Strange Comfort

Chapter 2 - Two Weasleys

An hour before anyone else in Gryffindor awoke, Parvati was up and dressed. She passed quietly through the common room and out the door. The Fat Lady was still asleep.

Fresh air, she was thinking, as she walked through the seemingly deserted corridors. I need fresh air. When she reached the large front doors of the school, she was surprised to see them wide open. A cool morning breeze blew upon her face. It was already quite bright outside, and she didn't notice Sir Nicholas floating in the doorway until she was upon him.

"They are really quite beautiful, aren't they?" asked the ghost, without looking at her. "Just over there, above the forest," he added, stretching his pale arm.

Parvati stepped carefully around Nearly Headless Nick, stood on the ground, and looked out into what was becoming an absolutely gorgeous day. She saw nothing unusual. There was the edge of the shimmering lake and the dark of the forest, patches of mist still hanging about here and there, and a clear sky.

"Ah, Miss Patil from Gryffindor. You're up early today, what?"

Parvati turned to see him looking down at her rather wistfully, his head tilted somewhat more than usual. "Hello, Sir Nicholas. What am I supposed to be looking for?" She looked back towards the forest.

"Hmm," said Sir Nick casually, "I don't know what you're supposed to be looking for, but they were there moments ago. I suppose, though," he sighed in histrionic fashion, "you are probably too late to see them this morning..." His voice trailed off.

Actually, there was something, or someone, not above the forest but just outside the forest - a person in dark clothes, walking, she was finally able to determine, toward the school.

"Who is that?" she asked. But the ghost was gone. She peered into the relative darkness of the school for a moment, then brought her eyes back to the mysterious person approaching. "What?" she said aloud. Her eyes must have been deceiving her, or the shadow of the forest had fooled her, for the man, it was obviously a man, striding now towards her was not wearing dark clothes at all, but jeans and a short-sleeved white shirt, in a completely muggle style. Not only that, his head was topped with unkempt, brilliant red hair. As he neared, his well-developed, but not in the slightest unsightly, she noted, muscles showed, and his skin appeared, well, baked, or rather, showed clearly that he spent his days labouring out of doors.

Feeling more bemused than she had for a long time, Parvati crossed her arms and watched the large man step up to the entrance. "You've not gone and scared off Sir Nicholas, have you?" he said, looking first at the open doorway and then at Parvati. His voice was both rugged and warm, not quite playful, but not the voice of someone unfamiliar with laughter either, and his bright smile without guile. "He had wanted me to show him something. Charlie Weasley, by the way," he said, holding out his hand.

"Parvati Patil," she said, as her hand more or less disappeared into his.

If her name meant anything to him, he was not giving much away. "I uh, came in to eat, and realized I'd forgotten something back there," he said, motioning back at the forest with his head.

Parvati looked at him.

"The doors. I probably shouldn't have left the doors open," he laughed. "Oh. Probably not."

"Patil. Hmm. You're Ron's classmate," he said, looking at her questioningly. Parvati gave a slight nod.

She could see Charlie Weasley putting things together in his mind, but she wasn't sure yet what things. He smiled. "Right, you were Harry's date at the infamous Yule Ball!" He was smirking, but it was a friendly sort of smirk.

"Why would you know that, of all things?" Parvati asked, not as bemused as she had been feeling moments before.

Charlie laughed, a real laugh this time, no question about that. "Parvati," he said, "in my family, and you might have guessed this, any incident, any embarassing incident, no matter how small, that provides the slightest potential for entertainment to anyone else in the family, is pretty much guaranteed to be remembered, and exploited," he emphasized, smiling in a mock condescending way, "particularly in sensitive situations, for as long as the party in question is able to draw breath and protest, hopelessly." He laughed again. "We're not a dour as Ron, yunno. Though, there is Percy..."

Parvati was now watching him more closely than she meant. Casual, she said to herself. Relax. But why has his face become suddenly unreadable?

"Listen, I've got to get something to eat. It'll be a while before your housemates are up. Why don't you join me?"

