Dumbledore's Army
Sunday, March 23rd, 1997
“Neville - what the - how -?”
Across the room, the six survivors of Malfoy Manor startled as Neville went to each of them to give them the biggest of hugs, roaring with delight each time. Harry was the first he hugged, so he was able to turn and eye his old friend with increasing worry as he noticed one of his eyes had swollen over, there were scars all over his face, and his whole appearance combined made it clear he was living like they were; on the run. But how could one be on the run in a school?
“I knew you’d come!” He exclaimed, kissing Dean on both cheeks so that he had to wrestle out of his arms and swat him, playfully chortling. “Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!”
“Neville, what’s happened to you?” Harry asked, stepping forward and craning his neck to get a look at all of him, worried. But he merely waved a dismissive hand.
“What? This? This is nothing, Seamus is worse. You’ll see. Shall we get going then? Oh, Ab, there might be a couple more people on the way.”
“Couple more?” Aberforth growled. “What d’you mean, a couple more, Longbottom? There’s a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!”
“I know, that’s why there’ll be Apparating directly into the bar,” said Neville. “Just send them down the passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot.”
Neville held out a hand like a gentleman to help Hemrione and Luna up the mantelpiece and into the tunnel, and Ron and Dean climbed up. Draco stopped at the top, turning to watch Harry speak with Aberforth.
“Look after ’em, and try not to get yourself killed,” Aberforth told him, and with a grim nod Harry turned to the fireplace and Draco helped him up.
“Malfoy?” Draco froze, turning back to Dumnledore’s brother. “Make sure you told Potter all my brother told you,” Draco raised a hand to interrupt but Aberforth continued. “Uh uh - I can see it in your eyes. That boy deserves to know everything, alright?”
Draco gulped, but nodded, turning and stepping into the tunnel, bringing the portrait to a close behind him.
“What is it?” Harry asked, but he waved a hand, dismissing him, and they joined the others walking down the tunnel. He’d tell him later, of course, but not now. He hadn’t told him Dumbledore had admitted Harry had no choice, and said it like a death sentence, because he’d had a thought forming at the back of his mind, a cruel idea of how to end this all. But he couldn’t explain it now, with the joy of Neville’s arrival stuffing the air.
“How long’s this been here?” Ron asked. “It isn’t on the Marauder’s Map, is it, Harry? I thought there were only seven passages in and out of the school?”
“They sealed off all of those shortly after they came,” Neville explained, “There’s no chance of getting through any of them now, not with the curses over the entrances and Death Eaters and dementors waiting at the exits.”
He turned and walked backwards, beaming at them all. “Never mind that stuff…. Is it true?” He gestured to the Quartet. “Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon? It’s everywhere, everyone’s talking about it, Terry Boot got beaten up by a Carrow for yelling about it in the Great Hall at dinner! And then the Ministry break-in too! Caused quite a ruckus! Lavender had a cousin or something who saw you guys.”
“Yeah, it’s true,” said Harry, shrugging his shoulders.
“We broke into the Ministry twice, actually.”
Neville threw back his head and laughed. “Is that how you got out, Hermione? We thought you did it all on your own.” She flushed. “What did you do with the dragon?”
“Released it into the wild,” said Ron. “Hermione was all for keeping it as a pet -”
“Don’t exaggerate, Ron -”
“But why all the break-ins, and what are you two doing with ‘em?” He nodded to Dean and Luna.
“Long story…” Harry mumbled and Dean stepped forward, thankfully.
“I was on the run too, can’t prove my parentage, so I can’t register. Mum panicked, I ran. Found Ted Tonks and Tess Whitlock, with her babies. We met with these two goblins, and Cornelius Fudge. Oh, and get this,” He leaned forward, “Fudge has a boy -”
“ - boyfriend, yeah, I know,” Neville grinned good naturedly as he said it, though, “Ginny told us, who heard it from the twins, who heard it from -”
“Lee! So you listen to Potterwatch?” asked Harry.
“Oh yeah, it’s the only reliable source of information here. I swear, the Carrows have this place locked down tighter than Umbridge. By the way, how’s Tess? Heard Ted didn’t make it -”
“She left with Fudge and Julian, that’s ‘Prejudice’ on Potterwatch. She should be safe.”
“So the Carrows have been a real problem, huh? Worse than Umbridge?” Harry’s eyebrows raised as he said it, hardly believing there was such a person.
“As far as personality goes… No. But punishment? Blimey, they make her look tame. The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don’t, though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do. Amycus, the bloke, teaches what used to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, except now it’s just Dark Arts. We’re supposed to practice the Cruciatus Curse on people who’ve earned detentions -”
“What?” Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Luna, and Dean all blurted in unison.
“Yeah,” Neville nodded, though looked sick as he did so. “That’s how I got this one,” he pointed at a fresh gash cut through his cheek. “I refused to do it. Some people are into it, though; Slytherins, mostly, no offense,” he nodded to Draco who rolled his eyes.
“Alecto, Amycus’ sister, teaches Muggle Studies, which is compulsory for everyone. We’ve all got to listen to her explain how Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty, and how they drove wizards into hiding by being vicious toward them, and how the natural order is being reestablished. I got this one,” he gestured to an older cut on his temple. They could tell it was old because the blood had dried and crusted over it. “for asking how much Muggle blood she and her brother have got.”
“Blimey, Neville,” said Ron as Dean laughed behind him, “It’s not funny! There’s a time and a place for getting a smart mouth.”
“You didn’t hear her,” said Neville, face suddenly going dark. “You wouldn’t have stood it either. The thing is, it helps when people stand up to them, it gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you did it, Harry.”
“But they’ve used you as a knife sharpener,” said Ron, bringing everyone’s eyes to the worst of Neville’s injuries.
“Doesn’t matter. They don’t want to spill too much pure blood, so they’ll torture us a bit if we’re mouthy but they won’t actually kill us. The only people in real danger are the ones whose friends and relatives on the outside are giving trouble. They get taken hostage,” He gestured to Luna, hugging herself. “Like Luna.”
“How did you know that?” Hermione asked curiously.
“Oh, you know, the usual way,” he smirked as he removed one of the fake Galleons from the H.O.O.D. from his pocket, the very same Harry and his friends had been using for months. “These have been great. The Carrows never rumbled how we were communicating, it drove them mad. We sneak out at night and put graffiti on the walls: Dumbledore’s Army, Recruiting, stuff like that. Snape hated it.”
