The Battle Recap and the Bias Reconsideration
“Headmaster,” Hermione beamed. “It’s good to see you back.”
“Thank you, Miss Granger,” Dumbledore stood from his desk and returned her smile with his usual enthusiasm though his limbs were shaking. He brushed off Hermione’s look of concern and simply gestured them into the chairs before the desk.
Dumbledore sat down again with a long sigh and waved his wand to conjure tea.
“Now there are a few things we must discuss,” said Dumbledore tiredly. “But the evening has been quite long, so I hope you’ll permit me to summarise and save a bit of time. I presume any private information will not find its way past this room once we have finished speaking.”
Hermione nodded, and out the corner of her eye she watched as the Head Boy did the same. She was a little taken aback at the respectful look with which Bletchley faced the Headmaster.
“Mr. Bletchley, you approached me in the first term regarding the position of Slytherin House as it stood with former Professor Umbridge,” Dumbledore began. Hermione felt a jolt of glee at the word former. “As I recall, you were concerned for the security of your younger house-mates, given that Professor Umbridge already showed signs of favouring her old house. You believed if your peers acquiesced with the Professor’s demands they would be publicly besmirched – yet if they did not acquiesce, they might face difficulty with the Ministry later on.
“I advised you to co-operate with Umbridge, even so far as to obey her direction over my own, knowing it would be easier for your house-mates in the long run,” Dumbledore continued. “Of course, with the forming of the Inquisitorial Squad, I believe you did just that,” his eye twinkled at Bletchley, who gave a small, bashful nod.
Hermione was floored and had to bite her lip to stop from bursting out with questions.
“Naturally, as you were operating under my suggestion and in the best interests of your peers, I have no desire to punish you or any others for their participation. You will find, however, that any points taken during the time of the Inquisitorial Squad will have been restored to their appropriate hourglasses by morning.”
Bletchley nodded.
“Now, as of this evening, I can say with certainty that Dolores Umbridge will no longer have control over any aspect of Hogwarts, and we have fallen out of the Ministry’s direct scrutiny for the time being. Of course, this means your house no longer has any pressure upon it to act a certain way for fear of immediate negative repercussions. I regret, however, that my reassurances extend only as far as the castle walls. In the world beyond, things have now begun to change.”
Dumbledore took a long drink of tea before continuing.
“I’m afraid Minister Fudge is no longer able to deny that Voldemort has indeed returned, given that he and his Death Eaters took it upon themselves to invade the Ministry this evening.”
Hermione went pale and Dumbledore’s eyes flickered over to her.
“I’m sure, Miss Granger, any news regarding friends involved in this evening’s ordeal can be explained to you through other channels?”
“Yes, sir.” Thank Merlin for that mirror.
Dumbledore tilted his head at the Head Boy, who seemed to be biting his lip against unanswered questions.
“As you are ending your final year, Mr. Bletchley, you are no doubt concerned about the classmates you leave behind. I give you my personal assurance that any witch or wizard who enters this castle seeking sanctuary will be given it. We would only presume to evacuate those who intend harm against other inhabitants of the castle.”
“Thank you,” Bletchley murmured. “And, as for the summer–?”
Dumbledore nodded. “Professor Snape has explained the tutoring programme he and Professor McGonagall have endeavoured to begin, and we are finalising the details. Students will be given the information before they depart on the Hogwarts Express if they desire to return to the school for the summer months.
“Now, I understand you had another request, and that this was communicated to your peers in Gryffindor?”
Hermione watched Bletchley’s eyes flick nervously to Snape; they had been supposed to wait for him, but the tight-lipped teacher didn’t seem bothered; he nodded minutely in Hermione’s direction to give her the floor.
She took a deep breath.
“We understand that the … events of this evening could lead us to– to war,” she swallowed. “Of course, we students trust the Hogwarts staff with our safety, but as you said, Headmaster, you are limited by the castle walls.
“Some of our classmates in Slytherin have declared their intent to join neither side of the war officially but hope to avoid recruitment by You-Know– er, Voldemort regardless, and would prefer to entrust their safety to the Order. A group of us Gryffindors have agreed to an exchange of mutual protection away from Hogwarts. Given your … er, unique abilities, sir, we understand you may be able to create untraceable Portkeys to take these Slytherins to a safe place as needed?”
Dumbledore’s kind eyes smiled down at his students.
