginny grinned, "I am really glad the twins are no longer in school. Do you know how much trouble they could cause with this?"

Ron and Harry grinned back and together asked, "Do you know how much trouble we could cause with this?"

"You are not allowed to start talking like Fred and George!" Hermione yelled. "The two of them are bad enough."

Ginny looked around. "I think we should all take the rest of the night off. We leave for school tomorrow and need a break." Ginny smiled with a mischievous quirk to her lips. "I have not been kissed by my boyfriend in over forty-eight hours. I think I want to spend some quiet time with him so he can make up for his lack of attention."

The next morning Harry, Hermione and Ginny were sitting quietly at the kitchen table again, eating breakfast. Noises from upstairs indicated that Ron was dashing around trying to get everything packed.

"Where is my cauldron?" a voice demanded from upstairs.

"In the corner under your dress robes, dear," Hermione absently called back while reading the Daily Prophet. Turning the page, Hermione commented, "Has anyone pointed out to him that with the Portals we can come back if we forget anything?"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other, "No."

Hermione sighed, "I did not think so. Ron is a talented wizard, a great guy and I love him, but he is so dense sometimes."

Hermione set the paper down. "Harry, did you see the article about you in today's Prophet?"

"Great. What are they saying about me now?"

"Nothing bad. Just that you are returning to Hogwarts today."

"Well, I guess Riddle would have known that already," groaned Harry.

"It also says you disappeared over the summer and rumor is the Ministry was unable to find you."

Harry nodded. "It is almost like all of Godric's Hollow is unplottable. I talked to Brian Smythe-Jones, a fifth year Hufflepuff in town. He said when he is at school he can talk about home but people take no notice of it and ignore it. Almost like Muggles see the Leaky Cauldron but don't really see it. The Hollow had that effect on both Muggles and wizards from the outside."

Hermione blinked, "I did not know he was from this village. He was in the DA and I never knew."

"Don't feel bad, I think it was Godric's magic making you not pay attention," Harry told her.

Harry called to Dobby and asked him what he would do once he and his friends had left.

Dobby replied, "I will make sure that Harry Potter's house is perfect for him when he returns."

"Dobby, since there will not be much to do here, if you would like to return to Hogwarts during the school year please feel free."

"Harry Potter said 'Please' to me again!" the house-elf squealed with glee. "Dobby will take care of your house and Dobby told the other house-elves that only Dobby would clean your dorm.

Harry had to smile at the devotion Dobby showed him. "I just have to warn you Dobby that I am sharing the Head dorm with Draco Malfoy."

Dobby's ears dropped. "Once Dobby's former young master talked to Dobby and played with him. Then he became evil like Dobby's former master. Dobby will stay hidden from him."

Harry thanked Dobby and returned to the book he was reading.

After thirty more minutes, Ron came down the stairs with his trunk and all of his other things. Gathering all of the stuff in a pile, Harry cast Shrinking Charms, while Hermione activated the Portal to Fred and George's Diagon Alley shop. Placing their possessions into pockets, the foursome walked through the Portal.

Walking into the workshop was like an odd trip through the twins' mind. Strange, half-written notes sat scattered among boxes of candies and other normal seeming items.

Fred stuck his head into the room as they arrived. Turning his head out to face the shop he called out, "They are coming down now." Then he walked the rest of the way into the workshop.

Fred whispered, "About time you showed up. Shacklebolt, Tonks and Remus have been waiting with a Ministry car. We told them you were packing your things upstairs. I think Remus and Tonks were just playing along."

Harry smiled, "I expect they all were. Remus and Tonks have been to my house and Kingsley has probably been told as an Order member, but as an Auror he has to pretend he doesn't know." Harry led his friends out into the main part of the shop.

"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks called as they wandered out. "What took you so long? Fancy a stop for a last minute snog?"

Harry grinned at Tonk's teasing. "Maybe I felt you needed more time to work on Remus," he shot back.