“‘Dumbledore’s Army?’” said Draco.
“Well, there really is no Hogwarts to defend now, is there? It’s already been taken. So, we’re more of an army now. And fitting, too, what with Dumbledore gone and all, and Aberforth helping us out.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I’m the new leader, though Pansy’s trying to be a shoe-in for ‘Queen,’ no matter how many times we tell her this isn’t a Monarchy.”
“Oh Pansy…” Draco chuckled, shaking his head, and Harry couldn’t help but smile, seeing his boyfriend so freely happy like that.
“Yeah, she’s been quite the fighter for us. The Carrows haven’t expected it, Slytherin pure blood Prefect and all, with Death Eater parents to boot. Actually, they’ve threatened her with her lineage multiple times. Turns out it can make things even more dangerous for you -”
“I can attest to that,” Draco said under his breath, wincing slightly.
“Regardless,” Neville panted, for they were walking uphill now. “She’s safer now. We’ve got a good hiding place. You’ll see…”
After a few more moments of walking they turned a corner and stopped at a short flight of steps leading to a door like the one which hid Ariana’s portrait. Neville pushed it open with one final grin over his shoulder then jumped over the threshold and exclaimed to unseen people, “Look who it is! Didn’t I tell you?”
Draco nudged Harry forward and, rolling his eyes as he knew to expect applause he didn’t particularly want, he stepped forward. Sure enough, he was immediately engulfed by the overwhelming noise of applause and screams and shouts of, “HARRY!” “HARRY POTTER!” “It’s Potter, it’s POTTER!”
Of course others cried out, “Ron!” “Hermione!” “Draco!” “Luna!” and “Dean!” too, as they stepped out behind him.
They barely had time to take in the room before they were all being hugged and shaken by what had to be fifty people. A crowd stampeding them like they were celebrities, though Harry supposed, reluctantly, he was.
“Okay, okay, calm down!” Neville called over them all, and they backed away, though continued to beam at them as they tried to take in their surroundings, Luna already stepping into the crowd and weaving around in search of Ginny, while Dean remained glued to Seamus’s side, as usual. The shorter boy had a face bruised and puffy with injuries far surpassing any others they glimpsed in the crowd around them.
The room was ginormous, and he was sure from that fact he’d never been in it. The walls were wood, giving the appearance of a tree house or ship cabin, with multicolored hammocks strung from the ceiling and from a balcony, marked by four tapestry hangings; a golden Gyffindor lion, a black Hufflepuff badger, a bronze Ravenclaw eagle, and a silver Slytherin snake. There were bookcases, broomsticks, even a small kitchen, and a larger wooden-cased wireless. All you’d need to live sustainably, and it seemed they were, and had been for some time.
“Where are we?”
“Room of Requirement, of course!” Neville exclaimed. “Surpassed itself, hasn’t it? The Carrows were chasing Pansy, apparently, ready to indoctrinate her like Draco, we suspect. That’s what they did to Crabbe and Goyle. But -”
“I rounded a corner and here was this door! Out of nowhere!” Pansy stepped forward, and they all winced at the sight of her, face of cuts and bruises on full display, worse than Neville. Only thing that made up for it was the gorgeous haircut she’d had, giving herself an undercut and letting her black locks hang to one side of her face. “Well of course I ran through it, I’m not daft. But I find this place! Of course, it was only Slytherin hangings then, but once I brought in the rest of what used to be the HOOD, it expanded!”
“And the Carrows can’t get in?” Harry asked cautiously as he swiveled around in search of a door.
“No,” said Seamus from Dean’s side. “It’s a proper hideout, as long as one of us stays in here, they can’t get at us, the door won’t open. It’s all down to Neville. He really gets this room. You’ve got to ask it for exactly what you need - like, I don’t want any Carrow supporters to be able to get in - and it’ll do it for you! You’ve just got to make sure you close the loopholes! Neville’s the man!”
“It’s quite straightforward, really,” said Neville, batting a hand at Seamus. “Pansy hid me here after I got in a pretty bad fight over this first year I didn’t want to torture, but had to leave me in here while she and some others tried to rescue him from where the Carrows chained him. I’d been in here about a day and a half, and getting really hungry, and wishing I could get something to eat, and that’s when the passage to Hog’s Head opened up. I went through it and met Aberforth. He’s been providing us with food, because for some reason, that’s the one thing the room doesn’t really do.”
“Yeah, well, food’s one of the five exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration,” said Ron to which everyone blinked dubiously but Hermione looked up at him, beamed, and cuddled her head into his chest.
“So we’ve been hiding out here for months,” said Seamus.
Harry looked around the crowd in amazement, recognizing the faces of all of the H.O.O.D. who hadn’t graduated, and even some newer, younger faces too.
“Tell us what you’ve been up to, though,” said Ernie. “There’ve been so many rumors, we’ve been trying to keep up with you on Potterwatch,” He pointed at the wireless. “You didn’t break into Gringotts?”
“They did!” said Neville. “And the dragon’s true too!”
“Woohoo!” Pansy cheered, many claps and whoops following. Ron bowed and Hermione swatted him.
“What were you after?” asked Seamus, grinning, and the Quartet froze, looking at each other awkwardly.
“Well, we -”
Harry broke off, his scar suddenly exploding with pain. He doubled over, gripping his head, and trying to keep present as he saw visions of Voldemort’s newest wand slashing through the air, Bellatrix Lestrange falling and whimpering at his feet. His rage was like a tidal wave rushing over him, and when she screamed they’d had a locket, his wand fell once more, and her scream rang in Harry’s ears.
“My Lord please! Gold, with a snake -”
Her words were cut by her own screams at the swishing of Voldemort’s wand. He spun around sharply, and Harry saw, blurrily, the faces of Lucius and Narcissa.
“Why did you withhold this from me?”
“My Lord, we had no clue what it -”
Lucius buckled over onto his knees, Narcissa soon dropping beside him, not from pain but worry.
“They told us it was an heirloom!” She cried.
“An heirloom with the sign of Salazar Slytherin? Fools!” With another slash he fell onto her lap, limp. “I suggest you tell me every detail you see from now on, unless you all want to end up like Barty!”