“I am not a religious man, but I have long prayed that your two rival houses may someday manage to work together. Mr. Bletchley, as Head Boy, I presume you comfortably speak for those in your house that are willing to concede with this plan?”
“Yes, sir. Not every student is amenable, and not all will need assistance, but a number of us have agreed to defer to the Order and to the … the Gryffindors. Along with the benefit of mutual protection, my younger peers intend to collaborate with them next term for extra Defence practice. That is, if … if you approve such a thing, sir.”
Dumbledore was clearly still exhausted, but Hermione thought she hadn’t seen the man this thrilled since the Chamber of Secrets was closed.
“I’m immensely pleased to hear it. You and your peers, Miss Granger, should perhaps meet with me again when the new year begins, so we can arrange a time and place for an after-hours Defence group – though perhaps with supervision, this time?”
Despite the twinkling blue eyes, Hermione felt her cheeks darken. She felt a little ashamed that her idea had nearly gotten Dumbledore arrested in the first place.
“I would understand if you needed some guarantee from us before committing to our protection,” Bletchley said humbly. “I cannot confidently make an Unbreakable Vow for each of my classmates–”
Dumbledore shook his head.
“I would not endeavour to make such a Vow with any child. A student under my care asking for help will be given it. Please ask your acquiescing classmates to meet once again in Professor Snape’s room – shall we say ten o’clock tomorrow? – so that I may issue your emergency Portkeys and gather the names of those who may use them.”
In a move that Hermione would’ve thought facetious yesterday, Bletchley actually bent his head to Dumbledore in relieved gratitude. Over his head, Hermione caught Snape’s eye for a second. The man had slowly returned to his normal, stoic attitude, but there was something there still, just under the surface.
“I believe between my good friends and impending Hogwarts graduates we can certainly keep Slytherin house safe from unwanted recruitment,” Dumbledore finished with a smile. “If there’s nothing else I can do for you students in the meantime–”
“No, thank you, Headmaster,” Bletchley rose to his feet.
“Miss Granger, perhaps you could send Mr. Potter up, briefly?” Dumbledore asked quietly as Hermione rose as well.
“Of course, sir.”
Oh, thank Merlin, he’s FINALLY going to talk to Harry!
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Hermione sat with Ron on Harry’s bed, awaiting their friend’s return. Ginny and Neville sat on Ron’s bed; the younger witch had been desperate to know what was going on.
Ron filled Ginny in on the meeting with the Grey Slytherins and Hermione told the others about her meeting with Dumbledore.
Ron discovered a mirror under Harry’s pillow that would supposedly reach Sirius, but they weren’t sure how it worked.
“I hope nobody was hurt badly,” Hermione twisted her fingers together nervously. “Snape looked … awful.”
“Maybe one of his Death Eater mates was killed,” Ron said in a half-hopeful tone. Ginny air-punched him from the other bed.
“You think Dumbledore’ll give the Slytherins what they want?” Neville inquired of Hermione. She nodded fervently.
“I know Dumbledore will be fair. I expect he’ll issue a codeword or security measure to accompany each Portkey so they can’t be stolen by a Death Eater. I don’t think he’d try and protect just anyone, but the Grey Slytherins are still students …”
Ron had been playing with the frayed sleeves of his pyjamas but stopped.
“How can we be sure one of them won’t just hand the Portkey right to You-Know-Who, though? Wouldn’t it be the perfect way to jump into the Favourite Death Eater spot?”
“We have to trust Dumbledore’s judgment,” Hermione said firmly. “I’m sure he’ll establish a method to ensure everyone’s safety. I’ve read about experimental Promise Charms which are like Unbreakable Vows but a little less intense; they can ensure a verbal promise is kept in exchange for a favour or token from the other party – but such things haven’t been used since Rune-stones decreased in popularity after the eighteenth century–”
Ginny and Ron cheered as Harry entered the dorm, thereby cutting off the inevitable lecture. Hermione rolled her eyes but slid over to make room on the mattress.
“Dumbledore tell you about the battle?” Ron asked immediately.
Harry nodded and rubbed his wrist. Hermione frowned down at the action, which indicated Harry was either upset or anxious.
“D’you want to call him?” she asked immediately, hoping a chat with his godfather would cheer him up. Harry reached for his pillow and looked worried for a moment before lightly smacking Ron when the redhead sheepishly handed over the pilfered mirror.
“Sirius Black!” Harry announced clearly to the mirror. Hermione noticed Neville’s eyebrow go up. While their friend was up to date on the events of today, he hadn’t yet learned that Sirius was on their side.
