The Heart of Gryffindor
by SJR0301
Part II - Chapter Fourteen
Johnny tossed down the rest of his beer and checked his watch. It was a quarter to midnight, and Harry and the others had disappeared from the pub quite a while ago. He tossed a couple of pound notes on the table and strolled into the other rooms to see if they were there. In another five minutes, he'd have to leave to get back to the Compound and sign in before curfew or he'd be in trouble himself.
None of them were there. Not in the parlor with the big screen telly, which was tuned to the night's football - Scotland's Hibs v. Hearts and it looked like a rumble was brewing in the stands. Nor were they in the shadowy room where the nightly poker game was on.
Johnny shook his head and wandered outside and there they were, seated at the round wrought iron garden tables that would be stored away for the winter in another day or two.
"You haven't been sitting out here in the cold all this time?" he asked. He felt slightly irked to see them sitting there, a nice little club having a nice little garden party to which he hadn't been invited.
"Nah," Ron answered. "We just wanted some air. It's awful smoky in there and the football game was a bit slow tonight."
"Slow?" Johnny asked. "What would you call fast?"
Ron snorted, and then coughed. "Do try to drink your beer nicely," Hermione said to her boyfriend. "Don't mind him," she added tartly. "He's addicted to speed and excitement. I expect he'll be only too happy to kill himself trying to fly one of those helicopters. If," she said with a sniff, "he can pass the written test before our next intensive starts."
"I'm not addicted," Ron grumbled. "And I'll do fine on the written test if you give me a bit of help with the numbers, Hermione. I bet you'll help Harry if he asks you."
"I can do math, you know," Harry interjected. "Anyway, if you look at it, it's not half as hard as McGonagall tests are."
"Your math teacher?" Johnny guessed.
"Physics," Granger answered swiftly.
He shepherded them all into the Rover and drove as fast as he dared on the way back. "You could go faster," Harry suggested. "We don't mind, so long as we get back on time."
"Another speed freak," Hermione complained.
Johnny grinned in the dark and asked, "So are you signing up, too, Harry?"
Everyone at the Compound had been talking of their next assignments. They were all worried about who they'd have to work with when they started at the Thames Street office next week, and some, whether they'd be accepted for flight lessons when the second intensive training session began in the winter.
"Course, I am," Harry answered. "At least it'll be something I'll be good at besides shooting a gun. And I hate that."
"How do you know you'll be good at it?" Johnny asked. "Do you even have a license to drive yet?"
"Actually," Harry said, "I've got a motorbike but I haven't had a chance to get my license yet." He sounded suddenly happy as he added, "It's a good thing we're going back to London. We'll be able to go about on our own off hours."
"And what are you planning on doing?" Hermione asked so severely and suspiciously that she sounded more like Harry's mother than his friend.
"Taking my fiancée out on a real date," Harry answered cheerfully. Ginny giggled and Johnny rolled his eyes as she leaned over the seat to blow a kiss at Harry.
"You're like a pair of puppies," he complained. "You'd best watch out or Daniel’s be cutting off your weekend pass next week."
"He can't," Harry answered. "Friday's our last day here. Then we get a whole lovely weekend before we have to show up at Thames Street."
They had to run to get past the guard and sign in before midnight and all of them were out of breath by the time they hit the dormitory corridor as they had skipped the lift and run up the stairs as well.
Everyone quickly scattered into their rooms as they could hear Daniel's unmistakable tread - he had a very heavy step, perhaps deliberately so - coming down the corridor. Harry pulled Ginny into his room, though, and locked the door quickly. She started to protest or to laugh, but he quickly laid a finger on her lips and waited until Daniels' tread passed them by. And sure enough, just as they were about to speak, the heavy steps returned and Daniels called out, "You in there, Potter?"
Harry yawned loudly and answered, "Yes, sir."
He could have sworn he heard a "humph" but the lieutenant left again without any further questions.
He put on the small table lamp on his desk admired the coppery glow of her hair. "I asked your Mum and Dad if they mind the wedding being at Hogwarts," he said quickly.
"Why would they?" she responded. "I told you it would be all right."
"I just wanted to be sure," he answered.
"Silly," she said. She kissed him on the cheek, just where his Mum had, only it made him feel much different than the other kiss had.
"I'd better go," she said. "We'll be in such trouble if Daniels comes back and checks again."
Rebellion welled up in him. He felt confined again and hated the thought of being left alone. "Stay with me," he said. "I want you with me tonight."
