Chapter 23
“It is indeed.” Thorin nodded eyeing off the book of maps, before he was forced to smother a yawn. “It’s getting late and we all have many miles in front of us. We should take our leave.”
“Safe travels, my friends.” Harry replied. “We look forward to seeing you, next summer.”
~~~
May 27th 2920
Leaving Tharbad had taken a little sorting out. Twenty-four ponies, one colt, five wagons, two shop carts, one kneazle, one owl, six dwarves and one baby, took some organising.
Then there was the fact that Golden Folly was incredibly visible. Almost everyone staying in the livery yards had been around to check him out. The upside to this, was that the stallion had decided that Harry was his only safe place, if Harry was between him and a Man or if Harry was with him, he was fine, if the Man got between him and Harry? Panic stations, people… he was terrified of Men. Storm was looked at, but only in passing, to most he was just another grey pony. BlackJack drew a little interest but that passed very quickly. Harry and his friends had discussed the matter and decided that Storm and Blackjack would be transfigured but that Golden Folly, or Golly as they were calling him, would have to make the journey on his own hooves.
Oh, and somehow Lavender had acquired a bird. A tiny, tiny falcon. Less than ten inches from the tip of its beak to the end of its tail. It had flown in and just… stayed. Initially, Hedwig had fluffed up in indignation, that another bird would trespass on her territory, but after a few minutes of it preening, or attempting to preen, Lavender’s hair, the owl decided to ignore it.
Remus had just looked at the little falcon and shook his head. Familiars happened, when and where they would, and usually without any warning.
They had at least four days, before they reached the junction where the North-South Road, that led to Bree, split from The Green Way, that led to Michel Delving and on towards the Grey Havens. Thorin and Dwalin had given them an idea of where to camp and had recommended a few villages that had everyday markets. The pair had also given Harry, whom they were considering the leader of the group, letters of introduction to the Trade-Master at Bree and to a couple of other dwarves, that were travelling traders.
Not knowing exactly how fast they were going to be travelling, now that Remus and Tonks had joined them and how Golly would handle travelling, the group were throwing the expected number of miles, out the proverbial window and just going until someone, be they person or pony, called ‘stop’ to the day’s travel.
Setting out from Tharbad in the lead of his caravan of crazy Hogwarts people, Harry sighed and picked up Golly’s reins. A Golly, who was in harness, pulling Harry’s shop cart, with Dancer and Delilah tied to either side of him, in front of Raven and Athena who were pulling Harry’s main wagon, with Onyx and Ebony tied to the back of it. Behind them, in order, were… Lavender, driving Willow and Hazel, with Fern and Marigold tied to the rear of the wagon. Colin was driving Remus and Tonks’ wagon, with Pancake and Biscuit pulling it and Honey and Toffee tied behind them. Then it was the feed wagon being pulled by Ginger and Spice, with Almond and Latte ambling along behind. And last was Fred, driving Feather and Pearl, while Flora and Iris were the tail of the caravan.
Having Colin driving Tonks and Remus’ wagon, freed Remus to ride up front with Harry. Both felt that they needed to clear the air after the near-argument they’d had the day before.
They waved to the various people that they’d become acquainted with during their stay, and mounted their wagons and cart, ready to go.
A flick of Golly’s reins and a clear, “move out,” to Raven and Athena, and their caravan was on the move. Golly whickered and leant into his harness, quick to respond to Harry’s commands, his ears flicking quickly between listening to Harry and checking out what was in front of them.
“Golly seems eager.” Remus said, shuffling uncomfortably on the barely padded seat, before resorting to a discrete cushioning charm.
“He does.” Harry nodded. “I wonder how long that’s going to last?”
“Don’t look at me, he’s your pony.”
Harry snorted and shook his head. He guided Golly through the outer reaches of the city, waving to familiar faces.
“Safe travels, Harry!” Horf called from the edges of the pony pens. “Come see me, if you’re ever down south, again.”
“Eru’s blessings, Horf.” Harry called back. “And the same applies, if you ever come north, again.”
“Will do.” Horf waved and turned back to the horses he was harnessing up.
A final nod to the guards at the city gates, and they were out of Tharbad.
“I notice Horf didn’t look for BlackJack. Why?” Remus asked.
