Chapter 15
After managing to swim back to shore, the small group, exhausted after such a great expedition through the vaults of Gringotts, simply collapsed into the grass, keeping an eye on the dragon, in case, after a quick drink, he was tempted to snack. It was hard to believe that it was almost late afternoon and that they had taken so long: all the past events: their infiltration, the traps, the discovery of the Horcrux, the escape and the flight across the country on the dragon's back, all of it had taken only a few hours. It had seemed like centuries.
As he lay there, Harry suddenly felt his scar burn with a tincture, and in his exhausted state, he could not prevent the intrusion of the terrifying vision of Voldemort realizing that his nemesis had discovered the secret of his immortality. The unfortunate goblin who had to break the bad news had paid the price with his life. Now, as doubt and fear slowly crept into the Dark Lord's mind, he decided to ensure the safety of the remaining Horcruxes himself. And, unknowingly, he delivered the last piece of information Harry needed to track down the Horcruxes: the last one was indeed at Hogwarts.
Electrified by this news, Harry opened his eyes wide, knowing that their time was running out. Rising to his feet like a drowning man gasping for oxygen, the young man went to shake the others, warning them in an urgent tone to get a grip. Edward shook his head, as if to get rid of the water in his hair and, once upright, tried to regain his balance after the madness he had just experienced while muttering that he would never do that again.
Ron, with his nose in the grass, seemed to contemplate the possibility of just slouching there but finally got up, helped by Hermione who kept a slightly pale face, a sign that she hadn't fully digested her dragon ride. Gripsec didn't seem too eager to stand on his feet again as he was still shaking, but nevertheless, remembering the agreement between him and the Wand Bearers, he stood up and stared at the unofficial leader of the group, as if challenging him to keep his promise.
Harry steadfastly held the goblin's gaze and tried to remember the exact terms Bill had taught him during the week so that this gesture would have a diplomatic and political ring to it for future relations between the two peoples. The elder Weasley had insisted on precise addresses, formulas and titles, an attitude that showed no weakness, and finally, to speak with sincerity, without any intention of deceiving the goblin interlocutor. The express and intensive courses of goblin etiquette had not been too much, but according to the young spell-caster, a great number of revolts and insurrections by the Goblins would have been avoided if each side was not so proud
"As agreed upon in the agreement made on April 2, 1998 between Gripsec, known as the Madre, keeper of the vaults, representative of the Agripor clan and recognized by his peers as such, and myself, Harry James Potter, known as the boy who lived and the chosen one by the wizarding nation," he declared in a voice he hoped would be firm despite the stabbing pain that tugged at his forehead.
"We destroy this cup and then I return the sword. If by any chance a student of the school should draw it from the Sorting Hat in a moment of intense need, the school will have to spend the sum of fifty Gallons for this loan and then must return it to the representatives of Gringotts Bank."
As the words of the contract appeared on the parchment, Harry hoped with all his heart that no one would have to draw that Choice Hat sword. He would rather not see a future where teenagers were forced to fight monsters and dark mages instead of adults in order to save the world. He signed with a drop of blood.
Then, as agreed, Edward, the one who had clearly been in the most danger in that moment, had the honor of being able to pierce Helga's Hufflepuff Cup with the sword. He examined the phenomenon carefully, but found nothing that could help him rescue Harry. He and Hermione had witnessed the destruction of a Horcrux for the first time, and they couldn't help but be a little shaken. Still, there was talk of soul annihilation. Gripsec, on the other hand, spat on the floor and muttered a "well done!"
Once Gripsec had been given the sword, they all prepared to teleport to Hogsmeade. Voldemort needed to make sure his Horcruxes were still safe and that would take time. He would probably check Hogwarts last, since he was convinced that he was the master of the castle through Snape. He was in for quite a surprise.
As it turned out, it was they who were in for quite a surprise as soon as they arrived in the wizarding village: a siren-like wail sounded, shattering their eardrums. They ducked under the cloak just as a dozen Death Eaters emerged from the Three Broomsticks. One of them, smarter than the others, tried to pull Harry's invisibility cloak, but he instinctively held it back. But there must be some truth to the legend: this one protected its rightful owner from death and it didn't even quiver, keeping them safe from harm.
Harry breathed a small sigh of relief as the Death Eaters tried in vain to provoke them and they began to make their way to the Boar's Head. But on this night, the Death Eaters had to be smarter than usual: one of them suggested releasing the Dementors, who were not susceptible to invisibility cloaks, even the one offered by Death. There was going to be a problem: even if the Death Eaters didn't know about Harry's new Patronus form, the very fact that a deer was there would give them away. Unless...
