Harry Potter and the Eye of Isis

Chapter 16 - Trust and Respect

Harry stalked down the corridors heading towards Professor Snape's office in the dungeons. Ever since returning from Egypt, Harry had been able to feel when Snape was talking about him. Occlumency wasn't keeping Harry out of the professor's mind any longer. They both had assumed it had something to do with the trials they endured together while on their journey. Harry's only conclusion on this matter was that when Ma'at had judged them together and allowed them to go forward to have their wands weighed they were brought together on a mental plane. He couldn't offer himself any other explanation.

He was storming through the castle because he felt Snape talking about him with none other than Dumbledore. The last thing Harry wanted at this point was to be left out of another conversation that Dumbledore was having about him without being present. Harry's anger for the headmaster was genuine, but his desire to be trusted enough by Dumbledore to be told about his own life and destiny were much stronger.

Harry shoved the door to Snape's office open and stood in the doorway glaring at the two men. "If you're going to talk about me at least have the courtesy to invite me to the conversation."

"Come in, Harry." Snape motioned with his hand, and the door closed as soon as Harry cleared the doorway. "I was simply telling Professor Dumbledore about an individual that I saw while in Egypt. Someone I think that we need to be on the lookout for."

"Who?" asked Harry as he stood on the opposite end of the room as Dumbledore.

"A person with red hair was at the gathering when we first arrived in Egypt. I didn't see his face but I saw the hair and my gut tells me it was a Weasley," explained Snape.

"Are any of the Weasley's spies for the Order?" Harry immediately asked.

Dumbledore slowly shook his head. "No. As you know most of the Weasley family are members of the Order of the Phoenix, but I've never asked one of them to consider spying. I feel that they would be easily picked out by Voldemort because of their devotion to you."

"Do you have any idea which one it could be?"

"I was just about to discuss that with Professor Snape." Dumbledore cleared his throat and sank into a chair. "Molly, Arthur, Fred and George are not suspect. I think you would know, Harry, if Molly were trying to deceive you since you share a mother/child love with her. Arthur, Fred and George were all at the Order the night that you disappeared. We were having a meeting. And Ron, obviously, was under my care at the time."

"What about Bill and Charlie?" Snape asked. "They're members too, where were they that night?"

"Bill showed up the next morning saying that he couldn't get away from work in time to make his portkey, so he missed the meeting." Dumbledore told them. "Charlie said he simply mixed up the dates. Both seemed genuinely shocked that you had been abducted." He furrowed his brow in thought; seeming to not want to say his suspicions. "However, Bill is an accomplished Occlumens and I wasn't able to get a feeling of sincerity from him."

"Oh shit," Harry looked up at Snape. "I talked to Bill about the Eye." He shook his head in frustration wishing that Dumbledore had told him sooner that he suspected Bill Weasley. "It's him isn't it?"

"We can't be certain." Dumbledore sighed. "We know it must be Bill, Charlie or Percy."

"Percy is a stooge," Harry almost laughed, "he's not that daft."

"I agree." Snape nodded.

"At this point I don't have very much faith in the three boys--"

"You mean four," Harry interrupted. "You don't have faith in four boys."

Snape glanced between the headmaster and Harry, cringing slightly, but realising that this confrontation must happen. "I'm going to excuse myself," he said before quickly ducking out of the room.

Harry didn't mind Professor Snape leaving, although he did feel more comfortable and confident when he was around lately. He stared coldly at Professor Dumbledore. "Just tell me why."

"Harry, it hurts me to see this anger that consumes you now," Dumbledore said so quietly that Harry had to strain to hear him. "I suppose I expected that sooner or later you would grow angry and protective, but I hoped you would be able to remain open to me."

"You cut me off all of last year! You shoved me off on Snape and you wouldn't talk to me until I faced Voldemort again!" The emotions that were steeping within Harry were finally being released and his face grew hot and red with his anger. "If you had only told me; if you had just trusted me enough to let me know my own destiny, Sirius would still be alive. Maybe I am young but I grow older every day. Life is killing me, can't you see that?"