“Oh, many travellers put foals in their wagons for part of the day.” Harry answered. “And keeping control of a young lout in the city, is just asking for trouble.”
“Ah, I see.” Remus grunted. “Hadn’t thought about that.”
“Yeah, neither had I. But as Horf said, why would we? We’ve never had foals before.”
“True.” Remus nodded. “Harry?”
“Yeah?”
“About… yesterday…?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.” Remus said. “I just…”
“I get it.” Harry replied.
“It’s just…”
“Yeah.” Harry nodded. “Lavender explained it to me.” He shrugged. “I… I guess that it’s an ethics thing and I don’t really have the greatest ethical standards.”
“What?” Remus blinked. “Why do you say that?”
“I grew up in the Dursley house, Remus.” Harry replied. “The ethics of keeping a child in a cupboard for nearly nine years? Not great.”
“Ah, hadn’t thought of that…” Remus grimaced.
“And then there’s Hogwarts.”
“Hogwarts?” Remus frowned.
“Yeah, you know how the muggleborns are treated by the purebloods and no-one even blinks at it. Then there’s Dumbledore.” Harry sighed.
“Albus?”
“Well, yeah.” Harry answered. “He so desperately wanted to end the war, that he was prepared to sacrifice whatever it took to do that, innocent children included.”
“I don’t see…” Remus trailed off.
“No, see, that’s it entirely. No-one does see. Because Dumbledore didn’t let them see.”
“Explain what you mean, please.” Remus requested.
“The moment Tom told Dumble-”
“Tom?”
“Tom Marvolo Riddle is the birth name of Voldemort.” Harry said. “He told Dumbledore that he could speak to snakes, Dumbledore wrote him off as evil.”
“Well, parseltongue is-”
“No, not going to accept that, Remus.” Harry shook his head. “I speak parseltongue and I’ve managed to teach Fred, Lavender and Colin the basics, so it can be learnt. If something can be learnt... by anyone… how can it be classed as either, inherently good or evil?”
Remus tilted his head and stared off into space as he thought about that and Harry left him to it.
“Okay.” Remus nodded. “But did Albus know that it could be taught?”
“He had to have, he said that while he could understand it and repeat some phrases, he couldn’t actually speak it, not fluently enough to hold a conversation with a snake. So, someone had to have taught him.”
“Albus could speak parseltongue?” Remus’ eyes went wide.
“To a point, yes.” Harry replied. “He knew a few phrases but that was about it, he said that understood far more than he could speak.”
“Oh, Merlin…” Remus sighed. “Okay, continue. Albus writes Voldemort off as evil. Then…?”
“Who is Myrtle Warren, do you know?”
“What? What’s that got to do with…?”
“A lot.” Harry assured Remus. “Who is she?”
“I have no idea. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the name before.”
“Then knowing that she was the first person that Voldy killed, when he was in sixth year, in… 1943? That Dumbledore was the one that was left to clean it up?”
“… Merlin…”
“Then there’s the Order.” Harry said. “He recruited directly from the school, didn’t he?” He saw the frown on Remus’ face. “I’m not saying Dumbledore was a bad person, he wasn’t, or at least I don’t consider him bad, I just think that he was so focused on the outcome, that the means to get there were acceptable. Whatever they were. But he recruited from the school and then he stopped you from using lethal means to put the DeathEaters down.”
“I…” Remus said.
“Stunners are great but not when the other side can reverse them.” Harry replied bluntly.
“Huh…” Remus grunted.
“And those that were handed over to the Ministry? How many of them walked free?”
“Uh…”
“Then there’s us. Mum, dad, Sirius and me.” Harry shrugged. “I don’t get it. A Fidelius? Just a Fidelius? Nothing else? And why the hell wasn’t dad the Secret Keeper? Why did it have to be someone outside? If we were supposed to stay hidden from everyone? Why have anyone that Voldy could reach?”
“I…”
“Then Sirius? Why didn’t Dumbledore get him a trial? He was Chief Warlock. Bellatrix got a trial. The Lestrange brothers got a trial. Dolohov got a trial. Malfoy got a trial. But Sirius didn’t? Why not?”
“I…”
“Why give me to magic hating muggles, when a simple blood adoption could have added me to any magical family? I never bought Dumbledore’s blood wards excuse, too many holes.”
