Professor Dumbledore swung open the door to the Hospital Wing where a small crowd had gathered to greet Harry and I. It usually filled me with joy to see our friends and family visiting us in the Hospital Wing but as I looked at the distressed, worried and just worn out faces of Bill, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Emily, George ad Fred there was a distinct lack of hope filling the room that year. Without saying another word to any of them I dragged myself to the nearest hospital bed hoping everyone would take in my sneer and just leave me alone for the time being. With complete understanding Remus approached the bed where I lied and closed the privacy curtain that separated my bed from the rest of the Hospital Wing.
"Thank you." My voice choked out in a low whisper.
"Alice-Lily," Remus began, brushing a piece of red hair from my eyes. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." I whispered staring past him at the floor. Remus didn't seem to know what to say and neither did I. We stayed silent for several moments my thoughts were swimming in my head as Remus sat on the bed stroking my hair. We listened to Professor Dumbledore outside.
"Please listen to me for a moment. Harry and Allison have been through a terrible ordeal tonight. They have just had to relive it for me. What they need now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. It is clear Allison has asked for privacy, however if Harry would like you all to stay with him you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."
"Headmaster," The voice of Madam Pomfrey spoke. "May I ask what - ?"
"This dog will be remaining with Harry for a while," Dumbledore answered. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. Harry, I will wait while you get into bed." There was a rustling of sheets and a jostling of bed springs that suggested Harry did just that. "I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Fudge. Please inform your sister that I would like you both to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school."
"Um, Okay." There was the sound of footsteps as Dumbledore left the Hospital Wing. I rolled on my side facing Remus.
"Where was Sev during the task?" I asked him breaking the silence between us. Remus paused for a moment he seemed to be calculating his answer heavily.
"He was in the stands with the rest of the professors."
"He didn't leave at all?"
"He was at Hogwarts the whole time Alice. I don't think he knew what was going on either." Remus seemed to guess my next question. "I could speak with Dumbledore, maybe Severus can come down and talk to you?" he rose from his seat and began to leave.
"Don't go." I pleaded. "Please stay with me at least until I'm asleep."
"I'll stay the whole night if you'd like." He said dragging a chair over to the side of my bed. There was bustling outside and I could only assume Harry had allowed everyone to stay with him and Sirius. I soon heard the clanging of goblets approaching me. Rolling over to my back I saw Madame Pomfrey come teetering in.
"Miss Potter you'll need to drink all of this I'm afraid. It's a potion for dreamless sleep." She said as she forced a goblet into my shaking hands. "I'd like for her to drink these as well." Madame Pomfrey handed Remus a tray of three potions. She then explained that one was to repair blood loss, another was to repair my leg wound, and the third was to calm the shaking and the shock. Once Remus assured her that I would take everything Madame Pomfrey left us alone.
"Which would you like first?"
"I don't care." I answered indifferently. I blindly plucked one cup from the tray and downed it. I continued this process until I had fully ingested each potion. "Can I go to sleep now?"
"Yes Alice-Lily and I'll be right here if you need anything." I flipped back on my side, closed my eyes and gripped Remus' hand tightly before drifting off to sleep. The long night's rest I had been looking for failed to come and I was woken to the sounds of shouting outside the Hospital Wing.
"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva -"
"You should never have brought it inside the castle! When Dumbledore finds out -" My ears strained to identify the voices in the hall.
"Is that the Minister of Magic? And…Professor McGonagall?" I asked Remus sleepily.
"Yes, it's alright. Why don't you just go back to sleep?"
"Let's see you get some sleep with everyone shouting about!" I grumbled pulling myself into a sitting position.
"Well you'll have to try. Come on now you need rest…" The doors to the Hospital must have burst open because Remus and I heard them clang as they hit the wall.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Cornelius Fudge demanded.
"He's not here." Mrs. Weasley responded angrily. "This is a Hospital Wing Minister don't you think you'd do better to…" But before she could finish her thought rapid easy steps entered the room.
"What has happened?" Professor Dumbledore asked sharply. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you - I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch -"
"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Albus!" Professor McGonagall's voice shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!" I tried to toss the sheets off myself to investigate the commotion outside but Remus forced me back into bed. We continued to listen to the raised voices outside.
"When we told Mister Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events…" Sev? I mouthed to Remus, to which he nodded. "He seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch…"
"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall fumed. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but -"
"My dear woman!" Fudge roared over her. "As Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous…" Professor McGonagall began to shout over Fudge.
"The moment that - that thing entered the room, it swooped down on Crouch and - and -"
"The Dementors kissed Barty Crouch didn't they?" I asked Remus as I gripped my elbows. Remus didn't say anything he just placed one finger over his lips as if to tell me that he was now intently listening to the adults outside.
