Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix
Chapter 63:- Surrender
"GOD… DAMNIT!"
Sirius slammed his fists down on the table yet again, his hands already looking sore but if he felt pain he didn't actually show it. He immediately went back to pacing furiously up and down the kitchen, and there was very little that any of the other occupants could do to calm him down. Mostly because they were all feeling similar frustration.
"Screw 1996!" the Animagus yelled. "Just screw it! Everything's gone down the bloody drainpipe already! First magic revealed, now Lupin's gone! What the heck's next? I should have been out there instead of hiding out in here! I could have done something!"
"Sirius please," Kingsley said weakly. "There's no guarantee whatsoever that your presence could have changed anything. Lupin himself told you not to come and he was right to."
"Right, because I'm just a damn liability to the Order right now aren't I? You don't even need to use my house as a base anymore. You could all just go to the Room of Requirement. That's a better hideout for us anyway! I bet if Remus knew what was going to happen to him, he wouldn't have told me to stay behind then."
Tonks winced. The poor girl looked absolutely miserable, hunched up on a chair in the corner with her chin resting on her knees. "Sirius, it's not your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's me," she murmured. "I was right there by Remus' side. I was supposed to be the one to defend him just like he'd been defending me. But I failed… he got taken away because the enemy separated us and I couldn't get back to him in time… I'm so sorry…"
Sirius' fists clenched, but the rest of him deflated a little. "No, cuz… it wasn't your fault. You did your best… and you can bet Remus would tell you that too."
"Well, clearly my best wasn't good enough was it?"
"Tonks-san… you can't blame yourself for that," said Juvia, who had come over to see them when Fairy Tail had been informed of what had gone down, along with a few of the others. The Water Mage placed a hand on Tonks' shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly. "And nor can you, Sirius-san. Neither of you are at fault for this. The only ones who should be blamed are the enemies, not the allies."
"She's right," said Erza, giving Sirius an earnest look. "I have experience in blaming myself for not being able to protect those closest to me… but it doesn't accomplish anything. It's a harsh lesson, but we at Fairy Tail know full well that if we blamed ourselves for bad things that happened to our friends, we'd never be able to move forward. Unless you threw the punch, or did nothing when you knew something bad was going to happen, only then can you blame yourselves."
"Like me," Pantherlily muttered. "I sat back and did nothing for years while knowing that the humans of my world were planning to attack my own homeland. I am at fault for that, definitely. But this situation is completely different. You couldn't have known about this. And Tonks, you were facing two opponents that even gave Gajeel a run for his money."
Gajeel grunted from his spot in the corner. He hated to admit it, considering those two goons had not even been members of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, but they were tougher than they looked. Tough enough to be close runners-up to the Seven Kin - Yomazu especially. Gajeel was able to feel a little better about essentially drawing with them by telling himself that many of the other Fairy Tail members would have been pretty screwed going up against his Sword Magic.
Tonks sighed. "I know you guys are right… but… it's just so hard not to feel like I was not at fault for this at least in part."
"That's because the one who's really at fault isn't in front of you right now," said Juvia. "And you want to blame someone who is immediately, so it might as well be yourself."
Tonks wiped at her eye and sniffed loudly, placing her hand atop Juvia's own and giving it a grateful squeeze. "Thanks Juvia… you're right… but blaming myself can be a good thing too. It gives me another reason to hunt Greyback down and kick his ass - to redeem myself as well as get Remus back. It's definitely a selfish reason… but if it works I will use it."
Erza smiled. "Looks like someone was listening this morning when I told Natsu to contain his anger until the right time. But you're quite right. We will get him back, one way or the other."
"If only the Death Eaters were as easy to contain as our anger," Mad-Eye muttered, having been fitted with a replacement leg already. "We were completely outclassed out there. Beaten back by men who lacked any sort of duelling skill because our own spells did almost nothing to them. It's safe to bet that Morgana's placed those protective enchantments around everyone in her force. Including the Grimoire Heart mages and Voldemort himself."
"All our enemies just got a lot harder to defeat," Pantherlily nodded. "And they've become more aggressive too."
He was right. Because London wasn't the only place that had been attacked. Death Eaters had popped up all across the country in various big cities, wreaking havoc wherever they went in the name of Fairy Tail. Most of them had been accompanied by at least one Grimoire Heart mage, but while they had caused massed devastation and overwhelmed almost anyone who tried to defy them - magical or Muggle - none of them had stuck around for very long. They'd all pulled out within ten minutes of starting their rampage, and it was clear why. Morgana didn't want to risk the real Fairy Tail showing up and fighting back against her forces, as they surely would if the attacks were prolonged.
London, Birmingham, Manchester, York, Bristol, Nottingham… all of them had been hit. And those that lived in other big cities that had thus far been spared were quaking in their boots, expecting to be attacked at any moment.
And with that in mind, Makarov had made a decision. Fairy Tail couldn't afford to wait until Friday 5th to give themselves up before the summit meeting. That would give Morgana four more days to drag their name through the mud.
The only way to stop these attacks going on in their name was to surrender tonight.
Which was part of why some of the Fairy Tail mages were there at Grimmauld Place now. It was a farewell, though one they hoped would be only temporary.
"So, has it been decided who in the guild is going to the summit meeting on Friday?" asked Charlie.
"I hope you realise that with Morgana on the proverbial warpath like this… the UN meeting is a pretty good target," Sirius muttered. "She seems to know more about the Muggle World than a lot of modern wizards and witches. You can bet she knows how big a deal it is."
"We've definitely thought of it," Erza nodded. "The Master is definitely going to go of course, and we considered sending the S-Class Mages with him, except Laxus. He's not technically a guild member so he can't really represent us. But Dumbledore pointed out that the UN and the Ministries wouldn't want all the most powerful of us to be there, or they might not feel safe from us. So… we decided that I would be the only S-Class to attend."
"We also thought one of the Dragon Slayers and an Exceed should go," Pantherlily nodded. "Since we were… responsible for breaking into Gringott's Bank. But Wendy's still young and the Master didn't trust Natsu to be able to reign in his temper. So, it was decided Gajeel and I would go too."
"You, at a UN summit meeting?" Sirius looked to Gajeel in stunned amazement. "That's a surprise. I'd have though Makarov would be worried they'd all run screaming from the room at the sight of you."
"I think it occurred to him," Gajeel smirked. "But unlike the Salamander I know how to be subtle when I need to be. I can handle it."
"Aren't you the guy that lead the charge into the Ministry to rescue Levy?" Kingsley asked wryly.
"I SAID WHEN I NEED TO BE!" Gajeel glowered. "That time wasn't one of them. This one will be. Plus, Makarov thought that it would be better if we didn't just show them a bunch of goody-two-shoes. That it'd be more honest to show them some of the… rougher… members too."
"He might have a point there. So, who's the fifth?" Mad-Eye asked.
"We thought long and hard about that," Juvia said. "But eventually we settled on Lisanna."