As both Tonks and Remus blushed, Ginny added, "And it wasn't Harry who insisted on stopping for a snog!"

Fred and George acted as through shocked by the news. Fred started, "Ginevra Weasley, I am shocked…" To George, "…that you would be snogging…" Back to Fred, "some boy and say it in front of us!"

Ginny turned to her twin brothers and raised her eyebrows. "Maybe it's because I had two bad example brothers who I always caught talking about snogging Angelina or Katie?"

Fred and George laughed. In unison they said, "We surrender! Just don't tell Mum!"

With a wicked grin, Ginny said, "I would never tell Mum. Angelina and Katie are a different matter!"

While the others laughed, Fred turned to George and said, "Blackmailed by our own baby sister!"

George replied, "We're so proud!"

At the prompting of Kingsley, the group said goodbye to Fred and George and walked to the Leaky Cauldron. With just a wave to Bill, the barkeep, they climbed into a waiting Ministry car. With their shrunken trunks in their pockets, the group quickly piled into the car for the drive to King's Cross.

Harry usually enjoyed the walk through King's Cross to Platform 9 ¾. Typically, the walk meant returning to the closest thing Harry had ever known to a true home and leaving the Dursley's behind. This time Harry made the walk with mixed emotions. Hogwarts without Dumbledore seemed impossible. Also in an unbelievably short time, the house in Godric's Hollow had become a true home.

Ginny's hand slipped into Harry's. Glancing down at her, he smiled and felt his spirits rise. Looking around the station, Harry could spot many of the remaining students and a number of the incoming first years. He was surprised by how young they looked the new first years looked. Harry could almost see a young, mop-headed boy with a fully loaded cart, complete with owl trying to make his way onto the platform.

Reaching the platform, Hermione started to immediately assume her Head Girl duties. Pointing out students having difficulties, she started assigning Ron, Ginny and Harry to help.

Kingsley stopped her and said, "I need Harry to do another duty. He will meet you on the train." Ignoring Hermione's look of warring frustration and curiosity, Kingsley led Harry to a small room off the platform.

Sitting in a chair flanked by two Aurors sat Draco Malfoy. Malfoy sneered at Harry when he walked into the room. "Great, now my day is complete. At least it is not the Mudblood."

Harry turned angrily and asked Kingsley, "What is this?"

"You are going to be responsible for making sure Draco gets to Hogwarts. Kingsley shrugged, "It was not my idea. Here is his wand."

Harry took Draco's wand in his hand and felt the temptation to snap it in two. After a moment he asked Kingsley, "Are there any other surprises?"

The dark skinned Auror smiled, "Good, I can see you are as happy as I am. What would a year at Hogwarts be without more surprises?"

Harry snorted. "A sweet dream"

Harry turned and looked at Draco for a minute. He sat in his school robes with a Slytherin badge but without the Prefects badge he had held since third year. Behind Draco's sneering condescension, Harry thought he detected something else.

"Could you please leave us for a moment?" Harry asked.

Kingsley nodded to the other Aurors and said, "We will be just outside." Then they left.

Harry sat in another chair and continued to study Draco. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Then Harry spoke a question that had been running through his brain.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Draco snapped.

"Why when you had Dumbledore in your power did you hold back?"

"I don't know. I froze up on the pathetic old fool." Draco said nastily.

"Draco, it is only us in the room. I won't tell a single soul. I will tell you I know how much you agonized over it during the school year. I know about crying in the girls' bathroom. I just want the truth."

Draco seemed to pale at Harry's words and how calmly they were asked. This did not seem to be what he expected. "I don't really know. I guess…"

"Go ahead. I need to know before I agree to all of this."

Draco sighed. "I guess it is because Dumbledore always treated me decently. All I ever wanted was my father's approval; to be every thing he expected of his son. Dumbledore is the only person who ever simply treated me as Draco."

Draco dropped his head. "I hated and loved both of them for what they demanded of me. Then I failed both of them." A sob came from Draco. "Did they tell you about my parents? What the Dark Lord did to them with Snape's help?"