Parvati opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Charlie put his hand on her shoulder, motioned toward the school with his head, then turned and walked through the doorway. Okay, thought Parvati. Okay.

"Charlie," she asked, as they walked toward the kitchen, "what are you doing here? Not in the school," she explained, "but here, I mean. I thought you were, what does Ron say, 'working with dragons in Romania.'"

"Mmm." They were walking fast enough that Parvati had to double time every third or forth step. "I'll tell you," he said, "but not right now. Not yet, okay?"

It wasn't that there was anything harsh or dismissive in what he said, but Parvati did sense a non-negotiable quality to his answer. It didn't take long to reach the kitchen. "Right now, anyway," Charlie said, touching a large painting of some fruit, "if I am not mistaken, just behind this door there lies," he paused as he opened the door to the kitchen, "food!"

Dobby and breakfast. (Not written yet. Short. Can't get his speech pattern right.)

Parvati couldn't help staring at the immense pile of food on Charlie's plate. There were 3 thick sausages, many strips of bacon, 4 or 5 scrambled eggs, a heap of fried potatoes, a cob of corn, several slices of toast slathered in jam, and bits of fruit around the edges. She didn't know what was more amazing - that the elves had been able to pack so much onto the plate, that Charlie was able to carry it to the bench and begin eating it without dropping any food, or that he was going to, apparently, consume all of it. He in turn seemed fascinated with her plate. It, in contrast to his, seemed, well, minimalist. Two thin slices of toast with a light glaze of jam, and a slice of orange.

"You might have gotten some food while we were in there," he commented. She looked at her plate. "You should see what I eat for my breakfast!"

She smiled up at him, and picked at her toast. "So, you work at night?"

"Mmm hmm."

They ate in silence for a while. Well, thought Parvati, for someone eating so much, he's certainly not doing it piggishly. She smiled to herself.

It's a strange family, she was thinking. Fred and George, the clowns. Yet, they were, what? They were Gryffindors. Better Gryffindors than I. And Ron. There is something about Ron, too, a feeling of... No, she couldn't put her finger on it. And Percy. Percy the official secretary to the Minister. Anal-retentive, stunningly officious Percy.

And now Charlie. If she had to describe Charlie, she would have said, "the man Charlie." Only that. She liked him, better than his brothers, at any rate. Yet, in some way, she knew he was very much like them, though she couldn't say exactly how he was like them. More than the hair, at any rate.

"Yunno," Charlie began, "Harry's become sort of a family member too." Parvati felt something turning inside her chest, a whiff of apprehension. "I mean, you didn't meet his relatives, did you?" Charlie was eating slowly now, and talking between bites. "Hermione too..."

The whiff of apprehension suddenly coiled and twisted. She felt her insides lurch. "She's got nice parents. Non-magic, but they understand. And we all really like her."

Charlie watched as Parvati stood up and set her plate on the bench. She'd eaten a half slice of toast.

I am going to go. I am going, she was saying to herself. Still, she needed to meet his eyes, if only for a moment. She needed to see. She glanced at him.

He was sitting straight on the bench, his plate, half full, on his lap, looking at her with clear concern. Yes, thought Parvati, clear. Very clear. Don't speak, she pleaded in her mind, please. Just don't.

"Parvati, no one..."

Her arms shot stiffly down to her sides, and her body for a moment hard and unforgiving, a knot of pain and anger. Charlie blinked in astonishment, almost overturning his plate, his fork clattering to the floor.

I am going to walk, Parvati told herself. And she started walking away, but after a few steps she was jogging, and then she was running. She heard Charlie calling her name, but she knew he wouldn't follow.

She was sitting in the Headmaster's office. On her left, the two aurors who had "interviewed" her numerous times over the last two weeks, and who had been among the first to arrive on the afternoon of the event, Jorge Machado and Esmay Burlingame, were whispering to each other. To her immediate right, Professor McGonagall was watching the aurors, while Headmaster Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, apparently waiting for something.