He thought she would refuse and he'd have to transform again, but when she hesitated, he said, "Please. I want you. And I won't have nightmares if you stay."
"Are you still?" she asked.
He didn't answer though. Kissing her, he thought hazily, was a much better way of avoiding bad dreams than transforming. And when they did sleep, his sleep was light and nothing dark rose up to wake him.
***
Johnny was out the door at six a.m. looking forward to his morning run. The rest of the dorm was quiet, except for a vivid red head peeking out from Potter's door. Ginny grinned at him cheekily and scooted across the hallway to her own room and immediately, Harry's untidy black head poked out of the door and his bright green eyes watched the girl's retreating back all the way down the hall.
"You do like to live dangerously, don't you?" Johnny asked.
"That's not dangerous," Harry, answered, "that's just fun. And anyway, we're out of here tomorrow. No more Daniels checking to see what time we got in."
He smiled mischievously at Johnny and said, "You, on the other hand, are a bit obsessive, don't you think? It's not as if Worthington isn't going to make us sweat buckets this afternoon, but you still go out and run at the crack of dawn anyway."
"I like my morning run," Johnny answered. "It puts me in the right frame of mind for the day."
***
Harry shook his tousled head and withdrew, but he could not escape Worthington's eagle eye later.
The Lieutenant had put together an individualized practice program for each recruit and they had been called to the gym in groups of five at staggered times to receive their instructions.
"I promise you I'll know if you haven't been following my program," the lieutenant said. "Just because they give you a desk to sit at in Thames Street doesn't mean you can sit on your arses all day for the next three months. I expect each of you to follow your routines daily as I'll be testing you first thing when you return here." He stopped and eyed them beadily in turn. Then he called each of them up and reviewed their progress in defense and physical training so far and explained his expectations for their follow-up session.
"You just keep up what you're doing, Carter," Worthington said briefly to Johnny. "You'll be fine, I'm sure."
When Harry was called up, Worthington gave him a thorough examination. "Well, Potter," he said, "you're coming along better than I thought you would. But, you've got a way to go."
He pulled out a sheaf of instructions that was quite a bit longer than anyone else's. "This," the lieutenant said, "has your exercise program and a special diet."
"I don't need a diet," Harry objected.
***
He sounded, Johnny thought, more horrified than he had appeared when he had jumped out and caught a grenade.
"Yes, you do," the lieutenant responded. "You need to beef up a bit still. Put on a bit more muscle and you won't do that only through exercise."
"I've always been skinny," Harry objected again.
Poor Harry was what Johnny thought. No one ever seemed to leave the kid alone. Worthington was explaining the need for the special protein supplements and the benefits of L-Carnitine when the gym doors opened to admit five men.
The men were not in uniforms, nor in regular business attire. Johnny had only time to wonder how they had got in when he recognized the drawling voice of the blond man in front.
"So it's true," the blond man said. "Harry Potter is alive."
Everything then happened so quickly; it was hard to recall afterwards what occurred first.
Worthington asked, "Who the hell are you?" and Harry spun quickly and then dove out of the way faster than anyone Johnny had ever seen as purple light flared out of the wooden stick in one man's hand just missing Harry and drilling a hole right through the metal chair, which Worthington had vacated a second before.
"Kill him," the blond man said, and Harry rolled again to avoid another stream of light.
Harry shouted, "Evacuate, Lieutenant!" and he avoided a third attack, only this time, instead of simply diving out of the way, he simply disappeared.
Johnny's mouth dropped open as he realized for the first time that what he was seeing was truly magic. The others were staring, too, and nobody moved to leave.
Harry reappeared ten feet away and spoke in a voice that resonated through the room and the five men attacking froze for just a moment. In the time that it takes for a heart to beat once, a shining silver blade appeared in the air and Harry seized it. It was, as Johnny had thought before, a thing of wonder and those who had not seen it before gawked at it. The sun pouring in from the windows illuminated the golden lion on the hilt and crimson light glowed out of the huge heart shaped ruby clasped in the lion's paws. The letters incised on the blade seemed to dance with their own life - Harry Potter and Gryffindor.
One of the men cursed and paled, but the leader said, "Avery, you're the swordsman," and at his word a tall dark haired man stepped forward and flourished his own blade. A green light sprang up about the blade, a killing light, Johnny thought.
"I wouldn't, if I were you," Harry growled at him.