"Why her?" Tonks asked.
"Because she has the closest connection to this world out of all of us thanks to her ability to use the Old Religion through her Dragon Soul," said Erza. "We thought she wold be among the most appropriate choices for that alone, but also because she's sweet, kind and honest. She's a good face to represent the guild's… less destructive side."
"Good point," nodded Sirius. "Do you think Morgana will attack?"
"It's uncertain really," Pantherlily said. "She's been blaming us for all these attacks so far. If she breaks into the summit while we are present and we're seen defending the governments of the world from her minions, it would be a pretty good way of undoing what she's trying to accomplish so far."
"But on the other hand, she might decide killing most of the world's major leaders might be worth it anyway," Gajeel shrugged. "So who knows really? We'll just have to be ready if she does."
"Bet Natsu's not happy about being left out," Tonks muttered.
"Not in the slightest," Erza agreed.
There was a slight lull in the conversation before Lily sighed, and said, "We should probably get back. We're heading for the Ministry soon."
"You want us to come with?" Sirius asked.
"You should focus your efforts on finding Remus," Erza said firmly. "We will be fine… and I am certain this is not a goodbye. But we won't be be able to help you find him while in custody."
"Very well," Kingsley nodded as the Fairy Tail group made their way to the fireplace. "Good luck to all of you."
"Thanks," Juvia smiled lightly. "But here's hoping we won't need it."
Amelia had done her job, and a rendezvous point had been set up for the upcoming meeting between Fairy Tail and the Ministry - an open field in the middle of Norfolk where the Ministry employees would be able to see a threat coming from any direction, which was done to put them more at ease. Fudge was there, practically scrunching his bowler hat into a ball with nervousness, and Percy Weasley were there too, shaking in his boots a little bit. But the rest of the Ministry employees were Aurors who were already on Fairy Tail's side. So they weren't too worried.
"You are certain they mean to surrender?" Fudge asked nervously, his wand ready to Disapparate at a moment's notice if things got hairy. "You don't believe this to be some elaborate scheme of there's just to get to me?"
"Minister, please… they've already proven that if they wanted to just kill you they could have marched into the Ministry and done it whenever they wanted. Trust my judgement when I say they are coming to surrender."
"I will believe it when I see it," Fudge murmured shiftily. "And quite frankly after all the damage they've caused today I don't even know why I'm listening to you about this."
"Because if you didn't you would be neglecting your duties as Minister. If there is a chance for a peaceful resolution between us and a force as destructive as Fairy Tail, you know full well you have to take it. Now relax. They'll be arriving shortly."
The following minute was one of the tensest that Fudge had ever experienced. And when the first Auror Apparated into existence in front of him with a tight grip on Makarov's arm, Fudge almost panicked and fled right then and there. But he was able to hold his nerve as the field filled with other cracking noises, each one belonging to an Auror whooshing in with a different member of the guild. Twenty-one Apparitions in the space of a few seconds and suddenly there they were. Fairy Tail… in all their glory… except for Natsu who had keeled over and was on the verge of throwing up at the violent transportation from Hogsmeade to here.
"Uurrrk… feel sick…" he coughed, leading to a couple of guild members putting hands over their faces in exasperation. But it wasn't as if any of them had expected anything less.
But then there was one final crack, and suddenly Dumbledore had joined them in the field. Fudge started at his appearance most of all and cried, "Dumbledore… what… why are you…?"
"I am here because I am releasing Fairy Tail from my care and into your own, Cornelius," Dumbledore got straight to the chase. "I would like to help the transition be as smooth and seamless as possible."
"…You… wait a minute… you were harbouring Fairy Tail after all?" Fudge cried, pointing a shaking finger at Dumbledore accusingly. "So you really were working with them the whole time! This… this is a direct defiance against the Ministry, Dumbledore. Scrimgeour… arrest him now!"
"I don't think so, Minister," Bones grabbed his hand and forcibly pushed it down. "Considering what's happened this morning, I believe the Ministry will soon need all the help it can get. So, I would suggest rather than simply trying to jump down Dumbledore's throat you listen to what he has to say."
"I would be most grateful for it," Dumbledore smiled lightly. "But first, may I present Makarov Dreyar, the Master of Fairy Tail himself."
Makarov stepped forwards and Fudge looked down at him incredulously, clearly wondering how such a short man could be the Master of anything. But Makarov didn't let him voice the frankly insulting opinion.
Instead he just said, "Good evening, Minister Fudge. Or at least as good an evening as we can hope for under the circumstances. This is the first time we have met, but I have heard much about you. Including how you have been trying to hunt down and imprison my brats behind me…" his eyes flashed with a deep intensity that instantly banished Fudge's misgivings about his size playing a factor.
"…Good… good evening," Fudge coughed, trying to make himself look important and dignified again despite his obvious fear. "But I will have you know that your… brats?… have not exactly been giving us many reasons not to chase them down. They've destroyed our most fortified prison, busted their way into our greatest…"
"Yes, yes, I am well aware of exactly what they've been getting up to in my absence," Makarov sighed. "They never were much for subtlety, with a couple of minor exceptions. I am aware that we have gotten off on the wrong foot many times over, but I would advise you to remember that you have not exactly been the innocent party. From what I hear, your rough treatment of my brats when you actually have been able to imprison them has been more than enough reason for them to be… reluctant… to approach you. But now, we have come to let all that water flow under the proverbial bridge. We wish to make peace."
"Make peace!? After what you pulled this morning!?" Fudge spluttered.
"Let me stop you there," Makarov growled, his low voice cutting Fudge off again. "Am I to understand that you've seen the footage of what happened when the New Year came?"
"…Yes," Fudge said.
"Take a look around this field then. Do you see the faces of anyone you saw on that footage right here?"
Fudge hesitated and scanned the crowd. Some faces were definitely familiar - Levy, Gildarts, Cana, Erza - but he didn't see the man who had destroyed Edinburgh Castle… nor the one who had been controlling trees, nor the one that had destroyed the New York Ball Drop… none of them.
"…No…" he said slowly.
"And you wouldn't. Because those people were not Fairy Tail," Makarov said firmly. "They were merely trying to smear further dirt over our already stained name. But you see before you now every member of my beloved guild that came to this world. Not one of these people participated in wrecking your statute of secrecy. That is why we are here. We wish to clear our name, and our adversaries have forced us into doing so like this. As of this moment, Minister Fudge… Fairy Tail has surrendered to you."
Even as Makarov spoke, every other member of the guild behind him lowered themselves to their knees and placed their hands behind their backs. Some did so very reluctantly, it was true, and many of them knew that if someone actually tried to put cuffs on them, they would very likely punch them right in the jawbone. But nevertheless they did it.
And Fudge was bowled away. Even the three small cats that were there for some reason had dropped down to their knees in surrender.
"You really intend to do it? This isn't some kind of… trick or scheme to make us lower our guard is it?"
