Chapter 5: Still A Long Day
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"The school needs to close," Amelia said, now that Xeno was gone. She didn't want to talk about it with the Weasley children here, but she had little choice. Albus wasn't going anywhere, and she didn't trust the man not to try and mind-whammy her. "There's a basilisk about," she added as if she had not said it many times before.
"The muggleborn have all left," the old man said with a sigh, having felt the exodus from the wards. It saddened him that they all didn't trust him to protect them.
"Do you think that the basilisk is going to care what kind of parents a person has?" she retorted, flipping her notebook to a new page.
"It will if it is being controlled," Albus said, side-eyeing Ginny, who was still hiding in her brother's robes. "I believe that someone is controlling it," he reiterated.
"Be that as it may, it is still a deadly animal. A XXXXX creature, the school must be closed," she stated again. "You know this has to happen," she said with all the authority she could muster.
"You don't have that authority," the headmaster protested, trying to raise from the bed, but was too weak and feeble. He felt like his full 111 years of age. The Elder Wand had given him some power to help keep him feeling younger.
'He really must have lost a lot of blood,' Amelia thought, then said aloud, "You'll find that I do. And even if I didn't, which I do, Gethsemane does. She says there's a basilisk, the kids that were petrified identified a large snake, making her correct. That means the school closes, whether you like it or not." she flipped her notebook closed at the last word and sat there glaring at him.
"I am the headmaster of this school," Albus said with an air of importance.
"Bully for you," Amelia said back.
It was at this time that Arthur Weasley came into the room. Thank Merlin, he was alone. She didn't feel like putting up with is wife this evening. It had already been a long day. From the looks on the kids' faces; they were glad too.
"Amelia, what happened?" he asked, his voice making his daughter fly off the bed into his arms.
"Oh, Daddy, I'm in so much trouble," she wailed. Great sobbing wails, that came from the middle of the chest and hurled themselves up the throat. She was having trouble breathing they were that strong.
"Calm down, sweetie, I'm sure it will be alright," Arthur said as he tried to calm his daughter. He looked around the room for help and an explanation, but Percy was worried, Amelia was tightlipped, and Albus had a look of pity on his face. Poppy came up to him with a calming draught. "Here, drink this and then tell me what is wrong, so I can fix it," he instructed, holding the vial to her lips, and helping her drink it down.
"It was Tom," Ginny said, once she calmed down. "He's the boy in my diary," she added, pulling out the leather-bound book with the name T. M. Riddle emblazoned on it. "He was so nice in the beginning, but I started losing time. Once, I woke up and I was covered in chicken blood and feathers. I think I killed all Hagrid's roosters," she said, meekly, looking at Madam Bones. "That was when the message was written on the wall," she added, still looking at the woman who could arrest her.
"What can you tell me about the Chamber of Secrets?" Amelia asked, flipping her notebook open again. "How did you open it? And how many times?" she inquired.
"I'm not sure," Ginny said, thinking hard about all the times she blacked out. "I don't remember every time, but I know I've lost time about five times," she said, still counting them off in her head.
"Oh, Ginny, why did you write in a book that wrote back?" Arthur asked, having thought he taught his children better than that. "You know better," he added, taking the book and flipping through it.
"Give that to me, Arthur," Amelia said, holding out her hand for it. She was getting bad vibes from it. She would get it to the Unspeakables. If they couldn't figure out what it was, they would give it to the goblins. Someone somewhere would know what to do with it. Right now, though, it needed to be bagged and tagged.
"No, give it to me," Albus said, trying to sit up and look strong. Everyone looked at him like he was barmy.
"What?" three people said, only Percy didn't voice his question. Poppy had gone back to her office.
"You are not an Auror," Amelia said, going over to Arthur and grabbing the book from his hands a bit too roughly. "This is evidence," she added, taking a bag out of her coat pocket and placing the book in it. She then sealed it with her wand and magical signature so no one else could open it. Well, the Unspeakables could, but they were the only other ones that could.