From a door she hadn't seen, Percy Weasley, first secretary representing the Ministry of Magic, deported himself into the room, and sat in an empty chair directly across from Parvati. He doesn't seem capable of wasting time, Parvati thought, when he addressed the room, all the while looking straight at Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore, since all are here that are required to attend, and we have all met each other on more than one occasion, I suggest we begin."

The Headmaster nodded, and seemed to smile at this laxity of protocol.

"As it stands, we have finished the initial investigation into the horrifying incursion of two weeks last," said Percy. "Our aurors will be presenting their findings in a few minutes. I believe," continued the secretary, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Professor Dumbledore, "we have some small reason to be hopeful that such an incursion will not happen again."

If this statement meant anything to the Headmaster, he was hiding it fairly well. Parvati couldn't figure out if Percy had meant to imply that the "reason" to which he alluded was something the aurors had done, or was something Dumbledore would do. It takes so much energy, she was thinking, just to be here.

"As well, it is our belief that the particular curse directed upon one Hogwarts student, Miss Hermione Granger," said Percy, his voice betraying not the slightest acquaintance with the student in question, "was of an experimental nature. The evidence we have obtained not only confirms this, but more importantly indicates that it is quite possible no one will be able to cast this particular curse again for some time." Here the secretary paused, and with the tiniest suggestion of emotion, really hardly at all, said, "for which we would all be grateful. I now ask Jorge and Esmay to present their findings." Percy sat back, opened his briefcase, his openly muggle briefcase, Parvati noted, and took out a ballpoint pen and some paper. She felt a vague sense of relief, however, when the pen began to take notes on its own, when Percy placed the pad of paper on his lap.

Jorge stood up. He was middle-aged auror with dark hair, and a physique Parvati had often heard described as "brawny." Parvati didn't like him much, although he was very professional, and had acquired, it seemed to her, a pretty good understanding about things both common and extraordinary.

"Security of Hogwarts has been an ongoing concern in our department for a number of years, as you can all imagine. A few months ago, with the hurried departure of Alastor to Beauxbatons, coupled with vague insinuations from certain quarters, sources that have proven useful, if difficult, in the past, we became quite anxious. The joint effort of the Ministry's auror and administrative departments came under a lot of pressure at that point, although they had been working together for over a year. To put it bluntly, our department, the aurors, felt that the ministry's administrative branch was interfering with our protocols, which, as you know, are both more fluid and more strictly enforced than their equivalent in the administrative branch. We were told it was an experiment. We were told it was a temporary measure. We were told it was to increase co-ordination between departments. We were told it was to give the administrative department first hand knowledge of field operations. But we knew that the ministry was acting out of fear."

Jorge looked at Percy, but the secretary took no notice as he was watched his magical ballpoint pen taking notes.

"Our department felt the administrative branch wanted to share in any credit for protecting the school, important as it is in our community. That we didn't mind. But when certain practices that are common, or acceptable, in administrative settings worked their way into the field, we knew our work was being jeopardized. We were also, however, jeopardizing our own work, as you will see, in our bickering with the administrative branch.

"For their part, the administrative branch felt we were 'pulling rank' on them at every turn. We were forever accused of 'attacking them personally,' or 'trying to shove them off.'" Parvati noticed that Esmay was smiling quite broadly.

"Three weeks ago a Ministry employee on loan from France joined the administrative detail here a Hogwarts'. I will not reveal this person's name to you - that is up to the secretary, should he wish to. Regardless, the important thing is that, when this employee showed up, they brought a house elf with them, unknown to our department, and, apparently, unknown to some in the administrative department."

Jorge took a deep breath.

"Within three days, this house elf was able to not only infiltrate the kitchen here at Hogwarts', but to ensure that, at any meal, food for students, for administrative branch employees and, more importantly, food for staff could be altered. I believe the word is 'spiked.' Of course, not once was any food meant for aurors contaminated. The common knowledge of our standard procedures would have put that out of any saboteur's mind. Our branch, however, is entirely responsible for not maintaining constant vigilance in regard to key components of the security detail."

