- INTERLUDE ONE -
Where Is Mr Potter?
Albus Dumbledore's glance wandered over the students at the House tables while he sipped from his cup of Earl Grey tea. The Great Hall was always busy during breakfast, but this morning it felt even more lively than usual. Students were talking to each other excitedly and the hall was buzzing with anticipation for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament that would take place in the afternoon.
At the Slytherin table, Albus spotted Durmstrang's champion Viktor Krum, who was staring sullenly at his plate, ignoring his adoring fans that always seemed to surround him. Fleur Delacour at the Ravenclaw table was trying to appear calm, but her tense posture betrayed her uneasiness. One House table further to the left, Cedric Diggory sat among his Hufflepuff classmates. The boy wasn't even attempting to hide his nervousness while his friends offered him encouraging words and some last-minute advice.
Albus smiled magnanimously at the young Mr Diggory. He was confident that the boy would do well in the tournament, just like all his competitors. The lad's nervousness was understandable, but there really was no need for it. It was true that the first task might look dangerous at first glance, but it wasn't as if the champions were expected to actually fight the dragons.
Chuckling slightly, Albus thought back of how Barty and Ludo had proposed to have the champions steal a fake egg from a nesting mother dragon. For a brief moment, he had been horrified. But, naturally, it had taken him only a few seconds to think of over a dozen easy ways to obtain the egg without facing the dragon at all. Surely, the Champions would also realise that and find inventive solutions that would keep them securely out of harm's way.
There was no reason to worry about the champions, least of all Harry. The boy had proven his ability to think on his feet in dangerous situations countless times already. That fact was unfortunate in of itself, of course, but now it served to reassure Albus a great deal. Harry would surely do fine this afternoon.
Albus frowned when one of the blinking buttons proclaiming Cedric Diggory as the true Hogwarts Champion caught his attention. He wished the students would behave more maturely and show a united front, especially to the visiting schools, but he didn't think there was any reason to intervene. It was natural for children and young teenagers to behave in such a way, but a fine lad like Harry would be above such childish taunts.
Facing such harmless adversity would only build character, as Albus knew well from personal experience. Hardly a week went by without the Prophet promoting some new sordid rumour about Albus's own personal life. Any sensible person knew not to take these things to heart.
Thinking about Harry, where was the lad?
Albus realised he hadn't seen the boy at breakfast yet. Nor could he spot Miss Granger at the Gryffindor table, who had always been sitting with Harry for the last few weeks. This was a bit strange, now that he thought about it. Albus couldn't remember Harry ever missing breakfast before.
"Minerva," he spoke up and turned towards his colleague to his right, "have you seen Mr Potter this morning?"
The deputy headmistress frowned. "No," she replied, "but I haven't looked for him. Maybe he ate much earlier to have more time to prepare for the task?"
"I don't think he did," Filius Flitwick squeaked from one seat further down the table. "I was here before seven, and I haven't seen Mr Potter yet."
"Minerva, would you mind asking his classmates if Mr Potter is up, and if necessary send one of the boys up to the dormitory to look for him?" Albus asked. He suspected that Harry and Miss Granger had prepared for the tournament until late into the night and might have overslept.
"Of course," Minerva replied and rose from the table, though she looked slightly annoyed about the request.
"Thank you," Albus said absently while pouring himself another cup of tea. At the same time, he mused why the seat to his left was also still unoccupied. He hoped that Severus would have notified him if whatever required his attention at the moment was a bigger emergency.
Albus observed as Minerva first talked with Ronald Weasley and Neville Longbottom, then with the third and fourth-year Gryffindor girls. Moments later, Mr Longbottom and Miss Weasley hastily left the Great Hall, and Minerva returned to her seat.
"No one has seen Mr Potter or Miss Granger this morning," she reported. "The students will look for them and wake them if they've overslept."
"Thank you, Minerva," Albus replied with a nod. He reached for his cup of tea again but was startled when the entrance doors of the Great Hall slammed open and his enraged Potions Master stormed inside.
