A/N:
For the Reviewers:
Arisflame: The tallest one in the world was Robert Wadlow. He died at the age of 22 from an infection. His height at the time was 8'11" or 2.72 m. Of course, Hagrid is taller, of course, I think his height is labeled around 12', so I intend Harry to grow close to similar in height, maybe topping out near there. Thanks for sharing in my total misfortune of flashdrives. Those items have always been so troublesome!
Apologies to lastcrazyhorn and JustMe, I used a rather weird terminology, it's from all the manga I've been reading lately. I blame Inuyasha, Ouran High School Host Club, and Naruto. I'll probably change it sometime.
Rileylunawolf: I'm not going to spoil it for you, you'll see later on. Probably in a chapter or two. Right now, I'm more interested in the stone and such. Maybe next chapter you'll see.
All other reviewers: Thanks so much for the support, if I didn't answer a question, I'm sorry if I missed it! I look forward to hearing from you all some more! PMs are welcome if you want to chat! Please keep R&R!
Ratings: K-T, as usual.
Warnings: Slight cursing, a little bashing.
Disclaimer: Just look at earlier chapters. Really, I don't own Harry Potter.
Love me hate me… But please, if you don't like it, don't read any further. Your flames merely make my review numbers go up, and I enjoy that, which means you failed at your attempt to insult me or my piece.
Amazing isn't it? The little things we realize?
A Serving Extra Large
Chapter 8:
Filius Flitwick was furious. No he was past that.
He was enraged.
The two Hufflepuff first years had, quite luckily in his mind considering their age group, a heavy dose of common sense and an eye for details, allowing for them to immediately notice and confirm a dangerous situation and go for the proper help and authorities, instead of giving into curiosity and poking their noses where they shouldn't.
It still didn't lessen the fact that they could have, quite easily and painfully, been killed by the defenses the school had provided to guard that enticing little trinket they shouldn't have been guarding in the first place! He was going to be having nightmares over how they could have died for months, perhaps years, after this. He knew just how dangerous his own trap was, and the fact that it was one of the safer ones.
Goodness knows what would have happened if either one had been attacked by the Cerberus, forced to deal with Minerva's chessboard, or captured and killed by Pomona's Devil's Snare.
Nightmare inducing indeed.
He was starting to think Severus' opinion that the Headmaster was a bowl lacking any marbles at all was entirely correct. 'Probably replaced them with lemon drops,' he thought sourly, the irony that thought was not lost on the clever quarter-goblin and he quickly shuffled it away for a laugh with Severus another day.
Back to the matter at hand though, briefing the Deputy Headmistress.
"Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom were led to the left-hand, third floor corridor door?" The woman hissed, not unlike her animagus form.
"Yes," he said. "Someone has been tampering with my incantations Minerva, and it was familiar, although I could not place it." This part was said with a level of anger and irritation that neither professor thought was unavailable to the rather kind and jovial professor before. "When I do, however," the professor didn't finish the thought though the implications hung there.
He was an International Dueling Champion after all, and one that was forced into retirement no less.
The formidable Head of Lions looked like she agreed and merely gave one, single sharp nod.
"Make sure to leave something behind," was her response.
"I'll try."
"Now," she leaned forward, her hands pressing firmly together against her lips as it flattened ominously, "What can be done to prevent this? And what should we do with the other implications? The stone," they both grimaced, "will need even more defenses, if the staircase one can be bypassed."
"All of them can be bypassed," the Charm Professor muttered and Minerva rolled her eyes before nodding in agreement.
"I know, Filius, however…" She paused.
"What?" He asked curiously and watched as the intelligent woman leaned back in her chair and her right index finger stroking her chin thoughtfully as the left one came up to drum rhythmically on her mahogany desk.
"What if we 'upped' the difficulty level?" She asked.
"Albus will never agree," Filius replied flatly.
"Then we'll merely have to do this without his agreement or permission," she stated. "This isn't only a matter of the stone's safety, but the students." Filius' mind instantly turned back to the pale and worried face of Harry Potter, who seemed to grasp the implications of a student's curiosity, as well as the frightened one of Neville Longbottom. He instantly felt his jaw clench and the molars of his teeth grind against each other in irritation.