"Yes, I can, and I wish I could stop it from happening. You don't deserve it."

"What do I deserve, Professor?" Sarcasm laced the veiled question. "To be forgotten? To be shipped off to the Muggles? To kill Voldemort or be killed by him? To know that I reek of death? Or maybe I just deserve to be ignored, left out of the decisions that drastically affect my life?"

"You deserve none of that, Harry. You deserve the truth and the trust that it is your life to live."

"Are you going to give me the truth?" Harry demanded to know but Dumbledore said nothing, he just sat there shaking his head slowly. Harry couldn't imagine what the headmaster was thinking by telling him what he deserved but continuing to refuse to share it with him.

Harry turned quickly on his heels and left the dungeons. He felt extremely foolish for even opening up to Dumbledore, for wanting to trust and respect him again. Without a notion of where he was going he found himself in the Room of Requirement and oddly it was the smallest he ever remembered seeing it. It was barely bigger than a broom cupboard and Harry imagined the only reason it was that big was because of the fireplace that occupied the wall opposite the door. He knelt down in front of it seeing a flicker of red in it.

"What the--?"

"Harry?" Bill Weasley's entire head appeared in the fire. "What's going on?"

"How did you get here?" Harry wondered because he hadn't lit the fire and he certainly hadn't called Bill.

"I was just sitting in front of the fire when I saw you walk into a small room. Where are you? What's going on?"

"I'm in--" Harry stopped speaking for two reasons: he wasn't sure how to describe where he was, and he wasn't sure he ought to share it with Bill. "I don't trust you."

"Why?"

"I have my reasons."

"Well, what ever they are, they aren't true." Bill looked a bit defensive. "I don't know what you heard or thought about, but you can trust me. I'm not a Death Eater." Harry nodded sceptically, and this seemed to irritate Bill. "How can I prove it to you?"

"You don't have to prove anything to me--"

"Yes, I do. You're part of this family and I don't want you to question anything that I told you the other day. I didn't come to Hogwarts to lie to you or set a trap for you. I told you the truth."

"I... I just--"

"I know how. Stand back." Harry got up from his knees and barely had a moment to take a step back against the door when Bill Weasley stepped through the fire. "Have you been practicing Legilimency?" He nodded. "Then use it on me now. I'll drop my guard and you can find out anything you want."

Feeling a bit apprehensive about this, Harry reluctantly agreed, desperately needing someone to believe in. "How will I know the difference between truth and lies?"

"You will."

Bill closed his eyes as Harry lifted his wand and pointed it at him. "Legilimens!" A flood of emotions and memories came into Harry as he entered Bill's mind. He saw him with Fleur, riding a broom, catching the snitch. He saw him on digs in Egypt, fleeing curses, fighting with his brothers, comforting Ginny. Harry could make out what was fantasy and reality as he continued to read through Bill's mind. He finally came to the evening that he was abducted and saw Bill working in a dark room chamber on a casket. He saw Bill comforting his mother when they learned that Voldemort had kidnapped Harry. And most importantly, he saw Bill crying with her, hurting for Harry and the silent promise that he made to himself that he would fight with Harry to bring down Voldemort.

It was a jumble of emotions that Harry had a hard time processing. When he finally lowered his wand he slid down the wall, collapsing from fatigue. Bill, too, swayed and fell to the ground. He rolled to his back looking directly at Harry.

"Good enough?" he asked as he extended a hand for Harry to shake.

"Good enough," responded Harry as he grasped Bill's hand within his own.

*

Harry woke the next morning rubbing his forehead. The scar wasn't stinging but his head was pounding slightly. He recalled what he'd done the previous evening to cause it, and reminded himself that it was worth it to know that he could trust Bill Weasley. At least he was certain that the information he'd received from Bill was truthful now, and it made another decision, to go the Department of Mysteries, much easier to settle on. The harder part of it was how to get there without being caught out-of-bounds by Dumbledore or Voldemort.

