Chapter 26 : Last thoughts
Draco and Narcissa returned to Malfoy Manor as quickly as they could manage, making sure they were seen shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley. Opening his trunk, Draco spread his clothes and other items on his bed, so it looked as if he was busy packing for his trip back to school.
Narcissa hung up her traveling cloak and put her purse on the side table in the hall, then entered Draco's room. He looked over at his mother and nodded.
"Dobby?" Narcissa called her former House Elf.
'Pop!'
"Good afternoon, Missy Cissa, Master Draco," Dobby said, smiling. "Is you ready to go with Dobby?"
"Indeed we are, Dobby," replied Draco, walking over and holding out his hand.
"Ready when you are, Dobby," agreed Narcissa, taking hold of Dobby's other hand.
'Pop!'
X X X
Draco and Narcissa walked into the front parlor and were greeted warmly by the gathered crowd. Arthur came forward and shook hands with both of them.
"Dobby?" Dan called.
"Yes, Mister Dan?"
"Luna and Neville, next, please."
"Yes, Mister Dan!"
'Pop!'
X X X
"Time for us to go to Grimmauld Place, Albus," remarked Minerva, as she and Severus Snape entered the Headmaster's office.
"It is, indeed," agreed Albus, as he stood and walked over to join them by the fireplace. "After you, Minerva, Severus."
"Grimmauld Place!" Poof!
"Grimmauld Place!" Poof!
"Grimmauld Place!" Poof!
"Well." Headmaster Dippet looked over at Dilys Derwent as the flames died down. "This is where it all starts to change, for the better, I hope."
"Indeed. From what we've overheard, there will be quite a few changes, and Hogwarts might be spared the destruction that was in our future."
"And my great-great-grandson will survive this year and be able to continue the house of Black!" Phineas Nigellus Black injected.
"Continue being his usual, outrageous self, you mean, Phineas?" Headmaster Derwent teased.
"Exact . . .wait, what do you mean 'usual, outrageous', Dilys? He's just high spirited!" Phineas shot back, crossing his arms and staring daggers at the other portrait.
"That's your story, dear, stick to it," giggled Dilys.
X X X
Rupert did a quick headcount and then nodded at Tom, who started the 'Stop Time' Time Turner.
"Alright, boys and girls, we're back in business," Dan announced, as Tom and Rupert took their seats. "Now . . . has anyone thought of any situations or sticky points that may be a problem in your future?"
Hermione's hand shot up, to nobody's surprise.
"Yes, Hermione?" Dan smiled at her.
"The Hufflepuff Cup is in Bella's vault, is it not?"
"It is . . . has been for at least fifteen years." Dan answered.
"And Severus is supposed to put the sword of Godric Gryffindor . . . or a copy of the sword . . . in that vault when he becomes Headmaster, as a gift for Voldemort."
"True, he would have done that," Dan agreed. "But, the circumstances might be different this time, and he may not be named Headmaster."
"Then how do we get the Cup?" Hermione asked.
"I think if we follow, basically, the original timeline, after my 'death', Severus may very well be named Headmaster and could then deliver the duplicate sword to his 'Master' as a gift and explain he has to be the one to place it in the Lestrange's vault, the 'reason' being; only Gryffindors and/or Headmasters can touch the sword, " suggested Albus.
"My sister won't take kindly to anyone but herself or Rudolphus going into their personal vault," Narcissa cautioned.
"I will ask for Rudolphus to accompany me. It would be easier to divert his attention, so as to switch the Hufflepuff Cup with a fake. Bella is too suspicious by half," Severus added. "If I make sure to follow Rudolphus and the accompanying Goblin up to the door of the vault, I could 'Imperious' them, for a few moments, to stand and discuss the dragon guarding that level, while I go in and retrieve the Cup. Then, I'd remove the 'Imperious', and we would proceed to place the Sword in the vault and that's all they'd remember happening."
"That just might work, Severus, my boy. Rudolphus never was the sharpest tack on the board, so the 'Imperious' could work nicely," agreed Dumbledore, nodding thoughtfully.
"How are you going to reach the Cup, Professor? It's way up on a shelf and spells don't work in the vaults, just the 'Germino Curse' already in place."