"Better to be forgiven than to ask permission?" He asked quietly, an unspoken agreement that had the stress leaving Minerva's tensed shoulders. 'Prepared to fight me over it,' he thought.
"We'll have to tell Pomona and Severus."
"Of course, neither will be happy, though."
"I believe both would be quite unhappy if one of the students, especially the best Potion student in all of first year and the best Herbology student period, ended up dead because of this crackpot scheme of Albus'."
"No, they would not. You'll supply the whiskey?"
"Aye, we'll need it."
Pomona and Severus were in immediate agreement. Well they would be, once they calmed down.
"I have poisons down that hall!" Severus raged, the fear and anger mixing on his sallow face, twisting it into a furious mask of paranoia and understanding, "It shouldn't even be possible for the stairs to move to that landing! Dumbledore's idiotic reason and necessity for regular checks be damned! Take a damned broom over if you must! He can use Fawkes or Apparate to the final room if need be!" He paced like a caged tiger before the Hufflepuff Head of House who gripped the ends of her stuffed armchair in obvious alarm.
"My Hufflepuffs?" Pomona whispered. Her tanned skin a milky color like when tea was had too much cream. "What is going to be done? Has Albus—"
"We aren't bringing Albus in on this," Minerva said with a sharp slash of her hand. "That old goat wouldn't want to change anything and hem-and-haw over the entire matter until we gave in merely to get out of the damned meeting."
"We're doing this by ourselves for the students." Filius stated quite firmly. Both of the other Heads instantly calmed, Severus stalking over to his own seat and collapsing into it, while some color returned to Pomona's face and her fingers released their tensed, almost clawing, grip on the chair's arms.
"Oh," she said her hand coming up to run through her graying hair, "that's a relief."
"I'll switch every bleeding bottle to a poison," Severus said almost gleefully, "that'll fix any dunderheaded fool!" The trio glanced at him pointedly until he grumbled, "Not all deadly ones, some paralytics as well." This caused them to nod.
"I'll substitute the current Devil's Snare with a modified one and a few others." The Herbology Master decided. "Let's see them get to the other rooms riddled with hallucinogenic pollen and knife long thorns stuck in them."
"I'll add a few more guardian charms to keys, and add multiple doors to the room with the use of size shifting charm on the room. Make it more difficult to actually pass if it comes down to it." Filius added.
"I'll just make it impossible for you to win the chess match. Win or lose, the pieces will force you to play and still attack at the end." Minerva said viciously. "I'll transmute the pieces into something more dangerous as well; enlarged marble isn't nearly as dangerous as actual steel or iron, even if it does put me in Poppy's care for a few days for magical exhaustion."
"What'll we do with the troll?" Pomona asked, "Are we getting Quirinus to add to the defense?" Severus snorted in derision.
"I say include a few charms to channel its aggression and brutality to higher level along with magic draining runes to the room that'll trigger when the door is breached, that'll stop any intruder." The other three winced at his suggestion but nodded. It would work.
"We're in agreement then?" Minerva asked. They others nodded. "Good, we'll keep this to ourselves then. We don't need Albus sticking his crooked nose into this. He's likely to try something himself if he knows what we're doing."
"Barmy old goat," Severus muttered under his breath.
While the meeting for the four Head of House was underway, Harry was having a meeting with Susan.
"Hey, Sue, can I ask you something?" Harry asked as he caught sight of the redhead alone for once. The DMLE Head's niece nodded and he jogged quickly over to her and plopped into the seat next to her.
"What's up?" She asked glancing at her tallest friend curiously. Harry crossed his arms and leaned forward with a look of consternation twisting his brow and lips into a frown.
"Have you been able to tell your aunt about the warning concerning the third floor?" His fellow 'Puff blinked, before scrunching up her nose in thought and Harry felt something deep in his gut start to churn uneasily.
"Now that you mention it… I forgot?" Her head cocked to the side and she took in his obviously worried look. "Why? Is something wrong, Harry?" Unease was starting to fill her as well. Susan wasn't the type to forget such an important detail, especially wither her aunt raising her to be self-aware and prepared always; a fact that had her keeping a secret folded knife in her pocket and a port-key to the Ministry inconspicuously dangling as a charm on a bracelet spelled to be unbreakable or removable.