“I…”
“Why send Hagrid, to get me for school? Why didn’t I get a visit by a Professor? Why not Dumbledore, himself?”
“Uh…”
“Yeah. Lots of questions. And as far as Ron and I could work out…? Even with Hermione’s help, the best we could come up with is that Dumbledore wanted me to be malleable and down-trodden, enough that he and the Wizarding World, could ‘rescue’ me. He knew that I was a horcrux and what was needed to remove it. Either me or Voldy had to die and one of us had to do it.”
“… bollocks…” Remus muttered.
“Yeah…” Harry sighed. “During my time at Hogwarts, I faced death, either at the hands of a DADA Professor, a student, a magical animal or Voldy… at least three times each year. And Dumbledore knew it. But what help did I get? From him and the staff? Nothing. From the students? Only a handful ever helped and most of them were Weasleys.”
Remus made a whining sound.
“Not trying to make you feel bad, you were the only DADA Professor that had an excuse, sort of… Although…? What the hell? How long does it take to gulp down a potion? One that you’ve been taking for most of the year?”
“I…”
“Later.” Harry waved off Remus. “We’ll get there. Eventually. Maybe. We’re still on Dumbledore, right now. He knew what my life was like and he was okay with it. He told me, that he knew that he was condemning me to 'ten dark and difficult years’ but he did it, without hesitation, without trying to find another option.”
“Oh, God…”
“And year after year, he let me be placed in positions that would risk my life, again, without hesitation.”
“…gods above…”
“That is where I get my ethics from, Remus.” Harry sighed. “Teachers that place babies in abusive environments, that allow students to be killed and cover it up, that allow students to be in life threatening situations and covering it up. Government officials that sidestep the law, whenever it suits them.”
“Oh, God…”
“The Wizarding World failed me and failed me, brutally. And not just me, it failed all the kids that went to Hogwarts. But it’s all compounded with me.” Harry was still calm as he spoke, this was old news to him. “As a result? I will do whatever I have to, to complete whatever task I’ve taken on. I’ve used the Unforgivables, before, and if the need arises, I’ll use them, again. But what I won’t do, is sacrifice an innocent life, when it can be saved. I won’t use magic to harm an innocent.”
Remus groaned at the mention of the Unforgivables, but fell silent when Harry continued.
“Yes, I’ve used magic on muggles, or the middle-earth equivalent, but not with the intention to harm them. Yes, I’ll probably be forced to do it, again. No, it is not my first reaction, when faced with a muggle. But no, I won’t hesitate to do it, if I need to. Need to, not want to.”
“Huh…” Remus grunted.
“I’ve killed and I don’t doubt, that with another war in front of us, I’ll kill again.” Harry went on. “But in war, it’s kill or be killed.”
“Oh, Harry…” Remus let his tears fall.
“I was eleven when I killed a man, for the first time.” Harry sighed. “There’s blood on my hands and I have to live with that. But there’s just as much blood, that I stopped from being shed. More. It’s taken me weeks, working with Lavender, Fred and Colin to understand that I’m not responsible for the decisions and actions of other people. Nor am I responsible for the consequences of those actions and decisions. I’m still coming to grips with the consequences of the choices that I made. Having Lavender make me think about what actions I could take, knowing only what I knew then? And the possible consequences of those choices? It helps.”
“Huh…” Remus grunted again, frowning. “I hadn’t thought about that.”
“No, the Wizarding World doesn’t think about consequences of their actions, not in general.” Harry snorted. “The Wizengamot sentenced me to the Veil. After I defeated Voldy. Hogwarts isn’t going to take that sitting down.”
Remus coughed.
“Hermione’s going to stew about it for a few days and then she’s going to destroy them.” Harry smirked. “I kinda wanna see that…”
Remus huffed out a laugh.
“Exactly…” Harry grinned.
“She’s going to…” Remus trailed off.
“She’s going to everything she can to destroy them.” Harry answered. “She’s going to let the public tear them to shreds and then, when they’re at their weakest she’ll attack. Bye-bye, Minister. Bye-bye, Umbitch. Bye-bye, anyone that gets in her way.”
“Oh Lord.” Remus shook his head in amusement. “I think I’d like to see that, too.”
“Yeah…” Harry sighed. “I miss her. She’s my best friend and I really miss her.”
