Harry and Hermione Pt. III -- Finishing their Sixth Year and Into the Summer

Chapter VI

Friday, March 28, 1997

Dobby's long ears twitched. This was annoying to the elf, as he could not understand why it was happening so often that morning. He went back to studying the bouillabaisse he was making for the Master and Mistress' dinner, wondering if something in the strange soup was making him twitchy.

His ears twitched again. Dobby frowned, but gave a sigh of relief when Doli, head of the elf colony, appeared. Maybe there was a new elf, fresh from abuse and wishing to join the wonderful Master and his Mione. That might be making his ears twitch.

Then Dobby saw the look on Doli's face, and knew it was more serious. "What is Doli's problem?"

"Trixie and Dilly was looking at the Master's roof," Doli reminded Dobby. Dobby nodded. He was worried about one part of the roof, and also had the elves reinforcing the protections every week. "Trixie and Dilly saw bad wizards and witch, on the roof of house to right and also more across the alley in back, casting spells to keep Muggles away. Doli checked, and Doli saw they were not just bad wizards and witch, not just followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but . . . He is there."

"He?" Dobby asked, dropping the ladle.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Master and Mistress are coming . . . no Order wizards in house. . . ." Dobby said thinking out loud.

"House elves must never hurt any witch or wizard; house elves must never use magic against any wizard or witch," Doli reminded Dobby.

Dobby thought about that, then said, "No, no enslaved house elf may ever cause harm to witch or wizard, even at Master's command. House elves must never use magic against any wizard or witch? Wizards' rules! Dobby will not harm evil wizards, but Dobby is not enslaved. Dobby serves Harry Potter, and Master Harry Potter has asked Dobby to guard house and Mistress Hermione."

Doli thought about that. "What then will Dobby do?"

"Dobby will defend house of Harry Potter and love of Harry Potter. Dobby will not harm evil wizards; Dobby will use magic against evil wizards."

"What will Dobby do?" Winky demanded, appearing just in time to hear something she didn't think she really wanted to hear again.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and evil wizards. .. ."

"And witch," Doli added.

"And witch is outside, and will attack Harry Potter and Mistress Hermione. Dobby is free to decide what Dobby will do. Dobby will help Harry Potter. Dobby will defend Mistress Hermione."

"Then Winky will defend Master Harry and Mistress Hermione." Winky burst out crying while Dobby again proclaimed, "Dobby will defend Master and Mistress! Dobby is free elf, not enslaved house elf!"

Doli called in the other 20 elves from the colony who were there that day. Most were also crying and wailing in terror. "Hush!" Doli commanded, and, while most still cried, they did so quietly. "Evil He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and evil followers wait to attack Master and Mistress! Master and Mistress care for house elves, abandoned house elves! Master and Mistress may be ones prophesied to end slavery of all house elves!"

"House elves must never hurt any witch or wizard; house elves must never use magic against any wizard or witch," Trixie said sadly.

"Enslaved house elves must never attack any witch or wizard," Doli stated. "Doli is free. All house elves here is free. Doli freely came to Harry Potter and accepted work. Work includes defending house and Mistress. Doli will not harm witch or wizard, but Doli will defend Mistress!"

"Winky will defend Mistress and Master," she sniffled, and then cried out, "Winky wishes she had some butterbeer!"

One elf came forward and signaled for silence, for he could not speak. His last owner had cut his throat in a drunken rage and then dismissed him when he could no longer speak. Another master had burned out an eye decades before. He limped from the years of abuse and beatings. He carried scars that had made Remus Lupin wince in sympathy the one time the scarred werewolf had seen the poor elf. No one even knew his name or where he had come from.

The elf came forward and joined Doli's hand to Winky's, then Winky's to Dobby's. He then took Dobby's other hand in his left, and held out his right to the other elves. His meaning was clear.

The other elves rushed forward. For the first time in recorded history, a group of elves had decided to fight wizards.

The Elf Rebellion had begun.

"What do we do, Mister Potter?" the driver, a young wizard neither Harry nor Hermione knew anything about other than that he was a Hufflepuff two years older than themselves, asked nervously.

"We're getting close. There's a really good chance he's already on our tail."

At that point, Winky and two other elves popped into the car. "Mistress!" Winky squealed. "Evil wizards!"

"We know, Winky," Hermione said.

"Winky, why did three of you come?" Harry asked quietly.

"Elves will defend Master and Mistress!" the elves chorused.

"What did you say?" Hermione demanded.

"Elves will defend Master and Mistress!" the elves chorused again. Hermione smiled. 'Elves,' not 'house elves.'

"I thought the rules said . . . how did it go?" Harry asked.