"Neville and I were directed to that corridor last night," he said quietly leaning forward and dropping his voice so only she could hear. She instantly realized he'd taken the seat that let him check to see if anyone was watching or listening in. She shifted and used a large stack of books and her book bag to further block them from an easy line of sight.
"Did you see something?" She whispered back. Her own gaze flickered warily over their company. While Hufflepuff's were loyal, they were notorious gossips.
"No," he replied, "It felt off," Harry admitted, "I got us up to the fourth floor and immediately to Flitwick's." He paused.
"He was mad."
"Flitwick?" Susan asked in surprise, trying to picture the chipper and bouncy Charms Professor as anything but a smiling, kind instructor.
"He said that the stairs weren't supposed to do that since he charmed them to move only a certain way at certain times." Harry replied lowly. "He said someone was tampering with his spells." Susan felt a shiver go down her spine. Her lips flattened and she dragged a clean and unused piece of parchment over.
"I'm notifying my aunt, this is clearly something she needs to know about."
"I'll stay with you," Harry said. She glanced at him in question. "We need to make sure that gets out. You better write double. We'll try to send it out with another owl from me or through with one of the older Puffs when they go to Hogsmeade this weekend."
"You think something dangerous is going on, Harry?" She asked, the knot of dread left her stomach and lodged in her throat. She swallowed it down when he glanced at her and his gaze, no longer hampered by ill-fitting glasses, was dark and deep like the evergreens around the school at the height of winter.
"I know something dangerous is going on." Harry stated. "After all, the third floor, left hand corridor is deadly." Susan nodded slowly, her lips firming.
"I'll write three."
Cedric was tasked with sending an owl from the Public Owl Post Office with one of Susan's letter, Harry sent off an owl with his own written letter to Director Bones while Hannah agreed to send one with one of the school owls, and Susan handled the last.
"Do you think she got it?" Susan asked the next day, her teeth gnawing her bottom lip nervously.
"I hope so," Harry said. Neville was busy writing his own letter to his gran and paused in ending it.
"Should I add a postscript to Gran about this?" He asked Harry. The first year Puff's lips thinned before he nodded.
"Yes," Harry said glancing around their collective group warily. "If my aunt or uncle were magical—"
"And not a bunch of poncy…" Neville muttered,
"I'd send one to them as well."
"Send what?" Oliver asked as he and Wayne paused in doing some last minute homework.
"A note to our relatives about the third hand corridor," Neville answered.
"Is that what you had me sending last Saturday?" Cedric asked curiously. The small group in the know nodded. "Why?"
"Someone tried to force Neville and me to go there last week," all conversation stopped at Harry's proclamation.
"WHAT?!" Hannah near shrieked before shushing motions stopped her.
"We were coming back from the library a bit late and were going down the stairs when they suddenly moved." Harry explained before going into a full recount of the night. He finished with, "Flitwick was furious. What he said… It sounded like someone tampered with the moving stairs." The group paled.
"But the Headmaster said the corridor was liable to kill someone!" Ernie whispered fearfully.
"Are you saying someone tried to kill you?" Megan said aghast.
"I'm not sure," Harry said with a shake of his head, "but they definitely wanted us to go to it. They moved us away from any staircase leading down and forced us to choose between going back up and finding another way down, and going to the corridor." Cedric's expression turned dark.
"Wait here," he ordered. "I'm going to go talk to someone who might know something about the corridor." The first years glanced at him startled but nodded. The third year stalked out of the Great Hall where they were all grouped up studying and returned twenty minutes later with two gangly redheads who looked like the annoying prat in Gryffindor. It made sense the idiot had brothers though, with how he went on about not having to fight for food anymore. His terrible eating habits grossed even them out, and they sat at another table.
"This is Fred and George Weasley," Cedric said waving at the two when they stopped. He quickly introduced the whole group to them and vice versa.
"Nice to meet you," Harry said politely, but quickly got to the task at hand, "Cedric said you might know something about the third floor, left hand corridor." The twins blanched.