"By all accounts, he is no loss!" Fudge claimed. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths'."
"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," Professor Dumbledore pointed out. "He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."
"Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" Fudge sounded flustered. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"
"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius, those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body." From the other end of the privacy curtain I could hear Fudge sputtering in an attempt to counter Professor Dumbledore.
"You-Know-Who . . . returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore ..."
"As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you," Dumbledore responded in an even tone, "We heard Barty Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort - learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins -went to free him from his father and use him to capture the children. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."
"See here, Dumbledore!" Fudge began again, "You - you can't seriously believe that You-Know-Who is back? Come now, come now . . . certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders - but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore ..." He doesn't believe us? I could believe my ears. I climbed out of bed to stand closer to the curtain as the two men's voices dropped to civil tones.
"When Allison touched the Triwizard Cup tonight she was transported straight to Voldemort. The same happened to Harry when he was handed a second Portkey. Together they witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step into my office." Professor Dumbledore told the Minister firmly.
"You are-er-prepared to take the children's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?" There was a moment of silence which was broken by a dog, Sirius, growling. Remus and I exchanged a smile at the Minister's expense before Dumbledore answered him.
"Certainly, I believe Allison and Harry. I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard both Mr. and Miss Potter's accounts of what happened after they touched their portkeys; the three stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."
"You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, an rule breaking young girl…and a boy…who…well…" I pulled back the privacy curtain to stare angrily at Minister of Magic.
"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr. Fudge." I leaned against the wall and continued to glare at Fudge. Harry chose my entrance as a convenient time to wake up, I could only suspect that he had been awake as long as I had, he was just hiding it for convenience sake. The Minister's cheeks flushed before a stubborn look set itself in his face.
"And if I have?" Fudge turned away from me and rounded on Dumbledore again. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the children very quiet? A Parselmouth eh? And having funny turns all over the place?"
"I assume that you are referring to the pains that Harry has admittedly experienced in his scar?" Dumbledore asked.
"You admit that he has been having these pains, then?" Fudge jumped at him. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly - hallucinations?" I moved to sit at the foot of Harry's bed and stroked Sirius's head to prevent him from attacking Fudge.
"Listen to me, Cornelius," Professor Dumbledore took a step toward Fudge so they stood nearly nose to nose. "Harry and Alice are as sane as you or I. The cars upon their heads have not addled their brains. I believe it hurts them when Lord Voldemort is close by or feeling particularly murderous." Fudge took a step back from Dumbledore but the pigheaded look did not disappear from his eyes.
"You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before…"
"Look!" Harry Shouted drawing everyone's attention to him. At the sound of Harry's shouts Remus came to stand beside me. "Alice and I saw him! We saw Death Eaters! I can give you names! Lucius Malfoy -" At the mention of Draco's father Severus' eyes flickered to Harry for a moment before flying back to Fudge.
"Malfoy was cleared! A very old family-donations to excellent causes…"
"Macnair!" Harry interrupted Fudges contradiction.
"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!" Fudge shook his head but Harry wouldn't give up. He continued to spout off the names of Death Eaters.
"Avery - Nott - Crabbe - Goyle -"
"You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" Fudge interrupted Harry angrily. "You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heaven's sake, Dumbledore - the boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too - his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them - the girl can talk to snakes. Dumbledore, and you still think they're trustworthy?"
"You fool!" The time it was Professor McGonagall who shouted at Fudge. "Cedric Diggory! Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"
"I see no evidence to the contrary!" Fudge shouted back at the Deputy Headmistress. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!" I had never taken the Minister of Magic to be a foolish man but as he stood before us refusing to accept that Voldemort could have risen again, I began to question the man's sanity.
"Voldemort has returned." Professor Dumbledore responded plainly. "If you accept that fact straightaway and take the necessary measures we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors…" But Fudge was shouting at Dumbledore again.
"Preposterous! Remove the dementors? I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!" Dumbledore had arranged his face to an icy cool now realizing he couldn't force logic into the other man's mind.
"The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them. They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard-pressed to stop him regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!" Fudge was opening and closing his mouth as though no words could express his outrage.
"The second step you must take, and at once," Dumbledore pressed on, "is to send envoys to the giants."
"Envoys to the giants?" Fudge shrieked, finding his tongue again. "What madness is this?" I snuck a glance at Severus trying to read his face, but my attention was turned back to the Minister and Headmaster as Dumbledore spoke again.
"Extend them the hand of friendship now before it is too late or Voldemort will persuade them as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!" Fudge shook his head as if trying to shake Dumbledore's words from his mind.