"POTTER!" Severus yelled as he strode towards the Gryffindor table. "Where are you!?"
Albus hastily got up to defuse the situation. He wondered what had Severus in such a foul mood, but then he noted the Potions Master's appearance. Severus's nose was red and blue, apparently broken in several places, and dried blood covered his face and his robes.
"WHERE IS HE!? WHERE IS POTTER!?" Severus screamed at the students at the Gryffindor table, who cowered away from the irate man.
"Severus!" Albus called out. "What happened?"
"Potter! That's what happened!" Severus spat, gesticulating wildly. "He attacked me! He stole from me! He even stole my wand! I want to see him expelled! No, not expelled! I want that brat in Azkaban!"
"Severus, calm down!" Albus was confused by what he heard. Harry attacking a professor? No, this couldn't be true. There had to be some sort of misunderstanding.
"Those are serious allegations, Severus," Minerva's voice came from behind Albus as she and Filius joined them. "Are you quite sure about this?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Severus shouted in reply, causing Albus to shoot his colleague a disapproving look. Losing one's countenance like that was quite unbecoming for a professor, especially in front of students, who were watching the exchange with rapt attention. Fortunately, Severus appeared to recognise the rebuke for what it was and calmed down slightly.
"My apologies, Headmaster, Professors," Severus grumbled. "Yes, I'm sure. I had Potter in detention last night. He arrived, I opened the door, and then I woke up on the floor this morning, only moments ago. The only explanation is that Potter stunned me when my back was turned."
With a sinking feeling, Albus listened as Severus continued to recount what happened, the Potions Master becoming more agitated the longer he spoke. "He even injured me while I was unconscious. Look at my face! Potter did that! He brutally attacked me! And when I woke up, my storage cupboards were depleted. He stole from me! I want the brat expelled! Where is he!?"
"Someone is looking for him," Albus replied carefully, though he was still unsure about the veracity of Severus's claims. All of this didn't seem like Harry at all. There had to be another explanation, he was sure of it. The boy wouldn't hurt a fly. However, at the same time, Albus suddenly felt much less certain that Harry had simply overslept.
"Severus-" Albus began, but he was interrupted by another loud shout from the doors – by a high-pitched female voice this time.
"It's your fault, Ron!" Ginevra Weasley screamed as she entered the hall and descended upon her unsuspecting brother at the Gryffindor table, paying no mind to the assembled teachers nearby.
"See what you've done now!" she cried, waving around a piece of parchment in front of Ronald's face. "I hope you're proud of yourself!"
She pushed the parchment into the confused boy's hands before slumping down onto the bench and burrowing her head in her arms. "Hermione and Ha-Harry... They... they left Hogwarts... They're g-gone!" she pressed out between sobs.
"Gone?" Minerva repeated, aghast.
"Good riddance, I say," Severus spat.
"Severus, why don't you go and see Madam Pomfrey and let her tend to your injuries," Albus suggested tiredly. He knew that the Potions Master wouldn't be of any help at the moment. Albus trusted Severus with his life, and he knew that the man would be useful in the war to come, but sometimes he wondered if it was really worth the hassle to keep the unpleasant man around.
Severus glared at Albus for a brief moment before he turned around with a huff and strode out of the Great Hall.
With a sigh, Albus then approached the young Weasley siblings at the Gryffindor table. He had to halt briefly when a blonde girl in Ravenclaw colours pushed past him to take a seat next to Ginevra and put a consoling arm around the crying girl.
In the meantime, Ronald looked down at the parchment in his hands with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He seemed at a loss of what to make of what he read, as if he was unsure whether he should be indifferent, angry, or sad.
"Could we please have a look at this?" Albus gently asked the boy. He took the parchment from Ronald's numb hands when the lad nodded absentmindedly.
Albus knew that he didn't interact much with his students, and he rarely saw their work, but he still recognised Miss Granger's neat script immediately. With a frown beginning to form on his face, he read the letter.