Hermione decided it was alright. Neville was more trustworthy than plenty of others who knew.
There was an odd shimmering as though the surface of the mirror became a rippled lake, and slowly Sirius’ face came into view. He beamed at Harry and raised a finger to gesture “hold on” before the view went temporarily blurred, as though Sirius had shoved his mirror in a pocket.
“Dumbledore tell you if anyone got hurt?” Ron murmured to Harry.
“We killed one Death Eater, but two of ours got killed and Remus was injured–”
Hermione and Ginny were mid-gasp when Sirius reappeared in the mirror.
“Hey, Harry, sorry ‘bout that. Figured it would be easier to talk away from Molly. How’s everything over there?”
“We’re all fine, but Dumbledore didn’t tell me everything,” Harry said in a hurry. “What happened, Sirius?”
His godfather sighed and ran a hand through his frazzled hair. Harry propped the mirror against his pillow as Sirius talked the Gryffindors through the events of the evening.
Snape had passed on Harry’s worries, and Sirius immediately got a message to Dumbledore. Apparently, the whole Order had been learning how to send messages with their Patronuses like Dumbledore had earlier. Hermione wanted to learn how it worked, but she bit her tongue and didn’t pester Sirius with questions just yet.
Dumbledore rallied the Order; they slipped into the Ministry under Disillusionment Charms and Invisibility Cloaks. Tonks and Kingsley remained visible, walking the corridors, and talking loudly to cover the footsteps of their comrades following in the shadows. They pretended to be irritated about being called back into work to get research materials for the Sirius Black manhunt thanks to a tip that he’d been spotted in Holland.
Tonks and Kingsley noticed all guards had been Confunded away from their posts. Security monitoring charms indicated a wizarding presence in the Department of Mysteries, which they communicated to the others through a conveniently dropped scrap of parchment in the shadow of an open door.
The Order moved downstairs in staggered groups, which took the longest time. Thanks to Moody’s unique eye, they quickly located figures – Death Eaters – hiding behind various doors or enchantments. In all, the Order battled over two dozen, most of whom had been waiting in a place called the Hall of Prophecy. Tonks and two others blocked the exit in order to prevent escapees, and they’d successfully caught eight or nine Death Eaters that tried to flee.
Sirius’ voice rose in brief excitement when he announced they’d caught Lucius Malfoy and Thoros Nott, two of the highest-ranking Death Eaters, but his voice dropped again when he admitted they couldn’t prevent Bellatrix Lestrange or Antonin Dolohov from escaping in the end.
“Those two are some of the best spell-casters of their age, and they know curses the rest of us would barely dream of, so they managed to slip through our ranks. Dolohov got Remus … hit him with some nasty purple curse that left him unconscious. I can’t go see him, obviously, but Moody swears he’s gonna recover. Will probably be in St. Mungo’s for a bit … kinda lucky he’s a werewolf,” Sirius grimaced a little. “They’re known to be tough to take down with curses, even when they’re not transformed. If Dolohov had hit someone else, they might’ve died.”
“I s’pose he’d be resilient, like Hagrid,” Hermione murmured. Her contemplative look switched to worried. “Sirius, you left Grimmauld–?”
“Oh, now don’t you start, Hermione,” Sirius groaned. “Dumbledore already chewed me out and Molly won’t let up either, but I wasn’t about to sit on my thumbs and wait around to hear what happened!”
Harry looked like he agreed with Hermione for once.
“But … if Fudge had caught you–”
The concern in his godson’s voice made Sirius soften.
“Don’t worry about it, Harry. This isn’t gonna be a regular thing – but honestly, even if some of the Ministry workers who appeared at the end saw me, that might be good since it’s pretty obvious I was fighting with Dumbledore’s people. I reckon it’s the first step in the right direction to get me cleared.”
Harry managed to half-grin in response, but his voice was quite sombre when he asked, “And the two deaths?”
Sirius replied grimly, “We lost Emmeline Vance; she got cornered by three Death Eaters. She was brave, but she barely stood a chance. She was killed by this Death Eater, Jugson – Moody managed to kill him, at least. Generally, Aurors can’t kill, but there’s exceptions for murderers and of course there were around ten of us who would all swear Jugson killed Emmeline, so Moody won’t get charged for that.
