Chapter 54
“We’ve got three babies, incoming.” Harry answered, as he stepped up to guide the first hand-cart. “All three are squib-born and that’s a problem for the parents. Give me a hand and I’ll tell you what I know.” He passed the first cart to Neville, as it reached the ground and turned back to guide the next one.
When all three carts were in front of the ramp, Harry looked back at the goblin.
“That concludes our business, Mr Potter. Thank you for your understanding and assistance.” The goblin bowed and stepped back, and with barely a flicker, the portal collapsed in on itself, leaving Harry standing on a ramp to nowhere.
~~~
November 14th 2925
“Gina?” Harry called.
“Coming.” The raven-haired beauty answered and started in Harry’s direction. “What’s…?” She trailed off when she saw the carts and their contents. “Harry?”
“Gringotts asked me to take them.” He answered. “They’re magical children of squibs, that they can’t… no… won’t… find homes for in England. I’ll know more, once I get a chance to read the files that Gringotts sent with them. For now? Can you keep an eye on them. They’re in a charmed sleep and should stay that way, for another hour or so. I need to do the intro and briefing, then we need to see that everyone gets a portkey back to the Pond.”
Gina blinked a few times, as she thought through what Harry told her, then nodded. “I can watch them, until they wake, but I can only tend one baby at a time. If they all wake together, I’ll need help.” She warned.
“Thanks.” Harry gave her a smile and patted her arm as he ducked around her, heading back to the ramp. There, he conjured a stepladder and climbed it, standing on the flat platform between the steps and the legs bracing it.
He touched his wand to his throat. “Sonorus.” Once he felt his magic surround him, he continued. “Hello…” He grinned as people jumped and startled. “Can everyone please find a seat?” There was a mad scramble as people darted in all directions, then sudden stillness as they all turned their attention to Harry. “Thank you. First off? Welcome to middle-earth. Professor McGonagall tells me that Hermione has made most, if not all, of you read Tolkien’s books, as recommended by Gringotts.” There were a lot of heads nodding. “That’s because we’re in middle-earth. Currently, we’re about two-hundred miles west of Hobbiton.” The startled noises this caused, amused Harry. “Yes, I said Hobbiton. Bilbo Baggins comes to our village on a regular basis.” There was a scattering of whispered comments.
“Right.” Harry went on. “Before you all go into a fan-frenzy, be aware that such behaviour isn’t welcome. Not... At... All... Bilbo is a hobbit and hobbits don’t like dealing with celebrities, or being celebrities. They’re likely to ask you to go away and if you don’t, I will be called. Trust me, you don’t want that.” The smattering of giggles and nods, agreed.
“So, let me start at the beginning.” Harry said. “Here, in middle-earth, we’re not wizards or witches.” This brought a round of gasps from many people. “I mean that quite literally. Here, we are dwarves.” He nodded to Neville, who conjured a large mirror behind Harry, facing those he was addressing. “See what I mean?” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the mirror. “But... We still have magic and we no longer have a Ministry trying to control our use of it. So… I hope that all of you have one of Hermione’s little extended baggies and have filled it with stuff.” More nods and agreeing noise. “Excellent. That’s done. Next is… who’s here. No, I don’t mean you lot. I mean people like me, who weren’t sent by Gringotts. I know from talking to Lee and the quidditch queens, that they were hoping that George might have survived his trip into the Veil.” He saw Bill and Charlie sit up and focus all their attention on him.
“Take is easy, guys.” Harry grinned. “George is fine. But he’s also not the only person that I’ve found.” He saw confusion on a lot of faces. “Like I told Hermione, her coming here, won me animagi lessons from my godfather. And some of you will know who he is. Sirius Black. He was knocked into the Veil by Bellatrix Lestrange, during the event that forced the Ministry to acknowledge that Voldemort was alive.” There was a murmur of hushed conversation. “But even he wasn’t the first magical person from England that I found.” Harry smirked. “In fact, the first one I found, was drunk and had just been thrown out of a tavern. He stumbled across the road and fell at my feet. I took him back to my wagon and cleaned him up, fed him and put him to bed. Then the next morning I woke him and gave him the lecture that I knew Hermione and his mother would have given him, if they’d seen him like that.” The confusion was clear. “That was in Pelargir, nearly a thousand miles south east of us. Since then, our numbers have grown… significantly…”
“Who’s here, Harry?” Hermione asked, her eyes narrow in consideration.