Dear Ginny,
By the time you're reading this, Harry and I will be on our way to Australia.
Australia? Albus shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't make sense of what he was reading. Miss Granger – Miss Granger – was talking about leaving the school? Together with Harry? What were they thinking?
Every year, our lives have been put at risk at Hogwarts, and it has been the same this year. It has become clear to Harry and me that if we want to survive our teenage years, we have to leave the madhouse that is this school. While I doubt that it will do any good, I want to advise you and your brothers to also look for a different school with less inept and negligent teachers – a school where the staff will notice when a young girl is possessed by a dark artefact or when a basilisk is attacking students. Would you and your family please consider it?
Albus grimaced. Well, it was true that there had been some unfortunate events in the last years involving Harry. But it was hardly fair to blame that on the staff!
Yes, the incident with the troll in Harry and Miss Granger's first year had been regrettable. Albus had expected Tom to show a bit more finesse there. But luckily, no harm had come of it. Albus and Minerva had also strongly reprimanded Hagrid for leaving first-years unsupervised in the Forbidden Forest at night. That had been another case of poor judgement.
But no one had asked Harry and his friends to jump feet-first into danger to save an inert copy of the Philosopher's Stone and ruin a perfect trap for Tom! Albus had been rather annoyed with the kids about that, but they were young and had acted with the best of intentions, so he hadn't berated them for their foolishness and instead given them house points for their bravery.
How Harry and his friends had even got through the door to the third-floor corridor, Albus still didn't know for sure. His spells should've kept out everyone except Tom and his servants. Albus had keyed the protective enchantments exactly to the Dark Lord.
Albus suspected it might've had something to do with young Harry's scar – which would be very upsetting if it was true. Harry's dreams about Tom seemed to support Albus's suspicion, but he had only begun investigating the matter.
Anyway, Albus had to grudgingly admit to himself that some mistakes had been made in Harry's first year, and later on, too. Albus remembered that Miss Granger had been among those petrified by the basilisk. That probably added to the teens' grievances, but Albus didn't understand why they would hold the teachers responsible for the attacks. Yes, in hindsight, it would've been better to close the school, but how should anyone have known that the monster had been a basilisk? Basilisks kill, they don't petrify. Albus and his colleagues had been sure that the monster had to be some kind of non-deadly Gorgon, or maybe even an Egyptian Stone Scorpion or a Peruvian Stone Viper. But never a basilisk.
Besides, Miss Granger's health had been restored soon enough. And no one had asked Harry to jump into danger once again and fight the basilisk by himself without asking for help from the authorities. Or rather, without asking for help from anyone except Gilderoy Lockhart, of all people! What had they been thinking? Well, Harry had only been twelve years old, so Albus didn't blame the boy and his friend Ronald for their rash actions. But clearly, the staff wasn't to blame, either. It had all just been a series of unfortunate events, just like the dangerous situations in Harry's third year.
With an annoyed shake of his head, Albus continued to read.
Switching schools isn't an option for Harry and me, so we will take our education in our own hands. We will be moving to Australia, where we will travel the countryside, out of reach of anyone who might come looking for us.
Albus sighed. Well, there were enough spells to track the teens down if it would really become necessary. There was no way they had learnt the concealing charms needed to stay hidden for a longer time. But Albus suspected he wasn't reading the truth, anyway. He couldn't imagine that Harry or Miss Granger would leave their families, or the country for that matter. Obviously, this was nothing but a clumsy attempt at diversion. Taking some comfort from his conclusion, Albus finished reading the letter.
Would you please take care of Crookshanks and Hedwig for us? Unfortunately, we can't bring the animals with us. They are yours now, if you're all right with that. I know that you could use an owl, and you were playing with Crookshanks at the Burrow, so I hope that we're not leaving you a burden.
Do not worry about us – we have everything planned out and will lack for nothing while we're gone.