"House elves must never hurt any witch or wizard; house elves must never use magic against any wizard or witch," Winky repeated. "Dobby said Dobby is not enslaved house elf. Dobby is free elf. Dobby will not harm evil wizards, but Dobby will defend Master and Mistress. All elves will defend Master and Mistress; no elf will harm wizard or witch. Six elves will capture evil witch and two wizards across alley. Other elves will protect front of house, when Master and Mistress arrive."

"How many are there in front?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and five evil wizards in front, on roof top of house to front right of Master's house."

"And how many elves are there for the front?"

"Fourteen," Winky said.

"Sanni, go back to Grimmauld Place and let them know that no one should approach Voldemort, then go to Hogwarts and warn the Headmaster. Capture the others if you can." Harry instructed one of the other elves.

"Sanni goes." She disappeared.

"And what do you think you'll do?" Hermione asked in a horrified voice.

"I have an idea," Harry said. "I know all the books say it can't work, but I know that it will. I can feel it -- and I think you've felt it, too."

Hermione looked puzzled, until she looked into Harry's eyes. "The power that Voldemort knows not," she whispered. She knew what it was. She had known it all along. What she hadn't realized until that moment was if Harry could fully access it. Now she knew. Hermione believed.

Hermione offered herself to Harry, and they merged their magics. As the car pulled into Grimmauld Place, she could feel Harry let go of her, but their magics were still merged, although that was supposed to be impossible. The merging of magical auras should only occur in contact. Hermione felt Harry draw some of her power with him as he got ready to leave the car.

As Harry released her, Hermione had flashes of others, and she managed to say, "Wait a moment. Think of Luna and Colin, think of Ginny and Dean." As Harry did so, Hermione felt their magic being drawn slightly to Harry as well.

"Don't let anything happen to the car or anyone inside, including yourselves," Harry told the elves. With that, Harry got out of the car and surveyed the deserted square. He shut the door and stood up. #12 was one of six houses in front of him. There were eight houses on the other sides of the two sides of the square (the houses behind him faced a main thoroughfare).

"Come out, Riddle! I know you're here!"

At the moment Harry stepped out of the car, Ginny Weasley screamed, while Colin Potter fainted. Except for one student, the rest of the people at lunch turned to see what what happened. Luna rushed up to the head table just as Sanni appeared. "Harry is facing Voldemort," Luna said. She then sat on the floor, and concentrated on somehow sending power to Harry.

In the west of England, Dean spilled his glass of pumpkin juice.

"Are you alright?" Padma asked.

"Harry. . . ." Dean said. "Harry is under attack. You know where, Ron."

Ron stood, not certain what he could do.

"Come, boy," Neville's grandmother commanded. "Dumbledore told me the location. I shall make a portkey, and then go to the Ministry." She looked around and picked up a long poker from the fireplace and began the charms.

"Who's coming with me?" Ron demanded.

"Dean's in no condition to go," Padma pointed out.

"You stay with him," Ron said. "Who else wants to stay and who's coming with me?"

"I'm coming," Neville stated.

"So am I," Lavender declared.

"Let's do it," Parvati agreed.

"I'm in," Seamus said.

"Being Slytherin, being Pure Blood, does not mean being evil. I'm with you," Anna told them.

"Remember Cedric Diggory," Susan declared, standing..

"REMEMBER CEDRIC DIGGORY!" every student shouted, except for Dean, who wasn't very responsive, trying as he was to send power to Harry through Colin.

"Brave of you to face me, Boy!"

"Cowardly of you to need five followers to face a sixteen year old boy, Riddle."

Riddle glanced behind him, a flicker of surprise going across his inhuman face.

"Expecting even more help? Maybe they figured if you were too weak to face me by yourself, they didn't want to associate with you any more."

Harry felt Voldemort try to force himself into his mind, but he slapped him back easily -- defense in this realm of magic was much simpler than offense and Hermione was already touching and reenforcing his magic; Luna and Colin were there, too. He could feel Ginny and Dean somewhere in the background.

At that moment, seven students, six Hogwarts faculty, six aurors who had been stationed at Hogwarts, plus Alastor Moody and Remus Lupin, all arrived via portkeys in the entrance hall of Grimmauld Place, putting them all into a heap.

"Kill anyone who shows their face!" Voldemort ordered, turning slightly away from Harry. Coming back to Harry, he sneered. "Well, Boy?"

"PATRONUM!"

Whatever Voldemort thought Harry would do, that wasn't it. The Patronus Dart tore through the Dark shield Voldemort had erected and only missed Voldemort by a few inches because he took a very undignified drive to the ground. The Dart kept going and ripped into a parked mini, smashing the door.