Harry could only nod. What could he say?

"I will never admit this again, but, I am sorry, Harry. I understand now some of what you went through growing up. I never wanted to know."

Harry was surprised to see tears in Draco's eyes. For the first time since meeting Draco in Diagon Alley six years before, Harry felt that Draco was actually telling the truth. Harry felt a moments rage at Lucius Malfoy. What kind of person would Draco be without his father's twisted views?

Harry stood up and motioned to Malfoy. "Stand up."

Draco stood up reluctantly. When he stood Harry noticed a wide bracelet on his right arm.

"What is that?" Harry asked.

"It prevents me from using magic or Apparating. The Ministry did not want me running on them." Draco answered with contempt rich in his voice.

Harry turned and called for Kingsley to come back into the room. When he stepped in, Harry asked him to remove the bracelet. Reluctant, Kingsley asked Harry if he was sure.

Harry nodded, "We need to do this."

"If you are sure about this," Kingsley said while reaching for the bracelet.

Once Draco was free of the bracelet, Harry handed him his wand.

Draco shook his head. Looking Harry in the eye, he asked, 'Why?"

"You deserve to be able to defend yourself if Riddle and the Death Eaters come again. Let's go."

Draco followed Harry out of the room and onto the platform. "Why did you call the Dark Lord 'Riddle'?" he asked.

Harry chuckled, "Did you think he was born with that name? He was born to a witch mother and a Muggle father. His real name is Tom Marvalo Riddle."

"The Dark Lord is a Half Blood? You are lying!"

Harry shook his head but kept walking. "No, I am not. When we get back to Hogwarts, I will tell you some of the things I know about his life." Harry reached the train and motioned for Draco to precede him onto the train.

Harry led Draco into the car set aside for the Heads and the Prefects. The car was empty since they were all out assisting the students boarding the train. Harry moved to the compartment furthest from the car entrance. Opening a compartment, Harry pointed to a seat for Draco to sit down.

"This is not going to be easy. I look at you and I see what you tried to do and Dumbledore offering his protection." Harry said to the blond Slytherin.

Draco paled slightly and asked, "What do you mean you 'see'?"

"No one told you?" Harry asked. "I was standing on the walkway with you when the whole episode happened. Professor Dumbledore placed a full body bind on me and hid me from view. I witnessed the whole thing." The last was said from behind clenched teeth.

Draco collapsed into himself. The news that Harry witnessed Draco's moment of greatest weakness felt like a dagger to his ego. Draco hated Harry and all of his Muggle-loving crew. Nothing had changed Draco's view that Purebloods were superior. Yet, a small part of Draco respected Harry as an opponent. Although Harry exhibited all of the nauseating Gryffindor traits of bravery and heroism, he also showed an almost Slytherin cunning and subtlety at times. Much of the reason Draco harassed the Gryffindors for the last six years lay in the fact Draco saw Harry as his only worthy opponent in the school. Knowing his greatest opponent witnessed his failure burned.

Harry left the compartment when he heard other students approaching the car. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Prefects filtered in first. Exchanging greeting with Harry they moved into the open compartments.

Ron wandered in and approached Harry, "Great you already got us a compartment! I figured we would be stuck wandering the train the whole trip."

"Hold on, Ron. Don't go in yet."

Ginny and Hermione were just entering the car as Ron asked, "Why can't we sit down?"

Draco's voice came from within the compartment, "I think he wanted to warn you about me, Weasley."

Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked startled at the cultured, malevolent voice coming from the car.

"Why is Malfoy sitting in our compartment?" Hermione asked in a fierce whisper.

Harry's voice was resigned when he answered, "I'm responsible for making sure he reaches Hogwarts safely."

Ginny grimaced, "I was looking forward to this trip. His two thugs didn't get on the train. I figured we would have a nice, peaceful trip for once."

Harry nodded and shrugged an apology to his friends. Then he turned and led them into the compartment with Malfoy.

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