"I am Chief Warlock, and I say I need that book," Albus tried again. He was demanding it harshly now. "It is a matter of great security," he added, his tone firm. He needed to know how Tom survived, it was imperative.
"Explain," Amelia said, turning towards him. If he gave a good enough reason, she might let him have some information when the Unspeakables told her something. Probably not, but it could happen.
"I am afraid I cannot," the old man said, sighing and leaning back on the headboard of his bed.
"Then I'm afraid I can't either," she said with a sniff. She turned back to Ginny Weasley. "Do you remember anything about the times you let the basilisk loose?" she asked, hoping for some clue as to how big it was.
"No, only coming back to myself in the bathroom," she said, shaking a bit in fear and memory.
"Bugger," Amelia said, clicking her pen in agitation. "Arthur, take your kids home. The school will be closing. As you just heard there's a basilisk about. Keep Ginny free, we may need to talk to her again," she added.
"A basilisk?" the man yelled in horror. He got up and bustled his kids out the door. He would grab the twins and Ron and skedaddled. He'd worry about Molly's fussing later.
"I really wish you had not done that," Albus said, still leaning back like he was having a hard time moving. He knew this was going to cause a panic.
"I did what I have to do," she said, leaving the room, not undoing his hand. He was still under arrest for impeding an investigation. She'd just have to deal with him later.
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Harry, Hermione, and Ron were in the common room talking to the twins about Ginny and how she was probably doing, when the woman from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures came into the room. "Harry Potter," she said, looking straight at him.
"Yes?" Harry said, getting warily to his feet. He already had a long day; he didn't need to make it longer.
"I need you to come with me," she said, a nice smile on her face. She looked like she had wanted to meet him all her life, which was weird since she was way older than him.
"Why do you want Harry?" Hermione asked, standing, and getting in front of her friend. She wasn't about to let a strange woman come and take Harry away without a 'by your leave'.
"He's a parselmouth," Gethsemane said like it was obvious. "I need him to get into the Chamber of Secrets," she added, looking around the room at all the terrified faces.
"What authority do you have?" the bushy-haired girl asked, hoping the lady had some credentials.
"I am head of the creature department at the ministry," Prickle said, beckoning Harry to join her. "Everyone else, go pack. You're going home," she stated, making shooing motions when they didn't move.
"How do you know that?" Hermione asked, a bit on the prudish side. This woman was not staff.
"I'm closing the school. or didn't you hear about the 'great ruddy snake' slithering about?" the woman said sarcastically. She hadn't even been there, and she heard the rumor. "Go on, get going," she said, making the shooing motions again. "Not you, Mr. Potter."
Harry sighed and went to the woman who seemed to have some authority. She was bossy enough for it. "Why do you need me to open it? Can't you just blow the door open?" he asked, knowing that is what he'd do if the door was password locked.
"We could, but we might bring the whole castle down on us," Prickle said, turning to leave, waving Harry to join her.
"Mr. Weasley," Harry said as they were about to leave the dorms. "What are you doing here?" he asked, moving aside to let him and his children in.
"They're closing the school," Arthur said, gasping for breath, he had just run here. "I came to get the boys."
"They're packing. This lady told them too," Harry said, pointing to Prickle.
"Oh, Gethsemane, I didn't see you there," Arthur said, holding out his hand. "I feel much better with you here. I'm still taking the boys and Ginny home though."
"As well you should," the woman said, then nudged Harry along.
"See ya, Mr. Weasley. Bye, Percy, Ginny," Harry said, as he was all but drug out of the door. They walked for a while until they got to the bathroom with the entrance. "I can't go in there," Harry said, balking at the thought of going into a girl's loo.
"It's alright. There are no girls in there right now," the woman said, laughing at his wariness. Oh, to be young again, with nothing to worry about but cooties.
"But it's for girls," Harry protested, digging in his heels.
"Come on, there is nothing but adults, fully clothed, in there. We need you to open the entrance," she said, taking his arm and pulling him along.
"But," was all he said, before he was in the loo. It looked just like a boy's loo without the urinals. There weren't any pink… anything, or rainbows and unicorns. It was just a regular loo. He was a bit disappointed.