"Ah, I have solved that little problem, Hermione," declared Tom, who stood and walked over to Emma's bag. Reaching deep inside, he retrieved a slender leather tube. Removing the top, he tilted it and several thin rods emerged into his palm. "This, for those of you who haven't had the thrill of fly fishing, is a bamboo rod, segmented to make it easier to carry through any woods or fields one might have to traverse in order to get to that perfect stream, wherein live the trout that you are hopeful of catching."
As he spoke, Tom quickly fitted the sections of the rod together and displayed the effective reach possible, a good ten to twelve feet, including his arm.
"With the addition of a small hook, Severus could also lift the duplicate Cup onto the shelf from which he'd just removed the real deal. Ta-Da! With a little practice he'll be able to make the switch in under thirty seconds."
"Brilliant, Tom! How did you ever think of that?" Draco asked, as he took the rod from Tom and inspected it.
"Well, truth be told . . . I've had to try and untangle my line from overhanging tree limbs too many times, until I started using a spare rod to help get my tackle loose and back down in the water. Just made sense for this little caper." Tom shrugged.
"You really are a Slytherin, mate," Draco grinned and elbowed Tom in the ribs, grinning.
"Indeed," agreed Severus, as he took the rod and inspected the joints and how they fitted together. "I could easily conceal this in my pocket, shrunken, of course. I doubt that it would be considered a weapon or a threat by the Goblins security system. Perhaps I should visit my own vault a few times, with this in my pocket, so it seems to be a part of my regular regalia."
"Now that's an excellent idea, Severus, old man. If they get used to you having it in with you, they'll get complacent and BINGO, you're in!" Sirius clapped and gave Severus a thumbs up.
"And as far as the duplicate Cup is concerned," injected Emma, holding up a short chain, from which hung a pocket watch. "You, Severus, are wearing a pocket watch from now on, with the duplicate cup disguised as a potions flask fob." She held up the other end of the chain to show a small silver cup. "Again, everyone will get used to you wearing the watch and they'll see a potions bottle, not the Hufflepuff Cup . . . Hermione, you came up with solution," Emma added, smiling as she turned to the girl. "You're quite devious, you know that?"
"I am?" Hermione stammered. "Oh, my!"
"Yes, the idea hit you when you remembered looking at my charm bracelet and all the miniature items on it, including a wand and a snitch," Emma laughed.
"Brilliant, 'mione!" Ron gave her a hug.
"Thank you, Ron," she replied, blushing.
X X X
"Alright, listen up, you lot," Fred strode to the front of the room, George right beside him.
"We've got something to show you!" George announced.
"Ready or not!" declared Tom, as he wheeled a tall form, draped with a sheet, to the front of the room. Grabbing a bit of the sheet, he grinned as he yanked it off to reveal the hidden object. "Ta-Da!"
There were gasps all around the room. Before them stood a perfect likeness of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, from his pillbox hat to his slipper clad feet. Hair, beard, robes, rings, half-moon glasses . . . it was Albus!
"Where on earth?" "How in the world?" "Merlin!" "It can't be!"
Everyone was talking, questioning and exclaiming at the same time. Fred and George, with Tom's help, soon got the room quieted down. The Headmaster rose from his seat and slowly circled the copy of himself, peering closely at the face and touching the robes and hair.
"May I assume this is not a magical rendition of myself?" he asked, looking from Fred to George.
"No sir, it's Muggle in origin," replied Fred.
"But with a magical tweak or two," admitted George.
"We got some old robes and made them more your style, sir," added Tom.
"And the purpose of this magnificent likeness?" questioned Albus, with a twinkle in his eye.
"This is the body that will fall off of the Astronomy Tower, because, as you said, it's a bit of a drop," Tom answered.
"Indeed. Where did you get my likeness, if it won't get you into too much trouble to reply?" Albus turned to the twins, who pointed at Tom.
"His idea, sir," George said.
"We just helped get in," continued Fred.
"Locks, alarms and such," George revealed.
"BOYS!" Molly started to rise, but Arthur grabbed her arm and made her sit down, shaking his head.
"We just borrowed the head and hands from Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum, left duplicates and Fred and George can return these later." Tom quickly came to their rescue. "I have a friend who's father works there. So, we popped in, chose the head and hands that most closely resembled Albus' and popped out again. Dead simple, actually. The body is a fencing form from my old school; it can be posed, as its joints are articulated and it weighs about the same as a real body. Should hit the ground with a convincing thump!" Tom grinned, as the twins nodded agreement.