"No tricks… no schemes…" Makarov replied stiffly, before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "We've caused more than enough trouble in this world already… just as we have back in our own world. The magical government there doesn't like us very much either. But if this is what it takes to clear our names… then as long as we are guaranteed good treatment, we are all prepared to do it."
"That is why I have been harbouring them for so long, Cornelius," Dumbledore interjected. "Because you have the wrong impression of these people. I was fortunate enough to meet young Wendy here first," he gestured towards the kneeling Sky Dragon Slayer, who squeaked and ducked her head a little lower. "And she was more than enough to convince me of their innocence. I have not been harbouring enemies of the Ministry. I have been protecting good people that just want to help."
"…Alright then," Fudge said slowly. "Let's just say I believe you for a moment. Who was it that really attacked all those places last night if it wasn't you? The abilities I saw, they had to come from people from your world."
"Indeed they do, but not from us," Makarov said firmly. "The real culprits are a Dark Guild named Grimoire Heart, who unfortunately were transferred from our world to yours at the same time as us. They are the ones you need to be fighting, not us. And you will need our help to do it. No more divides, Minister. No more chasing the wrong wild geese. Grimoire Heart is an enemy to both of us. And we will do whatever it takes to convince you to let us help you take them down."
Fudge looked completely lost. He didn't have the slightest clue what to think, do or say anymore. So much conflicting information, thoughts, fears… all amalgamating into his mind at once. He didn't have time to process it all.
Fortunately, Amelia Bones was there to take the helm.
"And you will have plenty of chances to do so at the UN summit meeting this Friday. For now we have made preparations for your imprisonment. As we have no facilities at the Ministry that can contain you… and we will not be using Dementors… we have come up with another solution. There are certain small islands around the United Kingdom that have a small population consisting only of wizards and witches. We have asked those people to vacate their homes to turn the islands into… makeshift holding pens if you will. We will split you up into four groups and take each group to one of these small islands. You are to remain there under constant watch. I am well aware that some of you can fly, but if you leave the island for any unauthorised reason, we will be forced to consider that a breach of trust… at least for the time being. Do we have your full consent?"
"You do," Makarov nodded. "I had I have complete faith that MY BRATS WILL BEHAVE THEMSELVES WHILE IN CUSTODY! UNDERSTOOD!?" he suddenly turned and roared at the people behind him, his head swelling to about ten times it's normal size until he'd finished shouting.
"Whatever it takes, Master," said Erza.
"…Yeah, we'll do it," Natsu agreed.
"Aye sir," Happy agreed.
Fudge watched in numb disbelief as Amelia segregated the mages and they all did exactly what she said. Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Juvia, Wendy and Charla turned out to be the biggest group and were 'sentenced' to Ulva, one of the Inner Hebrides up in the north. Mirajane, Lisanna, Elfman, Gajeel and Pantherlily made up another group that was sent to St. Mary's - one of the Isles of Scilly right on the southwest tip of the country. Makarov, Laxus, Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow went to the Calf of Man, just off the coast of the much larger Isle of Man, which left Gildarts, Cana and Levy to go to the smallest makeshift prison - one of the Channel Islands called Herm, which was actually closer to France than Britain but would serve its purpose well.
One by one, Fairy Tail were taken away to their new 'homes' via Portkey, until suddenly the field was almost entirely empty, apart from Fudge, Percy, Amelia and Dumbledore.
"Did that really happen?" Fudge whispered. "Did they actually… really…?"
"They did, Minister," Dumbledore said, offering Fudge a sad smile. "And there was a time where you wouldn't have found it so surprising. A time when you used to look for the good in people, where you didn't see potential enemies almost everywhere you looked. I do hope you can find that part of yourself again. The Wizarding World would be a lot better off with it, believe me."
"This… this doesn't change the fact you hid them from me, you know."
"I will let you determine whether I should be punished for that transgression when the time comes. And for all our sakes, I hope you'll finally be able to see the truth as I have. I will see you at the UN summit, Cornelius. I have every intention of attending it too."
With that, Dumbledore turned about and Disapparated as well, leaving Fudge to question everything all over again. But unbeknownst to him, there was one Fairy Tail member that had not openly surrendered to him. Mavis was hovering in the air, invisible to all and staring down at the Minister with a light smile.
Just as she'd predicted - Fairy Tail's actions really were speaking louder than their words right now. It was not enough to earn the Ministry's complete trust, but it was a step in the right direction. And a much needed one, considering how bleak things were getting in every other area of this world.
Now it was up to Harry and the others to implement the next stage in clearing Fairy Tail's name. A last minute addition to the plan that Hermione had come up with a couple of hours ago.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ron asked. "There are so many different ways that this could go wrong if you ask me."
"Don't worry, Ron," Hermione smirked confidently. "I've got complete control of the situation. And honestly, I can't believe I didn't think of this before."
"Well, even if you had, it might not have been the best plan before Fairy Tail surrendered," Harry pointed out.
The three of them were sitting together in the Hog's Head. It was evening, which meant unlike most bars it was actually closed. Aberforth didn't particularly want people hanging around late at night like they did at the Three Broomsticks and that made it an ideal place for a private meeting if you could convince Aberforth to let you. But this time they were accompanied by Luna Lovegood, who seemed to be staring dreamily at a large stain on the wall without really paying much attention to the conversation next to her.
And sure enough, someone walked in through the front door a few minutes later, and Harry's gut churned a little at the sight of Rita Skeeter, the infamous reporter that had tried to make Harry and Hermione's lives as difficult as possible throughout the Triwizard Tournament last year… as if things hadn't been stressful enough.
Rita didn't exactly look best pleased to see them either. The cocky smile that Harry usually associated with that face was noticeably absent, replaced by a petulant scowl. Which remained in place even as she marched across the room and dumped herself in the seat opposite the four students.
"Good evening, Rita," Hermione said amicably, though there was just the slightest hint of smugness in her voice too. "How are you doing?"
"How am I doing?" Rita hissed scathingly. "How… am I… doing? You have the gall to ask me that after what you've done to me, Granger?"
"What I've done?" Hermione asked innocently. "I haven't actually done anything to you Rita. It's always been your choice as to whether you listened to my demands or not."
"And if I wanted to stay out of Azkaban, or Nurmengard now, I haven't exactly had a choice," Rita glared. "And do you realise how much the last few months have been complete torment for me!? Do you!? Scoops of the century, no - of the millennium - like the arrival of people from another world and the destruction they've been causing, and now that Statute of Secrecy been completely and utterly broken, and I haven't been able to write a single world about it. I'm surprised that I haven't torn out my own hair yet, that's how frustrating it's been."
"You deserve it," Ron glared at her. "After the crap you pulled last year, I reckon Hermione was actually being lenient in just making you take a break for one year."