“You gave me Teddy and pushed me into the Veil.” Harry answered. “Since then, in order? I’ve found… Fred Weasley…” Bill and Charlie gasped, “Lavender Brown,” Harry heard the distinct echoing gasps of the Patil twins and saw them standing with Hermione and Kellah Lindstrom, “and Colin Creevey.” He paused when McGonagall lifted her hand to cover her mouth and gave her a happy smile. “The next two people I found, meant that I had to give up Teddy. To his parents, Professor Lupin and Auror Tonks.” The surprise on Kingsley’s face was quickly followed by joy. “Everyone I found, were people that had ’died’ back in England. Most of them by DeathEaters or Voldy, personally. My father and mother were found just west of Bree, along with my godfather. Followed shortly after by Cedric Diggory. Then it was the turn of the Prewett twins, they walked in from the Blue Mountains, in response to our Patronus messages. After that it varies, Gina Matthews and her family were sent by Gringotts, they were closely followed by Dorcas Meadowes, Pandora Lovegood, Alice Longbottom and Frank Longbottom. All of whom were killed or hopitalised during the first war.” The stunned faces were almost amusing, if it weren’t for the gut-wrenching emotions filling the faces of those who knew who he was talking about. “Later additions include, Ernie Macmillan, he had a floo malfunction and spit him out in the Blue Mountains, instead of his Aunt’s in Sussex. Jessica Carbonelli had just had Professor McGonagall’s first muggleborn visit and minutes later, her father was trying to drown her. Dennis Creevey came to her rescue and that landed the pair of them, on a beach about a hundred-fifty miles south of here. Then, of course, George did his own swan-dive into the Veil. And six months ago, Mad-Eye Moody just walked into the village.”
He watched the awe on the faces of the younger students, these were names straight out of their history books.
“In addition to these people.” Harry continued. “There two other people. We’ve made contact with and have written communication with, but due to their locations, we haven’t seen them, face-to-face. Also due to what has been said in those communications, we have been hesitant to let one of them know the true scope of our numbers.”
“Harry?” Hermione frowned. “Who is it?”
Harry took a deep breath. “He calls it his next Great Adventure, but all he’s doing is herding goats. Which is why we haven’t told Albus Dumbledore who’s here.” McGonagall’s gasp drew Harry’s attention. “I’m sorry, but he’s not doing anything. Nothing at all. It took Snape two years to convince him to even try and get a single qualification.”
“Severus…?” McGonagall whispered.
“Yeah, he’s here, too.” Harry nodded. “Well, not here, but here in middle-earth. He’s the other one that we’re in contact with.” Harry looked at the suddenly angry students. “I’m going to assume that most of you heard about his actions during the war, what you won’t know is that Dumbledore was already dying and had blackmailed Snape into killing him, so that Voldy would trust Snape so that we, the Order of the Phoenix, would still have our spy in Voldy’s army. I know that he was Headmaster during the war and that many of you were tortured by the Carrows, but as I asked Neville… How many students were killed? How many were raped? How many were tortured with anything other than the cruciatus? How many experienced anything other than that or minor hexes?”
The students frowned as Harry started, but the longer he talked the more they thought about what he was saying. “He couldn’t stop the Carrows, but he could limit what they did. Yes, many students were hurt. But… none died or were permanently injured. And in a war, such as we were fighting, that was the best we could expect. Plus, it let students get an idea of what they could expect from the Carrows. Not great, but how many of you fought harder, because you’d been on at the pointy end of their wands?”
More frowns and nods, and expressions moved from anger to understanding.