"This is absolutely splendid. Now if we can just maneuver the Death Eaters in such a way that they only see my 'body'." Albus put his arm on his 'double's' shoulder. "We may convince Voldemort that I am dead. It just might work!"
The whole group crowded around to look over the figure of the Headmaster, amazed at the lifelike qualities. Once they had all made a good, close inspection, everyone settled back down in their seats to continue.
X X X
"How do we keep Voldemort from killing Severus, if he mistakenly believes he is the master of the Elder Wand? " Remus asked, once quiet returned.
"We have to either hide Albus' wand or convince Voldemort that someone else got the wand away from Albus . . . which, in truth, is what really happened . . . Draco had possession of the Elder wand, but didn't realize that fact," Dan said.
"Then he'll come after Draco," whispered Narcissa, grasping her son's hand.
"Okay, then I'll have to get Draco's wand from him sooner than later," Harry spoke up. "Perhaps as you are escaping that night, I could knock you down and grab it away from you. When you tell Voldemort what happened, be sure you say you disarmed the Headmaster and then I disarmed you as you were trying to leave. You defeated Dumbledore, but I defeated you, so to speak . . . isn't that the important bit, not that you kill the owner of the Elder Wand, you just have to defeat him and get the wand, right?"
"Well." Rupert stood up and turned to face the group. "Old Tom has it in his head that death is the only way to defeat someone, so Draco, old man, you'll have to send 'Albus' here, over the edge, too. Just to make sure he thinks you were, however briefly, the master of the Elder Wand. And then he'd know Harry is the owner, not Severus."
"But will he know the Elder wand even exists, if we've hidden Gregorovitch?" asked Hermione.
"Good question, Miss Granger." Albus replied. "Because we've hidden him, Tom may suspect his theory about the wand is correct, as we'd have no other reason to spirit the wand maker away to safety. But Gellert Grindewauld knows the truth and he's beyond our reach . . . so Tom could get to him and confirm his suspicions. We might have to let that part play itself out and just be prepared. Again, if he knows Harry has the wand, even better, as perhaps, he'll think only I knew the truth and that truth died with me, without Harry even having been told what he has in his possession."
"So, as with most of this 'changing history' stuff, there are things we can't control and will just have to adjust to as they come along," Draco said. "I'm not looking forward to that post invasion interview with the Dark Lord in any case . . . at least he'll think you're dead, Headmaster, which is what he wanted me to do. I'll probably get off lightly about the wand, as he wants to keep that information to himself regarding the Elder Wand, so I might be alright. We'll see," Draco shrugged and leaned back on the sofa's cushions, his mother giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"It might come about that the whole scene on the Astronomy Tower doesn't take place, as that was after Harry and Albus returned from the cave. Albus won't be weakened by the curse from the ring or the poison, so he'd be tough to take out, Draco. We'll have to be prepared to improvise, which means, Albus, you'll have to be carrying this copy of yourself with you, shrunk down of course, so you could pull it out, enlarge it and then hide and let you copy get 'killed'." Dan summarized.
"Then Draco might not have to 'kill' Albus?" Narcissa asked in a soft voice.
"Exactly, especially if a bunch of Death Eaters come across him in a hallway and they all hit him with the 'Avada Kadavra' curse at the same time. That would be a problem for old Tom . . . which one killed him . . . who is the Master of the Elder Wand . . . where is the wand?" Emma added. "Perhaps that would be the ideal scenario, with neither Draco or Severus in jeopardy, then."
"Emma! I didn't know you cared!" smirked Draco.
"Of course I care, Draco . . . I care about all of you; Slytherin , Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw . . . makes no difference to me, I want you all to survive," declared Emma, patting Draco on his arm.
Draco caught her hand and squeezed it, looking at her, smirk wiped from his face. "I mean it, Emma; you caring about my welfare does mean an awful lot to me," he whispered, leaning closer to her.
"Think nothing of it, Draco . . . I never disliked you, really, as I had read the books and was a bit more aware of why you behave as you do . . . plus, it was just Tom acting, so I knew he wasn't like that in real life . . . call it a Hogwarts 'second chance'." Emma smiled, pulled her hand from his and then turned her attention back to Dan, blushing slightly.
X X X
Neville raised his hand.
"Yes, Neville . . . question?" Rupert turned toward the sofa where Neville and Luna were sitting.