Harry wasn't about to give Riddle a chance to fight back. "PATRONUM! PATRONUM!" Harry had aimed all his positive feelings for Hermione and his friends, and the power of their feelings for him and for each other, at Voldemort, who was rolling around on the ground. Voldemort managed to avoid the second Dart, which ricocheted off the road and into a Death Eater, now frozen in place by an elf. The third smashed into Voldemort's right shoulder, causing a howl of pain as the entire shoulder socket was crushed.

Voldemort disapparated -- the whole 'fight' had taken all of twelve seconds. The Death Eaters were trapped, and so were easily swept up by the aurors who had now boiled out of Grimmauld Place, followed by the students and staff.

Three of the aurors collected the five Death Eaters in the street, who had been released as soon as the group had appeared. Three other Death Eaters also popped up, bound and gagged. Harry was glad to see that Bellatrix and Wormtail were now captured.

An auror Harry didn't know came over to Harry. "Now, what's all this then?"

Easter Sunday, March 30, 1997

Minister Bones eyed Harry. "Mister Potter, more happened Friday than you are telling me, especially concerning the captured Death Eaters." Harry and his friends had undergone two days of questions. None had mentioned Harry's apparent ability to draw power from others, and neither had Harry, Hermione, or the Order driver mentioned the elves.

Harry shrugged. He wasn't about to let the elves get into trouble for capturing the Death Eaters. Hermione and Diggle were busily researching the legal ramifications, and Harry had learned to 'play dumb' over his ten years at the Dursleys.

"Nothing to add, Potter?"

"I told you what I did to Riddle," Harry stated. "You have eight Death Eaters to interrogate. Does Riddle have any more Death Eaters or have they deserted or been killed? More werewolves? Vampires? Dementors? Other allies? Since I'm the one apparently stuck dealing with him, I'd rather like to know."

"Now look here young man!" the Minister started. She was shocked when Harry stood up, leaned over the table separating them and stared her in the eye. 'The Harry Potter of August 1995 looked so frail,' she realized as she met his gaze, 'and even the one I met last autumn was just a boy. This Harry Potter just defeated a fully-restored Voldemort in open battle and I don't think he was using his full power when he did it.'

"You are the Minister of Magic," Harry reminded her, "and I know you have issues and concerns that I'll never even guess exist. My concerns are destroying the most powerful Dark Wizard in centuries and unfortunately secondarily hoping I survive and have a life. I want you to help me, at least with the first. I'm going to have to kill a man, or at least someone who was born a man, and the longer that takes, the more people, magical and Muggle, will be killed. You decide; help me or hinder me."

"What exactly do you want, Potter, once you win?" Bones demanded. She knew what he wanted at the moment.

"I want the Death Eaters punished. They literally got away with murder last time. While werewolves, and vampires for that matter, need to be registered and even regulated to some degree, there needs to be anti-werewolf discrimination laws, not werewolf persecution. House elf slavery has to be ended, and elf abuse has to be made illegal."

"You're serious about these ROMP and ELF groups your girlfriend has created, you mean."

"We are. Elves are going to want to keep working for us; they need to work for us. We have to make certain they aren't taken advantage of."

"And what do you want for yourself?"

Harry sat and grinned. "I certainly DON'T want to be Minister of Magic. I assure you, that would just about be my last resort to get these issues worked on."

"Are you still intending to join our auror program?"

"No," Harry stated. "Professors Law and Powell have arranged for me to go through the auror and hit-wizard training in North America."

"I see." 'This will certainly cause some wrinkles,' she thought.

"Any thing else, Minister?"

The Minister was interrupted by a knock on the door. Harry and Minister Bones looked over and were surprised to Percy Weasley come in.

"Weasley! I thought you were sent to the Centaur Office two weeks ago, after that cock-up you caused at Harrods."

Harry hadn't heard anything about that, but knew he'd best keep quiet. He also knew the Centaur Office was where Ministry officials were sent who were seen as incompetent or in need of punishment.

"Yes, Minister," Percy said, coloring from embarrassment.

"Then what the devil are you doing here!"

"Amazing enough, I'm doing my job. I was summoned by the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. Two representatives wish to speak to you, Harry Potter, and the Headmaster, as well as the centaur residing here at Hogwarts."

"Firenze," Harry offered. He was ignored.

"When do they wish this meeting?"

"As soon as possible, although they wish to speak with Ha . . . Mister Potter here, first."

Bones considered. "Very well. You bring the centaurs to Potter. I'll get the Headmaster, and he can call this Firenze."

Harry stood when Bane and Ronan entered the room. "We will speak to Potter alone," Ronan declared. Percy grimaced, but left.

"You wanted to speak with me?" Harry asked brusquely.

"Can you insure our privacy?"

"If you wish," Harry answered, pulling out his wand. Ronan nodded; Bane still was ignoring Harry. Harry cast the silencey and privacy spells.

"Is it true that elves fought wizards?" Bane then demanded.