A cold chill began to pierce them to the bone and Harry hoped that his Doe Patronus would be an illusion when he cast it. A few seconds later, the beautiful creature emerged from his wand and one of the Death Eaters smartly said:
"It wasn't a deer..."
"There are those who say Snape has a Patronus like that..." Murmured a Death Eater.
"Seriously? I always thought there was something wrong with him. Why resort to a Patronus when you have the forces of darkness on your side?"
"If you really want to ask that question to the right hand man of the Dark Lord, go ahead, I'll say a nice word at your funeral."
"But how can we be sure it's him? Wouldn't he have already revealed himself? And why did the alarms go off?"
Edward decided to cast his Patronus at exactly that moment, the long snake slithering menacingly, and Harry had the genius idea to speak in Parseltongue in the most threatening way possible. With his painful scar, it was easy.
The Death Eaters paled in unison and hurried off, apologizing for disturbing their lord.
"Let's get moving before they remember that you can speak Parseltongue too," Hermione advised in a hurried tone.
As they passed a rather unkempt shack, the door opened and a voice bellowed:
"This way."
"Wait a second, who are you?"
"You're not putting me back on? The boss of the Boar's Head, of course."
Behind them, shouts were beginning to ring out, and Harry decided to take the gamble of near-blind trust and pushed his friends inside. A minute later, the bartender had the Death Eaters out of the way, threatening that they would no longer be used as cover for their potion deals. The Death Eaters must have had a hard time making ends meet to run such a crummy business, frankly, who would have thought it?
"Thank you Mr. Dumble..." Hermione began before being cut off:
"No Dumbledore in my house. Call me Aberforth, it will be the only name I answer to anyway." Grumbled the bartender as he nonetheless brought mead, bread and cheese. Everyone ate and drank greedily, breakfast being a very distant memory.
"You shouldn't have come here. I will show you a way out of the village and you will do me the pleasure of never setting foot here again. This place is crawling with Death Eaters and they will infest this place for a long time to come. I can show you where Hagrid is, he'll get you through the mountains and then you're smart enough to leave the country on your own."
"We didn't come here for the purpose of leaving this country! We're here for a reason." Protested Harry.
"Like what? To get yourself killed? There's been enough death without having to add to it. I bet even that poor elf I sent to your rescue didn't make it. So honor his sacrifice and get the hell out of Britain. There is nothing left for you here."
"There is a plan. Your brother..." Harry began before being interrupted again:
"Ah yes, my nagging brother. Even after death, he's able to ruin other people's lives to get them to do his bidding. That's his specialty. Let me guess, he gave you great, deep, wise speeches about good and evil? Did he tell you a secret that only you had, the proof of the immense trust he placed in you? Did he tell you how indispensable you were to bringing down You-Know-Who?" Aberforth taunted.
"In broad strokes," Edward muttered as he received a nudge from Ron.
"And since you're a smartass, I'm sure you know exactly what that entails, training a kid to do the dirty work for you, manipulating him into thinking he has to do it on his own."
"Quite so, I'm well aware," Edward said, thinking that this was pretty much what Harry's life had been like.
And again, he felt a vague gratitude towards Mustang for never having hidden from him that he was manipulating him in order to climb the ladder of his hierarchy. The colonel had addressed him, if not as an equal, at least as an adult subordinate, capable of understanding what all this implied. No one had really tried to spare him, except for the one time when Mustang had concealed Hughes' death, that moment when he had taken on a more human consistency than the cynical and cunning colonel. It was sad to say, but compared to Harry, Edward had been lucky in his relationships with adults.
"You don't understand, it has to be me!" Harry raged.
"It has to be you? Don't ever make the mistake of thinking you're indispensable, kid, otherwise you'll only end up carrying more and more burdens in your life. And if you take that path, I can tell you that this life will be very short," retorted the old wizard.
"I have a job to do."
"Oh? And I bet it's the kind of easy task they give to kids not even out of Hogwarts yet? Of course not. And of course, I bet he told you everything you needed to know to complete this famous task? Of course not. Albus had a taste for secrets and lies, cultivated in our family."
"Your family? Your mother? Your sister? You hear a lot about them in Skeeter's book," Ron remarked.