"Yes, well, I was wondering if there was any way that the members of the Order could hide in the Ministry and help us get rid of the Death Eaters without causing all of that damage, especially in the room with all the prophesies . . . that was a huge loss for the Ministry, wasn't it?" he asked.
"We actually thought of two options for that scene: use 'Side-along Apparation' to get you out of that room . . . OR . . . you, Luna, Ron, Hermione and Ginny spread out and come up behind the Death Eaters and get the drop on them, stun them and then make a run for it," Rupert informed them. "We liked the 'Apparation' idea better . . . when you all are separated from Harry, the Death Eaters are more likely to try to kill you; they don't dare risk hitting Harry."
"They would exit the storage room and see you all entering another room, as that circular room is quite confusing and you wouldn't be expected to know how to get out of there. The rest of that part of the evening's excitement could also be fixed to reduce your injuries by memorizing the floor plan of the Department of Mysteries so you can stick together and defend yourselves on your way to the Veil Chamber," explained Tom, pulling out the paper on which Draco had sketched the hallways and various rooms to send back for them to study. "And yes, you all have to wind up in the Veil Chamber, as that has easier exit possibilities for Bella to use. Just remember to stay off of the platform and away from that Veil!"
"Too right!" "Don't have to tell me twice!" "Fine by me!" "Right, classic!" "Stay away from the Veil . . . duh!"
"Wish someone would have told me!" Sirius whispered to Remus, who elbowed him, but with a wry grin on his face.
X X X
Dan called for attention and everyone quieted down, turning their eyes toward him.
"I want you all to know that when we go back today, we will find out how this all worked out. Draco says we might be able to come back again, if anything goes disastrously wrong, but then again, we might not . . . what I'm trying to say is . . . we wish you all good luck with this . . . and that we are so glad to know you all really are part of the fabric of our future . . . too bad we won't know that then," he finished with a sad smile.
Albus stood and walked over and shook Dan's hand.
"I know I speak for this assembled group when I commend you four for your bravery in undertaking this trip back in time. It shows you all are as loyal and loving as your counterparts in the Wizarding world, here, now and in the future/present day. I, along with the others you are attempting to save, thank you with all our hearts and wish you long and prosperous lives." Albus bowed to Dan and then to Rupert, Tom and Emma.
"Here! Here!" "Bravo!" "Well said, Albus!" "Yeah!" chorused the others in the room, as they all crowed around and shook hands, hugged and thanked the four time travelers.
"Tom, it's time to get us back," Dan said, as the storage box for the 'Stop Time' Time Turner was put on the coffee table.
"Right, first, let's get time here started again, then we can leave," replied the tall blond, as he turned off and retrieved the 'Stop-Time' Time Turner from its resting place on the piano.
"It's going to be fun to see what you've done with this old place, Sirius." Rupert clapped Sirius on the shoulder. "It bound to be quite different than what Harry and Ginny did."
"I wonder where we will be living, Harry?" Ginny looked up into Harry's face and grinned.
"I don't care, as long as it's with you," replied 'the-boy-who-lived', pulling her into a hug. "It'll be our home, that's all that counts."
"Get a room, you two," hissed Draco, as he passed, shooting a smile at his two new friends.
"Shut it, Malfoy!" shot back Ginny, temper flaring, until Harry whispered in her ear, causing her to blush. "Harry!"
Draco burst out laughing and then continued over to where Emma was standing, putting various items into her bag.
"Well, I look forward to seeing you in the future, Emma. I might be an eligible bachelor . . . and I'd be older than you, too, so . . . how's about a date? " as he wagged his eyebrows, smirking.
"Draco, you are incorrigible! You know very well we'll be having our memories of all of this erased, so there's no chance of a date . . . I won't know you are real, remember?" Emma cocked her head, smiling.
"Oh, I'm very real, and very serious, Emma," he leaned in and whispered in her ear. "You are one remarkable woman and I think I'm going to be very frustrated until 2012." Straightening up, he winked at her, and then chuckled as she blushed.
"Draco!"
"Just think about it . . . you'll know how it turns out in just a few minutes. I've got sixteen years to wait to see you again. . . so." Draco leaned in and kissed Emma, lingering just long enough for her to get over the shock and, without thinking, respond. Then he pulled away, stroked her cheek, turned and walked away to say good-bye to Tom.