Please forgive us for keeping our escape a secret and not saying goodbye in person. I'm sure we will see each other again, albeit in a few years. I hope we can still be friends then, and I'm sure Harry feels the same.
Until then, please keep safe.
Your friend,
Hermione
Albus lowered the letter and briefly closed his eyes when he reached the end of the text. He was sure that he and the staff would be able to convince the teens to return to school soon enough, but he was still upset and annoyed by their decision. What they had done would be regrettable on any day, but to make it even worse, today was probably the very worst time imaginable for this nonsense.
"Do you really think they're gone?" Minerva asked disbelievingly. She had read the letter over Albus's shoulder.
He gave a small sigh in response. "We can probably say that Mr Potter and Miss Granger have indeed left Hogwarts, though I'll still ask the house-elves to look for our wayward students just to be sure."
He felt a small nudge to his magic and knew that the castle's elves had received his command and had begun their search.
Considering the next steps, Albus slowly stroked his beard. "I do not think that they have left for Australia. They are probably with their families and don't want us to come looking for them there. I'm sure we will find them at their homes, so I suggest we go there as soon as possible. Whatever happened between Mr Potter and Severus can be handled at a later point once our students have returned."
"Why do you think they left in the first place, Albus?" Minerva asked, still looking disbelievingly at the letter in Albus's hands.
"I'm not sure..." Albus began, unsure himself. He put the letter back on the table and walked towards the antechamber of the Great Hall to talk away from the students. "Miss Granger writes that they feel they are put in danger at school, but..."
"Well, there have indeed been several ugly incidents over the last years that involved Mr Potter," Filius agreed as they entered the small room. "And now the tournament..."
Minerva raised her eyebrows at the diminutive professor. "You think Mr Potter ran away because he was afraid of the task?"
Albus had to agree with his deputy that such a thing sounded very much unlike Harry.
"Well..." Filius shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he didn't know the task. If he only found out about the obstacle but not the objective..."
Albus frowned. Knowing only about the dragons without the specifics would make the task look rather intimidating, that was true. And it was possible that Harry had explored the grounds to find out more about the task and had discovered the dragons.
"Mr Potter seems to be in the habit of acquiring information he shouldn't be privy to..." he admitted. "But even then, why would he just decide to leave? Without asking for help first? He didn't ask, did he, Minerva, Filius?"
The rules forbade the teachers from helping the champions directly, but that only meant that they weren't allowed to take the initiative and train the champions. If Harry asked any specific questions, the teachers would still be free to answer him like they answered any other student.
Minerva shook her head, a deep frown on her face. "No, he didn't talk to me."
"I would've been happy to assist the boy, but he never approached me," Filius replied.
"Hmm..." Albus stroked his beard. "Mr Potter might've thought he wasn't allowed to ask for help. But even if he felt that the task would be beyond his abilities, he could just have entered the arena briefly, cast a spell, and immediately retreated again. Any obligation he might have to compete would've been fulfilled. Why run away?"
"Did you tell him this?" Filius asked pointedly.
"No, I didn't," Albus had to admit. "But surely he knew that..."
Minerva shook her head, a regretful look on her face. "Albus, I can assure you that a thought like that certainly didn't occur to a quintessential Gryffindor like Mr Potter."
Albus winced. Yes, young Harry most certainly was a Gryffindor. The past years had proven that beyond any doubt.
"Maybe so," he conceded. "But if Mr Potter is this quintessential Gryffindor, why would he run away in the face of this challenge?"
That just didn't add up, Albus thought.
Minerva frowned. "I don't know... Maybe... This might be more likely Miss Granger's doing..."
"Ah... Quite right, Minerva!" Filius agreed with a small smile.
Albus nodded slowly. That seemed plausible. Miss Granger certainly had her heart in the right place, but she appeared to be in the habit of judging things prematurely based on Muggle preconceptions when the magical world simply worked very differently. Even he had heard about her little crusade to free the house-elves at Hogwarts against their will.