"Well, personally, I don't care about your family stories. I've had my own that would drive anyone crazy," Edward began, having been served with a 400 year old father/philosopher's stone/immortal, a dead mother he had sought to resurrect, and a brother who for two thirds of his life had defied the definition of human... He continued, however:
"But Harry deserves the truth. Everyone deserves the truth. Yours will not be objective, but it will shed new light on Harry. And after that, it will be up to him to make up his own mind about your brother.
Aberforth sighed, before beginning to tell the story of Arianna, a happy, lively little girl, capable of magic, until some Muggle boys, seeing something they didn't understand, wanted to force her not to do it again. They succeeded too well, to the point where Arianna refused her own magic, which developed into a terrible and destructive force. Aberforth told the story of how his father had allowed himself to be locked up in Azkaban after punishing the scoundrels who had hurt his granddaughter. How he didn't even fight back so that his daughter wouldn't be committed to St. Mongoose for the rest of her life.
He also talked about Albus, how Albus preferred to read, to network while his younger self continued to provide love and stability to his beloved sister. Edward had already determined who he preferred in this story. For him, a brother (or sister) had to come first. But he was fortunate to have had someone to teach him that he should love his brother in the person of his father before he left. It was the most important thing he taught him.
Then came the day when his sister accidentally killed his mother. Forcing a young man frustrated in his ambitions and still in selfishness to take the role of head of the family, despite his brother's offer to take his place. He managed honorably for a few weeks before meeting Grindelwald. An equal in intelligence, in power, in esoteric research about relics, in high ideals that had not yet been confronted with reality...
Until reality reminded them through Aberforth that Arianna needed their help and not two charismatic leaders. He received a Crucio for daring to denigrate the plans of the two future leaders of the wizarding world, those who would enslave the Muggles for their own good, for the Greater Good. But Albus stood by his brother's side, probably seeing for the first time the monster he had nurtured. Their sister tried to prevent this fight, but it was she who paid the ultimate price, leaving a family torn apart forever, with no one knowing who was responsible for her death.
Aberforth insinuated that this freedom was probably what Albus wanted most, but both Edward and Harry shook their heads:
"The remorse must have always been there, present, along with his guilt. Among the last words I heard from him was begging someone not to hurt you."
"I didn't like a lot of things about him, the way he always thought he was right, his taste for secrets, the way he wasn't always sensitive to other people's feelings...To think he had the right to decide for others, to judge them.... Ironically, I had wished that he was able to regret. But in the end, I know that he regretted bitterly. Just goes to show, even at the end of your life, you can still grow up," Ed affirmed.
Aberforth remained silent before asking:
"So answer me honestly, especially you, Potter; What would make you think that my brother was not interested in 'the greater good' rather than you? What makes you think he loved you?"
"Your question is not easy... but I think he had the greater good in mind: he was involved in politics, he ran a school, he didn't have a family life outside of others. But did that mean that he didn't feel affection for me? That he would have preferred me to remain a child longer, even if it meant leaving me unprepared for the peril that was coming? Can't you love someone and still think of the common good?"
"You are very young to say such things. At seventeen, one should think of one's safety first," Dumbledore's brother grumbled.
"And yet, there are young people, wizards and Muggles alike, who have already given their lives in wars and conflicts. Because there was something more important than their lives- they were fighting to preserve the future; the future of others, of future children, so that they would not have to fight," Edward retorted.
"You say I should think of myself first- I thank you for that, it's the first time I've been told that. But life is unfair. Even if I emigrated, Tom would search for me relentlessly and I would live the rest of my life in fear. I would only survive, at the expense of other people's suffering. I refuse to accept that," added Harry.
"Now, if you could give us a way to get to Hogwarts, I'd appreciate it. I don't see us knocking on the door," Ron finished.
After this long dialogue, filled with painful truths and too much wisdom, Aberforth sighed, before moving towards the painting of a soft-eyed child, the Dumbledore's sister. Arianna walked to the back of her painting to return escorted by a young man. The painting opened like a door, revealing Neville. A Neville with a slashed face, long braided hair and the eyes of a soldier who had seen too much. That didn't stop him from rushing into their arms and declaring that he knew they would come.
Without wasting a moment, he guided them to the secret passage and Edward jokingly declared:
"I see that you imitate my style: long hair, muscles and too many scars..."
"Ahah... If only I were the only one... The Carrows were always raging at those who rebelled."
"And I guess putting your head down didn't even cross your mind, right? Totally like me, I'm such a good role model. Tell me you still ended up going underground..." Edward continued.
"Also!"
"How was it going?" Harry asked more seriously.