“Exactly.” Harry nodded. “Enough of that. We’re here now. And this is a relatively safe place. I say relatively, because if you’ve read Hermione’s books, you know that there’s a war looming. But we’ve time for everyone who wants to fight, to be well trained. Well enough to survive whatever’s coming. But first we have to get you back to our village.” There were many interested faces at this comment. “Our village is a mix of dwarves, magical dwarves and hobbits. As yet, no hobbit has shown up as magical. Nor has a dwarf, that doesn’t have British blood. But our healer believes that it may happen. The middle-earth equivalent of a muggleborn.”
There were interested noises from a number of people.
“You can talk to Healer Alice about that later.” Harry shook his head and waved a hand in denial. “Our village is called the Whomping Willow’s Pond, after a Whomping Willow that we placed on an island, in the middle of a large Pond. Yes, I said Whomping Willow. Yes, I meant a magical plant, like Hogwarts has. Our residents, hobbit, dwarf or magical dwarf, all know about magic. Most are under the impression that we come from a country, a long way from here, but still on this world. We haven’t corrected them but we also haven’t confirmed this. We refuse to lie to them, but we aren’t stopping them from making their own assumptions, on where we come from.” He assured his audience. “That said, there are a few people that know the complete truth. Bilbo Baggins is one. Thorin Oakenshield is another. The Master of Buckland, the Thain of the Shire and their advisors, are in the know.”
The frowns cleared and Hermione raised a hand. “What about Thorin’s advisors?”
“Balin, Dwalin, Oín and Gloín know. This coming summer, he’s bringing his sister, Lady Dís, and her two sons, Fíli and Kíli, to the village for a Full Disclosure. They’ve had a Disclosure on magic, but not the Full Disclosure.”
“And what’s to stop people from talking about magic?” Bill asked. “Telling people?”
“Out wards stop people from discussing magic outside the village, unless they’re magical or hold a position of Mayor or Mayor’s clerk. We’re thinking about adding Healer to that, but haven’t yet.”
“And what’s holding your wards?” Bill asked. “Are you using a person or a wardstone?”
“Our wardstone is a Green Amethyst the size of a snitch.” The gasps that came from Bill, Fleur and McGonagall made Harry chuckle. “Yeah. Anchoring and powering our wards? Not a problem. We try to avoid using magic in front of outsiders, while the wards do have a compulsion component that encourages people to ignore magic, it works better if we don’t make things too obvious. That said, as long as you’re casual about it and keep it subtle, outsiders will ignore it. Residents are more… consider them like squibs or a muggleborn’s family. They know about it, can see it being used and can benefit from it, can use enchanted items, they just can’t perform it, themselves.”
Many heads nodded, almost all of them knew someone like that.
“We’ve all the facilities of a typical magical village.” Harry continued. “Homes, businesses, gardens, market, pub, hospital, school and administration offices. Homes have been allocated for everyone that Hermione had listed in her personnel files, that she sent us last summer, plus a few extras for some of those that she and Professor McGonagall told us, that they were trying to add. But not all of you will have homes, immediately. Sorry. We were expecting somewhere around ninety people and I think there’s more of you than that.” He saw Hermione nodding at him and she quickly conjured floating numbers that stated ‘110’. He sighed and she chuckled. “Yeah, figured that. So some of you are going to have to stay in the Quad, which is our equivalent of Hogwarts but with VIP guest accommodation. Students, unless you’re living with your family or are fostered with a family, you’ll be staying in the Quad. Professor McGonagall, you and… Kingsley, what are you… what’s your title these days? Not Minister, surely? Not if you’re here.”
“No, Harry.” Kingsley Shacklebolt’s deep voice came from the middle of the audience. “I don’t really have a title, anymore, but I still consider myself an Auror. If that helps?”
“It does, thanks.” Harry grinned. “Professor McGonagall and Auror Shacklebolt will be chaperones for those students staying in the Quad. There’s also suites for the families of those that we haven’t allocated homes to and for those that we didn’t know about. As soon as the ground thaws, we’ll get started on building homes for you. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be meeting with all of you, to make sure that you get what you need, to get you settled into the Pond and life in middle-earth.”