"And if she reports me for being an unregistered Animagus I'll never be able to write anything ever again!" Rita whispered loudly, looking around as if expecting eavesdroppers. Which was fair enough considering she was a master at doing just that. "So… I'd appreciate it if you could actually give me a good reason for summoning me here today. Is it just to rub my own misfortune in my face? Because if so, I'm out of here."
"Nothing like that," Hermione smiled. "Actually right now, we want the same thing you want."
"Excuse me?"
"We want you to release an article," Harry said quickly. "A big article, covering one of the big topics you just mentioned before. We want you to write an article about Fairy Tail."
"…You do?" Rita blinked, her face making it look as though her mind had completely ground to a halt. "And why would you want me to do that exactly? I think the Daily Prophet is covering all of their destructive habits and the threat they represent pretty well without me… unfortunately."
"But that's not the kind of article we want you to write," Hermione smiled. "We want you to write the truth. No fiction, no bias, no guesswork… just the truth. Did you know that earlier today, less than an hour ago actually, Fairy Tail surrendered themselves into the Ministry of Magic's custody?"
Rita gaped, utterly frozen in disbelief and looking from one serious face to the other as if expecting them all to crack up at any moment. When they didn't, she immediately lunged for her bag to pull out her parchment and a quill - a normal one rather than her usual Quick Quotes Quill.
"Tell me more," she said quickly and enthusiastically. "How do you happen to know this?"
"Ah, ah, ah," Hermione raised her hand before Harry and Ron say anything. "First, let's finalise the details of our new agreement. If you write this article for us and get it published, I will allow you to go back to being a full-time reporter early. You can write any scathing thing you want about me when you do, but the new condition is that you never, and I repeat, never write an article about Fairy Tail that spins the truth in any way. If you do that, then I will reveal your secret to the world no matter how far into the future you do it. Anything else, fine. But not that. Not them. Is that understood?"
Rita's scowl returned for a moment, unable to decide whether to be happy to go back to normal early or angry that the threat of blackmail would extend into the future. But for the sake of a big story like this, she could handle the new terms. "Yes, I accept," she said quickly. "I promise, any Fairy Tail article I write will be one-hundred percent accurate."
"And unopinionated," Hermione prompted.
"…Yes… that too," Rita nodded. "So… what do you want this article to be about exactly."
"Well, there are actually a few articles we'd be interested in having you write," said Harry. "But we'll start with this one - we'd like it to be a character profile. Talking about who Fairy Tail really are, what they're like, what they can do. We can probably arrange for you to meet with them in person even while in custody. We're friends with Amelia Bones, you see. And we're friends with Fairy Tail themselves."
"You are?" Rita blinked. "But… did they not just destroy the Statute of Secrecy earlier? Have they not been working with Death Eaters and destroying Ministry property?"
"They've definitely been destroying Ministry property," Ron snorted. "But the rest of it's complete bull. They didn't do anything last night. They were all asleep. Those people that destroyed the Statute of Secrecy - they're completely different people."
"Exactly," Hermione nodded. "That should satisfy your desire to present a controversial opinion. Imagine your article… the truth about Fairy Tail. Not monsters, not terrorists, not even a threat. Just people with extraordinary magical abilities who've been unfortunately thrown from their own world into ours and can't get back."
Rita's eyes were sparkling now. "I see… yes… yes, this definitely sounds interesting. But I must ask again - how are you friends with Fairy Tail, Mister Potter?"
"No comment," Hermione cut across Harry before he could speak again. "That's the one thing you leave out of your first article. You don't talk about the people from this world who know Fairy Tail personally. This is just about Fairy Tail themselves. Nobody else. We'll give you the story of how we know them if the time ever comes were Fairy Tail are welcomed rather than spurned. Agreed?"
Rita looked a little unhappy for a moment, but then nodded. "Very well. But… where exactly would you want me to publish this article? The Daily Prophet might not be so willing to accept material that tells the world that they've actually been wrong all this time, as I believe this article you're proposing would be doing."
"That's why Luna is here," Harry said.
"Yes," Luna said with a vague smile, finally turning away from the wall stain. "My father is the editor of The Quibbler and he's very excited about this idea."
"…Are you mad?" Rita scoffed, looking almost offended. "You want an article in The Quibbler to be taken seriously? Nobody believes anything that junk prints out."
"If you ask me," Hermione smirked. "If its written by the right journalist and strikes the right tone, it will be taken seriously no matter where it comes from. Besides, this might be an article big enough to cover the whole magazine. There are twenty-two members of Fairy Tail that became stranded in this world, if you include the talking cats and the ghost. If you want to go into detail about all of them… you might be up all night. And The Quibbler is probably a much better place to publish something so long than The Daily Prophet anyway, because it'll keep selling after just the one day."
Rita had no counter-argument to that. Instead she looked at the group greedily and said, "Very well then. Let's get started!"
As she began to discuss a couple of things like payment with Luna, Ron leaned in to whisper in Harry's ear. "You sure you don't want to tell her truth about Voldemort now, mate? It could be a good way of clearing your own name as well. Maybe even one about Sirius later?"
Harry bit his lip a moment, before whispering back, "Sirius and I can wait. Right now, it's not Voldemort that the world's most afraid of. It's probably better that we clear our names one at a time and right now, Fairy Tail's much more in the public eye than me."
"Good point," Ron nodded. "But maybe when all this calms down…"
"Yes," Harry breathed. "Maybe… maybe then…"
"Alright then," Rita said, indicating she was fully on board. "Where would you like me to start?"
"At the beginning," Hermione said. "First we'll tell you what we know about how Fairy Tail got here and how their magic works. And then… we'll sort out the meetings."
Rita kept to her word, and through Amelia she was indeed allowed to sit down with several Fairy Tail members to get their perspective on things. She was so excited she was practically writing the article even during the interviews.
Sometimes she ended up getting a little personal with her questions, such as asking Juvia what she would do if Gray never reciprocated her feelings or asking Elfman whether he felt he needed to be a Man so much because of some major failing in his past and other little things like that. When she asked Natsu if there was a chance that Igneel could be a figment of his imagination after eating some funny mushroom, she very narrowly escaped a punch upside the head. She probably would have done if Lucy hadn't remembered the time that Natsu had punched the Weekly Sorcerer journalist, Jason, and jumped on him before he could repeat the action here.
But she stuck to the facts nevertheless, and her piece was kept entirely without her own personal opinions for a change as she spent the next few days crafting it. She was determined to tell everything, including what the Fairy Tail guild truly was and how the guild system worked back in their own world, gave personal descriptions of each individual member and what they could do, and their personal accounts of why they'd been running from the Ministry for so long.
And of course Hermione made her check in at the end of every day to make sure she was keeping to her word.
"We'll release it on the morning before the UN summit takes place," Hermione suggested. "That should give enough time to make sure we get everything and could help influence public perception on the same day that they have to convince the worlds' governments."