The dark haired man flinched ever so slightly and Johnny realized that all of them, even the blond one, were actually afraid of Harry. The blond one, however, was making sure the others wouldn't fail him. "So you've been hiding here, Potter, among the Muggles. Do tell us, how is it that you live? How did you survive?"
The green eyes narrowed and Harry said pleasantly, "Well, you see, Mr. Malfoy, I figured if Voldemort could come back, so could I."
"You dare say his name?" Malfoy hissed angrily, but the others took a step back as though they had been faced with something much worse than they had expected.
Harry shrugged and lifted his sword. "Well, he is dead, you know." He let that sink in and then asked, "So how did you find me here? Was it through Norway or Hayden?"
"Both," the blond man answered coolly. "It wasn't very bright, you know, to call yourself James Black. Your father's name and your godfather's together. I knew it must be you immediately." The blond man smiled coldly and added, "But you'll be joining them this afternoon."
At a signal from Malfoy, the swordsman, Avery, attacked.
Light streamed from the attacking man's blade, but once again, Harry was gone in the wink of an eye, only to reappear a foot away. If any of them had thought this wasn't deadly serious, they knew now, as the stream of light had left a molten rut in the gym floor.
Harry now launched himself at the other and as their blades crossed answering fire leapt from his, crimson gold. He threw the other man back and went for him again and the other four men backed out of the way hastily. A couple of them looked as though they'd like to leave, but Malfoy and another, who wore a leather vest that left his tattooed arms bare, watched with intent pleasure.
The attacker - Avery - was good, Johnny thought. He had recovered and Johnny could see that this man was much better than Hayden had been. Though Harry pressed him, he too was quick and nearly caught Harry unguarded on two occasions. The second time, Harry somersaulted out the way and with no apparent pause attacked once more. This time, he moved so fast that the other could not keep up with him and quicker than the eye could follow, Avery's sword went flying as Harry gave it a twist and the man went flying too, landing at the far side of the gym in an ungainly heap, where he lay groaning and struggling to rise.
Harry raised his sword and said, "I think a good long stay in Azkaban prison would do you all some good." He drew breath, but before he could complete whatever spell he intended to subdue the five men, the gym doors opened and Brittany walked in saying, "What's going on here? Lieutenant Daniels says ..." Her words were cut off though as the one in the leather vest seized her and brought the point of his sword to her throat.
Harry froze and Johnny could feel terror freezing his own muscles. There could be no easy way out of this now for the balance had changed.
The blond man, Malfoy, understood immediately for he smiled and said, "Very good, Warren."
"Let her go!" Harry said. "I'm the one you want. Let her go, and I'll do what you want, I'll go wherever you say."
Malfoy's smile deepened. "Throw down your sword, then."
"Let her go first," Harry answered. "I'll give it up, if you let her go."
Brittany said, "No!" Her word was cut off as her captor increased the pressure of the sword and a single ruby drop of blood dripped down the long column of her throat.
Harry threw down his sword and it spun on the floor halfway between him and the nearest Death Eater, ruby light flaring balefully from the sword and then quenched. Everyone there knew it must be over. It was one of the first rules they had learned: never give up your weapon.
"Let her go!" Harry said.
"Oh, we'll let her go," Malfoy said, "When we're through with you." He smiled and added, "Kneel," and Harry did.
"Now ask nicely," Malfoy said. "Beg for it."
Tears slipped down his cousin's beautiful face, but it the pain on Harry's that was heart-stopping: rage and sorrow and desperate fear. "I beg you," he said, "let her go."
Instead, however, of letting her go, they all laughed and Malfoy drew a silver headed wanded from out of his walking stick. He raised the wand and said, "Crucio," and when the light struck Harry, he was flung down and he arched in agony, as though lightning had struck him.
When Malfoy lifted his wand, Harry lay in a crumpled heap for a moment. Then he climbed painfully back to his knees and said again, "I beg you, let her go."
"Oh, I am going to enjoy this," Malfoy said happily. "Look at him, the great Harry Potter, on his knees and begging. Beg for your life, Potter, and perhaps we'll make it easy for you."
Harry lifted his head, and though he was weaponless and on his knees, some of the others flinched at the look in his eyes. "I'll beg you for her life, but not for mine," he answered.