"It's over here," Prickle said, bringing him to the sink. "We don't know the password, so just start saying opening phrases in parseltongue." She pointed out the picture of the snake by the faucet.
Harry looked at the snake and hissed the first thing that came to his mind. "Open sesame." It worked; the sink slowly started grinding open. When it finished, there was a large hole that led down to a dark expansive space. They couldn't see the end of the tunnel, so they had no idea what was there.
"Try for stairs," one of the hunters said, hefting his wand ready to kill anything that moved. They knew there was a basilisk, but they didn't know if there was anything else.
"Stairs," Harry hissed, and the tunnel started shaping into a winding staircase.
"You stay up here. Hide in one of the stalls, and stay there until you hear a human voice,. If you hear the snake, stay still. They track by scent, but if you're here by the water, you should be safe. Rodgers, stay with him, and kill anything that moves," Gethsemane said, pointing to the far stall. She wasn't sure if that would work, but they might need him later, and she had no choice. She threw some scent dampening spells on the two of them and hoped for the best.
"Yes, ma'am," a tall black man said, standing guard in front of the stall. He would protect the boy with his life. He had on those yellow shades that everyone else was wearing. It made him look wicked.
"Be careful, lads and ladies, we don't know what we will run into down there," she stated, donning some weird glasses, just like her crew. They all lit their wands and made for the stairs.
Harry took refuge in the stall, with Rodgers standing guard, and hoped that they didn't need him again. He tried to talk to his guard, but the man wanted to listen to the sounds coming from the hole. His day just got longer.
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Bones went to find McGonagall. She needed to get the woman to close the school. Gethsemane had already sent her Patronus and informed her that they were going after the beast. The kids needed to be removed from the area. Now.
They could be flooed out from their dorms. It was an acceptable evacuation plan. That would keep them out of the way. Since it was past curfew, they should all be in their dorms, but they needed to be informed to be there anyways.
She went to McGonagall's office and found her there doing paperwork. "You need to close the school and send the kids home. Now. Evacuate them to the Ministry or St. Mungo's, or even the Leaky Cauldron. I don't care where they go, but get them out of the school," Bones said with urgency.
"I beg your pardon," the prim teacher said, like the woman had just slapped her.
"Did I in any way studder?" Amelia said, confused as to why the woman was not reacting in a timely fashion. "Close the school," she reiterated succinctly, making hurry up motions with her hands.
"Only Albus can close the school," Minerva stated, like it was fact. She was flabbergasted that Amelia was making such demands on her.
"Wrong, Gethsemane Prickle, the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, has issued a XXXXX creature on the premise warning. Close the school," she said for the third time.
"Oh dear," McGonagall said, pushing a rune on the desk and saying, "All students to your dorms, immediately. All students to your dorms, immediately. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. All students to your dorms, immediately." She then looked at Amelia and pushed the rune again. "All teachers to my office, immediately. I repeat, all teachers to my office, immediately."
"Thank you," Amelia said, then turned and left the room. She needed to get back to Albus Dumbledore. He was a slippery fellow and he might try and skip out on her.
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Harry had been in the stall for around ten minutes when a voice called out to him. "Harry Potter. Rodgers," it said, beckoning them to come to the hole.
"Yes?" he said, coming from his hiding place and going to the stairs. Rodgers came with him and held him back from the hole until he identified the voice.
"Who?" Rodgers called down.
"It's Tim," the man said. "Come on down. We need you again," he said in a tired tone.
Harry lit his wand and rushed down the stairs. He had been bored in the stall and facing danger was loads better than sitting doing nothing. He got to the bottom and the man waved him to follow. Rodgers was hot on his heels. They went down the bone riddled passageway until they came to a set of snake-lined doors.
"Here's another one for you," Prickle said, pointing to the door.
Harry shrugged and said the same words he used on the sink. They worked again, and he was questioning the intelligence of Slytherin. Maybe someone changed them after the man died? Maybe. That did make more sense.