Fairy Tail themselves had to share simple lodgings on their little island refuges. Mostly simple two story cottages that were made out of stone, but were nonetheless extremely comfortable. It was a vast improvement from what they could have expected from Azkaban to say the least. And though they always had at least four Aurors around or in the cottage at all times, they never felt like they were being oppressed. And not just because all the Aurors were technically on their side anyway at this point.
But most importantly, there were absolutely no Dementors. When word got out that Fairy Tail had surrendered themselves, many of the Wizengamot and the general public both were adamant that Dementors should be sent in for added security, but Amelia put her foot down.
"A couple of them have shown that they are powerful enough to actually kill Dementors!" she said to the reporters. "And they were able to take down an entire prison full of them. Not only would adding one or two Dementors to each island to watch over them be a near useless addition to security, but it would be an instant way to lose the trust that Fairy Tail have placed in us by surrendering. And I will continue to uphold that trust as long as they remain on their islands."
However, while things were starting to look up for Fairy Tail… elsewhere things were quite a different story. For one thing, there was no sign of Remus. The Order tore their way into all of the werewolf meeting places and haunts that Remus had been able to tell them about, and Tonks was there at every single raid - absolutely determined to find Lupin and bring him home. But all of them were empty. Some had clearly been vacated for a while, but others had evidence of occupancy as lately as the previous day. But evidently Greyback had expected the Order to show up and had been quick to ensure that they couldn't interfere with whatever it was the werewolves were planning to do next.
And the rest of the world was doing even worse.
After the initial shock and fear of learning magic existed had passed, many of the Muggles began to get more… violent. There were meetings and rallies in many towns and cities across the world, trying to determine who in their neighbourhoods might have secretly been a witch or wizard all along.
Many people had the police called on them for suspected sorcery. Others weren't so lucky and had people actually breaking into their houses and roughing them up, beating them while trying to get them to admit they had magic. Most of the victims of these attacks weren't magical in the slightest, just unfortunate Muggles being brutalised by other Muggles. But there were some witches and wizards that were indeed surprised and beaten, but it was when others that reacted in time and repelled the Muggles with jinxes and curses that people really took notice. Those were the incidents that the Muggle newspapers ended up reporting, and it made the fear spread all the further.
It was a global outbreak of fear and mistrust, with some full blown riots beginning to take place in some of the larger cities right across the world. Some people set fire to houses of those they suspected of being a witch or wizard. Others There were even a couple of attempts to publicly hang someone, though most of these attempts were thankfully put paid to by the authorities or public people with better sense.
Because it wasn't all bad. Many of the Muggles tried to speak out against the violence, reasoning that witches and wizards were still people and that it was only now that people knew about them that they feared them. Before that, witches and wizards had been cool things for children to dress up as on Halloween just as much as they had been the villains of many stories and that the many should not be judged on the actions of a few.
But these people that had the courage to voice these opinions were in the minority compared to those who preferred to either stay out of it completely or react aggressively. And fistfights ended up breaking out between the two Muggle factions repeatedly, on every populated continent.
And wizardkind wasn't exactly innocent in it all. There were a great many of them who viewed what Morgana had done as a call to arms, having believed for years that magic users shouldn't be forced to hide away, while a lot of others were scared enough to think that trying to oppress the Muggles now would be a good way of keeping them in line and stopping them from trying to strike back. Many sought to counter the oppression of fearful Muggles with strikes of their own, and situations that involved a dozen wizards marching down a street and firing curses at anyone at everything to wreak havoc on them were not uncommon.
Some kept slipping into Muggle shops and putting curses on their shopping items before slipping out, leading to more than one case of ties trying to strangle potential buyers or Muggles that bit into what looked like a perfectly good apple only to keel over and start farting green smoke or something.
In effect, many cities across the world were on the brink of descending into full blown civil war.
Which was not helped at all by continued attacks from Death Eaters. Grimoire Heart went to ground again as soon as Fairy Tail surrendered - after all most wizards didn't know who the individual Fairy Tail members were and if they were all in the Ministry's custody it would not look good to have supposed others still running around. But the Death Eaters were still out in force, attacking Muggle and Wizardkind alike wherever they popped up. And while the Ministry desperately tried to counter their attacks, they were always at a disadvantage thanks to Morgana's protective enchantments.
If the state of the world could be summed up in one world… it would probably be chaos. But the British Isles was getting the worst of it.
Which was why Dumbledore called an emergency meeting at lunchtime for all the students to attend. Even though it was still the Christmas holidays, every student had already been sent straight back to the school by their parents in light of what had happened, believing it to be the safest place for them in their present climate. Which it almost certainly was.
But that was of little comfort to the multitude of students who were still worried for their families outside the school.
And that's where Dumbledore came in.
"I apologise for summoning you all here on such short notice," he announced to the entire hall, which was deathly quiet but for the faint flickering of several hundred candles. "But as you know, things are currently in crisis. With the Statute of Secrecy in tatters, things are taking a serious turn for the worse. With any luck, the upcoming meeting of nations - human and Muggle alike - will go a long way to fixing these problems but we must prepare for the worse all the same. It may not be long before one of your families are targeted by scared Muggles, or attacked by rogue wizards. As your Headmaster, the safety of my students is my most primary concern… but in these troubling times I am willing to add to my workload.
"As of today, Hogwarts will be officially providing refuge for any Wizarding families across the country who feel at all concerned for their own safety. But for those of you here who have parents and siblings who happen to be Muggles, we will provide sanctuary for them as well."
That caused a bit of a stir amongst the students. Many of the Slytherins looked particularly unhappy with that last remark, and those who did have Muggle parents, like the Creevey brothers, found themselves trying to look a little smaller. Needless to say, Muggles were hardly the most popular people amongst the students at the moment, as tales filled with assault and hate were heaped upon them every morning in the Daily Prophet.
"But I will be implementing some very strict rules," Dumbledore said firmly. "There is to be no fighting anyone, for any reason. In light of what has happened, it is very unlikely that the Statute of Secrecy can ever be reformed. Muggles will remember what they saw for generations to come. The best we can hope for now is for peace, and therefore Hogwarts must set an example of it for the future as best we can.
"Now, any student who wishes to bring their families to the school please line up and we will all take a trip to Hogsmeade. The staff members will work their way through the crowd to take you to your families via Side-Along Apparition. If your family wishes to return to the school with you, the Ministry has given us permission to use Portkeys to bring them back. We'll sort out sleeping arrangements when they get here. Good luck everyone. I hope you will all feel more at ease by the end of the day."
Heavy discussion broke out immediately as Dumbledore and the staff members got to their feet and made their way to the doors together.
"This is a big step," Ron murmured as he put his head in close with Harry and Hermione to talk over the din. "It's a real risk to bring Wizarding and Muggle families in close together like this. The Muggles will probably be fine since they've got magical kids and all, but some of the magic families… they could be trouble."