Malfoy's face darkened and the wand lifted again, and once more when the light hit him, Harry was flung down, and his body arced in pain. This time, he recovered more slowly, and despite his own rising fury, a fury greater than any he had ever felt before, Johnny noticed that Harry had moved nearer to his sword, which still lay discarded on the floor. "I beg you," Harry whispered, "let her go."
"You beg for a Muggle," Malfoy said with disdain. "Look at you here. You dress like them. Perhaps you wish you were one of them."
Harry raised his head and his green eyes took fire. "Yes, I'll beg for her. I'll tell you this too, Malfoy. She and everyone else here are my friends, my colleagues. And everyone one of them, whatever they are, are better than you and your lot. You're not fit to kiss their boots no matter whether you're a pure blood, no matter how powerful you are. They're decent human beings and you and your lot are scum."
His body tensed, with the coiled energy of a cat about to attack, and perhaps the Death Eater knew this, for he said sharply to the nearest one, "Get his sword, Crabbe."
The one called Crabbe bent and picked up the sword, but it flared up again with golden fire and he screamed and dropped it. Instantly, taking advantage of the distraction, Brittany elbowed the man holding her in the ribs. He relaxed his grip on her only partially though and in terror and rage, Johnny threw fire at him, so that he released her and she ran.
Harry rolled and grabbed his sword and when light jetted from someone's wand right at Johnny, a golden shield sprang up in front of him and the light rebounded back so that the Death Eater was forced to duck his own attack.
The one in the leather vest had recovered and he took aim at Brittany's retreating form, but Malfoy yelled, "Forget her. Get Potter."
They all turned to focus on Harry, but Harry had whipped his sword up and with a gesture of his hand, the golden shield was expanding, encircling the five men and forming a glowing dome, which enclosed them inside it along with Harry alone. You could see that the men inside the dome were disconcerted by it and when Johnny reached a hand out, he understood why. It radiated energy and if you got too close, it felt as though you were near a live current. The lights flickered and went out and with a little pop, Worthington's computer short-circuited. An alarm went off and then ceased abruptly as though its circuit had also been cut.
"There's still five of us and one of him," Malfoy said. But that didn't last long. Even as he spoke Harry made a sweeping move with his sword and red light flared striking the one nearest who was already having trouble with the hand with which he had tried to pick up the sword. Behind him, Avery, who had recovered from the previous fight, ducked just in time and the one in the leather vest, who was still cursing over the burns on his arms and face, was knocked into the shield and lay quite still when he rebounded and fell to the floor.
The gym doors opened again and the major and Lieutenant Daniels ran in followed by Ron and Hermione and Ginny.
"What the devil?" Daniels said as he saw the glowing dome. Ron, however, said, "Ah, no, Harry! Not again. Let us in to help."
Harry shook his head, though he did not take his eyes off the remaining men. "I can't, you see. They've already gone after some of the others. If I let you in, they can get out."
"But Harry," Hermione said, "there are too many even for you."
He did not answer that, but said simply, "Hermione, go get Dumbledore. Now."
She did not answer, but immediately obeyed, disappearing as he had, only with a loud crack, like the report of a gun.
The remaining men did not seem to like that either. But Malfoy slid his wand back into the stick and drew out instead his own sword, still with the silver serpent's head. "Surround him," he said. "Even he cannot fight three swords at once."
"Why doesn't somebody get some guns?" Daniels asked. "What are you waiting for?"
But Ron said, "Don't bother, sir. They won't work with this much magic in play." He fixed his eyes on the dome and said, "Be careful, Harry."
But the three men had circled their prey and Johnny could see that Malfoy was certain of his game. As if on a silent signal, the three men drove forward with their swords all at once, so that if Harry had remained still, they would have skewered him for all sides. Instead, Harry dropped under their swords and tangling his feet in the legs of the one behind him, dropped him, just as they had practiced in defense class. Only Harry had never got it right.
The third man cried out as his momentum sent him into the glowing shield and he, too, lay still. The other two did not inquire after him, but lunged again and Harry rolled and blocked their swords several times. Then he flung another attack, a bright jet of light flew from his sword and the other two back away just in time allowing Harry to roll to his feet.
He did not pause, but followed up with a direct attack, which Avery only just managed to block by crossing his sword with Harry's.
Malfoy leaped in quickly though and he and Avery began to fight together, timing their attacks so that Harry would have to counter one as quickly as he had a second before countered the other. The speed of their attacks picked up and a deadly dance ensued, not broken even when several loud cracks announced the arrival of Hermione with a tall old man with a long white beard an older woman with square glasses and a thin, bony man with a large nose and rather oily looking long hair.