"Don't ask about that mate," the one on the left said hurriedly, the group wasn't sure if this was George or Fred, but listened closely. "And don't you dare go there." They both shuddered and looked at each other.
"Terrible business, Gred," one said with a grimace.
"Awful business, Forge," the other twin spoke for the first time with a nod.
"What do you mean," Zacharias asked, eyes narrowing. The twin males exchanged a look and leaned in.
"There's a three headed dog in there," they whispered together.
"Very vicious," the one on the right said harshly. His brother continued.
"Nearly bit our sneaky noses off,"
"For poking them in for a glimpse at what's what and all that!"
"So…"
"Unless you want…"
"Something bitten off…"
"Or, to be completely honest, eaten…"
"Don't go!"
"Now…" The one who spoke second said.
"We've got a brother to torture and torment."
"Ta-ta, ickle firsties!" The group of Hufflepuffs watched them waltz away, pale and showing false bravado. Cedric sank into a seat on the Ravenclaw bench and instantly put his head between his knees to keep from hyperventilating. It looked like it was working.
The rest of the group, unluckily, wasn't much better off.
"Susan," Harry said, breaking the quiet.
"Yes, Harry?" The redhead replied.
"We're writing more letters."
Amelia Bones stalked into Hogwarts on October 15th with her lips flattened into a disapproving frown, and a squad of sixteen Aurors behind her. Her gaze darted to the Hufflepuff table where her niece sat a midst the other first years in her house. She met the pale face and nodded slightly, before jerking it away when a look of relief passed over Susan's soft, heart shaped face.
Dumbledore slowly clambered to his feet, his gaze meeting the steel haired woman's fierce and assessing one. "Madam Director Bones," the man said in a grave tone, "what can I do for you?" Suddenly his lime colored robe was no longer distracting, and the jovial nature he adopted disappeared. A formidable figure stood there. One that was actually respectable.
"You can start by explaining why you have a dangerous creature inside this school near unprotected and innocent untrained witches and wizards." She stated harshly. The elderly man's visage was mildly concerned, but mostly bland, as though the accusation meant nothing to him.
"I'm sorry, Madam Director, but could you explain or describe the creature?" He stated, his mind rapidly going to the third corridor where two such creatures were housed, and the one he suspected was hidden in the very bowels of the school, but never properly handled by his predecessor.
"I'm talking about the reported Cerberus in the third floor, left hand corridor, witnessed by a number of wizards and witches under the age of maturity!" She snapped. Immediately a number of whispers and lowly spoken comments erupted in the previously silenced room. The entire table of professors' gaze flickered between the headmaster and the Keeper of Keys. It was obvious who the owner of said animal was and the department head's gaze narrowed.
"Which students?" the Deputy Headmistress asked in concern as she slowly stood as well. There were supposed to be wards, along with the staircase charm, to prevent students from even noticing or going near the door.
"Ones who were able to shoot a mere Alohamora at the door apparently and get it to open," Amelia snarled. The Weasley Twin account had been dragged out of them by an insistent Harry Potter, and then mailed along to her through a plethora of methods. All of them being 'lost' and thus attempts accumulating to the point where Cedric Diggory actually floo-called an auror in the department from the borrowed fireplace at Hog's Head and handed it over as an urgent report when after two weeks and twenty-eight different tries, all of the owls had returned confounded, with or without their packages. Hedwig had been beside herself and sporting bloodied talons in her attempts to prevent her burden's removal. She had been unsuccessful, even after the first years and then higher students' attempts to make a ward to prevent the loss of the letter.
The whole of Hufflepuff house ended up informed, with the exception of the Head of House, over what was in the third corridor. In fact, a number of the older and bolder students going so far as to confirm the fact, before all eighty or so members had sent massive amounts of letters home.
The sheer number of letters led to their parents notifying the DMLE who in turn reacted even faster when Harry's and Susan's joint letter reached them.
The recount was much more effective since it was signed in both the writers' and witnesses' blood.
"What?!" Filius snapped shooting up. "A simple Alohamora?! Albus?! What did you do? The wards I put up on that door were strong enough you'd need a cursebreaker to get through! A goblin cursebreaker!" The headmaster visibly shifted, it wasn't a gulp or shake, but for a man who spent over forty years as a political leader, it was a clear give away at his rising agitation.