"But he has to do something," Hermione pointed out. "If anything, Muggle Borns like me could end up being quite an important factor in bringing the magical and non-magical communities together. We're something like the bridge between the two if you think about it. I think Dumbledore's hoping to start fixing that divide early on, on a small scale first."
"I can think of a few families on one particular table that should definitely have an eye kept on them," Harry muttered darkly. "But do you think your family will end up coming to live here Ron?"
"Nah, I doubt it," Ron shook his head. "Mum and Dad won't want to abandon the Burrow, and besides it's pretty isolated. It's unlikely Muggles will come romping up there anytime soon especially since I'm pretty sure most Muggles don't even know there a house there. Besides, they sort of half live at Grimmauld Place now anyway."
"Well I hope they're making the right call there," Hermione bit her lip. "I'm definitely going to invite my parents here. I've… kinda always wanted them to come actually. I really wish the reason why they finally can was different though."
"Well, we'll come to Hogsmeade with you anyway," said Ron.
"Thanks," Hermione smiled.
But as they got up, Harry noticed there was one person in particular that was not bothering to join the large queue of students getting up to head to Hogsmeade. Malfoy was still sat at his place at the Slytherin table, scowling into his bowl of pasta and he stirred it irritably with his fork. Considering his family was still technically homeless as far as Harry knew, coming to Hogwarts might have sounded like a good alternative to their former stately mansion.
But apparently not. Malfoy clearly had no intention of inviting them.
Was it because something happened between him and his parents? Or did he just know that they wouldn't come anyway? Where were Lucius and Narcissa living now anyway?
Harry mulled it over for a while before wondering why he was bothering. He didn't care at all about the Malfoy family anyway; they weren't worth even a second of his time. So he hurried off after Ron and Hermione, trying to put it out of his mind… along with the other family he was trying not to think about right now.
"I… I don't know if we can do it, hun," Mr. Granger said some time later as he sat with his wife on the sofa in their front room. They'd both been watching the dreadful news splayed out across the television when Professor McGonagall had Apparated into their front room, guided in by Hermione herself, and the loud crack had made the both of them panic until the realised who it was.
"Dad please," Hermione said imploringly. "I don't know if I'll be able to focus on anything if I'm always worrying about whether you two are safe out here by yourselves."
"But we've got our careers to think about dear, and our patients too," Mrs. Granger agreed. "Your father and I are both busy dentists - you know that. We've got a huge backlog of appointments to work through. I don't know if we can just up and leave like that? Wouldn't that land us in a lot of suspicion?"
"Your mother's right," Mr. Granger said. "If you look at the statistics, doctors and dentists and other people in the healthcare profession are being targeted by these hate crimes a lot less than most people are. Maybe people assume that people who do this kind of thing can't possibly be magical or they'd be using magic in their actual field rather than complicated non-magical devices and instruments."
"Or maybe people recognise that they still need people in healthcare to do their jobs. Especially now more than ever come to that."
"I know, I know you're both busy and you're reluctant to leave. I really do get it," Hermione said imploringly. "But Mum… Dad… you can't ignore what's happening. It's not just scared Muggles you have to worry about. There's so much else going on - Death Eater attacks, riots… what happens if you're innocently going down to the shops and get caught in the crossfire between some brawl in the streets? What happens if the Death Eaters choose our neighbourhood to attack next. You know they've torched and burned down dozens of houses everywhere they've been! You have to come with me… for your sake as well as mine."
Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked at each other reluctantly, before Hermione's father said. "But… Hermione… don't you think that'll look suspicious? If we run now… surely people will guess that at least one of us was a witch or wizard. And then if we tried to move back later… everyone will find out you're a witch."
"What if they came after you?" Mrs. Granger whispered. "What if they tried to evict you from your own house or maybe even try to hang you or something? I've heard people are trying that."
"We want you to be able to come back here any time you want without fear of persecution," Mr. Granger smiled sadly. "We've been so careful to not let slip you're a witch to anyone for that reason. And we don't want to jeopardise it now either."
Hermione was massively touched, a few stray tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Quickly she hurried forwards, falling to her knees and throwing her arms around both her parents at once.
"I love you both so much," she whispered. "You've always been looking out for me… from when I was a little swot in primary school to when I've been half a country away learning to be a witch. I appreciate it more than I can say… but we've got to think of the big picture. It's going to get out that I'm a witch sooner or later. I don't know how but it will. And when it does, Muggles will either reject me or accept me. If they reject me, we'll be out of harm's way before they can do anything. And if they accept me they'll welcome us back with open arms. And there's probably always going to be magic haters no matter what happens at the summit tomorrow. That's just… life… and we have to find the best way to live it. And I'd rather live mine knowing you two were safe in the present rather than staying here because you're concerned for the future."
The Grangers had returned Hermione's hug the moment she gave it and once again they looked each other in the eye over the top of Hermione's bushy hair.
"Well, I've always wanted to see Hogwarts since I first learned about it," Mrs. Granger said lightly.
"We'll get packing sweetie," Mr. Granger agreed.
"Thank you," Hermione whispered. "Thank you so much."
"Portus," McGonagall said as she tapped a cushion she'd summoned from across the room and placed it on the floor in the middle of the room. "As soon as you're ready to return, touch this cushion and it'll transport you to the Hogwarts gates. Remember not to touch it until you're all there together to do it at the same time, and remember to be holding your things when you do. I need to get back now to take the next person to their family."
She didn't wait for a thanks before she Disapparated, and the Grangers hurried up the stairs to pack their things together.
"I'm not entirely sure it's necessary for me to move myself to Hogwarts," Xenophilius Lovegood said as he piled up copies of The Quibbler from where they were constantly being spat out upon the floor from his copying device. "I mean, we don't really have any Muggle neighbours, Luna."
"I know Daddy," Luna smiled. "But even amongst witches and wizards we're regarded as very strange people, aren't we? I didn't have friends even among them for almost three whole years of school. And now Muggles know about wizards, isn't it fair to say they'll be looking out for the weird things?"
"Oh, I would hardly call us weird, Luna," Xenophilius laughed. "I'm proud of being eccentric, but weird… most certainly not."
"Er… with all due respect Mr. Lovegood," said Professor Flitwick, who had accompanied Luna there. "You do have a rather bizarre house even by wizarding standards. And while you may not have any Muggle neighbours I happen to know there is a hiking trail that runs nearby. If a Muggle does happen to walk by and sees it, the first thing they're going to assume now is that a wizard or witch lives here."
"Plus, we have to think about the article, Daddy," Luna beamed. "I imagine that the Death Eaters and Grimoire Heart aren't going to be very happy with you when it gets published. I think it would be a great idea to relocate The Quibbler's headquarters to Hogwarts, where it is safer."
"Well, you make a good argument there, my little Luna," Xenophilius tapped his lip.
"It would be quite a smooth transition. All of your contacts know where Hogwarts is after all. And you could include a bit about moving there when the article is published tomorrow."