The woman said, "Can't you open up a door in that shield, Albus?"
The elderly man shook his head and said, "No, Minerva. I still don't know how he does that."
The tempo quickened further, and oddly, Avery drew back a moment from the fray and watched as Harry and Malfoy continued a furious exchange. Then, just as Harry was extended out to strike at the blond man, Avery attacked again, and it was only because Harry’s lunge had taken him several inches deeper than expected that the sword pierced his open left shoulder and not his heart.
Harry stumbled and a faint sound came from him as Avery withdrew his blade and blood sprayed out. Now Malfoy stepped back, perhaps because he disliked being dirtied with the blood and said, "Very good, Thomas. Finish him off, now, won't you? The Master will be pleased and reward you no doubt."
Harry had recovered his balance somehow, though he was bleeding freely from his injury. "Voldemort is dead," Harry said. His green eyes were bright as though fevered now and he added, "Don't be fooled Avery. Lucius here isn't so anxious to bring your Master back. He fancies himself the new Dark Lord, doesn't he? Just see how he's trying to give you orders now."
"He's just trying to buy time, Thomas," the blond Death Eater replied. "Finish him off, while he's vulnerable."
Astonishingly, Harry chuckled and though he was quite pale he looked not at all afraid. "I'll tell you a little something Mr. Malfoy, a little secret, between you and me. You shouldn't discount the Heir of Slytherin so easily. Someday, Slytherin and Gryffindor will unite but your line will die and you will be left in a bitter wasteland of the spirit that no power and no wealth can buy you out of."
"Nonsense," Malfoy said, "to buy him time."
And Avery, it seemed agreed, for he leaped at Harry once more. The dark haired Death Eater did not see Malfoy's smile of triumph or how he followed the fight, poised to take the life of whichever one remained.
From some reserve of determination, Harry fought back against Avery and attacked him with all the speed and fury of a wounded lion. Sooner than one might believe, Avery's sword went flying once more only this time it landed against the glowing dome and the thing sizzled as light flared all about the circle.
Malfoy stepped quickly forward to continue the fight. Every watcher could not but feel horror, as it was painfully obvious that the wound was having its effects. Harry's movements were slower and he blocked Malfoy's attacks with fewer margins for error each time.
The two men, being preoccupied with their fight, did not observe Avery drawing another weapon from his pocket - a slim wooden stick. He raised it as though he would a knife he might throw and cried out. Malfoy stepped back abruptly and said, "No, Thomas. You fool!"
But the green light had already flared from the wand with the words, "Avada Kedavra." Harry turned his head and tried to dive out of the way of the spell, but he slipped on a patch of his own blood and the green light struck him flinging him over and over until he lay still. Yet even as the light-struck, it rebounded back off the flying body and struck Avery, too. The dark haired man was engulfed in light and then was gone, as if he had never been.
Someone had screamed at the sight of the green light, Ginny perhaps. The glowing dome shimmered and dissolved and as the last glimmer of light disappeared, Malfoy disappeared with a crack and in the center of the room the bodies lay.
Without thought, Johnny moved and knelt and turned Harry's over. He felt his wrist seeking the beat of the heart that would say he still lived.
"I can't find his heart beat," he said.
A red haired form pushed him aside. With trembling fingers, Ginny felt for the pulse at the throat, and she said, "There's still a pulse, I think. But it's very weak."
She laid her hand on his still face and said; "Hang on. Don't die, please."
The woman with the glasses pulled the girl gently aside and looked at the old man and the younger one. "Well?" she demanded.
The elderly man waved a wand over Harry's still body and said very calmly, though with evident relief, "He is alive."
The thin man, though, said sharply, "Don't touch that wound," and when the older one turned to look questioningly at him, he said harshly, "It's poisoned, I think. Avery habitually poisons his weapons."
"What with?" the older man asked urgently.
"I'm not sure," was the reply. "We'll need to get him back immediately and get in a general antidote to keep him alive long enough until I can figure out what Thomas used."
"Get him back where?" his uncle barked. "That's one of my men. He can go to the infirmary here."
"And how do you plan on protecting him?" the thin man asked sneeringly. "They got in here to attack him, didn't they?"
The elderly wizard said, "Severus, no need for that now." He looked up at the major and said, "I understand how you feel, Major Halsey, but I believe we can treat him more effectively and keep him better guarded until he can recover and return to you."