Jorge coughed.

"We forgot to check the meals of the other parties involved, or rather, we had become lax about it. And because we were supposed to be doing it, and had done it so obviously many times, over an extended period, we apparently encouraged some to take less than normal care for their own safety.

"Nevertheless, after this discovery - too late, as it were - it didn't take long for us, or rather, for Severus Snape with some help from us, to identify this new, and hence relatively hard to detect, mixture. Headache, drowsiness, and an inability to concentrate. Call it what you will. "So, on the night of the incursion, Headmaster Dumbledore, who alone among staff, we believe, has never been dosed with this potion, was sleeping. Sleeping because he knew that all his other staff were awake, aware, and knew that the school had at least half a dozen aurors wandering around as well, along with some administrative officials. He did not know that Professor Flitwick was passed out in bed, having literally fainted with pain. He did not know Professor McGonagall could hardly keep her eyes open, she was so overcome with exhaustion. Or that Professor Vector had lost track not only of what day and what time it was, but of where he was. Or that Professor Snape felt his, and I quote, "head was inside a Longbottom cauldron when a particularly nasty failing mark inside it exploded."

"I could go on. But the important thing is that, for some hours, the entire staff of this school was more or less incapacitated. The general protection, the so-called ancient magic, that permeates Hogwarts' was never our domain. It has always been in the hands of staff here. We know more about it now, I assure you, than we did two weeks ago. At any rate, we took it for granted. That was our second mistake. We were just not prepared for such a sudden breach.

"When the breach was noticed, Headmaster Dumbledore awoke suddenly, and organized the safety zones, which were successful, for the most part, with the help of the Prefects and Head students. He then set about getting his staff as perky as possible, given the circumstances. I hear your rejuvenation potions are quite something."

It was the first thing Jorge had addressed to an individual in the room. Parvati, who had been entranced by the account, didn't expect more than a nod from Professor Dumbledore. A nod was what he gave.

"So much for the background. The pith is, trust me, more concise. Esmay," he gestured to the other auror.

Parvati had to admit - she quit liked Esmay. She liked her stature, for Esmay was no taller than she, and she liked her dark eyes, her high, soft voice. Mostly, she liked her quickness, the agility of her body and mind.

"We are fairly certain the Death Eaters who apparated into the Gryffindor common room, James Reece and Colwin Brown, were not looking for anyone in particular," she said, catching the Headmaster's eye, "but were possibly hoping that Mr. Potter was there. Although I myself doubt this. At any rate, we have evidence that any Gryffindor student would do, for their purposes.

"Their purposes? To test the weakness of the protective magic Jorge spoke of, their 'official' mission, as it were, and to test the experimental curse that left Hermione Granger blind, their covert mission. Both were successful. The Cruciatus curse disabled Miss Granger entirely, and the blinding curse, a really quite complicated one, we have learned, succeeded beyond their expectations.

"How do we know this?" Esmay reached into her robs and pulled out a transparent globe. A pensieve? Parvati's eyes were wide. "The history of the conception and development of this curse were recorded in this pensieve, which we found in Reece's robes." Esmay paused, and added, "but the contents of the pensieve were protected with a series of enchantments. Jorge and I were able to pierce the veil, in a manner of speaking, but by piercing it, we destroyed the contents, even as they were revealed to us. In subsequent experiments, our attempts to rerecord what we learned have all failed utterly. Jorge and I are now the only one's who can tell this part of the story. The pensieve, of course, has been examined by many others since we read it, and all who have seen it are convinced of the truth of our account regarding it.