Harry jerked upright, vision clear again as Voldemort attempted to calm himself and no doubt shut him out. He saw the worried faces of the crowd but ignored all their questions for how he felt.
“He’s coming,” he stated bluntly, for there was no denying it, and at least it got them dead silent. “The war ends tonight, one way another, so you better get all the Order here,” he pointed at Neville. “Contact them any way you can, they have to be able to fight.”
“Where will you be?” He looked across the crowd and met the eyes of Cedric, concerned and seeing right through him, of course - any former champion would.
“Well, there’s something we - Ron, Hermione, Draco and I - need to do, and then we’ll be able to fight.”
“What d’you mean, ‘fight’?”
“Well we are at war, aren’t we?” said Draco. “Tonight’s the final battle.”
“Alright then,” Neville threw up his hands. “What do you need to do?”
Harry bit his lip.
“I - I can’t tell you.” Now people were talking again as they turned to each other and whispered. Neville frowned.
“Why can’t you tell us? It’s something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?”
“Well, yeah -”
“Then we’ll help you.”
Harry sighed deeply as the crowd began to nod, those who had sat rising again, showing their support. He even saw faces up in the hammocks or balcony, standing in solidarity.
“You don’t understand,” Harry found it cruelly ironic minutes ago he'd been trying to convince Aberforth to help, and now he had to tell them to stop helping. Looking at all those faces, bruised beyondyond recognition… He couldn’t ask them to fight, to lay down their lies for him, now that he thought of it. And he damn well couldn’t bring them onto this mission. Aberforth was right about one thing; they were all kids, he just happened to be the only exception. “We - we can’t tell you. We’ve got to do it - alone.”
“Why?” asked Neville, because of course he couldn’t just accept Harry giving up his life either. None of those faces could, loyal friends he’d made loyal over a year ago in a dusty pub.
“Because… Dumbledore left the four of us a job…” He spoke slowly, as if treading on hot rocks, careful not to burn. He had to make sure he didn’t give away too much information. They needed to know some, or they’d never leave him alone, but they would be unsafe knowing it all. Not to mention they didn’t have time to try and explain what a Horcrux was to them, or how Voldemort was really Tom Riddle, or anything really. “We weren’t supposed to tell - I mean, he wanted us to do it, just the four of us.”
“We’re his army, remember?” said Neville. “Dumbledore’s Army. We didn’t change that name for nothing. We’re all in it together, even without you here -”
“Hey, it’s not like we were on vacation,” Ron protested.
“I never said it was, but I don’t see why you can’t trust us. Everyone in this room’s been fighting and they’ve been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here’s proven they’re loyal to Dumbledore - loyal to you.”
“Look,” Harry began, stepping forward, but stopped, one because he hadn’t a clue what to say that he hadn’t already, and two because Draco had just grabbed his hand. Looking over his shoulder, he watched with relief as his boyfriend gave a small nod, then walked forwards.
“What we’re doing is private and secret, and if we have any chance at winning against You-Know-Who, it best stay that way. No one can know the four of us are here. I think, you better listen to Harry, and can all help out best by calling the Order for a -”
“Already done,” Neville nodded behind them with a smirk and the Quartet turned, confused, but all sighed as they watched the portrait swing inward, four bodies climbing out, first the vibrant red head of Ginny, who immediately was engulfed by Luna. Then twin redheads Fred and George, and finally Lee Jordan.
“LEE!”
He had been muttering something to George, but at the sound of Pansy’s voice immediately brightened, beaming, and opening his arms wide for her to sprint into. She did, but instead of simply hugging him she began to snog him with a force which made some people whoop and wolf whistle and others blush and turn away.
“Aberforth’s getting a bit annoyed,” said Fred, waving good naturedly but otherwise being uncharacteristically serious. “He wants to eat, and his bar’s turned into a railway station.”
To support the statement, Angelina Johson and Alicia Spinnet stepped out behind him, and craning his neck Harry could see more faces on the way.
Soon Colin and Dennis Creevey and Justin Finch-Fletchley joined the crowd, Muggle-borns who heard the call and came to fight anyway.
“So what’s the plan, Harry?” said George, but Harry shook his head, rubbing his scar briefly, for it burned with Voldemort’s rage, and waving the closing crowd away.
“There isn’t one, you all-”
“Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favorite kind,” Fred grinned and George nodded, high fiving him.
“You’ve got to stop this!” Harry shouted at Neville, scowling. “What did you call them all back for? This is insane -”
“Didn't you want us to fight?” Neivlle asked, confused.
“No, the Order! You aren’t trained for this, you’re all too young -”
“Mate we’re older than you,” Lee said, having finally detached his mouth from Pansy, though she still hugged him around the waist.
“Why can’t they help?”
“What?” Harry wheeled around to Ron, feeling betrayed. He stepped closer, dropping his voice so that only he, Draco, and Hermione could hear as they huddled together.
“They can help. We don’t know where it is, we’ve got to find it fast. We don’t have to tell them it’s a Horcrux.”
Harry looked at his friends’ faces, all in support of the idea.
“I think Ron’s right,” Hermione said as Draco nodded, avoiding Harry’s gaze. “We don’t even know what we’re looking for, we need them.” a pause, then hse softened. “You don’t have to do everything alone, Harry.”
As a response Harry’s scar burned harder, and he thought of Dumbledore, and all the secrets he kept behind his piercing blue eyes, never trusting anyone… except Snape. But he’d been wrong, so terrible wrong.
“Alright,” Harry sighed, “We can -”
But before he could even finish speaking Draco had climbed atop the nearest chair, instantly gathering attention in the usual dramatic way Harry usually loved but now felt only exhausted by.
“Anyone who wants to help Harry should quiet and listen to me!” The crowd was instantly silent, staring up at him with wide eyes. A couple firsties mumbled, “Isn’t that a Death Eater?” to their friends. Draco ignored them, of course. Harry expected nothing less.
“We’re looking for an object. Something like a necklace, or ring, or cup. Something small, easily hidden. It belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. Does anyone know about something like that?”
There were mutterings to people seated beside each other, but general shakes of heads, until Luna piped up.