"…You know what, you're right," Xenophilius declared. "Ah, you're a true gem of the Ravenclaw house, Luna. And from what you've told me, Fairy Tail actually lived at Hogwarts for a while. If they are pardoned it is likely they'll return there, and we'll be able to get more stories from them. It makes wonderful sense. Alright then… let's make the move!"
Flitwick almost chuckled. Despite initial reluctance it had been very easy to change his mind indeed. "How about I turn your copier into the Portkey for now. I'll have someone transport it to the castle when the time comes."
"Excellent idea, Professor," Xenophilius beamed. "Alright then Luna, I want you to gather all the Dirigible Plum seeds you can. I'm sure the Hogwarts greenhouses will have some extra space for them."
"Of course, Daddy."
"You must be joking, Neville. You expect me to cut and run from the house that's been in our family for generations! I will do no such thing, you hear me? Let the Muggles come if they choose. Let Fairy Tail, let anyone. I will not abandon this place and that's final!"
Neville winced slightly. Despite being rather afraid of his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, he was nevertheless concerned for her safety. She could definitely handle herself against most things and Neville certainly felt sorry for any Muggles that somehow managed to break into the property. But the threat of Morgana, Grimoire Heart and the Death Eaters was too much to ignore.
"You don't understand, Grandmother," he protested meekly. "There's no way that you'd be able to fight off some of the people that could end up calling at the front door."
"Is that so? As a matter of fact, I've half a mind to just go and roll out the welcome mat for challengers. I hope Bellatrix Lestrange turns up - I've got quite a lot of things I want to say and do to her."
"Grandmother, I've seen some of the enemies that You-Know-Who has on his side now. One of them could crush the entire mansion and everything in it into a pancake just by raising up his arms, including you! I've seen humans that could torch the whole place in a single blast with black fire from his mouth, another that could make the entire forest turn against the house. I know you're an amazing duellist… but it wouldn't be a duel against them. It would be a massacre."
"You've seen these people? With your own eyes?" Augusta stuck her nose up slightly. "Do you take me for a fool, Neville. You've been at Hogwarts for the last few months - you've seen nothing. You've just read tall tales in the papers and I for one will not be so gullible as to believe everything I read."
"No, Grandma… I have seen them. And… I helped to fight them as well."
"…I beg your pardon?"
"Well… not the super powerful ones themselves," Neville amended quickly. "But the Death Eaters they're working with. I helped to fight some of them a couple of months ago."
"And where was this exactly?"
"An island called Tenroujima. It was kinda like a small school trip to go there, but we didn't expect to run into the Death Eaters at all."
"Now you must really think me gullible if you think I would believe that you…"
"As a matter of fact," Professor Sprout cut across Augusta before she could finish. "I can verify his claims. I was there on the island that day. I participated in the fight against the Death Eaters and I know each and every student who was there that day. I know which ones fought well, and your grandson was one of those that fought most bravely of all."
"…Is that right?" Augusta mused. Evidently she was much more willing to listen to Sprout than to Neville, but she was definitely regarding the latter with a newfound interest.
"Yes, indeed. He has been working diligently to improve his duelling skill and it is definitely paying off from what I've seen of it."
"It… it's true, Grandmother. I've been practicing Stunning Spells and Disarming Charms in my spare time… all of my spare time. I want… to get better. And… I want to protect my friends and family in the way I… couldn't have protected my parents."
"…Neville…" Augusta whispered, but Neville cut her off.
"I know I was too young to help them… but I'm not too young anymore. I can fight now. And I won't… let my clumsiness hold me back. But I could never forgive myself if something happened to you when I wasn't there to do something about it. So please… grandmother… come back to Hogwarts. We can make sure you'll have a private room so you won't have to bunk with anyone else… I think."
"But the family house…"
"Can be rebuilt if it gets destroyed. But you can't be restored if you die!"
Augusta said nothing for some time. But eventually she whispered, in a voice full of pride but barely audible, "You've changed, Neville… in a relatively short space of time. You don't seem at all like the same boy that went to Hogwarts in September."
Neville shrugged. "I guess… considering what's going on… we've all got to grow up quickly now."
"Indeed… you're stepping up greatly Neville. Frank and Alice… they would be proud. Please… allow me to gather my most treasured belongings first."
Neville smiled as Augusta strode out of the room. That was the first genuine praise that his grandmother had given him for quite a long time… in fact he couldn't even remember the last time it had happened. Despite his fear of his grandmother he did love her and there was a reason she was so well respected despite her sharp tongue. If he had her approval now… he had to be doing something right.
But that didn't stop him from turning to Sprout and whispering:-
"Is there any chance we can leave that stuffed vulture hat behind?"
Hogwarts rapidly began to fill up that afternoon with parents and siblings - some older graduates of the school and some still waiting to enter, while some were the right age but only had brothers, sisters or cousins attending the school. The House Elves were kept busy throughout the day, not only preparing food for all the new arrivals but turning the many old classrooms that dotted the school into new bedrooms.
It was almost like the world's largest and most ornate hostel… or perhaps the fanciest ever refugee camp. But at the very least here they would be protected by the wards.
Some of the staff, and indeed some of those so-called refugees, made the suggestion that the families of Muggle-Borns and the families of Purebloods should be separated from one another for their own peace of mind. But Dumbledore refused, pointing out that if they were divided in living space they might feel divided in other ways too, and so he insisted on having Muggles and magic users share rooms with each other. The only precautionary measure he took was informing all the portraits to keep an eye on things and to find an alert a member of staff if a scuffle or a major argument happened to break out.
But nothing did. At least not on the first day.
Almost all the DA members ended up having their parents brought in. Seamus Finnegan's mother avoided Harry like the plague when she spotted him, leaving Seamus to give Harry an extremely awkward shrug before he hurried after her. The Patil twins parents spent several hours insisting on following their children around as if expecting them to be attacked at any moment. And the Creevey parents couldn't stop staring at everyone and everything like they were newborn infants seeing the world for the first time.
"Wow, I've never seen the school so crowded," Harry remarked as he and his friends pushed their way through tightly packed corridors. "Not even during the tournament with the other schools around did it get this many new people."
"This isn't the first time Hogwarts has been used like this though," Hermione said. "I read in Hogwarts: A History that it was regularly used by people escaping from the Witch Trials in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Hogsmeade itself was formed around the same time as the school by a wizard fleeing Muggle persecution."
"Bet they thought they'd put all that behind them for good when the Statute of Secrecy was signed," Ron sighed. "So much for that, right?"
"Let's just be glad we still have a Headmaster kind enough to let the school be used for this purpose," Hermione pointed out. But then she added, "…Although how the House Elves are going to be expected to cope with all this under such poor conditions…"
"Oh god, not that again. If you ask me they'll be overjoyed by having more people to serve!"
"Guys, knock it off," Harry said sharply before Hermione could argue back. "Let's just get to our own new meeting, okay?"