Harry slowly rolled out of the cocoon he had created with his blankets. He slipped his glasses on and immediately looked over at Ron because he could feel him staring at him.

"What's up, Ron?"

"What happened last night?" he asked. "Did you talk to Professor Snape?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, him and Dumbledore."

Ron nodded slightly. It was obvious that he wanted to ask more, but he knew that Harry was keeping much to himself lately and would tell his friends when he was ready. Ron decided to change the subject to something that Harry would probably talk about.

"Harry, I've been meaning to ask you about Parvati. What's going on there? Do you fancy her?"

"I haven't spent that much time with her since I got back, but I would like to. She makes me feel good." Harry dressed himself quickly. "What about you and Hermoine? Have you gotten anything worked out?"

Ron paused for a moment trying to think of a way to word his emotions. He hadn't talked to Harry extensively about the things that had happened between him and Hermione. "Well, I thought we could give it a go...I really care for her a lot but, well...things were just weird after you disappeared. I know this is going to sound funny, but I think she may be carrying a torch for you too."

Harry did start laughing. "Ron, please, don't be ridiculous."

Ron looked a bit dejected at Harry's reaction to his suspicion. "I guess you'd know though."

"I can read Hermione pretty well, and I know that she loves you."

Ron looked down at his feet and shrugged. "I don't want to lose our friendship if a relationship didn't work out. I mean how would you feel if you were suddenly attracted to her?"

Harry was going to point out that Ron's feeling for Hermione weren't sudden; they'd been building up for the past five years, but he decided against it. "Probably exactly the same as you, but look at it this way, she is your best friend. You know her so well and she knows you. That can't be a bad start."

He slowly nodded his head at Harry's statement. "So, have you snogged Parvati yet?"

Harry's cheeks flushed. "No."

"She's over the moon about you. Give her a kiss, will you?"

When Harry and Ron got to the common room Parvati was sitting in a corner reading a book. Ron shoved him towards her then quickly left. Harry reluctantly had a seat next to her.

"Morning, Parvati."

"Good morning, Harry," she set her book down. "I hope you don't mind that I waited for you to come down. I wanted to talk to you before breakfast."

"How do you do that?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Do what?" She asked innocently.

"Read my mind." His smile spread across his face. "I wanted to talk to you too."

"We must be compatible."

Harry's crooked smile faded a bit as his throat dried up. He tried to swallow but couldn't dampen the feeling. He decided to just come out and say what he was thinking. "I know that I'm distant at times and that I disappear from time to time, but if you could maybe see past all that...maybe you'd like to consider being my girl friend."

"Harry," she clasped his face in her hands. "I would love to be your girl friend. I know that you have other responsibilities but I promise to do my best not to be jealous."

"You know it will be dangerous. I don't want to hurt you." He suddenly realised that this was a bad idea and wished he could take the words back.

"Harry, I know," she assured him, "but you can't give up your life. I want this, and I promise to be careful. Besides, you'll be with me right?"

"Yeah."

Parvati didn't say anything else, but it was obvious that she wanted to ask him something. Her eyes were begging him to come close. He finally lunged into her, pressing his lips to hers. After the smothering kiss he leaned back with a smile on his face, amazed at how wonderful that felt.

"We'd better get down to breakfast." She stood, her hand attached to his already.

"Wait," he tugged softly. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"You already said it, Harry," and she was grateful for that. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

"To be your girl friend?" he asked sarcastically as he stood. She swatted him gently in the shoulder and they left the room together.

At breakfast Parvati sat beside Harry and the two of them across from Ron and Hermoine. They were smiling so broadly that no one had to ask if they were a couple. It was obvious in the way they were passing items to each other and giggling at soft words.

The school was talking about the obvious closeness between Harry and Parvati by the time the mail arrived. Soft whispers grew louder and louder as everyone tore into the mail. Hermoine shrieked at the news in Daily Prophet.