“Well, there’s her lost diadem.” All eyes turned to the blonde, perched on the arm of Ginny’s chair, holding her hand. “The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? You’ve heard of it.”
She gestured to a clump of Ravenclaw’s, who shook their heads. Some blushed awkwardly as all eyes turned to them.
“Yeah, but the lost diadem,” Michael Corner, rolled his eyes, “is lost, Luna. That’s sort of the point.”
“When was it lost?” asked Harry desperately.
“Centuries ago, they say,” said Cho, surprisingly not beside Cedric, but rocking on one of the hammocks with Marietta at her side. “Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but nobody’s ever found a trace of it, have they?”
All the Ravenclaw’s present shook their heads.
“Sorry, but what is a diadem?” Ron cut in.
“It’s a kind of crown,” Terry Boot explained. “Ravenclaw’s was supposed to have magical properties, enhancing the wisdom of the wearer.” Harry gradually saw the sense in Riddle using this; if it was ancient, lost, and had special powers… he would have thought himself oh so important to have found it. Looking up and meeting Draco’s gaze, alight with glee, he knew he felt the same.
But a second later Draco face contorted with pain, and with a howl he had swayed on the chair and fallen. Shouts of surprise and warning came too late, but instinctively Harry ran forwards and caught him in his arms.
Vision swimming, Draco couldn’t even feel embarrassed at the oh so… romanticness of it all. Instead, he only registered the searing in his forearm, and fumbled to grab Harry cloak and meet his eyes.
“He called them,” he whispered, and all at once his boyfriend’s face darkened grimly as he helped him to his feet then let him sink into a chair, turning to face the silent and still crowd seriously. Once again, they were dead silent. Ignoring the way his scar persistently prickled, he spoke loud and powerfully.
“Listen up, I don’t care how lost it’s supposed to be. The diadem’s in this school somewhere, and I haven’t a clue how much time we’re all gonna have to find it. So can anybody tell me if they’ve seen a tiara anywhere with an eagle, or maybe a bunch of sapphires -”
“If you’d like to see what the diadem’s supposed to look like,” said Cho, climbing down a ladder from the balcony to their level. “I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry. Ravenclaw’s wearing it in her statue.”
“Thanks, sure, okay,” Harry nodded and, hesitating, he waved her over. Then he turned to his friends behind him, standing behind Draco in his chair.
“He’s coming, and the Death Eater’s too,” he said quietly to them. “He knows we had the locket. Guess Bellatrix finally cracked.” He looked over at Cho, raising a hand in a silent sign for her to stop walking and let them speak. She nodded with a small smile and he turned back to them. “Listen, I know it’s not much of a lead, but I’m going to go and look at this statue, at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and, Draco,” He tapped his chest. “You’d better give that to them.”
“What? No!” Instantly he straightened. “I’m fine. I can guard the locket just as well as you all -”
“You already have the wand,” he said, “You can’t take both,” he laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Please.”
Draco opened his mouth, then closed it, and sighed, slowly lifting the locket over his head and passing it to Ron.
“Be safe,” he told Harry, standing shakily and kissing him gently on the lips.
“Don’t worry, I have Cho, right?” He nodded to his ex who widened her eyes.
“Oh! Yes, I suppose…” He chuckled, shaking his head, and whispering, “I’m joking,” to which she sighed heavily.
“How do we get out?” he asked as Hermione handed him the cloak and Marauder’s map from out of the rucksack, and Cho turned and led him to a small cupboard opening onto a tall and twisting staircase.
“Follow me,” she told him, and he did. “It opens to somewhere different every day, which is good and bad ’cause it means the Carrows won’t find us, but now we don’t know where we’ll end up.”
The staircase winded so that he nearly ran into a wall and had to stumble to catch up with Cho in some places, but eventually they reached a solid wall where she paused, checked her watch, and grimaced.
“It’ll be breakfast soon. Be careful,” she warned and he smirked.
“Oh, don’t worry about me.” With that he threw the cloak over him and she released a squeak of surprise, but quickly masked it with a roll of her eyes.
“And to think I used to snog you, Harry Potter,” she said, then laid her hands on the wall, which quickly melted away and allowed them to step out.
They were in a corridor Harry knew very well, although perhaps it was less recognizable without the telltale spills of water at his feet. Still, he would know Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom anywhere, from countless trips throughout his Second Year.
“We’re on the second floor,” he told her, “Just above the Great Hall.”
“Oh, good then, we shouldn’t run into anybody. Come on.”
Together they snuck along the walls, Cho trying to look more proud with her chin stuck up, her Head Girl pin shining on her chest, but Harry could see, at least this close, her eyes were darting every which way, her hands shaking. She’d surely give up that she knew something if they were seen, but instead, as a couple Ravenclaw girls walked past, they only smiled and waved at her, and they managed to reach a spiral staircase unseen.
He’d never been here before, he was sure of it, even though he’d had quite a few midnight wanderings. The staircase was tight, and tall, and he knew it must lead up to Ravenclaw tower, though wished it was easier to access like the Gryffindor Common Room or Slytherin one. Still, he treaded on, until at last they reached the top, where a door stood in their path with a bronze eagle knocker.
Cho lifted the knocker and knocked it against the wood, the sound deafening in the silence. All of the Ravenclaw’s must’ve made it down to breakfast already.
The beak of the eagle dropped open and a musical voice said, “I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?”
Harry startled. “What? Isn’t there just a password?”
“Is that what the other Houses do?” she chuckled, “Sounds unoriginal.”
“Well, what if you get it wrong?”
“Then you have to wait for somebody to get it right,” she said with a shrug.
“Cho, we don’t have time!”
“Alright, alright, just let me think,” even with his yelling she could help but smile, it seemed. “We haven’t had a riddle in ages… How about.. An echo!”
“Well reasoned.” said the musical voice, and the door swung inward. Harry rolled his eyes at his ex’s cheerful grin and climbed in hurriedly after her.
The Ravenclaw common room was wide, circular, and had high ceilings, giving the whole place an airy feel. Where windows didn’t lie blue-and-bronze silks did, and beyond the windows Harry could see the bright morning sun over the surrounding mountains, and the ceiling above them was a brilliant sky blue which matched it. The tables, chairs, and wide bookcases were mostly empty but a couple lone kids sat reading. None said a thing to Cho as she walked past, and Harry made sure to keep his steps light and in time with hers.