"What did we see? The man Reece had operated in isolation for decades. He was, as Professor Dumbledore knows, a bastard child of one of Grindelwald's lackeys. When he was old enough to leave the home to which he'd been assigned, he moved to the American state Nevada, where he subsisted on almost nothing, as far as we can tell, and spent his time plotting intricate and dramatic vengeance on the world he saw as taking everything from him. His mind was, however, crippled by hatred, and none of his dreadful concoctions or curses worked out. They failed only partly because of the state of his mind. Some, Jorge and I think, were quite "workable," in a manner of speaking. They didn't work out because he was abysmally poor. He never had the resources to get everything right. He needed a sponsor. About a year ago, Voldemort seems to have heard something of him, and for whatever reason, the pensieve wasn't actually reliable about this, Voldemort had him found, gave him a shop and an assistant, and told him he would be as famous as Grindelwald himself, if even just a few, or if only one of his curses or mixtures proved effective. The assistant, Colwin Brown," here Esmay turned to Parvati, "no relation to Lavender Brown, as far as we know, had been an excellent student at Durmstrang, and seems to have been a somewhat secret favourite of the Ex-Headmaster there." Esmay was addressing the entire room again. "His knowledge of some rather arcane magic, coupled with Reece's obsessed ingenuity, eventually resulted in something that worked. Jorge and I learned from Reece's pensieve, however, that Reece didn't completely trust Voldemort. In fact, it is apparent that Voldemort suspected Reece wasn't being entirely truthful about the curse they were going to try. Jorge and I believe Reece wanted to deliver a sure thing to Voldemort, a triumph. We believe Voldemort knew this, and so let him proceed. Give him a space to be what he was, an obsessive, hateful man with a lot of dangerous ideas and dangerous ways of using his knowledge. Might be something in that."

Esmay stopped. Parvati's head was starting to feel leaden.

"Brown was reporting only what Reece wanted him to report. Partly, we think, out of fear, for Reece was a fearful person, not openly fearful, like Voldemort, but in a, well, sneaky way, and partly because Colwin Brown had meglomaniacal ideas himself. The two of them formed a singularly odd, horrific, if you will, partnership. They were amazed that Voldemort had allowed them to be the one's to test the breach here. In the pensieve they appeared to believe they didn't have a chance of being chosen. At any rate, they had thus a chance to prove their merit in a dramatic fashion. No wonder they didn't notice their enemies, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, at the top of the stairs."

Parvati's breathing was shallow, her hands clammy, her mind blank but for one thought. Here it comes.

"Here's how we think it went. The house elf, it's mission successful, gave a sign, we assume some kind of location charm, was returned to it's real owner and gave information that told them the school was vulnerable. Reece and Brown apparated into the Gryffindor common room and found Miss Granger apparently alone. Reece cast the Cruciatus curse, while Brown worked their new blinding one. By time Lavender was able to disarm Brown, however, the experimental curse had been cast. Parvati, as you know, cast the killing curse on Reece, and while Lavender put a holding charm on Brown, Parvati stood on the stairs, in a state of shock over having used a forbidden curse, as she has told us. We found the pensieve on Reece's body.

"The rest is simple. On Dumbledore's advice, we went to an alcove nearby, where we pierced the charms around the pensieve, lest there be nothing to see if we left it too long. Oblivious to everything else, we spent a solid hour with it, before we could find nothing else. Most importantly, the pensieve was unequivocal about one thing. Only Reece and Brown knew the spell. Brown is in captivity, and Reece is dead. As for this," here Esmay held the pensieve up in the middle of the room, "it is now a piece of glass. We spoke to Dumbledore then, and spent that night checking and rechecking what security there was. By morning, the protective magic had been re-established, by great effort, we hear. You've already heard about the results of our investigation.

"In interviews with Hermione Granger, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, we have come to no conclusions regarding anything besides our sincere respect for all of them," Esmay said, looking at Percy.

Then she sat down.

Everyone was looking at Percy. His ballpoint pen stopped. He put both it and his notepad into his briefcase on the floor. He left the case open.