“I know, cub.” Remus slung an arm over Harry’s shoulder. “I miss them, too.”
“Do you know what George said to me? As I was going into the Veil?”
“What did he say?”
“To live for them. That, wherever I go, I’m to live. To not mourn, to live.”
“To not mourn? Is that why you all wear Mourning beads, but you still laugh?” Remus asked. “You're remembering them but also living for them?”
“Yeah.” Harry shrugged. “We live for them, they’re living for us.”
“Live for them?” Remus nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think I can do that.”
“Good.” Harry nodded firmly. “Do we have anything else we need to clear up?”
“Just that you need to keep reminding me that none of you are children anymore.” Remus replied. “Dora tore strips off me last night when I told her about our… discussion.”
“I heard nothing.” Harry glanced at Remus. “Excellent use of privacy charms.” He waggled his brows at the older dwarf.
Remus flushed. “Don’t look at me, Dora put ‘em up.” He denied.
“Auror level?”
“I’d assume so.”
“Ah. They work well.”
“Yes, they do.” Remus winced. “She… um, she made it very clear, that, as we’d left our baby with you, judging you for what you did to keep him alive and safe, was a bit hypocritical. And then asked if I was going to judge her for doing the same. She’s an Auror and frequently had to use confundus charms on muggles, that they only got the Obliviators in, if they needed to actually remove memories. Moody had shown her how to modify a muggle’s memory in such a way that they didn’t care about magic, but still remembered whatever it was that happened. Hermione’s parents would have had that applied to them, when her accidental magic got out of hand.”
“Huh…” It was Harry’s turn to grunt. “That could be where she got the idea for her HIPS charm.”
“Hips?” Remus asked.
“HIPS. Hide In Plain Sight.” Harry answered. “If cast over an area, it makes whatever happens inside that area, unimportant to muggles. They still see it, but it just doesn’t matter. Fred and I modified it, slightly. We altered it from just muggles, to anyone who’s signature isn’t linked-in, or inside the area that’s covered, when the charm is cast.”
Remus blinked. “You altered one of Hermione’s spells? One she created?”
“Yeah.” Harry shrugged. “We needed to. The local magicals’ traitor? We had to pass within sight of his tower. Miles away, but still within sight. We weren’t sure, and still aren’t, how much of our magic, he and the other local magicals, can detect.”
“Ah.” Remus nodded, but at the same time, his mind was reeling. Harry and Fred had altered a pre-existing charm, created by the most brilliant mind of her generation and had done it within a matter of weeks…
“Yeah…” Harry nodded.
The two sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, before Remus spoke again.
“What was it that you gave the ponies, just before we left? It looked like sweets.”
“Pony sweets.” Harry nodded. “In the library that Hermione sent with me, was a copy of the book that Hagrid uses, for potions for the animals he tends. One chapter was general health boosters for magical cross-breeds. Hippogriffs, centaurs, hippocampus, Pegasus? The one thing they all have in common is, they’re all part horse. And as the same booster works on all of them, I figure it’s targeting the horse part of them. I used the recipe and made the booster, but getting it into the ponies was proving to be a challenge, so… I did what I could to thicken and set it, like a jelly. Like Turkish delight. Then, I drizzled it with not-quite set potion and rolled the pieces in dried apple and pear crumbs.”
“And they like it.” Remus nodded.
“More than the apple or pear slices.” Harry shrugged.
“And you’re not worried about over-dosing them?”
“Nope. According to the notes for the potion, give them too much and it’ll just be passed in their urine. It doesn’t build up in the system, which is why it has to be continually given.”
“Ah.”
“Although, there is a recommended maximum dose, but I’d have to give them a bucket of cubes, to reach it. I diluted the original potion in water, one part potion, to ten parts water and used agar-agar to set it.”
“Doesn’t that affect the efficacy of the potion?”
Harry shrugged. “Even if it has, the ponies still like it. So, as a treat it still works. But given how much condition Fern and Marigold have gained since we got them? I think it still works. We’ll know, for sure, once Storm and BlackJack have been dosed for a month.” The grey stallion was in poor condition, his ribs and spine showing clearly.
“Fair enough.” Remus nodded. “What did Lavender mean, when she asked after the next pickup?”
“Oh. Right.” Harry huffed. “I’ve been using point-me’s to hunt for people from Hogwarts.”