She led him to a niche in the wall, opposite the door, where a tall statue carved from marble depicted the fair Rowena Ravenclaw, giving him a sort of quizzical half smile radiating in her intelligence. A circlet of fine gems set upon thin metal was carved onto the top of her long hair. Harry could see tiny words etched upon it and, carefully, he stepped up onto the plinth, making no noise, to read them.
Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure.
He carefully stepped back down again, and for a moment simply stared at the thing, then turned back and signaled to Cho he was ready to leave by brushing against her with the cloak. Together they exited as quietly as they came and, outside in the spiral staircase again, Cho released a sigh.
“That was terrifying. Did it help?”
“I suppose,” Harry whispered as they began to tread back down the steps. “At least now I know what I’m looking for.”
Together they continued down the halls of Hogwarts up to the seventh floor, back to the Room of Requirement and where Harry knew it was best to discuss further action with his friends.
But they didn’t make it past the corridor beyond the spiral staircase when Cho was halted by a tall, batlike figure stepping out from behind a suit of armor.
“And what might you be doing out of the Great Hall, Miss Chang?”
Cho froze as Snape hit her with the x-ray vision Harry so recognized from being on the receiving end of. Now, however, he was unseen by the man, and could therefore glare with as much hatred as he felt inside of him, thinking of Mad-Eye’s body falling through the dark sky. Professor Jones, missing an arm, bleeding out in the grass. The numerous times he’d been told to trust this man, only for it to lead to the betrayal he’d expected from day one…
“I slept in,” Cho blurted, shifting as she tried to regain her composure. “Sorry Headmaster,” she covered up, giving a smile that looked more like a wince, in Harry’s opinion. “You startled me.”
“You know that all students are meant to be in the Great Hall during meal hours, or otherwise inside their common rooms until class. I was about to make an announcement calling all students there regardless, in fact -”
“Really! Well then I’ll just get going -” He stepped in her path swiftly and she stumbled, giving a small squeak of surprise.
“Not so fast, Miss Chang. Curious,” he peered at her closer, and Harry was positive now he was attempting to read her thoughts. He might even be successful; he might be seeing the Room of Requirement at this very moment, Harry and his friends discussing the object they needed to find. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in quite a few weeks.”
Cho went pale as a sheet. “I - er -”
“Well I can’t have you disappearing again,” said Snape, far too calm for Harry’s liking. “So how about you follow me and I'll escort you down to breakfast?”
This was a rhetorical question, of course, but still Cho fumbled over a, “Yes” then a “Please” and finally “Thank you” as she shakily came to stand beside the new Headmaster. He sneered at her before taking one very brief, but very telling look over his shoulder and squinting at the empty space he sure saw there.
Once again Harry had the feeling he could sense he was there. He knew about the Cloak after all, maybe since the moment Dumbledore gave it to him because that’s how much he trusted him.
Nevertheless he turned back around in a second and strode forward, Cho stumbling behind. Harry waited for them to turn the corner out of sight before he began to tip toe after them, for fear that Snape might hear even the smallest of footfalls.
But as he walked, he realized they might be able to use this situation to their advantage; He was positive all the teachers save Snape and the Carrows were trustworthy, and if they were going to get the school evacuated before Voldemort and his forces arrived, the students already being stuffed in the Great Hall would surely do the trick. Therefore, his tiptoes became quicker and a smirk twisted onto his lips as he got to thinking how they’d be able to dispose of Snape and the Carrows.
By the time they reached the House Points hourglasses, empty, and unused, Harry had his plan.
Crouching behind a suit of armor, he pointed his wand out from under the cloak at the doors, and sent a jet of red sparks to them, causing a bang that bounced against the deathly silent walls, and brought Snape and Cho to a stop, the latter making another squeak of surprise.
“What was that?” Snape blurted, and spun around, looking for whoever could have caused the noise. Harry stayed still where he crouched, waiting desperately for any of the Carrows to come, knowing from hearing it his bang was surely loud enough.
As Snape pressed his hands on the door, he thought of how it took a second pound on the Manor’s cellar door to cause action and lifted his wand again, whispering “Finite Incantatem” and firing a jet of flame across the hall - Cho gasped as she saw it fly past - to Snape’s robes, alighting the hem.
He gave a painful howl and jumped away from the door, stomping the flames while muttering indistinct.words. Cho spun around while he was distracted and Harry peaked his head out to press his fingers to his lips, hopefully telling her with his eyes that he had it under control. They broke up because of communication issues, but now was not the time for that.
A second later the doors were forced open and Cho spun back around, clasping her hands behind her and trying her best to look innocent as both Carrows strode across the room to Snape. Pudgy faced and beady eyes, the woman was short with a tight bun and the man taller but hunched over to her level. Both Harry wasn’t fond of in a second.
“What was -”
“Potter’s here,” Snape spat, rolling up his left sleeve to show his fellow Death Eater’s his inky black Mark. “The Dark Lord’s called us and someone’s been causing a ruckus.” He took another paranoid glance around the hall as the siblings glanced at each other, smirking.
“Yeah, and Dumbledore’s alive.” Amycus, the man, slapped Snape on the back as if they were old friends sharing a joke. “I’m sure you just need a pick-me-up. You’ve been exhausting yourself -”
“Are you making a joke out of me?” He demanded, gesturing a hand to the still, tight lipped smiling Cho, “Look at this girl! She’s been missing for weeks, hasn’t she?”
Cho widened her eyes and instantly dropped her act, taking an apprehensive step back as the Carrows both turned to her, squinting their beady eyes.
“I - er -” She startled, but was saved a second later by the doors opening again and Professor McGonagall striding forwards, tall and powerful in her usual emerald robes, Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and Slughorn trailing behind, Slughorn panting heavily from their clear running to fast walking.
“What is going on here, Severus?” McGonagall demanded, folding her hands behind her, and Flitwick poked around her, exclaiming with a wide grin, “Well hello, Miss Chang! Recovered from that nasty bat of spattergroit, have you? I’ve heard it’s becoming quite an epidemic.”
“Yes, Professor,” sighed Cho, beaming and straightening. “I’m all better now. Professor Snape was just kind enough to escort me to breakfast,” she said, gesturing to a very angry looking Snape.