Nearby him, though, Brittany had drawn out her mobile phone and she shook it and cursed in French and then punched a button and immediately began to babble in French. Then she tugged at the major and said, "I've called Mama. Don't let them take him till she comes."
The Major said approvingly, "Good girl. She was on her way anyway. I expect she'll be here any moment."
"We can't wait," the thin man said impatiently. His mouth dropped open though when he beheld the three women entering through the open doors. Johnny could hardly blame him, as he was quite sure that his mother and Aunt and grandmother were the three most beautiful women on the face of the earth.
He was quite surprised when his mother said, "Professor Dumbledore, it is good to see you."
The Professor bowed elegantly and made way for the three women. There was quite a contrast between his Mum and his Aunt and their mother. The two younger women wore modern clothes, elegant suits bought from Channel in Paris and their silvery blond hair was caught up in elegant chignons. His Grandmere, though, wore the flowing draperies she always wore and her hair fell nearly to her knees. Though she was older than even the white haired wizard, she looked as young as Brittany.
She sank to her knees beside Harry and laid her hand on his brow on his heart. "Le Jeun Homme Que Vive," she said. "He is so young, isn't he?"
She put her hands together as though she were praying and then pulled them apart, and between her hands was a pale blue fire, which she directed over the open wound in Harry's shoulder. You could see through the tear in his shirt the wound close up and the angry red turned to a pale pink line and then disappeared altogether into healthy flesh.
A sound of awe swept the room, except for the thin man, who said harshly, "You should not have closed it. It's poisoned."
His grandmother looked at the thin man. Her eyes were bluer than any lake and the entirety of the sky seemed to live in them. "Peace," she said. "It will be mended."
From her silken robes, she drew out a small crystal vial in which a golden liquid shivered. She poured the golden liquid into Harry's mouth and he coughed and the green eyes opened. "What..." he tried to speak, but his grandmother placed a finger over his lips. "Shh, bebe. Be quiet and give the cordial a chance to work."
"But what are you doing here?" Harry asked, "and what happened...?"
"Malfoy got away," Ron answered, as he understood what exactly Harry would worry about.
"Damn," Harry said and then, "Sorry," to Johnny's grandmother. He tried to get up, but the three women pressed him back down.
"Lie still," the elderly wizard said.
"But he got away," Harry protested. "And what about Avery and the others?" He craned his neck, and tried to rise again.
"Good gad," Daniels said suddenly, "Lie still, Potter! And that's an order!" Harry closed his mouth on whatever else he had been going to say and lay back, but the expression on his face was mutinous.
"Get him to the infirmary," the major ordered.
"I'm all right," Harry said, though it was clear from both his pallor and the amount of blood all over the floor and his clothing that he was not. "I loathe being in hospital," he added and it seemed likely he would try to get up again despite Daniels' order.
Johnny's grandmother laid her hand on his brow and said, "That would be most unwise. You have lost too much blood and must rest." Whatever further protest Harry might have made was cut off, as she said softly, "Sleep, child." His eyes closed and like a child that has run out of steam, he stilled again and slept.
With a nod to his Mum and Aunt, she rose and with a gesture of her hand, Harry's body rose in the air and appeared to be cushioned on something, though nothing was there.
The elderly wizard moved and for a moment Johnny thought he would contest their right to take Harry to the infirmary. Instead, he bent and picked up Harry's sword. Crimson gold light flared once more briefly and was extinguished as the old wizard ran his hand along the blade. He set it in Harry's arm and said, "Just in case."
His grandmother nodded and said, "The Sword of Gryffindor is legend, and so is the Boy. We shall see he comes to no further harm."
"The difficulty," the thin man said harshly, "is keeping the idiot from running into more danger. No one can keep him from harm since he won't use any sense himself."
"That's not fair," Johnny said. "Those men just showed up here. Harry didn't seek them out."
The elderly wizard smiled at Johnny, but the thin one grumbled acidly, "Wait until you get to know him better. There isn't a rule he won't break if he thinks there's some heroic mission only he can do."
A glance from the elderly wizard silenced the thin man and his grandmother; his Mum and Aunt proceeded to take Harry out of the gym. It was quite the oddest procession as he floated along in the air, still sleeping and with no apparent means how.
They were halfway to the door when Inspector Bones ran in with his partner, Sergeant Kray. Bones cursed when he saw Harry and said, "We're too late then."