“Point-me’s? Really? How’s that work?”
Harry pulled out his wand and set it on his palm. “Ad Ilud Hogwarts student not in this caravan.” He wasn’t surprised when it didn’t move. “See, I think we’re it.”
Remus frowned as he considered what Harry had done. “… no…” He dragged the word out over several seconds.
“What?” Harry looked at Remus sideways.
“You asked it to find students. If someone’s graduated from Hogwarts or deliberately left, they can’t be considered to be students. They’re former students.” Remus said slowly, clearly still reasoning it out.
“What?” Harry blinked.
Remus nodded sharply. “You’re using the wrong descriptive. Student means, someone who is currently studying. Not someone who’s already completed their schooling. Nor someone that left before graduating. Like Fred and George. They’re former students.”
Harry held up a hand. “Hold up, let me think through that.” There was more silence before Harry started swearing. “Bloody… buggering… bollocks…” He slumped down on the drive-seat. “I screwed up.”
“No.” Remus objected. “This comes back to what you were saying earlier, about choices made with certain information. You did the best you could under the circumstances, but you didn’t have the objectivity to see what you were missing. You needed someone on the outside for that.”
“Right.” Harry nodded. “Let’s try that again. Ad Ilud any former Hogwarts student that’s not a member of this caravan.” The wand trembled and as Harry and Remus held their breaths, the wand spun in a full circle before coming to a stop pointing just west of due-north. “Okay, then. Let’s narrow that down.”
For the rest of the morning, the pair worked on refining the search. By the time they stopped for lunch, they knew that there was a person in the outskirts of Bree, on the Brandywine side of town. But the person wasn’t responding properly to the charm, which Remus suggested might be the case if it was a woman and she was pregnant, if the person was asexual or if they didn’t identify themselves as male or female.
Telling Lavender that the next pickup was in or near Bree, had Harry pouting as the girl held out a hand for a coin.
“More wagering?” Fred asked.
“Yep.” Lavender grinned. “I bet Harry that we wouldn’t be it, that there had to be more people.”
“Fair enough.” Fred laughed. “Any more after them?”
“Two to the west, the Blue Mountains and two to the east, the Iron Hills. All four are male. All four are graduates of Hogwarts. Outside that? I don’t know.”
“When did they die?” Colin asked.
“Should I be assuming that they did?” Harry responded.
“Maybe.” Colin asked. “Or maybe you could find out how long after leaving Hogwarts, that they came here.”
“The pair to the west have been here for over fifteen years.” Remus said. “So, if they died, then it’s likely that they died towards the end of the first war.”
“And the ones to the east?”
“Both are less than a year.” Harry said. “So, our part of the war.”
“Are we going to go and get them?” Lavender asked.
“I don’t know.” Harry said. “Let’s reassess when we find the ones in Bree. I don’t know about you, but that… that ‘pull’, it’s to the north, not the east or the west.”
“We can always send them a Patronus.” Remus said.
“But what about it catching the attention of muggles?” Lavender asked, she remembered Harry’s hesitation at sending one to Colin.
“Put it as part of the description of who you’re sending it to.” Remus said. “Like ‘the former Hogwarts students in the blue mountains, when they’re not able to be overheard by a muggle.’ Should work. If not, we can work on something better.”
“But how will they respond if they’ve no wand?” Colin asked.
“Well, there’s two options, no, three.” Remus said. “One, they can do a wandless Patronus. Two, they can’t. Three, they’re not interested in contact with us.”
“And how will we know which it is?” Tonks asked her husband, handing Teddy to Harry.
“One, they’ll respond with a Patronus. Two, we can give a name and address in our message and they can either come find us or send a letter and we can send Harry or Fred to fetch them. Three we give them the option of finding us later.”
“That works.” Harry nuzzled Teddy’s chubby cheek and grinned when the baby’s eyes went green. “Green eyed little wolf.”
“Oh, hey, no.” Tonks objected. “Not green. No, they’re going to be brown, golden brown.”
“Nope.” Harry smirked and turned the little boy to face his mum.
“Nooo…” Tonks moaned. “He’s supposed to have Remus’ eyes.”
“Oh, okay. Remus, come over here, sit in front of Teddy and watch.” Harry grinned as Remus moved where Harry pointed and then fell on his backside when his son’s eye went bright gold, like Remus’.