Harry paused as a wave of quiet chatter went around, this was better than most had thought they were going to be facing.
“Portkeys will deposit you in the Quad’s courtyard.” He held up a strip of leather, roughly a foot long. “As you can see, some are red and some are black. The reason for this, is where the portkey is targeted to land. The red will land in the north-east corner of the courtyard, on a paved area that is partially enclosed in by box-brush hedges that have red myrtles in the corners. The black will land in the south-west corner, again on a paved area enclosed by box hedging, only it has a black maple in one corner. You will be asked to move from the paved area, to either the cloister walkways or to the grassed area. Once everyone has arrived, we’ll begin with placing you. We’ll give you a map of the village and an address directory. It has not just all the major buildings on it, but also what business is located where and who lives where. Those that are going into homes immediately, will be given a guide who will take you to your home. Those that are staying in the Quad will also be taken to their suites. Tomorrow, we’ll start the process of seeing that everyone has personal reusable portkeys, with multiple destinations. One to the hospital, one to your home… or the Quad’s apparition point, and one to wherever it is you’re going to work or study.”
Harry waited for the inevitable objections, but was pleasantly surprised to find there weren’t any.
“You get the rest of today to sort your homes or rooms out.” He went on. “And tomorrow, we’ll show you the business spaces that we’ve allocated to you and if necessary, we can move you. Any questions?”
“What’s with the carts?” Kingsley asked.
“Gringotts sent them along.” Harry answered. “Each of them is holding a baby and its possessions. A magical child born to squibs that work for Gringotts, that they haven’t been able to foster or adopt out. Anything more than that, I don’t really know and won’t until I read the files that Gringotts sent along.”
“And what will happen to them?” A middle-aged woman asked.
“I don’t know, yet. It will depend on what’s in the file.” Harry held up a hand of stop any objections. “But quite probably, they’ll be adopted into a family. That’s something that can be discussed later. For now, let’s get you back to the Pond and into some sort of accommodation. Let’s start with… Who’s got babies? Two years old or under?”
Five hands rose and one of those was Bill Weasley.
“Right.” Harry nodded. “Bill, bring Fleur and your girls, up here.” When the tall redhead was standing in front of him, Harry handed Bill a strip of red leather, making sure that all four were holding it. “This isn’t like a Ministry portkey, it’s more like an international one, you don’t let go until it stops. Even then, best to count to five, after landing before letting go. The activation password is ‘arrival’ and you’ll need to pulse your magic into it, too.” He suddenly frowned. “You’ve got everything with you?”
“Yes, Harry.” Bill grinned and patted a strap of the bag over his shoulder. “Arrival.” The portkey glowed and unlike a typical portkey, that began to spin, this portkey had been modified by Lily and Cedric and it reacted more like side-along apparition, but much smoother.
“Right. Next family?” Harry asked and a group of five stood up. “Come on up.” When they stopped in front of him, he continued. “You’ll need to have the baby in a carrier. I didn’t say anything to Bill, but only because he already had Dominique in one.”
“That’ll take a minute or two to dig out.” The only male in the group grimaced. “We’ll step aside, until we’re ready.”
“Thanks.” Harry smiled at them. “Who’s next?”
“That would be us, Potter.”
“Towler, good to see you.” Harry grinned at his former Gryffindor housemate. “Who’ve you got with you?”
“My husband, Xander and our daughter, Betty.” The tall now-dwarf had skin even darker than Kingsley’s and was holding the hand of a sandy-haired male, who was wearing the carrier for a baby that was clearly Ken’s daughter, if her chocolaty skin was anything to go by.
“Nice.” Harry nodded to the little girl’s head and the very Gryffindor-ish bows that decorated her hair. He held out a black strap and watched as the two adults twisted the leather strap around their hands. “Password is ‘Incoming’, otherwise same directions, don’t let go until everything stops.”
“Got it.” Ken nodded. “Incoming.” The twist of the apparition-like portkey took them away.
“Next?” Harry called.