"He's alive," the elderly wizard, Dumbledore, said.
"You knew there would be an attack?" the major asked sharply.
"We raided Hayden's flat," Sergeant Kray answered, "and we found letters between Hayden and someone else discussing Harry. Apparently Hayden recognized Harry."
"When we tried to call," Bones said, "all the circuits were down, so we came as fast as we could." the Inspector looked at Harry's still form, at the bodies of the other three attackers, who were just starting to stir, and at the blood spattered all over. "He didn't try to take them all on himself, did he?"
"There were five of them one died and the fifth escaped," Worhtington answered. "Never saw anything like it."
"Five?" Bones said incredulously. "What was everyone else doing? And who escaped?"
"Lucius Malfoy," the elderly wizard replied. "And Harry shut himself in with them, to prevent them escaping," he added. "And also to prevent them from harming anyone else."
One of the unconscious men had begun to stir. "Let's get these men secured," the Major snapped, "before they can get up to any more mischief."
The elderly wizard, however, cut in before anyone could respond. "I think it would be better if we took these men off your hands, Major. I believe we will be able to secure them for the moment more securely than you can here."
"I don't see--" the Major, said, but unexpectedly, Worthington spoke up and agreed with the wizard.
"That's just it sir. How will we hold them if they can pop in and out like, well ... what is that anyway that you do?"
The one in the leather vest stirred and started to sit up, but he froze as the woman pointed her wand at him.
"Don't move, Mr. Macnair," she said. "I am already regretting that I didn't give you more and worse detentions than I did or see you expelled before you could pass your O.W.L.s, which I've always suspected you cheated on anyway."
The man did not move, but the malice in his dark eyes was truly scary -- wickedness manifest and only controlled by a greater fear.
The elderly wizard's expression as he considered the three attackers was terrifying in its own way. His blue eyes were cold as the arctic sea in winter, and the conscious man flinched slightly at his gaze. "What shall we do with you Mr. Macnair?" the wizard mused. No one spoke, as it was clearly not a question meant for an answer.
Greatly daring, Johnny asked, "Shouldn't we make sure they're completely disarmed first?"
"It's nice to see that someone here has some intelligence," the thin man said acidly.
The woman said two words and a pile of objects flew through the air and landed several feet away. Thin wooden sticks, wands, he knew, swords, a couple of deadly looking knives and from the pockets of the man who had tried handling Harry's sword, a crystal vial filled with a dark green liquid. The woman's lip curled and she said, "How typical. If you can't win honestly, a bit of poison will do."
The other two men were beginning to stir as well, and the one furthest from the witch rolled suddenly and tried to run. He froze in mid-movement as Hermione pointed a wand at him spoke.
"Not bad," Ron said. "The question is, how will you transport them out of here, Professor, and get them to Azkaban without them escaping?"
Hermione coughed and said, "Erm, if I might make a suggestion? I know, Professor McGonagall, that transfiguration is normally not approved of on other humans, but, erm, in this situation?"
"That's quite right, Miss Granger," the witch said, "but in this situation ..." She looked at the elderly wizard and he said as if bemused, "What did you have in mind?"
The witch McGonagall merely lifted and eyebrow and said, "Go ahead then."
The one in the leather vest looked truly alarmed then, but Hermione flicker her wand and even as he moved as startling transformation occurred: his body changed, shrank, and turned into a rat. The second man also tried to escape, but the same change took him. And the third who was still frozen, changed and remained frozen, only as a rat, stuck on its hind legs. The two unfrozen rats ran, but McGonagall pointed her wand at the chair with the hole in it and it changed too into a small metal cage. With another flick of her wand, the fleeing rats were swept squealing into the cage and the door shut on it and locked with a snap.
"Now that was bloody brilliant," Ron said.
"How do they get changed back?" the Major asked in fascination.
Some of the others watching weren't so fascinated. They looked, even the toughest of them, rather scared. Putting a brave face on it, Hawkins said sarcastically, "I suppose a princess has to kiss them."
"Of course not," Ron said. "That's only for frogs."
Hawkins laughed in spite of himself and so did several others. "What a prat, you are Weasley," he said. Johnny had a peculiar feeling that Ron hadn't been joking, but since the redhead grinned sheepishly, everyone there relaxed and chuckled some more. Johnny noticed, though, that Ron exchanged a quick glance with the elderly wizard and the elderly wizard nodded approvingly.