"Ron, your Dad's been named the Minister of Magic!" She lay the paper down and the four bent over it to read the article.

FUDGE RESIGNS

Special Correspondent Rita Skeeter

Facing a public recall, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge resigned this morning under intense internal pressure. In the past year Fudge has covered up the return of the Dark Lord, done little to protect Muggle-born witches and wizards (aside from telling them to leave the wizarding world) and passed legislation that makes it harder for Aurors to capture suspected Death Eaters.

The Wizengamot has appointed Arthur Weasley, previously head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, to the position of Minister of Magic pending a public vote to be held sometime next year.

It is widely known that Arthur Weasley and his wife Molly have seven children (including Percy Weasley, who was Fudge's right hand man) and are the magical guardians of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. It has recently been confirmed that the attack on their home last summer was a failed abduction attempt on Harry Potter.

"My goodness, how could she confirm that it was a Death Eater attack unless she was there or she talked to a Death Eater?" Parvati wanted to know.

"Good point," Ron muttered. "And why would some Death Eater ring up the paper and say 'oh, by the way, we were trying to take ol' Harry from the Burrow'. Something fishy is going on here."

Four sets of eyes returned to the article.

This reporter has learned that the reason Professor Snape took a sabbatical over the winter holiday was that You-Know-Who's followers were successful in abducting Harry Potter over the holiday. An inside source at Hogwarts reports that Harry was not present when the term resumed in January, and it is public knowledge that Professor Remus Lupin (the werewolf) began teaching potions at Hogwarts.

One has to wonder why Professor Snape, a former Death Eater excused of his disloyalty, also disappeared at the same time as the Boy-Who-Lived, and why Professor Dumbledore continues to employ him, and if his holiday disappearance is connected with Harry Potter.

And though the new Minister will not comment on his family life, one has to wonder how much being the guardian of Harry Potter will help, or hurt, the new minister. One thing is for certain; the ministry now has an ally in the fight to bring down the Dark Lord once more. Will the Boy-Who-Lived save us again?

"She always manages to spin you into every story." Hermoine pushed the paper away. "I mean really, making it sound as though Mr. Weasley was appointed because of Harry, that's ridiculous."

"He earned that job," Harry pointed out. "Though I don't envy anyone who has to try and restore calm and order in times like these."

"Here, here," Parvati agreed. "Ron, your dad is going to be a great minister. It's going to be tough though."

"I wonder why he didn't send a letter yet." Ron scratched his head. "You'd think he'd tell me and Ginny."

"It says it happened this morning, Ron." Hermoine reminded him. "I'm sure he's already bogged down."

"My dad is the Minister of Magic." Ron said with astonishment. "My dad is the minister."

*

Harry quickly kissed Parvati on the cheek and then jogged away from her towards Hermione rushing down an adjacent corridor. When he caught up to her he gently tapped her on the shoulder.

"You scared me, Harry. You shouldn't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry, I don't want you to hex me." He joked with her. "I need your help with something."

"What is it?"

"It has to do with the Eye of Isis," he told her quietly. "I need you to help me do some research on it. I know it is used in a ritual called the Ritual of Life and that it reunites the body and soul, but I don't know how to perform it."

"It sounds suspect to me, Harry. Do you really think this is something that you should learn to do?" she questioned. "What if that's what Voldemort intended all along? Maybe he let you get away."

Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Maybe, but I still need to know. Sending Dobby with Mrs. Weasley isn't a guarantee that she'll be safe. I need to do something for her to keep her safe from Voldemort."

Hermione was going to object but thought better of it, grateful that he was finally decided that he couldn't do everything alone. "All right."

"Once I have the information I need to ask you and Ron another favour."

"What's that, Harry?"

"I need you guys to help me come up with a way to leave grounds without being detected by Dumbledore, Voldemort or Snape--he knows my mind very well now."

"What?" Hermione nearly screamed. "How can you possibly think of trying to break school rules and leave Hogwarts after what you've been through?"