"The war has turned. The incident in Hogwarts', as I have informed most of you privately, was not the only incursion two weeks ago. In both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, there were similar incidents. Two students died in Durmstrang, and another in Beauxbatons. In the last, the incursion was much larger. Alastor Moody was personally responsible for the deaths of three Death Eaters, one of whom was responsible for the student's death. He also captured two more. I met with him only two days ago, and even I must admit to having felt some apprehension about the meeting. It was, however, informative.

"The breach backfired. In all three schools, we obtained more information about Voldemort's activities and plans than he of ours."

Seeing their faces, Parvati wasn't sure anyone else in the room agreed with Percy, not whole-heartedly, anyway. Dumbledore looked more sad than anything, McGonagall just looked impatient, and the aurors were visibly exhausted.

"Every day we are finding their hiding places, learning of their secret meetings. Recently, Voldemort's own are betraying him. This will be a busy summer, for all of us."

Percy stood up. So did the aurors. Professor McGonagall also rose, and leaned forward, about to say something, but stopped herself.

"I thank the secretary for his time, as I am sure it is valuable in these times." The Headmaster was now standing. Jorge and Esmay walked over to him and shook his hand, before they turned and left the room. Esmay touched Parvati's hand as she walked past.

Percy pulled a piece of red fabric from his briefcase and walked over to where Parvati was sitting. He drew back a fold of the cloth and held it toward her.

"Miss Patil, your wand."

She took it mechanically, and stared at it. Percy closed his briefcase and picked it up. He then shook hands with the two Professors, before walking briskly out the door.

Professor McGonagall looked down at Parvati. She didn't seem to know what to say.

"I think it's okay for you to go, Minerva. It's been a long sit."

"Long it's been, Albus, but..."

"Professor McGonagall, perhaps a little stroll by the hospital wing would do you well, hmm?"

Parvati looked at the woman's face, and the woman seemed to force a smile, or perhaps, to find one, under her anxiety. Then she was gone.

"So, not quite what you expected, Miss Patil," Dumbledore said when they'd been alone for some time. "I confess it has left me feeling only that'd I've been sitting down too long. Shall we walk?"

The last of the students, except for herself and Hermione, had been gone for 10 days. It was summer anyway. If the attacks had been planned to send a message home for the summer, they had certainly succeeded in that.

"I don't understand, Headmaster."

Dumbledore kept walking. They went through a side door that somehow had escaped Parvati's notice before, and found themselves looking on the garden.

"Really, Miss Patil? I think you understand. I think you understand perfectly." He didn't look exasperated, disappointed, or incredulous as he spoke. As Parvati had noticed before, he looked sad. "Sometimes, the only answer to a question is the asking of it, don't you think?"

They were at the edge of the garden. "These umbelliferae, do you now them?" Dumbledore asked, gently touching one of the big white flowers.

"Of course. I mean," she added, trying not to sound as harsh as she thought she had sounded, "I know about them. They're poison hemlock. The reddish spots there...."

"I've always liked the way they looked, a bit dramatic during the day, but at night, in outline at the edge of some rocky field, the picture of unadulterated loneliness." Parvati felt a chill along her spine. Dumbledore wasn't imagining something, he was remembering something. She could feel the night wind on her face, and hear the stones clattering beneath her shoes as she walked. The sun had all but disappeared, and it was a long way, Parvati knew, from anywhere. She shook her head and found herself back in the present.

"Percy is trying to please all sides. Sometimes, that too can be admirable. I suspect he still holds more than a little concern for my approval, or perhaps he is coming to it, now that, well, now that he must." Dumbledore had turned to her as he finished his observation. "You will be going home then?" he asked, and seeing her hesitation, went on. "I hear there are half a dozen siblings asking several times daily when the other big sister is coming home."

Parvati nodded. She wanted to stay a longer, maybe a lot longer, but knew it was time to go.

"See Professor Snape when you're ready. I've asked him to see you home."

Standing at the edge of the garden, Parvati understood just how hard the Headmaster's answer was. She remembered how he had felt, alone in that field. Not yet ready to ask herself why she knew that, she stayed for an hour in the sun, wandering around in the garden, before heading for the dungeon.