"You-you cannot be serious! If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants-people hate them Dumbledore! End of my career…"
"You are blinded." Dumbledore wagged his head. "Blinded by the love of the office you hold Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born but what they grow to be. Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining members of a pure-blood family as old as any and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now take the steps I have suggested and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"
"Insane." Fudge whispered and another low growl rumbled in Siruis' throat. There was a beat of silence where everyone was glancing around at each other waiting to see what Dumbledore or Fudge would do next. Madam Pomfrey was standing frozen at the foot of Harry's bed with her hands over her mouth. Mrs. Weasley was standing by Harry with a stern loving hand forcing him into the bed. Hermione, Ron, Emily, Fred and George were staring open mouthed at Dumbledore. Bill and Remus were having some secret conversation with their eyes. Severus stood behind Dumbledore protectively. I continued to scratch at Sirius' ears waiting for someone to say something. Finally Dumbledore drew in a deep breath.
"If you're determination to shut your eyes will carry as far as this, Cornelius, we have reached a parting of ways. You must act as you see fit and I shall act as I see fit." Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat but Fudge puffed up and waved a threatening finger at the Headmaster.
"Now see here Dumbledore! I've given you free rein always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your descisions but I've always kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves," Both Sirius and I sent a sad glance in Remus' direction and Fudge ignorantly ignored his presence. "Or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me…"
"The only one against whom I intend to work is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."
"He can't be back." Fudge began. "Dumbledore, he just can't be ..." Severus strode forward past Professor Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out his forearm showed it to Fudge who recoiled.
"There." Severus grunted in a raspy voice. "There, the Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This mark has been growing clearer all year, Karkaroff's too! Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold. Shaking his head even more violently than before, Fudge took a great step back before speaking again.
"I don't know what you and your staff are playing at Dumbledore but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry." Fudge turned on his heals to leave and nearly made it to the door before striding back to down the ward towards us again.
"Your winnings." He said tossing a large bag of gold onto the hospital bed where I sat. "One thousand galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but under the circumstances…" Without another word the Minister of Magic crammed his bowler hat onto his head and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment he had disappeared Dumbledore addressed the small crowd assembled at Harry's bed.
"There is work to be done. Molly am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"
"Of course you can." Mrs. Weasley answered through white lips. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."
"Then I need to send a message to Arthur. All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."
"I'll go to Dad." Bill said stepping forward. "I'll go now."
"Excellent." Professor Dumbledore agreed. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry…"
"Leave it to me." Bill said before excusing himself from the room. Professor Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall next.
"Minerva, I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also if she will consent to come, Madame Maxime." Professor McGonagall left without a word. The Headmaster looked to Madame Pomfrey for his next instruction.
"Poppy, would you be very kind and go down to Professor Moody's office where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."
"Very well." Madame Pomfrey accepted her duty before leaving the room.
"And now," Dumbledore spoke addressing the group at large. "It is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius if you could resume your usual form." I stopped petting the great black dog on the side of me, who then leapt off the bed to turn back into a man. Nearly immediately Mrs. Weasley began to scream.
"Sirius Black!" she shrieked, pointing at him.
"Mum shut up!" Ron grumbled at his mother. Severus' face twisted into one of dark fury.
"What is he doing here?" My grumpy guardian snarled.
"He is here at my invitation," Dumbledore clarified. "As are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other." Sirius and Severus continued to eye each other with the utmost loathing, neither man speaking.
"I will settle in the short term for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any of us." Very slowly, but still glaring at one another, Sev and Sirius shook hands. They let go as quickly as possible. "That will be sufficient for the time being. Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You and Remus must alert Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher-the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there." But he promised to stay the whole night.
"But -" Harry began as if echoing my thought.
"You'll see me very soon. Harry," Sirius assured him. "I promise you. But I must do what I can, you understand, don't you?"
"Yeah, yeah…of course I do." Harry mumbled to his bed coverings. Sirius transformed again into the black dog and together he and Remus raced out of the room. The only adults left in the room now where Severus, Mrs. Weasley and Professor Dumbledore. Even though I had expected what would come next that didn't make it any less devastating.
"Severus," Dumbledore addressed my favorite Potions Mater with a hint of sympathy in his voice. "You know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready . . . if you are prepared ..."
"I am," Severus answered looking even more pale than usual.
"Then good luck." The older man said. Stealing a final glance in my direction Severus took slow even steps towards the door. It was several minutes before Dumbledore spoke again. The remainder of our group glance around at each other in silence waiting for the Headmaster to speak.
"I must go downstairs." Dumbledore responded finally. "I must see the Diggorys. I will see all of you later."