“Minerva,” he sneered, showing her his arm too, to which she tried to mask her horror but Harry still managed to catch it after six years. “Amycus, Alecto, and I were simply discussing matters of personal interest.” He dropped his head, eyes narrowing. “We believe Potter has infiltrated the school,” he said quietly.
“He does, but we -”
Amycus didn’t get the words out, because Professor McGonagall’s wand had just cut through the air and Amycus crumpled. Snape whipped out his own wand only a split second after, but this gave Flitwick time to slash his wand too, Alecto crumpling as well.
And then it was a duel, one which Cho immediately wanted no part of as she scampered away and ducked behind the suit of armor where Harry hid. Together they watched as McGonagall brought a torch from the wall down upon Snape, the fire whipping him like a lasso - until it was no longer fire, but a great black serpent that then morphed into bubbles and solidified into a swarm of daggers, so fast Harry struggled to even keep up with it, much less who had fired which spell at which time.
Snape threw up a shield charm against the daggers and pushed them back towards the four other teachers, who each fought against them, McGonagall transfiguring them into birds, Flitwick avoiding them simply by being too short, Sprout turning them into blooming flowers that pattered her skin, and Slughorn also throwing up a shield.
Snape then began to make a run for it.
“No!” McGonagall gasped and burst off down the hall after him, spells lighting up the walls as Flitwick cried out, “Minerva!” but Sprout grabbed him by the shoulders to stop him chasing after her.
Harry however sprung out from behind the suit of armor and began to run once she was out of sight, throwing off his cloak and gripping it in one hand.
“Harry?” Slughorn wheezed as he dashed past but he ignored him, focusing only on running along the corridor after McGonagall and Snape - on getting at least one hit in -
There was a sudden crash, and he heard McGonagall cry, “Coward! COWARD!”
A second later he had turned a corner and was standing beside an out of breath, frazzled, but still furious McGonagall. And a smashed window.
“What happened?”
“He - Potter?!” McGonagall spun around, eyes wide, gripping her chest as if she’d just had a heart attack. “You’re here! Wha - How -”
“Voldemort’s on the way,” he said, the only explanation he felt he needed, as he bent out through the open window, only to be pulled back by McGonagall’s hand.
“Why did you -”
“Potter, don’t go poking your head through windows, you could’ve cut yourself,” even as she said it she seemed to be checking him for injuries, but Harry, recalling Godric’s Hollow, when he and his friends and all lunged out of a broken window, chuckled.
“Personally I think I’ve seen worse.”
She scowled at that, but looked out the window and answered his question anyway. “He jumped.”
“You mean he’s dead?” Again Harry peered out the window, but McGonagall only heavily sighed this time.
“No, he’s not dead,” she said bitterly as Fliwick and Sprout arrived behind him, yelling in shock. “Unlike Dumbledore, he was still carrying a wand… and he seems to have learned a few tricks from his master.”
Sure enough, Harry could see in the distance a huge shape flying through the blue morning sky towards the mountains like a bat.
“Harry!” He turned and saw Slughorn had reached them, leaning against a wall, panting for air with his hand pressed against his chest. “My dear boy… what a surprise… Minerva, do please explain… Severus… what…?”
“Our headmaster is taking a short break,” she pointed at the Snape-shaped hole in the window, and Slughorn’s eyes widened, his mouth forming an ‘o’ of realization.
“We tied up the Carrows,” said Sprout helpfully, twiddling her wand, “Miss Chang is watching them.”
“Great,” said Harry, stepping forward. “Now, we have to barricade the school.”
“What?” Flitwick squeaked.
“Voldemort is coming. Whether we like it or not, today is the final fight, and his target is this school because, well, he’s trying to protect something. Something I need to get before he does.” He paused, letting his words sink in to his teachers, but after a moment McGonagall nodded to him to continue, so he did. “These are Dumbledore’s orders. It’s what I’ve been doing since Christmas. It’s uh, it’s what all those memories were for,” he added, glancing at McGonagall. Realization instantly dawned in her eyes, which flicked to Slughorn, who had recoiled, paling instantly.
“Very well then,” she said, straightening to her full height. “We’ll need to put in place every protection of which we are capable while Potter does what he needs to do.”
“You realize, of course, that nothing we do will be able to keep out You- Know-Who indefinitely?” asked Professor Sprout, but McGonagall met her gaze and she shut her mouth with a look of grim understanding, and the discussion was over.
“I suggest we establish basic protection around the place, then gather our students and meet in the Great Hall. Most must be evacuated, though if any of those who are over age wish to stay and fight, I think they ought to be given the chance.”
“Agreed,” said Professor Sprout, already hurrying down the hall, “They’re already inside eating breakfast but I’ll go gather anyone left in the Common Rooms.”
“Yes, I’ll do the same, and better tell Miss Chang to keep them in the Great Hall in case they get reckless,” Flitwick added, also jogging off. As they left, they could hear Sprout muttering under her breath, “Tentacula, Devil’s Snare. And Snargaluff pod… yes, I’d like to see the Death Eaters fighting those.”
“Wait, Professor Flitwick!” The little half-elf stopped short. “Professor, I’m sorry to interrupt, but this is important. Have you got any idea where the diadem of Ravenclaw is?”
“The - The what? Diadem of Ravenclaw?” he looked very startled. “A little extra wisdom never goes amiss, Potter, but I hardly think it would be much use in this situation!”
“I only meant - do you know where it is? Have you seen it?”
“Seen it? Nobody has seen it in living memory! Long since lost, my boy!” Harry frowned and stepped back, letting the Charms Professor continue to run, mind working fast. If it was lost… Could it even be the Horcrux at all? If so, what else could it be?
He startled when a hand rested on his shoulder and turned to see Slughorn frowning deeply at him, thick brows furrowed, walrus mustache aquiver.
“This, certainly, must have to do with -”
“Horcruxes? Yes, Professor.” Harry nodded as McGonagall rushed past them, calling back, “I shall expect you and the Slytherins in the Great Hall in twenty minutes or so, Horace!”
“Harry if it’s… Any indication…” Slughorn hesitated, tilting his head. “I believe I recall him asking about the diadem of Ravenclaw.”