“We also lost Sturgis Podmore; he got caught in the path of a rebounded curse and took a bad fall. Hit his head on the stone steps in this one room we got stuck in. Feel really bad for his wife; he was finally released from Azkaban only to have this happen …”
Everyone sat still for a few moments and Ginny wiped some tears away. Sirius seemed a little lost for words until he peered carefully over Harry’s shoulder at the silent figure standing behind him. His face cracked into a reminiscent smile.
“You’ve gotta be Neville Longbottom, right? You got Frank’s ears.”
Said ears went slightly red, but Neville grinned back with a shrug.
“Mr. Black,” he said simply. “I’ve heard about you. I’m glad you’re not a Death Eater.”
The tension in the room broke as Sirius and Ron roared with laughter and Ginny giggled at Neville.
Sirius wiped a tear away. “Ah, Neville, you’re just like your dad … he used to talk like that. Didn’t say much, but when he did it was the totally blunt truth that everyone was thinking but too nervous to say aloud. Think that’s what made him such a Gryffindor.”
Neville’s smile widened and Hermione saw his eyes growing a little misty. Probably Neville hadn’t talked to many people who knew his parents.
“Sirius, Snape looked weird when he came back, did he fight for our side?” Ron ventured curiously.
“He did, but he was Disillusioned the whole time to protect his cover,” Sirius answered. “I wasn’t totally sure about him, not ‘til he brought me Harry’s message. Still kept an ear though, and Snape worked from the shadows to help us out. It’s …”
Sirius sighed. Harry didn’t like how much older his godfather looked all of a sudden.
“Well … I reckon Snape might’ve blamed himself a little for Emmeline’s death. I knew where he was hiding since he’d cast something a minute before. He was right close to Emmeline, but she got cornered too fast and there was no opening. Snape might’ve been able to save her, but there’s a good chance he’d have either taken a hit or blown his cover, and neither would’ve been good in the long run. Not like I wanted to lose Emmeline, but … we sorta need Snape, I guess.”
“You don’t blame him, then?” Harry asked quietly. It was odd to think about giving Snape the benefit of the doubt.
“Kind of wish I could, but … no.” Sirius admitted. “He’s not a Gryffindor. It’s not what I would’ve done, but then, I wouldn’t make a very good double agent, so I reckon I shouldn’t throw stones.”
“I guess Snape’s alright,” Harry admitted with a shrug. “He probably could’ve just ignored me when I told him about the Ministry … Anyway, he’s gotten a bunch of Slytherins together who don’t want to join Voldemort, and they’ve asked us to talk to the Order about getting them sanctuary–”
“NO WAY!”
Sirius nearly dropped the mirror and Ron chuckled at the sight.
“Snape … his Slytherins asked you forsanctuary?!”
“They were legitimate,” Hermione insisted before Harry could answer or before Sirius could spout suspicions. “The Head Boy is a Slytherin, and really quite decent, and we’ve agreed to a mutually beneficial plan. We’ve spoken to Professor Dumbledore already, and he’s going to help smuggle the younger Slytherins to safety if their parents try to enlist them as Death Eaters. We can shield them at the Order’s safehouses, and they’ll help us protect the safehouses in return for staying off You-Know-Who’s radar.”
Sirius blinked slowly a few times. Harry doubted his godfather knew what radar meant, but he didn’t ask.
“… that’s … I’ve never heard of anything like this …”
“I’m not totally sure it was all Bletchley’s idea,” Ron said with a frown. “Doesn’t seem like something he’d come up with. Remember during the Prefect meetings he always acted all superior, and how badly he treated the younger students once he joined the stupid Inquisitorial Squad?”
“Dumbledore explained that during our meeting,” Hermione answered immediately. “He’d given Bletchley and the other Slytherins permission to follow Umbridge’s lead because he knew they’d be safer doing so! Remember what Nott said: the Slytherins would’ve been prosecuted by the Ministry if they didn’t follow Umbridge because the Ministry doesn’t trust Slytherins to begin with!”
“Yeah, maybe,” Ron argued. “But Bletchley’s not that brilliant; you really think he came up with that whole Grey Wizard plan on his own?”
“Perhaps not,” Hermione admitted. “He might’ve just been the spokesperson, I suppose, or perhaps the whole endeavour was a group effort. Rosier and Nott were pretty forthcoming with information as well …”
“You spoke to Nott’s son?” Sirius’ forehead creased. “What’s he like?”
“He’s intelligent,” Hermione answered before the others could reply. “Same as Malfoy – oh, don’t look at me like that, Ron, he’s beating you in every class – and they renounced their prejudice in exchange for our help. Though somewhat reluctantly on Malfoy’s part,” she added under her breath.