“Oh, gods…”
“Yep.” Harry nodded. “He’s got Tonks’ metamorphmagi."
“Oh, hell…” Tonks muttered.
They stopped for the night at Birch Creek, a settlement that had built-up around a Guard Station, setting up camp on the north side of the creek, under the shelter of another apple grove. Like other camps, they pulled the wagons into a broad U-shape, two wagons on each leg, with the feed wagon and the two shop-carts as the base of the U.
Ponies were led into the creek and scrubbed down, before being let loose into enclosures. Enclosures, plural. One large one above the U and a smaller one behind the leg that Harry’s wagon was a part of. Golly, Dancer and Delilah went into the smaller one and the other mares went into the larger enclosure. Harry didn’t feel that Golly was up to pulling a cart for an entire day and then servicing however many of their mares that might be in season or close to it. A distraction charm was placed on the stallion to ensure that he paid no attention to the above-mentioned mares. As for Dancer and Delilah, they were already in foal and thus not of interest to a stallion.
Once the ponies were clean and groomed, Harry, Colin and Remus joined Lavender, Fred and Tonks, who had set up the camp and prepared a meal for the evening.
“So…” Colin tightened his jaw. “I think I owe Remus an apology, for yesterday.” He looked at the ex-Professor. “Sorry… I-”
“No.” Remus shook his head. “No, you don’t. Not really. You were supporting your friend and like Harry, you were basing your reaction to what I said, on your own experiences. And those experiences said that adults are pretty useless and Harry’s the one that protects people. Right?”
Colin bit his lip before answering. “Um… Yeah…”
“Right.” Remus nodded. “So, your reaction was pretty much what I would have given, in your position, with the information you had.”
“Oh… Okay…” Colin ducked his head. “So… we’re good?”
“We’re good.” Remus nodded.
“... ‘kay.” Colin turned his attention to tidying up pony harnesses and putting them in the appropriate spaces.
After dinner they discussed the possible pickups and agreed to send Patroni only to those in the Iron Hills. Even though the pair in the Blue Mountains had been around for long enough to manage on their own, they might be interested in joining the Hogwarts group. By unanimous agreement, Harry’s name was left out of the message, instead it was Fred that sent the Patronus, his bright little magpie, flitting around their heads before it disappeared into the night.
A reply came quickly.
“Are you safe?” The familiar voice had all of them gasping. “I am in the Iron Hills and plan to stay here. If you wish it, a place may be found for you. If not, communications can be sent on parchment, via traders or caravans.”
Fred laughed. “Harry and I wondered, well, now we know.” He cast the spell again and sent a new message. “Lavender and I are going to Bree, we have a contact there. We may not stay there, but are planning on the Bree to Brandywine River area, long-term. Visitors welcome.”
It had barely left, when a second Patronus, with an equally familiar voice, appeared. “Welcome to middle-earth, Mr Weasley. I’m rather enjoying my time in the Iron Hills and shan’t be venturing west, any time soon, but you’re welcome to visit, if you wish. I have noticed another of our acquaintances here and given the duality of your message, I’m fairly certain that you’ve sent the same to him. I have yet to speak with him, he’s proved rather adept at avoiding me. I am… not in position to provide more than advice, at this point in time, but that will always be given to those who ask. Do try to stay safe, your mother would be most displeased, if you did not.”
Fred snorted and cast a third Patronus. “Lavender and I are fine and travelling north-west, as part of a caravan. We see no complications to our futures, from those around us. Our mutual acquaintance has responded and like yourself has offered advice but has suggested that letters be our main form of contact and both Lavender and I agree. We are looking to settle in the Bree to Brandywine River area and suggest that letters be sent to us via the dwarven Trade-Master in Bree, initially. Glad to know dying hasn’t changed you, much.” The magpie flew off as Harry and Remus snickered.
“Reckon we can replicate Sirius’ mirrors?” Harry asked Remus.
“Not without Sirius and James’ notebooks.” Remus muttered.
“We could try Hermione’s ʛalleons?” Colin suggested.
“The Aurors have two-way parchments.” Tonks offered.
“Can we modify that to be multi-directional?” Harry asked Fred.
“We can try.” The redhead replied.
~~~