“Grant Rockman, my wife, Janet and our son, Brendan.” A heavyset blonde in his thirties, approached.
“Nice to have you with us, Mr Rockman, Mrs Rockman.” Harry handed them a red strap. “You heard the directions?”
“We did, Mr Potter.” Grant nodded and held the strap out to his wife, who was wearing a carrier with a tiny blonde baby on her chest. “Arrival.” He spoke clearly and they were whisked away.
“Next?” Harry looked at his audience.
“That would be us, Mr Potter.” An older male and what was clearly his daughter approached. “John Adamson, my daughter Christine and granddaughter, Anne.” He accepted the black strap. “And I heard your instructions. Incoming.” The trio’s portkey activated and they were gone.
“We’re ready now, Mr Potter.” The family that had stepped aside re-joined Harry.
“Excellent.” Harry held out the red strap.
“Thank you.” The now-dwarf took it and seconds later, they were gone.
“Next is those families with only one or two children under seventeen, regardless of the number of adults.” Harry said. “Oliver? You can go first.”
“Oh, great, thanks, Harry.” Oliver Wood huffed at his former teammate, but he took the black strap and after a few seconds to loop it around his son’s hand and offer one end to his wife, they were gone.
“Penny.” Harry nodded to the Ravenclaw.
“Potter.” She nodded back. “My husband, Mitchel, and our son, Stuart.” She accepted the red strap and like Oliver, looped it around her son’s wrist. “Thank you. Arrival.” And they were gone.
“Potter.”
“Bowles.” He smiled at the younger lion and handed her a black strap
“My Aunt, Uncle and cousins.” The girl nodded to each person with her and once they were securely holding the strap, she activated it.
“Abercrombie, you’re up.” Harry called and the younger Gryffindor held his mother and sister’s hands as they approached Harry. “Red for you.”
“That’s ‘arrival’, right?” The nearly twenty-year-old confirmed.
“It is.” Harry nodded.
“Cool. Morag?” He nudged his sister and with a sigh, the girl took the strap and hooked it around Euan’s wrist before handing one end to their mother. “Arrival.” A shimmer of light and the trio disappeared.
“Next?”
“Hi, I’m Malcolm, this is my mum and da.” The teen was nearly as excitable as Colin Dennis.
“Hey, Malcolm.” Harry grinned at the boy and held out a black strap. “You got this?”
“Yep.” The boy grinned back and seconds later, they were gone.
A black-haired girl stepped forward, with her an older male who was clearly her father, but also with them was a younger girl that, given her darker skin, was being fostered with them.
“McDonald.” Harry nodded to the first girl.
“Potter.” She took the red strap. “Thanks for this.” A few moments to secure the strap and off they went.
“Do we qualify in this group?” A woman asked. “Derek’s twenty and Krista’s seventeen, but the other two are younger.”
“Yep, and you’re the last of this group, so come on up.” Harry nodded and dangled a black strap in the air in front of him.
It took nearly a minute for them to reach him and sort out who was holding the strap, where, before they were ready.
“Incoming.” The youngest girl called out, when her father nodded at her.
“Okay, I understand that there are only a few remaining families.” Harry shook his head at Charlie Weasley. “No, I’d like you to wait a bit. We’ve got a few pre-Hogwarts kids and I don’t want them portkeying alone.” Charlie waved and sat back down. “Thanks, Charlie. So, who’s next?”
A middle-aged couple came forward with three children.
“We’re the Doyles.”
“Brennan and… Melissa(?), right?” Harry asked.
“That’s us.” Brennan nodded. “With Amelia, Marcus and Kristen.”
“Excellent.” Harry grinned at the nervous kids. “Only a few more minutes and you’ll get to explore your new home.” The eldest girl, who still looked tiny to Harry, smiled and clung to her mother. “We’ve got longer straps for the larger groups.” He held out a red strap that was nearly twice the length of the previous straps.
“Thank you, Mr Potter.” Brennan took the strap and looped it around each child’s wrist, before he and his wife grasped an end each. “Arrival.”