"I do not know Filius," Albus answered uneasily, his plans were being laid bare, but those hadn't included tampering with the door to that extent. He had planned to test Harry, but not with this corridor, not this soon. The protection of the stone was merely a holdover until then. Filius' next question distracted him from his plots however.
"Were you involved with the stairs?" Filius asked as he hopped onto the table.
"Stairs?" Albus asked in confusion.
"The stairs, that were charmed to stay stationary from after dinner to an hour past curfew, decided to move with two of my youngest Hufflepuff first years in an attempt to maneuver them into entering that corridor, Albus," Pomona's steel-like voice cut in. Albus' expression gave way this time, as incredulity passed through his eyes widening them and his mouth dropping open in shock.
"I-I had no idea, why wasn't I notified?"
"Why wasn't the DMLE or the parents and guardians notified that Hogwarts would have heightened security measures?!" Amelia demanded, cutting in viciously.
"Probably because it was after the letters were sent out," Severus muttered darkly at the end of the table, remembering the last minute rush to protect the blasted item.
"Explanations Dumbledore! Or I'll arrest you for reckless endangerment of minors by the hundreds!" Amelia snarled.
"As the Lord of Hogwarts and her surroundings—" Dumbledore attempted.
"I'll have the Board dragging your wrinkled arse out of here if you try to pull that, Albus, especially since I know of at least three that have their children currently attending school here!" Amelia broke in. "Answers Dumbledore!" The man's stance sagged.
"Let's take this to my office, Minerva please dismiss the students from classes for the day and then join us my office. All students are required to be on their best behavior or any infraction will be doubled their usual punishment. At the very least," He spoke, the last raised loudly so any troublemaker took back any thought of mischief. He then motioned to the director to follow him.
"Shacklebolt, take half of the squad up to that corridor and investigate the claim, do not antagonize it if it is actually there. Moody, you'll be joining me for this little tête-à-tête. The rest of you will report to Dawlish and maintain a perimeter around the main entrance. Do not antagonize anyone or I'll demote you to pre-Academy!" She ordered before turning away and sharply following the aged politician and headmaster. Her red Auror robes and steel-colored hair an impressive forewarning as her most senior auror and advisor stumped after her, his wooden peg leg making a sharp thump on the wood and stone as he followed at her side.
"Looks like things might be resolved," Hannah said with relief.
Nobody noticed that Professor Quirrell was suspiciously absent.
Severus was displeased to be in the office, even if it was warranted and it was not his arse being chewed out. Irritatingly so, he felt like an errant child who'd been caught sneaking out to make-out with his girlfriend after hours, not that he had ever done that during school of course, but still.
Annoyed, Severus glanced at his former headmaster and current boss with thinly veiled aggravation. The headmaster was clearly trying to play catch up, his nervousness only apparent to those who knew him best, as his left hand twitched ever so slightly toward the specially medicated, potion treated lemon drops. He knew this because he'd tried one once, and instantly smelt and tasted the incredibly mild calming potion in them.
That was quite a devious maneuver on the old goat's part, to be frank.
He did not approve.
The whimsical man, however, was currently pinned with the eagle like stare of the Madam Director and Severus settled for standing against the wall of the office watching the scene as it played out.
"I ought to arrest you, Albus Dumbledore!" She snarled. "Mail tampering, by the sheer amount, and the reckless endangerment charges dangling over you do not look good, Supreme Mugawump." The white bearded man managed not to flinch, but the quick blink was damning enough.
"Mail tampering?" Pomona asked, her interruption a useful foil for the Bones Matriarch.
"Yes, unlawful impediment of private citizens' correspondence!" She snapped. "If the numbers are correct, you've intercepted at least two dozen envelopes sent to me and guardians of a number of students, namely Harry Potter, Susan Bones, Cedric Diggory, Hannah Abbot, and Neville Longbottom. Three of whom are to be the next Lords of their lines, and one their Lady! Dual for Mr. Potter, who is the closet relation to the main, male line of the Ancient and Noble House of Black by passing over even the Malfoy heir!" Albus winced at this. Pomona looked at the headmaster that could be only interpreted as a deep revulsion and a need for recompenses.