“Really?” Harry breathed, eyes widened. “You, uh, remember, what you told him?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I told him it’s lost to time, but -”
“At least now I know I’m looking for the right thing,” Harry nodded, smiling at him. “If you weren’t my Professor I might hug you,” instead he grasped one of his large hands firmly. “Thank you.”
With that he turned and ran after McGonagall, Slughorn following. When they reached the doors he broke off to waddle down the steps to the dungeons, and Harry stood beside McGonagall in the Entrance Hall. He watched in wonder as she raised her wand, looking as powerful as Dumbledore entering Mad-Eye Moody’s office two years ago.
“Piertotum - oh, for heaven’s sake, Filch, not now -” She was interrupted, however, by Filch the caretaker hobbling down the hall, Mrs. Norris in his arms.
“Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!
“They’re supposed to be here, you blithering idiot!” McGonagall snapped at him. “Now go and do something constructive! Find Peeves!”
Filch stopped short, stammering, “P-Peeves?”
“Yes, Peeves, you fool, Peeves! Haven’t you been complaining about him for a quarter of a century? Go and fetch him, at once!”
And Filch, although he looked very confused, obeyed, turning and hobbling away muttering under his breath madly. Mcgonagall sighed and turned back to raising her wand.
“Piertotum Locomotor!”
All along the corridor, and Harry could feel it in her shoes too - a great trembling, spread across the entire school - statues and suits of armor jerked to life and began to walk forwards slowly like Muggle zombies, paired with crashes from above and below, confirming the fact that this was happening throughout the entire school.
“Hogwarts is threatened!” Professor McGonagall announced. “Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!”
They responded immediately, a horde of stone and metal soldiers stampeding past Harry, brandishing swords and spiked balls on chains, running to guard corridors or out the entrance to guard the boundaries of the castle. As Harry watched them with wonder, he slowly turned back to McGonagall to find her smiling like a pleased child.
“I’ve always wanted to use that spell!” She whispered, then coughed and straightened, appearing her normal strict self once more. “Now, Potter, you’d better return to your friends and bring them to the Great Hall. I shall rouse any Gryffindors left in the Common Room.”
Harry nodded and started to turn, but then halted, turning back around and beaming at her just as he had Slughorn. “Thank you, Professor,” he said, and she smiled.
“For Dumbledore,” she whispered, and, thinking of thirty students standing in lines, holding hands in solidarity behind the Minister of Magic, he nodded firmly in grim understanding and turned and ran, headed straight towards those same students he could never imagine not allowing to fight anymore. After all, weren’t they all here for the same purpose?
Dumbledore’s Army, that’s what Neville called them. He chuckled; It was really starting to grow on him.
-*-*-*-
Inside the Room of Requirement, Draco paced back and forth, rubbing his forearm through the cloth of his sleeve - as touching it would just call Voldemort to him which would be even worse than the situation they all were in right now already - thinking madly of the weight of the Elder Wand in his pocket, and thinking through the plan that had been stuck in the back of his mind for days.
He’d driven it there through Harry’s presence, like an Occlumency enhancer, because those wide green eyes always made him push away any thoughts of leaving him… But Harry wasn’t here, and so Draco thought of ways to do it. Should he do it easily, or make it look like an accident? Or maybe -
“Draco!” He spun around, meeting Hermione’s eyes, and recognized by her lowering hand she had just snapped her fingers beside his ears, possibly many times, yet he only now noticed. “Have you been listening to us?”
He looked between a worried looking Ron and the frustrated Hermione and bit his lip. “Er…”
“Ugh! We were discussing getting rid of that thing,” she pointed at the locket on Ron’s chest. “While we wait for Harry. Try to be useful, you know,” she shrugged her shoulders and Draco, when he shook thoughts of his terrible plan from his mind and focused on her, recognized a look of hopelessness in her eyes. Recognized it from when they’d rescued her from the Ministry in January, from watching them eat her terrible cooking during long nights in the tent, from staring into the windows of a house in Godric’s Hollow, wondering if Harry would be okay without them.
“Yeah,” he agreed, resting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a hopeful smile. “I think he’d love that.”
“Great!” She exclaimed. “Now Ron just said the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets might still have fangs we can use. He knows where it is.”
Ron gave him a grin and thumbs up and Draco, firmly shoving his plan behind walls of Occlumency, nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
They hadn’t made it halfway to the exit when they were stopped by Mrs. Weasley, however. The other Weasleys behind her were busy talking with the recently arrived Fudge, but she didn’t need them to hold them back.
“Where do you think you’re going, young man?” she demanded, eyeing him dangerously. “This is a very dangerous situa -”
“We’re helping Harry, gotta find a bathroom, no time to talk, thanks, bye!”
With that he took Hermione’s hand, who took Draco’s, and the three of them dashed towards the exit, Mrs. Weasley watched them go with a shake of her head. Ron and Hermione were of age, at least, and Draco… Well he wasn’t her kid.
-*-*-*-
Moments later Harry entered the Room, and had just broken through the throng of students when he ran into a crowd that most certainly hadn’t been there before, including Kingsley, Fudge, Lupin, Sirius, Tonks, Oliver Wood, Bill, Fleur, Tess, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
“Harry, what’s happening?” Lupin immediately rushed towards him, Sirius at his side, both looking very worried, with a couple scars he was sure hadn’t been there months ago.
“Voldemort’s on his way, they’re barricading the school - Snape’s run for it - What are you doing here? How did you know?”
“Well, we called the Order, just like you said,” Fred explained. “Or, I guess, rather, Draco did. C’mon, you couldn’t expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry.”
“What’s first, Harry?” George called. “What’s going on?”
“Everyone’s meeting in the Great Hall to get organized. After they evacuate the younger kids,” Harry shrugged his shoulders, “We’re fighting.”
An uproar erupted at these words and people immediately began heading for the exit, members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s Army among them.
Harry watched them go, and was about to join, when he was distracted by shouting behind him and spun around to find Mrs. Weasley holding onto Ginny’s hand, before the spiteful girl tore it away.
“You’re underage!” Mrs. Weasley was shouting, and slowly, Harry stepped forwards. “I won’t permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you’ve got to get home!”
“I won’t! I’m in Dumbledore’s Army -”
“A teenagers’ gang!”
“A teenagers’ gang that’s about to take him on, which no one she has dared to do!” Fred defended.