He pressed a finger over her month to make her be quiet. "Because I have to go to the Ministry. There is something inside the Department of Mysteries that I need."

"This better not be another bloody dream, Harry!" Her voice mumbled passed his finger still stifled but only slightly.

"It's not, and you're not going to be able to talk me out of it. If you won't help me, I'm sure that Parvati and Lavender will."

"Please," she squeaked. "Lavender would tell everyone and you know it."

"I know that I can count on Ron...can I count on you too?" he asked as he removed his finger from her lips.

Hermione opened her mouth to protest and then quickly closed it again. She repeated this several times before finally nodding her head in defeat. Harry had to chuckle at her fish out of water impression as he finally walked her to class. After depositing her in her Ancient Runes classroom, Harry went off to find Ron, who was flying at the Quidditch Pitch. Harry couldn't help but summon his broom and join him in the air. Their flying session quickly turned into an impromptu one-on-one Quidditch match; each happily scoring countless goals on one another.

The sun set before Harry and Ron flew over to the stands and landed. There they talked about things that were of no concern to anyone during a war. How Quidditch was doing and who they each thought would win the Quidditch Cup this coming summer. Harry marvelled in the conversation's frivolous nature and found it difficult to change the subject, but reluctantly, he finally did tell Ron what he had told Hermione. Of course Ron had reacted completely differently and gave Harry his full support straight away.

"You sure you don't want me to come with you?" Ron double-checked as they walked back to the castle, brooms hoisted on their shoulders. "It could be a bit dangerous going alone."

Harry nodded but couldn't agree to the offer. "Thanks Ron, but I think it best that I go alone. Besides, what if I do get caught or run into Voldemort? I wouldn't want you to lose your badge, and I certainly wouldn't want Voldemort to cart us off on a merry adventure."

"Bullocks Harry," Ron said with an astonished look plastered on his face. "Do you mean to tell me that you didn't have a grand time in Egypt?"

"Shut up you git," Harry said playfully as they neared the path that led the Hagrid's hut. "Hey, let's pop in on Hagrid. We haven't seen him in ages, and I think we've already missed supper."

"Yeah, sure, that's a great idea, Harry."

It only took the boys a few minutes to walk to the hut but Hagrid didn't answer when they knocked on the door. Fang was barking loudly, eager to welcome whatever guest was trying to call, but Hagrid never answered.

"He must have gone to dinner at the Great Hall tonight." Harry decided as they turned away. "We'll have to owl him to set up a time to get together. I'm almost surprised he hasn't invited us around for tea yet."

"Well, he's probably been busy with Order business and all," Ron thought. "And as far as I know Grawp is still in the forest somewhere and Madam Maxime drops 'round for visits sometimes."

"Maybe he's out trying to rally the giants again."

*

Harry looked at Hermione, he couldn't help but notice how frustrated she was, and the heavy sigh that escaped her was hard to ignore...even for Madam Pince, who glared over at them. Harry pushed the book in front of him away and immediately began rubbing his temples. His mind was swimming with Egyptian hieroglyphs and a language that he suddenly knew perfectly, without understanding why that was.

"There's nothing useful in here," Hermione snapped. "How am I expected to do any kind of research with these resources?" She sat back, folding her arms across her chest and hastily blowing at a stray strand of hair that had fallen over her eye. "I don't understand why this library only has information on the myths and religions of ancient Egypt. Why can't we read about the magic and rituals too?"

"Maybe they're too powerful," Ron suggested, looking relieved that Hermione had given up because he knew that meant he could give up now too.

"Well," Hermione's voice broke slightly as she glanced over at Harry. "I...I guess we need to go to the Department of Mysteries. If that's what you really think is best."

Harry nodded at her while looking apprehensive. "I didn't want you to go with me. I don't want to put you in any danger. I doubt that we're going to be able to stroll right in again."

"Harry, you wouldn't be able to do all the research by yourself in such a short amount of time. You need help."