"Here, put these on," Gethsemane said, holding out the bizarre glasses.
Harry put him on his face, they covered his regular glasses and made the whole world yellow and brown. Rodgers put Harry behind him and made sure he stayed there.
"Don't touch anything," he was warned by one of the other hunters.
He lifted his hands in the air and followed. He peeked around his bodyguard and looked around at the cavern they were walking into. It was full of statues of snakes, and a large bust of a man that might have been Slytherin. Harry studied the bust and noted that the jaws were hinged, like they opened.
"I think the snake is in there," he said, pointing to the mouth of the bust.
"So it is," Prickle agreed after casting a spell in the general direction of the mouth.
"How do we get it out?" one man asked, looking at the bust and not seeing anyway to open it.
"This one I believe we can blast open if we just stick to the jaw. Potter, get out of here," she said, standing ready to kill whatever came out of the statue. "Rodgers, go with him," she added, nodding to the large man.
"Alright," Harry said, and booked it out of the cavern and ran to the stairs taking them two at a time. He then stayed at the opening just in case he needed to close it. He would listen for the sound of footsteps or slithering. Rodgers was by his side, listening as well. His wand was also at the ready.
It seemed to take forever, and there was a lot of distant yelling, but soon enough there was the sound of footsteps on the brittle bones that lined the passageway. The crew was coming back.
"Did you get it?" Harry called down, hoping for good news.
"Yes, it's dead," someone called back up.
"We lost two people though," someone else said, sadness in their tone.
"Oh," was all Harry could say to that. It was a sad ending to a very long day. He had heard the castle being closed down earlier and wondered why they hadn't done it sooner. Now that the beast was dead, will they open it. "Um," he said to Prickle when she came up the stairs. "Did you know about the giant spiders?" he asked, making her growl at him.
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Muggleborn Need Rights!
Was the headline of the Daily Prophet the next morning. The article read.
My dear readers, yesterday evening I witnessed the end of the sit-in at Hogwarts. Did it end because the headmaster gave into the reasonable demands of the children? No. That fell on to Gethsemane Prickle, the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and Amelia Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Both ladies came to the school to do the jobs they should have been called for in the beginning.
Albus Dumbledore was seen taunting the children into eating when he knew they were fasting as a form of protest. Harry Potter, our own hero, was one of those children. He got angry enough to state that if the man didn't cease, that he and those around him would leave. Imagine that, Harry Potter, leave the wizarding world, because Albus Dumbledore couldn't, or wouldn't, take him seriously.
That's right, instead of doing the right thing and calling the right people, the headmaster was taunting children. Is this the type of man we want in control of raising our next generation of leaders? I think not.
It was as he was doing that taunting that the ladies from the ministry showed up and got the junior activist to end their demonstration. We can applaud them for their timely intervention. Harry Potter had given the headmaster one day to comply. I don't think the old man believed him, but this reporter saw the look in the boy's eyes, and she did believe his every word.
However, while the school's protest ended peacefully, the protest at the ministry and in Diagon Alley is still going strong. What happened at the school is merely a plaster on the wound that is festering in our society. The muggleborn are repressed and deserve to be represented. If it doesn't happen soon, there will either be a great exodus or a bloody fight. Either way we lose. Half our population will disappear, and we cannot sustain ourselves with halve of us gone.
"We Want Rights!" "We Want Representation!" "Equal Pay for Equal Work!"
Those are the words that they are shouting in the ministry and in the Alley. They feel that since they go to the same school, pay the same taxes, and live in the same world; they deserve everything the purebloods do. The question is, are they correct? It is this reporter's opinion that they are.
Each muggleborn has proven they are the same species as the pureblood, human. They are magically as strong and just as smart. They can do the same jobs and perform the same tasks. There is nothing differentiating them from those that have magicals in their family tree. Except that they come from a different culture.
That is it. That is what has the purebloods up in arms. What I heard yesterday, the muggleborn are more than willing to embrace the magical culture, but they are not willing to take the bigotry that comes with it.