“She’s fifteen!” shouted Mrs. Weasley. “She’s not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you -”
Fred and George met each other’s gazes and looked slightly ashamed; clearly, they had forgotten in all Ginny’s brave brazenness she was only fifteen.
“Mum’s right, Ginny,” said Bill gently, stepping forward and laying a hand on her shoulder. “You can’t do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it’s only right.”
“I can’t go home!” Ginny shouted, angry tears sparkling in her eyes. “My whole family’s here, I can’t stand waiting there alone and not knowing and -” She seemed to be struggling to find the words for what to say, so Harry strode forwards and smiled at her comfortingly.
“Luna’s underage too. She’ll be alright.”
And while everyone around him blinked at each other, looking confused, Ginny sighed and nodded, turning back to the entrance to the tunnel connected to Ariana’s portrait.
“Fine. I’ll say good-bye now, then, and -”
She was cut off by the sound of a scuffling and thumping as a body tumbled through the entrance, flopping flat on his face on the floor. Hurriedly, he pulled himself up by the nearest chair and, adjusting his lopsided horn-rimmed glasses, and blurting out, “Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I - I -”
Percy Weasley froze in his stammering, for he had eleven wands pointed at his face in seconds.
“I - I - It’s me!” He pleaded, eyebrows furrowing. “You… You know it’s me, right?”
As everyone stayed still with their wands held straight, not a single soul knew what to do next with a suspected imperiused person who they wanted so desperately to hug, who they believed had been tortured, possessed, and was now free, but immediately had chosen to fight. Still, they couldn’t trust him, so slowly, but surely, Tess broke through the crowd and spoke with a voice that quavered only slightly.
“Tell me something only the real Percy would know.”
Percy paused for a moment, thinking, then smiled, and said in a gentle, loving voice, “After Hans was born, you pulled me close and whispered in my ear; ‘Promise me you’ll keep my little boy safe from this world.’ And Tessie,” he took a tentative step forwards and she stiffened but didn’t fire her wand. “I promised you I would, and I intend to keep that promise.”
“Percy!” She cried, relieved, and embraced him tightly. He sighed, hugging her back, and the rest of his family softened and ran forward as well, hugging their lost son.
“What happened?” Ginny asked after they had all separated, furiously wiping away tears. “Why aren’t you… you know…” She gestured to her eyes and made them go loopy looking for a moment. “Anymore?”
“Well, I suppose Crouch must’ve died. He’s the one that did this to me. It’s the last thing I remember before waking up. Then I found out he hadn’t come to the office in a week and connected the dots.”
“He is dead,” Harry confirmed and, to cover up his… questionable decision which led to said death which would take a lot of explaining and time they didn’t have, he added, “I saw Voldemort do it.” even though he hadn’t, but last time he checked none of the Weasley’s were Legilimens.
“Are you okay?” Molly asked her middle son, holding his face between his hands, but he didn’t pull away, instead holding them tight there.
“Okay. I haven’t been tortured for months, remember? And being under the Imperius Curse,” he looked away, scowling. “It’s sort of like being on vacation, except you don’t even have to control your body. It got maddening after so long, though, I can’t imagine how people who’ve been under it for years must feel. Did you know there was a case of an American who was locked in a basement for sixteen years, being controlled by -”
“And here my fiance goes being a know-it-all,” sighed Tess, wrapping her arms around his neck and burrowing her head in his shoulder as the twins chuckled at the jab. “I missed you…”
“I think we all missed you, Perce,” said George, patting his back. “Now tell us more about cauldron bottoms in America, why don’t you?” He attempted to look angry at his little brother, but they all saw the smirk on Percy’s lips.
“How are the babies?” He asked, looking down at Tess, concerned. “I saw papers at the Ministry, branding you unregistered. Wanted -”
“They’re fine, they’re with Andromeda. Tonks.” She added the last bit, remembering Percy had been kidnapped before they’d became acquainted with Tonk’s mother.
“You know they kept me going,” he stepped away from her, still wrapping one arm around her waist but keeping serious. “I refused to tell those Death Eater’s a thing, and whenever I was about to, I remembered that promise about Hans, and knew I couldn’t give them a world where You-Know-Who reigned supreme. Or be a father to them knowing I’d betrayed my family. Betrayed everyone.”
“Who would you be without me?” Tess teased, and he shook his head.
“A much lesser man, I suppose…”
“Well, we do look to our prefects to take a lead at times such as these, lesser or not,” said George, imitating Percy’s pompous manner so well Harry immediately knew where Ron got his acting skills from. “Now let’s get upstairs and fight, or all the good Death Eaters’ll be taken.”
They were just turning to the staircase, when Mrs. Wealsey suddenly shouted, “Ginny!”
Ginny, who’d been creeping towards the stairs, froze and rolled her eyes.
“I mean at that point let her have a go,” Sirius muttered under his breath and Harry grinned at him, tending to agree. Lupin shook his head and stepped over to Mrs. Weasley.
“Molly, how about this,” He said. “Why doesn’t Ginny stay here, then at least she’ll be on the scene and know what’s going on, but she won’t be in the middle of the fighting?”
“I -”
“That’s a good idea,” said Mr. Weasley firmly. “Ginny, you stay in this room, you hear me?”
Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but at her father’s stern look she fell silent and literally fell into a chair behind her, folding her arms like a grumpy teenager.
Harry started to follow the group to the stairs but froze as he suddenly realized why he’d felt quite empty. He was missing the usual red hair, bushy mane, and gleam of blonde in the corners of his vision.
“Where’s Draco? And Ron? And Hermione?”
“They must have gone up to the Great Hall already,” Mr. Weasley said nonchalantly, but Harry frowned.
“I didn’t see them pass me.” He certainly wouldn’t have missed his boyfriend.
“They said something about a bathroom,” said Ginny, shrugging while she checked her nails, “not long before you came.”
“A bathroom?”
Harry jogged to the bathrooms in the corner of the Room and checked all the stalls. It was empty.
“Are you sure that they said bath -?”
He froze and gripped the door frame as his scar exploded with pain again. He saw glimpses of wrought iron gates. Of Nagini, draped over his shoulders. He felt a surge of rage in his heart, the want to kill, the purpose of it, powerful and familiar. And he knew…
Voldemort was here.