"The Carrows. The brother was teaching black magic classes, where you had to throw Cruciatus at each other in good spirits. I refused, hence the scar. The sister taught compulsory Muggle Studies classes where she blamed them for everything and presented them as stupid animals. I got this scar from asking them their own degree of inbreeding. She didn't like it."
"And you say it's worse for some?"
"Well... The more visible scars stay. But the ones on the rest of the body, the wounds, the broken bones are mysteriously healed during a night in the infirmary. Everyone thinks it's Pomfrey. But it's Professor Snape- I saw him do one night, but he also has to be very discreet in his help. I'm the only one who knows, now that Ginny and Luna are gone."
"We rescued Luna when she got captured. Ginny was due to give birth."
"We had a hard time keeping her from openly rebelling. But we had to. If she had received a dark magic curse, it could have caused a miscarriage or worse. Frankly, I don't know what got into you... You could have taken precautions," Neville commented with a hint of reproach.
"If war prevented babies from being made, I think a lot of you wouldn't have been born..." Hermione remarked sarcastically.
"Anyway... They use the children to pressure the parents. It was when they tried the opposite with my grandmother to get me to walk straight that it didn't work. Grandma is a former competitive duelist and she sent Dawlish and his band of collaborators straight to Mongoose. She wrote to me to say she was proud of me... But then I didn't hear from her again because we had both gone into hiding..." Neville narrated.
"Which secret passage do we come in through?" Ron asked.
"One created by the Room of Requirement. That's our headquarters. We've taken every precaution. You can only access it with a password and not by thinking loudly: I want to enter the Hogwarts Resistance HQ. But other than that, we're accepting everyone who is directly threatened by the Carrows. I'd say we have a good third of Hogwarts."
As they emerged, everyone in the room rushed in, shouting their names and cheering. The room looked like a large dormitory for a giant sleepover: there were colorful hammocks hanging from the ceiling, huge banners in the colors of all the Hogwarts Houses, bookcases filled with books, broomsticks, and a large radio. The students ranged from first years to seventh years and all the houses were represented. There were a few Slytherins here and there, fewer in number, but wearing their colors on robes and messages proclaiming their non-affiliation with Voldemort with a touch of sarcastic humor.
"The hall gives us room to sleep, room to train, places to study rooms to wash when the girls thought we stank of goat. The only exception is food because of Gamp's law," Padma described.
"So Neville goes to get us food at the Boar's Head and some House Elves come to supply us quietly. We wouldn't have made it without them, it's no small task to feed over a hundred people." Explained Seamus.
"The training is done on Edward's model, of course." Lavender added.
Harry felt an intense pain go through his skull: Voldemort had discovered the Gaunts' hideout already empty. He had to hurry. He thought for a moment of ordering everyone to evacuate to Hogsmeade, but he doubted the others would listen. If Harry had chosen to fight, then he had to respect their choice to fight Voldemort as well.
On top of that, former students who had been warned by the Gallion system were showing up, one after another. They had all been waiting in the shadows for the signal to warn them of the final battle. Now that it was here, they were responding.
"Are you ready to fight? No one should feel forced: I only want volunteers. I will not hide it, there will be deaths, serious injuries and you will probably not be spared. It is not cowardice to want to live."
"It's okay, Potter, just because you were in the wilderness doesn't mean it was all rosy here," Nott stated nonchalantly.
"It's Theo, he's one of the few who can throw the Cruciatus.. But he tended to aim very poorly: oddly enough, it always affected the Carrows or those who took pleasure in carrying out their orders. I think he never forgave his mother's death because of his father, because she had a Muggle relative..." Neville sighed.
"What should we do?"
"Form groups, and let's jump! Let them be as heterogeneous as possible, mixing houses and ages. If I find little ones together without adult student supervision, it will go badly," Edward ordered.
Everyone obeyed and no one dared to point out to Edward that some of the little ones were older than he was...
"No group of friends?" Harry asked quietly.
"No. If they lose one of their members, it could leave them vulnerable," Edward replied in the same tone.
"The battle is going to be at Hogwarts. We'd need some of them to distract the Carrows, maybe even put them out of action."
"No worries." Said Neville, accompanied by Luna with a serene smile.
"Others will have to do the same with the Carrows' collaborators."
"There are some in every House, we have the list.... It's very thorough," Declared Daphne with a voice of frost.
"Apparently, one of the collaborators tried to...force himself on her. She cast the only dark magic spell she knew, which was a permanent castration spell...Then she joined us, daring us to refuse her. We welcomed her with open arms. Even Snape was having trouble keeping this guy out of trouble because of the Carrows' protection..."