“Whoever’s got the youngest kids, come on up.” Harry called and a plump woman and her brood trotted forward, her husband following them all. “And who do we have here?” Harry crouched down in front of the kids.
“I’s Finley.” The only boy answered.
“Hello, Finley, welcome to middle-earth.” Harry answered sombrely.
“Thank’ou.” Finley chirped back and clutched at his father’s coat hem.
“This is your portkey, Finley.” Harry gave the boy a black strap. “You have to make sure that your daddy ties it around your wrist and around each of your sisters’ wrists. Okay?”
“Okay.” Finley nodded and handed the strap to his father. “You has to tie it around me and Sissy’s wrists, daddy.” He told his father seriously.
“I will, son.” Edward Fischer answered, just as seriously, but his eyes were bright with amusement. “Thank you, Mr Potter.” He looped and tied the strap around each child’s wrist, letting Finley check after each one.
“Mama, you has to take de ovva end.” Finley said. “Daddy’s got one end and you has to have one end.”
“I’ve got it, Fin.” She wrapped the end around her finger a few times and nodded. “I’m ready.”
“Daddy?” Finley looked at his father.
“Ready, Fin.”
“Ness?” The little blonde girl nodded but didn’t say anything. “Jilly?”
“I’m ready, Fin.” The middle girl sighed, as she answered.
“Renza?”
“Good to go, Finny.” The eldest girl obediently answered.
“We’s ready, Mr Podder.” Finley was taking his job very seriously.
“Alright, on three?” Harry threw a fast glance as Edward and the dwarf nodded, he’d activate the portkey when Harry finished the countdown. “One… Two… Three… Go!” Edward must have been counting with Harry, because the portkey went off exactly as Harry said go.
“Nicely done, Potter.” McGonagall nodded approvingly.
“Thanks, Professor.” Harry grinned. “I’ve had a bit of practice, since I arrived here.”
“It shows.” McGonagall replied and waved at him to continue, there were still a number of people to see to.
“Next up is… who?” Harry asked.
The two families remaining, exchanged looks and the only adult male among them stepped forward.
“We’ll go next, Mr Potter.”
“Sure, Mr…?”
“Blithely, Simon Blithely.” The dwarf offered.
“Ah, that would be…” Harry paused while he tried to remember, “Simon, Laura, Lucy, Graham and Richard. Right?”
“Yes, sir. And we’re fostering Grim, as well.”
“Grim… Fawley?”
“That right.”
“Grand.” Harry said and handed over a red strap. “Lucy’s old enough to know how important it is, to not let go until she’s told to, right?”
“She is.” Simon nodded. “And we’ve all used portkeys before.”
“Even better.” Harry grinned and waited for them to position themselves and activate the portkey, before turning to the last family. “So, that leaves the Keys-Mimples family.”
“It does.” Tina Mimples stood behind her brother and two sisters, beside her Kim and Ami Keys.
“Well, here you go, then.” Harry gave Tina a black strap. “Like I’ve told everyone earlier, don’t let go until you’ve landed and counted to five.”
“Got it.” Tina nodded and seconds later, they were whisked away.
“Right. So, we’ve just got the students, Professor McGonagall, Kingsley, Charlie, Alec and Hermione, right?”
“Yes, Potter.” McGonagall nodded and stood up.
“How many students? And what ages?”
“All up, there’s thirty-three of them.” McGonagall answered. “From seven to twenty-two. This includes seven sets of siblings.”
“Let pair up some of the younger students with an older person.” Harry suggested. “Who’s the youngest?”
“Dannielle Crumley.” McGonagall answered. “Her brother Eli should have gone into his first year, this September. They were removed from an unsuitable foster family.”
“Let’s team them with… Luna, will you take them?” Harry asked.
“Of course, Harry.” The blonde was as serene as ever as she smiled at the pair.
“Excellent. Next family is which?”
“Stephens. Taylor, Alina and Jeffrey.” McGonagall answered and waved the siblings forward.
“Great.” Harry bit his lip. “Um… Lee? You wanna take them?”