McGonagall handed over the cage of rats to the elderly wizard and said, "I do think we must reconsider some of our entrance policies, Professor. It cannot have escaped your notice that every one of these men comes from families who were known devotees of the dark arts. I am sorry, indeed, that any one of them ever stepped foot in my class."
"Your class?" Daniels asked. "You mean to tell me you have a school for magic?"
The witch's mouth went very thin and she said very stiffly, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the finest school for magic in Britain and in Europe and has been for over a thousand years." She looked at him disapprovingly and added, "I do hope you are doing half as good a job training Mr. Potter and our other graduates in your "intelligence" work as we have trained them in magic." She sniffed and then said to the elderly wizard, "I had better get back. I was planning a test for the sixth years in my last period this afternoon." And so saying, she popped out again with a soft crack.
The elderly wizard handed the cage over to the thin man and said, "If you would take them to the Ministry for charging, Professor Snape, I'd like a word with Major Halsey and Inspector Bones before I go."
***
A great lassitude possessed him and Harry would not have wanted to open his eyes even if they had not felt weighted down. He felt suspended, drifting in a warm current of comfort. Vaguely, he recalled there was something he ought to do, but it seemed far away and of little importance.
The warm current he floated on swept him on into calmer waters and below him, he could see through the clear water, the entrance to a great hall. He swam towards it and entered. The Hall was enormous, and at first Harry supposed he must be in Hogwarts for the high ceiling reflected a vast starry sky. He passed through seven great arches, and in each room, the light grew, from a soft glow, to a more intense shimmer, until he reached the farthest room.
A man sat at a chessboard, and with a courtly gesture, he invited Harry to play. Harry sat and looked at the board and saw without surprise that the pieces were in the same position as the pieces had been in McGonagall great game. He played the game through to its conclusion feeling quite pleased that the knight he had to sacrifice wasn't Ron this time, but only a chess piece.
When he said softly, checkmate, the man smiled and his blue eyes, Harry saw, were the eyes of the fisherman king, bluer than the sky, bluer than the eyes of the veela queen who had laid this enchanted sleep upon him. With a wave of the king's hand, the chessboard expanded and became a great table and from either side of the archway came women and men, each crowned and robed and their faces were beautiful. Not because of any physical perfection, but because they each wore an expression of nobility and kindness and serenity.
The arched ceiling, Harry saw, was actually the starry dome of the night sky, and when the king raised the cup from the table and held it out to him, Harry saw that inside the cup was the light of the stars themselves. "Take it," the king said. "Your need is greater than mine." Harry reached for it, but the light began to recede and along with it, the hallway and the king and the voice of the king as he said, "The search begins," blended into the soft sound of voices saying, "He's been sleeping for nearly a day. Why won't he wake?"
The queen's voice replied, "He won't wake until I wake him. And it is better that he should sleep a while longer."
"He'll miss his first day on the job," the voice replied. Daniels' voice, Harry identified.
"And the job is more important than his health?" another voice asked. Ginny's, he knew.
"You are insubordinate girl," Daniels' responded, "I know your feelings for the boy so I'll ignore it this once, but don't do it again."
A hiss of breath drawn in told him that the lieutenant was about to be the subject of a major Weasley tantrum, so he said, "My health is just fine, thank you, and I've no intention of missing my first day of real work."
He opened his eyes and was irritated for the millionth time that he could not see well enough without his glasses to detect the expressions on peoples' faces.
"You should not be awake," the queen scolded.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked for the second time.
"My granddaughter called my daughter and she summoned me," the queen answered.
It took a moment for Harry to think that through. "Who?" he started to ask and then he realized, "Brittany?"
The queen nodded and Daniels made a funny sound. "How many of you do we have here now?" he asked.
Harry tried to sit up, but his head spun a bit, and three hands pushed him back down.
He closed his eyes again and waited for the world to settle before opening them again. "I thought he was all healed?" Daniels asked.
"Yes," the queen answered, "but he lost a great deal of blood and will be weak for another day or two until his body can replace it all."
"I don't see why he shouldn't have a transfusion," Daniels grumbled.
"It's better for him to have his own blood," the queen answered.
Daniels grumbled under his breath some more, but seemed strangely reluctant to challenge the veela queen. Harry wanted to ask about what had happened to Malfoy and the other Death Eaters, but he queen laid her hand on his forehead and said, "Rest," and he slept once again.