“Hm,” Sirius mused. “Lucius is a right git, but Malfoy’s mum is my cousin – she’s cunning to the core but could probably fall on either side of the war and maybe her son could be convinced. But I dunno about Nott … his old man’s one of the worst; you should’ve seen the relief on Fudge’s face when he realised Kingsley and Dawlish caught him. He killed both your uncles, Ron, and at least two dozen others in the last war. He was a LOT worse than Malfoy.”
“How on earth did he evade Azkaban?” Hermione asked in shock.
Sirius made a face. “Same as a bunch of others. Right money into the right pockets, right timing with the right excuses, and promises out the arse that he was Imperiused the whole time. He and Malfoy are still prejudiced, sure, but for fifteen years they’ve basically been model citizens. Can’t pin so much as an illegal hex on them, at least not before tonight. We still don’t know if Malfoy ever intentionally killed anyone, but Nott was flinging Avadas around the room tonight faster than the rest of us could dodge them and I don’t believe for a second that he wasn’t enjoying himself.”
Ron’s upper lip twisted.
“I didn’t think Nott Junior was too bad since he’s always so quiet, and he’s not as prejudiced as Malfoy, but maybe we shouldn’t’ve trusted him?”
Hermione held her tongue. She had her own reasons for being unsure about Nott, but she didn’t want to say them aloud. Deep down, she wanted to trust him after today.
Really, she wished she could trust Malfoy as well. On the surface, the blond was crass and discriminatory, but she’d wondered for a while if he was putting on an act while in the public eye.
She’d carefully studied him on several occasions when he didn’t know she was paying attention, and he almost looked like a different person. When he was busy with Potions, his pointed face went soft, and his grey eyes seemed to hold more colour as he focused on his cauldron. She remembered the innocent, terrified look on his face before they entered the Forest in first year, and she’d seen the hurt flashing in his eyes after she smacked him two years later.
She also saw something during the Yule Ball when he’d caught her eye across the dance floor … he was surprisingly soft and almost rueful – it was the first time she’d decided Malfoy might be more than he seemed on the surface.
Hermione shook her head. Why on earth was she wasting time thinking about Draco Malfoy?
“–still a student,” Sirius was saying as she tuned back in. “I’m sure Dumbledore can make sure nobody else uses the Portkeys. If Nott comes our way, we’ll keep an eye out, same as the others. I’m not exactly known to give Slytherins the benefit of the doubt …” he paused in appreciation of Harry’s over-the-top eye roll and Ron’s whispered “hear, hear” “… but after seeing Snape in action today I might be willing to let one or two of the junior snakes stay here.”
“I’m glad,” Hermione said firmly. “The inter-house co-operation has to start somewhere, and if we don’t allow it to proceed then this war could end up taking even more lives – not to mention, it’s ridiculous to consider fighting against children and most of the Slytherins who want our help will be underage! I want to revisit those Arithmancy numbers about population rebuilding–”
“Don’t you lot need to be in bed?” Sirius interrupted with a twinkle.
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The day after the tentative truce with the Gryffindors, Theo and Draco learned both their fathers had been imprisoned by the Ministry.
Theo was thrilled, but Draco immediately expressed fierce regret at having trusted the Gryffindors in coordinating their safety.
“Their people locked up Father, how do we know they won’t just lock US up if we survive the war?” Draco demanded of Theo, after Theo tried to defend his initial plan.
“The Gryffindors didn’t lock him up, Draco, be reasonable. The Ministry arrested them for breaking and entering and attempted murder! Did you expect them to do anything different? Frankly, this is a benefit we didn’t expect. Neither of them can coerce us into getting the Mark now, and we might actually make it through the summer without the help of the Order!”
Draco grumbled under his breath. Theo let him have his inevitable tantrum.
Intelligent though he was, Draco had been brainwashed into the pure-blood ways differently than Theo. Thoros used a mixture of logic and threats to influence his son, but Lucius used conditioning and emotional manipulation, which was overall more effective.
Between the two of them, Draco accepted pure-blood standards more easily, and Theo shuddered to himself at the notion of Draco discovering a secret like he had. He didn’t want to believe his friend would be capable of murder, but he could see Lucius convincing Draco that it was the right thing for the sake of the family.
Hopefully if Draco learned the truth about Hermione, his friend wouldn’t try and convince Theo of the same.