"You interfered with my Hufflepuffs?!" She spoke quietly. "What are you playing at, Albus?" The name was hissed.
"Y-yes, well…" He sighed before finally removing his glasses and pressing a liver spotted hand against his eyes and forehead, rubbing away some of the tension.
"I'm waiting," Amelia said. Mad-Eye Moody loomed, even with his short stature, at her side like a grimacing gargoyle, his magical eye pinning the elderly statesman with rare severity and none of its general paranoia.
"As the sole living student of Nicholas Flamel, I was tasked with the protection and defense of the Sorcerer's Stone for a brief period of time since it pertained to my studies and current interests." Albus said tiredly, "Nicholas moved it to one of our shared vaults and on the thirty-first I had Hagrid secretly fetch it for me, so I could confirm I'd received it and study it for a brief period of time."
"The day it was withdrawn, Gringotts was broken into." The director's eyes widened.
"So you decided to keep it hidden at a school full of children?!" She hissed in disbelief.
"Only briefly," he snapped. "I planned to have it out of the school at the end of the year after Nicholas' and his wife's return from vacation. A fifty-eighth honeymoon or something? I haven't the foggiest where they are and they are not possible to get a hold of unless they contact you first." He shook his head and pressed both hands' fingers this time against his temples and rubbed. "I couldn't announce the protection of the stone without endangering it. Nor could I return it to Gringotts when it proved to be less than absolutely safe."
"So you decided to hide it here, since Hogwarts is the safest place in Great Britain?" Alistor stated, well acquainted with his old friend's thought patterns.
"I could constantly monitor it with the help of Fawkes and the other Masters at the school, although I was counting on Quirinus to be in better condition than he actually is or a true Defense Master."
"There are no true Defense Masters in Britain, Albus, not anymore. You should know that! That requires an intimate knowledge of the Dark Arts, and that is not taught here, not at any true length. Only those who attend Durmstang have any chance of becoming a Defense Master, and they aren't the sort to move to Britain." Alistor stated. "Even I only have a Journeyman status, with Snape the next highest at Apprentice."
"I know, Alistor, but I cannot change the Ministry regulations or Board decisions placed on Hogwarts any more than I can change the day from night." He snapped. "I have petitioned for the past sixteen years, but to no avail. The Ministry regulated curriculum has…"
"Enough," Amelia interrupted, "this is not a Wizengamot session. Explain the illegal interference of private civilian correspondence Albus, as well as the protections." He sighed.
"I placed a ward to prevent any mail concerning the stone from leaking to the general public. It cannot get out that the stone is here, or we will become besieged with a number of problems in our attempts to protect it.
"Why not label the corridor as under construction or some such?" Amelia demanded. A question that she felt was particularly intelligent on the young Potter's end and she was quite willing to use for her own purposes.
"Even with such a restriction, it wouldn't explain the high caliber protections against the door or the lack of construction workers. We are also home to over a hundred house-elves, any reconstruction or repair necessary to the upkeep of the castle is handled by them over the summer silently. Anything that needs to be fixed during the school year but they have been unable to immediately tend to is placed under a time-suspension and glamoured." Albus answered. "Plus, students are known to go where there is supposedly privacy for, ahem, relations. To ensure this I thought a stern warning, not unlike the one for the Forbidden Forrest, was necessary. I did not know that there were any problems with the defenses until now though." Amelia's lips flattened.
"You will heighten security," she snapped. "I wish for a list," she held up a hand, "of who is assisting you in protecting the stone and you will allow one of my more experienced Aurors to do a quick run through. Any flaws will be rectified, and the Auror put under a strict Vow of Silence and even Obliviated to prevent any pertinent information from leaking. You will also allow for at least two of my Aurors to be stationed at the school to assist in the stone's protection, as well as the transfer of the stone to its owner at the end of the school year, or sooner if Alchemist Flamel returns at an earlier time. You will," her gaze narrowed, "pay a fine to each person I previously listed for a month's worth of unnecessary aggravation and improper use of a mail ward. I will keep this from the general public, and even report that the animal was merely being treated for injuries. You will accept this, no further discussion will be allowed on this matter. I'm still tempted to drag you in for further questioning and arrest. If I find the defenses inadequate afterward, I may sti—" A loud boom shocked the whole room and the previously silent Flitwick and Snape surged out of the room, the Aurors and the rest of the group a close second.