That meeting turned out to be a meeting of all of Gryffindor House in their Common Room that evening. Hermione had pinned up a big notice that morning above the fireplace asking everyone to assemble after dinner to discuss learning how to better defend themselves against the growing list of threats out in the world beyond the boundaries of the school's wards.
After all, now that Umbridge was out of the picture, there was no reason for Dumbledore's Army to stay in the shadows.
"Thanks everyone for coming," Harry announced to the crowded Common Room. Unlike in the Hog's Head when the DA had first been formed, he didn't let Hermione nervously take the lead. There was not the slightest hint of reluctance in him anymore. People were looking to him to do something, and while Harry would definitely prefer the responsibility be laid at someone else's feet, he was finally growing willing to accept that it was going to be his job.
"I don't need to tell anyone here that things… well things are kinda going down the drain out there in the world. Whether you believe me about Voldemort being back or not, learning how to defend yourself hasn't just become a useful skill. It's becoming a necessity. Whether your attacker ends up being a scared Muggle, a Dementor, a Death Eater or some mage from another world… we've all got to learn what to do if we come up against any of them now."
"Well we are learning how to defend ourselves already," pointed out a boy named Terrence Fogarty. "I mean there is a reason why the Defence Against the Dark Arts class exists here."
"Yeah, but that's still going to teach you what you need to know to pass the exams for whatever year each of us happens to be in," said Harry. "Not everyone's going to be learning Stunning Spells and Impediment Jinxes right off the bat. And its definitely not going to teach you what to do if you find yourself in a life or death struggle with multiple enemies."
"Are you just saying that because you don't like Professor Snape?" asked Jack Sloper. "It's no secret that you don't like him… not that I blame you."
"No, it's got nothing to do with that. Yeah, I hate him, but we need him right now I suppose. But you can never have too much practice at defending yourselves, which is why we set up something of our own Defence Club a few months ago."
"Huh?" Romilda Vane blinked, along with several other people. "When was this?"
"On our first visit to Hogsmeade this year," said Ron. "At the time we were doing it to stick it to Umbridge and her stupid reading lessons and that's why we couldn't tell everyone. The more people that knew the more chance someone could spill the beans to her. That wouldn't have ended well."
Harry nodded. "But now she's gone and we don't need to hide it anymore. Not to mention it's more important now than it was when we started the thing."
"You're saying we should all meet up after classes and just learn how to fight?" Demelza Robins raised a hand meekly. "But… who's going to teach us? Snape?"
"No. Not him," Hermione shook her head. "Harry's been teaching those of us who've been there since it started and he's been doing a great job at it actually. He learned a lot about defending himself for the Triwizard Tournament last year, and he was easily the best teacher we could find."
"You sure this isn't just some attempt from Harry to gain more attention?" asked an older student that Harry didn't know. "I mean, we'd all be relying on him if he was the one teaching us, and why does he get to teach us older students anyway?"
"This isn't about me," Harry said firmly. "It's not about any one individual - this is about all of us. In an ideal world, all this would blow over by the time we reached the summer holidays but what if things stay bad for months, maybe years afterwards. Are we all just going to stay huddled up in the school all the time? Are we never going to go outside? And even Hogwarts isn't infallible. Trust me I know that from experience."
"We're not asking anybody to just blindly follow Harry," Hermione said. "We're just asking all of you whether you'd like to learn how to protect yourselves and pointing you in a good direction to start. It's entirely up to you whether you choose to sign on with the DA or not… but we definitely recommend it."
"So do I," said Neville, drawing everyone's eye. "I was almost hopeless when I started this year. But Harry's already taught me how to Stun, how to Disarm someone, how to freeze them in place and he's taught me all sorts of different things about duelling and avoiding the enemy fire. He's an amazing teacher. And if he can teach me those things, he can definitely teach everyone else here how to do it too, right?"
"We're just asking you to think about it," said Hermione as she laid a clipboard and quill on the table before her. "But if you want to learn how to fight, just jot your names down here. And we'll tell you about the meeting place."
Many students got up and signed on right away, looking quite pale with worry about the current state of things. Others definitely looked intrigued by were pausing to think about it more. Only a very small majority got up and walked away without any interest at all, but it was a promising start.
"Think Ernie and Padma are doing well recruiting in their own common rooms?" Hermione asked.
"As long as Smith isn't screwing everything up for Ernie," Ron snorted. "This could be quite cool though Harry. You'll end up teaching almost three quarters of the school at this rate."
"Not what I signed on for at all," Harry swallowed a little nervously. "But I guess this is where all that attention I never wanted will come… in… handy…"
He trailed off at the sound of a hefty beak rapping on the window. A ragged looking Boobook Owl was standing on the windowsill with a letter tied to its leg and was looking intensely at Harry.
"Never seen that owl before," Ron whispered. "Wonder who that belongs to."
But Harry wordlessly opened the window and allowed the owl to hop in and hold its leg out, tired but almost looking smug for completing the task efficiently. Harry didn't recognise the handwriting on the letter either, but it was definitely addressed to him… and blinked after reading the first line.
"It's… it's from Mrs. Figg?"
"Who?" Ron frowned.
"Wait, you mean the Squib lady that provided a testimony for you at your trial?" Hermione gasped. "The one that saw you and your cousin being attacked by Dementors?"
Harry didn't reply. Instead he read the letter aloud:-
"Harry,
Dear Lord, how did things get so bad? I don't know what the heck's going on with all these people from the other world but that's not important right now. Unless you've been sticking your head in the Hogwarts Lake for the last few days you probably know that the Statute of Secrecy was broken rather spectacularly on New Year. And the repercussions have reached Privet Drive.
I've already been forced to flee from my home. I wish I really was a witch now so I could hex everyone who seemed to think that me owning a lot of cats was enough of a reason to be one. But more important I'm writing to you now Harry to let you know that the Dursleys have come under suspicion too. I don't think anyone believes they're actually magical people - I heard your Uncle ranting to someone about how unnatural magic was the other day for starters. But I've heard whispers and they all focus around you. People are starting to wonder if you're actually a wizard and if you are where you really keep going every year. And I saw many angry looks being cast towards your home… even if the Dursleys aren't magical, they're definitely suspecting them of harbouring a wizard now. And they're not happy about it.
I know there's no love lost between you and your aunt, uncle and your ridiculously wide cousin. But I just thought I should let you know about it, so I borrowed Mundungus' owl to send this letter. What you choose to do about it is up to you.
Hope you're doing better than I am,
Arabella Figg."
Harry looked up slowly, wordlessly passing the letter to Hermione so she could read it again in her head. He'd been trying very hard not to think about what the Dursleys were getting up to when all this started. He was certain they'd be fine… in fact he was pretty sure that Uncle Vernon would have been part of an angry mob trying to root out wizards by now if anything. But now they had been thrust straight to the forefront of his mind.
"Whoa Harry," Ron summed it up pretty well. "Sounds like those gits that you call a family might need some help… what the heck are you going to do?"