Edward sighed; there was bound to be some score-settling when it came to neutralizing these ones.
"Don't forget that the priority is speed. You knock them out, tie them up, confiscate their wands, and then you'll be in the Great Hall as quickly as possible. Nothing more. Get a few of you to neutralize one: no sense in risking one of you being out of action before the battle even begins," Edward predicted.
"What about Snape?" Someone asked.
"Did any of you ever have to suffer a single dark magic spell from him?"
"No, our detentions were with McGonagall or Sprout, but... He killed Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore was already dying. It was their plan so that Professor Snape could protect you as much as possible," Edward explained, wanting to clear things up as quickly as possible.
"I knew it," Tracey Davis murmured, relieved at the true nature of her former House Manager.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Hermione asked.
"Ah, yes. Notify the teachers...."
"What about you?" asked a slightly curious student.
"We have to look for a dark magic artifact that allows You-Know-Who to remain all powerful," Hermione explained without giving too much away either.
No one argued.
One by one, the small groups began to sneak out of the HQ, using the many, many items that Fred and George had available to them. They had a huge inventory and had taken advantage of the speech to bring everything. The room on Demand was crowded, but despite the imminence of the attack, everyone kept calm, reacting with a seriousness as they equipped themselves. The members of the Support Courses had had intensive training made in Edward two years before. And they had taken advantage of their forced confinement to teach the newcomers his methods.
Meanwhile, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Edward held a mini war council.
"Where do we get the damn diadem?"
"There's a representation of it in the Slytherin Common Room. Do you really think it will do you any good to see it?" Said Edward.
"I know we're running out of time, but otherwise, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"In that case, let's not waste time. Ron and I are going to the Chamber of Secrets for the poison. We'll meet in front of the Room of Requirement," said Hermione before dragging Ron after her.
Edward, on the other hand, led Harry to his old common room where the eagle statue asked him a beginner's level Alchemist question. Once inside, Harry could see the statue of the wise and intimidating founder of Slytherin and especially her headdress, a tiara with her motto: Every man is richer when the spirit abounds.
A few seconds later, Alecto appeared and shouted in triumph when she saw them. Just as she was about to touch her mark to warn Voldemort of the boy's imminent capture, she was simultaneously hit with four or five Stupefies from Luna, Michel Corner, Cho Chang, Anthony Goldstein and Edward. The shock was brutal enough to wake up the students in the tower, who began to descend. But the resistance fighters were already cleaning up by immobilizing those who had made the mistake of collaborating with the enemy.
A minute later, Professor McGonagall burst into the Slytherin common room, ready to defend the students against the Carrows. She immediately lowered her wand as she saw the scene before her eyes. Harry was staring at the tiara, the CS resisters were watching other students bound and gagged as well as Alecto Carrow with huge bumps and side effects that no one seemed to be in a hurry to heal...
"Potter, what are you doing here? You need to run away as fast as you can!" The Metamorphosis teacher spoke urgently.
"It's no longer time to run away or keep a low profile, Professor. We absolutely have to find the Slytherin tiara, it's the most crucial thing right now," Harry said with a grimace as he rubbed his forehead. Voldemort would soon notice the loss of the medallion...
"It's been missing for a thousand years!" Protested the professor.
"This is Dumbledore's mission. We must find this object if we want a chance to win."
"In that case... we must protect Hogwarts and its occupants from He Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken, right now. You, focus on your mission. As for the students, we should confine them to their common rooms."
"There is a secret unguarded passageway. You need to evacuate the younger students and those who do not wish to get involved. And also...those who would get involved on the wrong side." Harry stated.
"Perhaps the Death Eaters would hesitate to attack if they knew their children were still inside," Said Edward in a neutral tone.
"I wouldn't be like Voldemort, pressuring parents or children," Harry insisted.
"I'm sure they'll see that as an admission of weakness," Professor Snape's silky voice rang out as he entered.
He avoided with ease the many spells Minerva, mad with rage, threw at him while insulting him as a coward, a murderer and all sorts of names.
"Professor! To ensure that Snape was planted in the ranks, Dumbledore went so far as to use his own death. So spread the word and stop attacking him! He helped us during our escape- without him we would never have made it," Harry interjected.
"Really?" McGonagall ceased her barrage, lowing her wand, "Severus, I am..."
"Enough of the sentimentality. I need to talk to Potter. I have a... final message for him from Dumbledore. In private."