And from what I saw in the ministry yesterday, the purebloods are willing to kill to keep the status quo. Are we, the good people of the British Magical World going to let them do that? Amelia Bones says no.
She had no problem arresting the purebloods for trying to incite a riot. The group of rioters was led by none other than Lucius Malfoy, who was firing at Thomas Starchers, who did not cast a single spell back. Words were exchanged, but only Malfoy was using offensive magic. There were twenty-five other men and women firing on the protesters, and the demonstrators only cast to defend.
Did the minister put Malfoy and his cronies up to this? It is a well-known fact that Mr. Malfoy is considered a good friend of Minister Fudge. Was this sanctioned? Are we going to have to worry about voicing our concerns in the future? Will one of the minister's friends come knocking on our doors too?
At the standoff yesterday, the Aurors erected a barrier that kept most spells out, but it is only a matter of time before this gets deadly. So my question to you, dear readers, is how many have to die before we give these people the rights they are asking for? They are just as human as you and me.
For a Rita Skeeter article, it was pretty mild. Though the dig at the minister was right up her alley.
When it hit the stands, it was sold out in seconds, bought by pureblood and muggleborn alike. The half-bloods were also interested, seeing as they were in the middle of this debate. To them it mattered a great deal who won since someone in their family was affected.
Someone bought an armload and brought it to the protesters at the Ministry. They stood, or sat, and read it.
"Well, we've got one reporter on our side," Thomas said, hoping she stayed on their side.
"Does that mean the paper is though?" Jackie asked, worried that a different reporter would side with the Death Eaters.
"You'd have to write to the editor to find that out," Thomas said, rubbing his bristled chin in thought. He might just do that. A letter to the editor to get his side of the story heard. "Someone, give me some paper and ink," he said to the crowd behind him. There was some rustling noises and a notebook and pen was handed to him. He took them and started writing.
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Dumbledore Doesn't Care About the Muggleborn!
Screamed the headline of the Quibbler that same day. The article read:
Yesterday I was witness to an aborted crime. The perpetrator of this crime was none other than Albus Dumbledore. He was going to wipe the memories of two muggles and two muggleborn to protect a pureblood. For all he has said that he was for the equal rights of the muggleborn, his actions since the sit-in started have shown that he really does not care. I have to wonder if the blinking humbiners have gotten to him.
As you know the headmaster was not supportive of those students protesting that they were not safe at Hogwarts. Well, as of yesterday most of them have gone home, no thanks to the man in charge. In my pervious article I said that I would follow-up on if the muggles knew their children were in danger or not. So, by means I will not divulge, I got their addresses and inquired that question to them.
They did not know. So I took it upon myself to bring them to the school so they may talk to their children. Imagine our surprise when one of the fathers, who will remain nameless, got St. Mungo's to give Madam Pomfrey the antidote to the two frozen boys.
When they woke they identified the culprit as a first year pureblood that was leading a 'great ruddy snake'. Upon hearing this the headmaster attempted the mindwipe. He was shot and disarmed for his efforts.
For those of you that don't know, the muggles have a weapon called a gun. It can shoot a bullet, which is a projectile full of something called gunpowder, from a small tunnel at great speed. Fast enough to leave a hole in the headmaster's hand and embed itself in the stone wall behind said hand. I don't believe a shield will stop it. I would hate to see what that can do to a head.
When asked why he was going to do the mindwipe, he stated that he could not let the girl suffer for something out of her control. Then it was noted that he had no problem letting Harry Potter, our hero and a half-blood, suffer the same fate.
Why? Is the question most of you should be asking. What was more important about this girl than our hero? Why was Harry Potter made to suffer the school's scorn, while this girl was let off the hook? I for one blame the blinking humbiners. I am sure you will draw your own conclusions.
And draw their own conclusions they did. The Quibbler sold out its copies too and had to do a second and third print. Many were just as concerned over what was going on at Hogwarts as they were over what was going on at the ministry.
Now if someone would just report why the school was closed and the children sent home last night. All the parents knew was that there was a state of emergency declared by the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And that they would be notified when the kids could return.