"Yes..." Albus said. "She and Mr Potter might have learnt about the task, and in her misguided worry for a friend, Miss Granger might have convinced the boy to do something foolish..."
"Well... There was no need to run away, but is it really that foolish for Mr Potter not to compete in the tournament?" Filius asked.
Albus knew what the Charms professor was getting at. There was indeed only a very small chance that Harry's magic was truly in jeopardy today.
But Albus thought it still couldn't be risked to have the boy lose his magic, given his importance in the inevitable fight against Voldemort. The Prophecy demanded that Harry face Voldemort himself, and it wouldn't do for the boy to be completely defenceless in that unavoidable confrontation. Therefore, it would be best to have Harry compete in the tournament. It wasn't as if Harry had to place himself in danger there. He only had to enter the arena, cast a spell, and then leave again.
Besides, even if Harry attempted something more dangerous, Albus was certain that the Prophecy was absolute and that Fate would hold a protective hand over Harry, just as it had in the past. The boy wouldn't come to harm in the tournament, Albus was sure of it.
Given that Harry wouldn't be in danger, Albus also preferred to not stop Harry's participation in the tournament as it would prove useful in the fight against the Dark. It would be best to have the boy compete to lure Tom's servants out into the open. It might finally give them a chance to catch Tom or at least provide proof for his continued existence.
"Still, Filius," Albus replied after a brief pause, "it will be the best course of action for Mr Potter to remain in the tournament. I will try to convince him of that when I find him... I hope he and Miss Granger were at least reasonable enough to just go to their homes..."
"Haven't you... don't you have a tracking charm on him?" Minerva asked hesitantly.
"I wouldn't do that," Albus replied, slightly affronted by her accusation. Well, she was partially correct: There was an alert charm keyed into the enchantments around Harry's family home that would alarm Albus if the property was attacked or the boy severely injured, but Albus wasn't constantly spying on the boy's whereabouts. In emergencies, Fawkes was able to find people and take him along, so Albus didn't need such charms for most important tasks, anyway. Unfortunately, the phoenix just had a burning day and was currently unable to fly.
"I'm sure they are at their homes," Albus continued. "But if not, there are spells we can use to track Mr Potter and Miss Granger's location."
"Not if they really don't want to be found," Filius pointed out.
"Yes, but where would they have come across those charms?" Minerva asked. "It's seventh-year material. I doubt even Miss Granger has read that far ahead."
"Quite," Albus agreed. "But tracking them magically would only be the last resort. It will be much quicker to just go to their homes. I'm sure they will be there... Minerva, can you go to Miss Granger's home? I'll visit Mr Potter's relatives."
"Very well," Minerva said. "What will we say to them if they don't want to return?"
"If Mr Potter and Miss Granger really want to have a break, they will have to convince their guardians of that," Albus replied. He didn't think this scenario was very likely, however. "If Miss Granger's parents and Harry's aunt and uncle demand it, the children could be taken out of school for a while. That is the guardians' prerogative. But Mr Potter would still have to compete in the tournament. The lad is probably just confused right now. I'm sure he will listen to reason."
Minerva nodded. "I'll try to explain the situation to Miss Granger then. I shall leave at once."
"Be sure to look up the work address of her parents in Miss Granger's file, Minerva," Filius chimed in. "At this time of day, they might not be at their home."
"Quite right. Thank you for your help, Filius," Albus said gratefully. "I leave Hogwarts in your capable hands for the morning, then. I'm sure Minerva and I will be back soon."
Albus stepped out of the antechamber and quickly made his way to the castle gates to apparate to Harry's home address at Four Privet Drive – a place he had last visited thirteen years ago.
As he walked along, Albus sighed, disappointed with the two teens. Why did teenagers always have to be so melodramatic? And in the worst moments, too.
He shook his head. Well, there was no harm done yet. In the end, this would all be sorted out before lunch. Albus was sure about it.