The explosion came from the direction of the third floor, left hand corridor.
They reached the scene to find the central staircases going berserk and Amelia's Aurors desperately clinging to the sides or landings as they attempted to disable the charms or destroy pieces of the structures where no one was at.
"Filius!" Albus said and the Charms Master immediately started a long chain of spells meant to control the havoc wreaking stairs. He fought half to submission, the ones the Aurors were on thankfully, while Minerva immediately appeared and started transfiguring the more dangerous ones along with Albus into more innocent shapes. Severus, the Aurors, and Pomona attacked the rest with a series of bludgeoning hexes and curses destroying or weakening them and forcing them to collapse to the empty courtyard below. This lasted for roughly half an hour and the combatants were left covered in splinters, paint, and plaster fragments when it was over.
"What happened?!" Amelia demanded. Kingsley clambered to his feet on the fourth floor landing and touched a graze to the head gingerly.
"The staircases went berserk after we confirmed the Cerberus and began the magical forensics as was code. Twilerty and Dockerson were thrown into the wall about twenty feet up and a heavy series of cushioning and Mobilcorpus charms directed them to the sixth floor, while we immediately tried to evacuate to safer landings." Shacklebolt answered. He staggered down the now affixed staircase cautiously before coming to stand in front of his commanding officer and department head.
"Any casualties?" She asked.
"None that I know of, though a few of us could use a check-up and some potions, either at the Hospital Wing or at St. Mungos." She nodded at this.
"See that it's done," she ordered. "I'll expect a full report and as many Penseive servable memories from all those here during the episode on my desk in three days."
"Ma'am," Kingsley said snapping a weak salute before stumbling off, limping slightly from where he'd been hit on the hip with a rather solid oak banister.
Running a hand down her face, Madam Bones turned to Dumbledore and growled, "So much for safest at Hogwarts."
"I'd expect it would be worse away from here," Dumbledore answered.
"It can always be worse." She muttered.
Susan looked instantly relieved when her aunt came to visit her that evening.
Harry, however, was not.
While the fact she was healthy was a good thing, the fact it took her eight hours after that morning's interruption and the subsequent explosion was an obvious point towards things going wrong.
"Everything is taken care of," she said simply. "The explosion was one of the staircases giving way above the aurors investigating and their subsequent removal of it and the pieces. A few of the aurors had to be treated, but they're all fine. The dog is of no issue."
'But she did not say it was gone,' Harry recognized. The DMLE head continued on in assuring them all before talking to her niece for a few minutes and leaving. Harry quickly retired to his room and paced. Neville entered a few moments later and watched his friend paranoid-induced stress session tiredly.
"There's a problem with what she said, isn't there?" He asked wearily as he finally interrupted the pacing and took a seat on Harry's bed. It took a slight hop, but he made it and motioned for the quarter-giant to join him. The dark haired boy sighed and slumped into a place next to him with a worn nod.
"Thought so," Neville muttered. The rest of the first year boys entered next and froze a bit as they caught sight of the worried pair.
"It's not fixed?" Justin said catching on.
Harry shook his head, while his face pressed wearily against his palms.
"Fuck," summed it up quite nicely.
A/N:
I wrote this chapter considering or not to have the confrontation with Harry's foe or not, and decided not. Though I think it's quite impressive how I had the stairs attack the aurors, adds a bit of mysterious spice to the story.
Now… If you have any questions, comments, or what not, please feel free to leave a review or PM me. If you leave a question as a guest I might not be able to answer it for you. It is fine, I try to answer most questions, but those that I feel are repeats or from listed people usually get answered quicker. If you're a flamer, please supply marshmallows, I love to have s'mores after I get one.
Also a Happy Fourth of July to the rest of Americans! I plan to have a few more chapters out this week hopefully. For the rest of you I hope you have a good weekend!