It was a
sunny, warm, May Monday and Harry was in Transfiguration trying to turn his ‘A
Magical Preparation for Your OWLs into a burning ball of fire. Neville had
succeeded ages ago but everyone was sure it was just an accidental flame
shooting out of his wand that had lit it. Harry would have done anything to go
out side for just ten minutes.
Prof.
McGonagall was standing at the front of the class calling orders out to people.
‘A little more effort, Mr. Finnigan’, ‘be more assertive, Ms. Perks’,
‘your meant to be making a ball of fire not an owl, Mr. Weasley!’
Finally,
everyone had managed to transform their books into a burning ball of fire.
Everyone seemed happy – they couldn’t do any more study!
‘Now,’
said Prof. McGonagall. ‘I want everyone to transform their fire back into a
book.’ There was a great sigh as everyone picked up their wands and pointed
them at their only chance of no study.
Just then
Prof. Dumbledore burst into the room. For an old man he was able to move
remarkably fast. He ran straight for Prof. McGonagall.
‘Can I take
Harry, Minerva,’ he said quietly but loud enough for Harry and most of the
class to here. ‘It’s Fawkes.’
‘Of
course,’ said Prof. McGonagall looking very worried. Harry knew what this
meant. Fawkes was a code word for an emergency meeting of the Order. Something
serious must have happened.
‘Good
luck,’ said Hermione and Ron looking just as worried - Harry had told them
about this code word as well.
Harry got up
and walked after Dumbledore who had just left the room and followed him up
towards the fourth floor corridor. Dumbledore tapped the statue of Merlin on the
shoulder with a phoenix feather he had pulled from his robes and walked inside
closely followed by Harry.
Dumbledore
didn’t say a word until they were at the table along with the rest of the
Order.
‘I am sure
you are all wondering what emergency has called you all here,’ said Prof.
Dumbledore. ‘Voldemort has struck again. This time is worse then ever. He has
destroyed Diagon Alley with one of the most powerful versions of the Blastio
spell. It was during a visit by the Minister for Magic to Oliviander’s wand
shop. There is only rubble and Gringotts left.’
There was a
murmur around the room and a shriek from Prof. Figg. She had almost fainted and
Moody had to catch her so she wouldn’t whack her head off the table.
‘We will
need to Apperate there immediately,’ Prof. Dumbledore continued. ‘The media
have not found out about it yet and it will stay that way, at least until we
have collected enough thoughts for me to ponder over. Muggles will not have seen
a thing, as the Diagon Alley does not exist in their lives. Many people will
have been killed and I dread to think whom. We won’t bother transforming.
We’ll be able to cover more ground if we’re in our usual forms.’
After Prof.
Dumbledore had finished they all Disapperated immediately to Diagon Alley. Once
again Harry held on to Dumbledore and Moody held onto Sirius.
They
Apperated to where the centre of Diagon Alley once stood. There was rubble
everywhere. The only building left standing was, as Dumbledore had said,
Gringotts. There was a lot of goblins hurry around outside the entrance looking
very anxious. Harry could see the buildings of the dark Knockturn Alley barely
scratched and other streets Harry didn’t know damaged but not as severely as
Diagon Alley.
They spent
the whole afternoon walking up and down where the street once stood. Harry found
the sign of Olliviander’s charred and broken and the sign Flourish and
Blott’s on more charred wood. The wall where the entrance to Diagon Alley
would normally appear was gone. There was no way to get to the Muggle world from
here. There weren’t any remains of bodies or anything. It was as though
everyone had just vanished.
Harry
couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened to all his money that lay
somewhere under London. Might his vault have caved in and would he loose all his
money? Or would the goblins pay him back for everything he lost? But then again
Gringotts was meant to be the safest place, next to Hogwarts. Maybe his vault
would be able to withstand the street-destroying spell. He hoped that that would
be true but there was only one way to find out.
Harry walked
towards the wizard bank. As he was at the steps that lead to the front door he
was confronted by at least ten goblins. Even though they were less than half his
height they looked menacing.
‘Keep back,
human,’ they all said simultaneously.
‘You
don’t understand. I only want to see my vault,’ said Harry starting to walk
up the steps.