Harry considered. "Fight? No. They did use magic against wizards to capture them and to protect my girlfriend."

"And what is your Ministry doing about it?" Ronan asked.

"They probably suspect the possibility, but don't believe it's really possible. So, we haven't told them yet."

"What do you think they will do?" Bane asked, still harsh.

"They will want to punish the elves, no matter what the legalities are. We're researching that now."

"And if your law demands they be punished?"

"Then we don't tell them yet. If they find out, then we believe that law shouldn't apply to free elves, because as far as we know no free elves ever agreed to the restrictions. We will not turn the elves over for any type of punishment. Our position will be that free elves will agree not to cause harm, but that they certainly have the right to defend themselves. Their magic is particularly adaptable to defensive magic."

"Why cause no harm?"

"Because right now, many elves are easily influenced. It will also make our position slightly less disturbing to the wizarding world in general." Harry shook his head. "You wouldn't believe how abused some of the elves are."

"We would, Harry Potter. Any wizard, even Dumbledore, would be surprised at what we hear," Ronan stated. "The stars showed us a likely path. Only you could prevent the path from being followed. We did not think that less-likely path was even possible. We seem to have been wrong."

Bane snorted. Ronan turned at looked at him. "Comment, Bane?"

Bane sighed. "No. No, the path is still less likely, but no longer improbable." He turned to Harry. "I do not like humans. I do not like wizards. I do not like you."

"That's fine," Harry replied. "I don't like you, either. But I don't like you because you're you, not because you're a centaur."

Bane looked angrily down at Harry, and then did something Harry had never seen a centaur really do. He relaxed and grinned at Harry. "No, I do not, cannot, like you, Harry Potter, but you are now the third wizard I can say I respect." He looked at Ronan. "Shall we respect Potter's decision on the elves?"

"We shall." Ronan looked at Harry. "We respect your work with the elves. Word has spread to all the world's free elves that elves decided to act against the Evil One, and Harry Potter is helping them. I suspect that the elves will not stop this movement, now it has started."

"Oh . . . this is going to be a lot more complicated than I thought."

"The young one has humility as well as power," Ronan commented.

"We hear many things, and see many things," Bane stated. "We will inform you or Dumbledore or Hagrid."

Ronan added. "We shall so inform your Minister."

"If she sends that idiot away," Bane insisted.

"Poor Percy," Harry said. "He tries so hard, and always misses the mark."

"The pompous wizard is known to you?" Bane demanded.

"He is the brother of two of my best friends," Harry admitted.

"Then you will think of some way to help him that keeps him out of our forest," Bane stated.

"If he ever comes to you again, it won't be at my suggestion," Harry promised.

"You may release the spells," Ronan stated.

Instantly, the door opened and Firenze stepped in, followed by Dumbledore, Bones, and Percy.

"This one is not acceptable," Bane stated, pointing at Percy. "Perhaps the Merpeople would be able to tolerate him. As objectionable as he is, however, you have sent many worse."

Percy winced, even though he knew nearly all of the few ministry representatives who actually met with the centaurs were rejected by them.

"Wait with the others, Weasley," Bones ordered.

Bane turned to Firenze. "The least likely path has become possible. You were right on that at least. Your banishment has been rescinded."

Firenze bowed deeply.

Ronan turned to Dumbledore and Bones. "We hear and observe many things. We shall send word to Dumbledore, Hagrid, or Potter, as they are three wizards who will speak honestly to us. Take lessons from them, especially Potter. The Dark One you seek has been in the Forest, going into a cave that leads under the lake. We do not know for certain when he comes and goes. Two very new fledgling vampires arrived in the Forest two nights ago, but mistook Aragog's cave for the one they sought. Aragog's children did not care much for the taste, but were hungry."

Bane bowed to Harry, Dumbledore, and Firenze and left the room. Ronan actually clasped hands with them, and left with Firenze following.

Minister Bones stood there, frowning.

Before Dumbledore could say anything, Hermione appeared at the door. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"A set of proposals for the Minister," she said simply.

"On?" Bones demanded.

"Werewolf and vampire rights, the rights of sentients, and elf freedom and rights," she answered. "For the Ministry, and the International. Also proposals for the rights of the Muggle-born and raised, and even a little something for the Pure-Bloods."

Bones came over and picked up the stack of copies. "Very well, we shall consider them."

"I really would prefer for you to have the credit," Harry said softly.

"I understand," she answered.

"When does the news on Friday's duel break?" Hermione asked.

"It did this morning, on the wireless. The story will appear in the Prophet tomorrow. I was hoping to have a fuller idea of what happened, but I will go with what I know, for now." Bones swept out of the room.

"Come along," Dumbledore stated. "Once they're gone, you're going to tell me everything."