“Sure, Harry, I can do that.” He waved at the kids and they trotted over to him.
“Next would be the Clarkes. Jane and David.” McGonagall replied and the pair stepped forward.
“Right. Charlie? Interested?”
“Sure, Harry.” The redhead waved and the two glances at McGonagall and when she nodded, they moved over to join Charlie.
“Jade, Amber and Jasper Deeping.” McGonagall said and the three waved their hands.
“Alec? Wanna help out?”
“I can. I shall.” Alec’s accent wasn’t strong but it was enough to notice. The three children didn’t wait to be told, they just headed for Alec and Charlie.
“Frances-May and Elizabeth-Anne Courtney.” McGonagall went on.
“Alicia?”
“Got it. Come on over, you pair.” Alicia waved and the two grinned and ran over to jump on chaser. “Oof, steady on.”
“The next set of siblings are Louisa and Andrew Frankston.”
“I’ll take ‘em, Harry.” Neville spoke up. “I’ve been working with Andrew on his DADA.”
“Thanks, Nev.” Harry nodded to his friend.
“The last pair are the twins, Dirk and Hugh Chambers.” McGonagall said.
“And I’ll take them, Harry.” Kingsley offered.
“Great. Luna? You’re first.” Harry handed her a red strap. “Lee, you’re next.” He dangled a black strap from his hand and laughed as Lee grabbed for it and missed. “Geez, Lee…” He snickered.
“Oh, shut up, Potter.” Lee huffed as he finally got hold of the strap. He looked over at Luna. “On three?”
“Why not?” Luna replied.
The pair held out their straps and once the youngsters had hold of it, they counted down and disappeared. Then, one by one, the groups left, leaving a group of seventeen current and former students, the Patil twins, McGonagall and Hermione from the incoming and Harry, Dean and Gina from the Pond.
“Right. Let’s split you up.” Harry said. “The two eldest with the four youngest.” He looked at Hermione and raised a brow.
“Other than Zane and Calhoun, they’re all fifteen or older. They can portkey by themselves, Harry.” Hermione huffed.
“Huh, didn’t think about that.” Harry muttered. “Alright. Zane and Calhoun, you’ll go with Professor McGonagall, Padma, Parvati, Kellah and Hermione, the rest of you split up into three groups of five.”
“And what about them, Harry?” Hermione nodded in the direction of Gina and the babies in they carts.
“Gina, Dean and I will portkey with them, we’ll take them straight to the hospital and leave them with the healers to get checked over.” Harry answered. “We’ll meet you back at the Quad in about ten minutes.”
“Alright.” Hermione nodded. “Hand over the portkeys.”
The four portkeys were dispersed and one set of red and black ‘keys were used then they waited for a minute or so, before the other pair were used.
“So, it’s just us now, Harry.” Gina said. “And we’re taking the babies to the hospital, right?”
“Yeah.” Harry nodded. “You first, then Dean and lastly, me. We’ll each wait for a minute before activating your portkey. That should give you time to move the cart out of the way.”
“Fair enough.” Gina nodded and carefully gathered the infant into her arms before taking hold of the cart’s pull rail, then with another nod and a quiet 'potions', she was gone.
“What do you think’s going to happen to these kids?” Dean asked.
“We’ll find homes for them.” Harry answered. “Mum and dad might take one. Alice and Frank might. Maybe, Remus and Tonks, or Pandora, or… Doesn’t matter, we’ll find homes for them.”
“Okay.” Dean nodded and picked up the baby from the cart beside him. “See you in a minute.”
Two minutes later, Harry laid the infant in his arms, down in a hospital crib.
“Can you manage for an hour or two?” He asked Alice and Katie. “I still need to see that everyone is put where they need to go.”
“We’ll manage, Harry.” Alice assured him. “We’ll give their files a quick read through before we do anything. Drop back, once you’ve finished and we might have some more information for you.”
“Thanks, Alice.” Harry gave his godmother a hug and threw a grin at Katie, before apparating over to the Quad.
~~~