"If she's going, I'm going," Ron said. "I'm not going to stay here and hope that you two are okay--"

"Someone has to cover for us, Ron," Harry said. "Someone has to be able to alert us to being caught out-of-bounds."

"Neville can do that." Ron insisted.

"Actually," Harry winced slightly as he finally admitted this, "I've asked Neville to come with me..." Harry didn't give Ron or Hermione the chance to protest to the fact that he had intended to take Neville all along. "It's important that he comes with me. I can't be more specific, so don't ask. There's just something that we need to look into, and if you two are going to insist on coming too, then we can split up while we're there. Maybe we'll get done faster that way."

Realistically, Harry knew from the moment he asked for their help that they would be coming along, he was trying to prevent it but he had a gut feeling they would be there. He knew that Hermione would save them some time. She'd be able to find the book with the Ritual of Life in it a lot faster than he could. He just hoped nothing bad happened.

"Right," Ron nodded, "Hermione and I with try to find the book that she needs and you and Neville can do what you guys need to. Who do we get to help us on this end though? Who's going to keep a lookout for us while we're in London?"

"Ginny," Harry said automatically. "She's great with that stealth stuff."

"Harry, as soon as we tell her what we're up to she'll want to go." Ron knew his little sister well. "You know that."

"She can't." Harry looked away from them masking any deeper emotion he might have on the subject. "Over the summer I promised your mum that I wouldn't let her get involved in something like last year's fiasco. I'm certain that taking her to the Department of Mysteries again would constitute breaking that promise."

Ron flashed a crooked smile. "Great, then I'm not the one who has to deal with her wrath when we tell her that it's too dangerous."

Harry knew that Ron wasn't joking and he soon found out.

"What do you mean I can't go?" Ginny nearly screeched; causing Harry to reach over and clapped both of his hands over her mouth, but that didn't stop her from trying to continue to give him a piece of her mind. "Wu can' fake m ay err, itting on m errs!"

"Ginny," he said softly, "we're in the common room, remember?" When she finally nodded her head he removed his hands from her mouth.

Ginny reached over to her wand sitting on the table next to her and cast a silencing charm around them. This brief task did not diminish her anger with Harry. "I'm not a child, Harry, I can take care of myself! Don't treat me like my brothers do!"

"But I'm your brother too, right?" he said a bit sceptically and she hesitantly nodded. "Then don't argue with me."

"But I can help you there! I've been there too, and I remember how it was laid out--"

"Ginny, I really need you here." He stressed. "I need you to watch the Marauders Map and warn us if anyone leaves school grounds. Of all the professors, Snape is the most likely to catch us."

"Why him? Why not Dumbledore?" Ginny wondered since Dumbledore always seemed to know what was going on in the castle.

"I've learned enough Occlumency to keep Voldemort out of my mind; that's enough to keep Dumbledore out too. Snape, on the other hand, is a different story."

"Why? He shouldn't be as strong as Dumbledore or Voldemort."

"But we went through all of that stuff in Egypt together and that brought us closer together. When we're close enough to each other, we can read each other's thoughts without even trying."

"So you need to stay away from Snape for a few days?"

Harry nodded and changed the subject back to the excursion planned for Saturday. "Look, if it's too dangerous for you or you just don't want to, I'll ask Parvati to--"

"No!" Ginny's face finally turned bright red. She hadn't changed colour until just then and Harry sensed the hostility that Ginny felt towards Parvati. "I'll do it. You don't have to run off after her!"

Harry sat backing his chair, his mind completely off of Saturday's trip, and focused on Ginny's reaction. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" she shouted at him, picking up her wand and removing the silencing charm so that she could storm away.

Harry just looked at her with confusion. He was sure that she was over her crush on him, he hadn't sensed it at all during the school year, and he wasn't sensing it now. He wasn't sure what emotion made her explode, but he knew it was deep. He suddenly felt a bit at odds with himself and his decision to ask Parvati to be his girl friend. He knew what he truly felt but he also knew that he could never act on those feelings. He could never let his affections for Ginny surface. Voldemort would certainly know those to be true and deep and Ginny Weasley would pay for them with her life.