Suddenly he
was surrounded by hundreds of goblins. They came from inside Gringotts, from
behind half destroyed walls of shops and even popped up from under the rubble.
They had
surrounded him on all sides. Harry tried to back away but stumbled over one of
the smaller goblins. They seemed to take this as a threatening act as they all
moved in closer, snarling. Harry unexpectedly found himself flying through the
air. He tried to reach for his wand but realised that one of the goblins had
taken it somehow.
He landed
with a thud on some rubble, which hurt a lot. The goblins had already surrounded
him again, closer this time and it also seemed like many more goblins had come
to help.
Harry then
felt as though he was being picked up by the throat. He found it difficult to
breath and his feet were dangling in the air at least a foot off the ground. To
his relief, Harry saw Prof. Dumbledore flying through the air towards him as
though suspended from invisible ropes. His wand was in his hand out in front of
him. He landed noiselessly outside the ring of goblins in the duelling stance.
The goblins turned towards him and Harry was left dangling in the air.
‘Drop
him,’ said Dumbledore in a booming voice that took Harry by surprise but he
was left dangling in the air.
A duel ensued
and Harry had never seen Prof. Dumbledore move so fast. For an old man he was
very agile. He rolled, jumped and dived to dodge red beams of light that were
conjured by the goblins and his wand hand moved as though independent from the
rest of his body, conjuring spells that sent the goblins flying through the air
one by one.
Harry was now
gasping for breath and was getting light-headed. He hoped Dumbledore would win
soon.
Eventually
Harry was dropped back onto the hard rubble and the goblins that Dumbledore
hadn’t defeated cowered back to the safety of the bank and peered nervously
through a window.
‘Never,’
said Dumbledore to Harry, ‘disturb a goblin when they have just encountered a
big shock. They have very short fuses and very powerful magic.’
‘I only
wanted to check my vault,’ said Harry defensively.
‘You may
have, Harry,’ said Prof. Dumbledore, ‘but the goblins are going to be very
cautious about the money they protect now. They don’t want someone as powerful
as those who blew up this street to get into their bank. Who knows what havoc it
would cause.’
When they
returned to the Gryffindor’s Chamber Prof. Dumbledore once again added
everyone’s thoughts of what they had just seen into the pensive.
‘Albus,’
said Sirius, ‘what exactly are you looking for?’ This was the exact question
that was on Harry’s mind.
‘Great
muggle philosophers believe that the human body can be identified by a thing
called D.N.A.,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Wizards and witches have known about this
for centuries but we know a lot more about it. We call it the Corpus. We know a
lot more about it than the muggle philosophers. The Corpus is not part of the
body but is the body. With a simple spell it can tell us the deepest,
most private secrets about a person and their body. After casting a spell a
sample of the Corpus is left behind. It cannot be stopped but it can be hidden
from the naked eye. It stays in the same place forever. I believe Vodlemort has
hidden his Corpus so that it can only be seen in memories. But memories fade and
with that so do the Corpus in the memory. The memory must be kept as fresh as
possible and that is why I am adding your thoughts to this pensive. When I find
the Corpus we will find out once and for all whether Lord Voldemort has a
weakness.’
When everyone
else had left Harry went to Prof. Dumbledore who was looking at the Pensive.
Harry wanted to ask him something that had been on his mind since January.
‘Albus,’
said Harry, ‘when Dean Thomas died he came back as a ghost and he was able to
live normally. Why didn’t my parents become ghosts as well when they were
killed?’
Ah, Harry,’
said Prof. Dumbledore, ‘I am very glad you asked me that question. Muggles
have wrongly used the word ghost for many years. The word ghost is a very broad
term. A ghost doesn’t necessarily need to be seen or heard. Everyone becomes a
ghost but some live inside those who need them most. You, for example,
Harry, lost your parents when you were just one year old. Who had your whole
life ahead of you and you needed protection. Your parents became ghosts and they
are still ghosts but they do not have bodies like Dean Thomas or Sir Nicholas.
They live inside you, in your heart where you need them most.’
‘So my
parents are here with us right now?’ Harry asked.
‘In a sense
yes,’ said Prof. Dumbledore. ‘Harry, your parents are always with you
wherever you go. Harry, you are your parents.’