He didn't have much time to ponder it though, Ron and Hermione both fell into the chair that Ginny had been occupying.

"Is she going to do it?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded. "Should I go calm her down?" Harry nodded again and Hermione slipped out of the common room to find Ginny.

"She must've really let you have it," Ron seemed almost happy about this. "I haven't seen her look that mad in ages. Better you than me."

"Thanks Ron," Harry scowled. "Look, is everything ready?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, Hagrid invited us for dinner on Saturday, a bit early too, so that works out well. Hermione has made ten reciprocal mirrors and now with Ginny in place, we have someone to watch out for us here. By the way, how are you planning to get us all there? We're not riding the Thestrals again are we?" he asked full of dread.

Harry's head slowly shook. "No, I'll tell you everything that night after dinner, but don't worry you don't have to ride a Thestral."

"I'm not sure that I feel that much better yet," Ron said quietly.

The next few days Harry spent avoiding Professor Snape at all costs, and even sent Parvati (who knew nothing of the plan to go leave Hogwarts) to tell Professor Snape that Harry was feeling ill on Friday night and could not come to his lesson. According to Parvati, Snape had grilled her over and over where Harry was. Harry knew that he had most certainly used Legilimency on her, but thankfully she didn't know anything of use, which was probably the only reason he let her leave so easily.

Late Saturday afternoon, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny headed for Hagrid's cabin. He had only invited Harry, Ron and Hermione but they all knew that he wouldn't turn away any additional guests. They all sat comfortably skewed about Hagrid's cabin as they ate some sort of stew and talked to Hagrid about much of nothing. Harry was actually grateful for the casual conversation where no one asked him how he was feeling or if he was scared or begged him to open up.

At just after six, Hermione said that they should all head back up to the castle so they were back in Gryffindor Tower before curfew. Hagrid, not seeming to realise how early it really was, jumped up and shooed them out, insisting that they shouldn't have stayed so long. Harry felt him watching them until the path curved away from his hut. As soon as the door to the hut closed, Harry ushered everyone towards the Forbidden Forest. Once they were a good fifty meters behind the dark curtain on the trees, Harry stopped.

Hermione took this as the cue that they were about to leave. She passed out small compact mirrors to everyone before she explained what they were for. "These are reciprocal mirrors. If you want to talk to anyone that has one you simply say their name and wait for their image to appear in the mirror. Just so you know I made ten of these. I placed one in Professor Snape's dungeon, one in Professor McGonagall's office and one in Professor Dumbledore's office. Ginny will have the master that can monitor the ones here at Hogwarts so that she'll be able to tell us if anyone has found us out.

"I advanced Hagrid's clock, so he thinks we left the hut at just after nine, which gives us until half passed nine to get back to Gryffindor Tower. I hope that's enough time."

"It will have to be," Harry said as he removed his robe. He reached into his pocket and placed the Eye of Isis in his left hand. As the light crawled up his arm, Harry secured it to his flesh with a bandage so that he wouldn't have to keep his grip on it. Once the stone was having its full affect on Harry, he removed his eye glasses, handing them to Ginny. The tremor returned to his voice when he spoke.

"I'm going to transport you all to just inside the Ministry. You will arrive in front of the fountain. You all know which one, right?" They all nodded.

"Okay, before I do that, I'm going to perform the disillusionment charm on you. I will stay visible, so when I arrive I don't want you to talk to me, just follow me." They all nodded again. "I will remove the charm once we are safely inside the Department of Mysteries."

Harry positioned Ron, Hermione and Neville each on front of a separate tree and performed the disillusionment charm on each of them. He then pointed his wand directly at each tree and shouted, "Recedentia!"

He smiled faintly at Ginny and then silently Disapparated.