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

Chapter VII

Easter Sunday, March 30, 1997

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, having listened to Harry's complete story, along with precis of the experience from Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Colin, and Dean. Ron, Susan, Seamus, Anna, Wills, Neville, Lavender, Parvati, and Padma listened in.

After several minutes of silent cogitation, Dumbledore stated, "What you did has never been done, to my knowledge. It is likely very dangerous."

"I disagree, Headmaster," Dean stated, to Dumbledore's surprise. It was quickly clear that the others who had been directly affected agreed with Dean. "I was seriously weakened when Harry first tapped into my power via Colin. I could feel his surprise, and after that, he controlled what he was doing, and I feel that after the initial shock I was able to control how much power Harry could draw -- it felt like I was casting a continuous First year Charm -- it took concentration, but I wasn't drained in any way. I believe we must test and develop our control."

"I partially agree," Hermione stepped in. "I believe we can rather quickly control the connections so that we're not damaged. I'm not certain we can ever use the connections and be able to defend ourselves at the same time. As Dean pointed out, we were able to think and control what we did, but once we fed Harry the power, it took all our concentration. We'll have to ask the elves to help us."

"Ah, yes, the elves. I am concerned that they used magic against wizards, as opposed to using it to protect you or themselves," Dumbledore admitted.

"They are willing to agree to do no harm," Hermione stated, "but only on the condition that wizards do no harm to them or to those still enslaved."

Dumbledore sighed.

"It has to be done," Harry said. "It must be a crime to abuse an elf, and elves must have the right to retaliate, enslaved or not. And it has to be done by the International, not the patchwork of national and local authorities here in Europe."

"I shall be contacting everyone I can to gather support," Dumbledore agreed.

"Why here in Europe?" Susan asked.

"Most other places have some very rudimentary regulations against elf abuse," Hermione said. She'd been very thorough once she realized that what held for Britain could be largely irrelevent to the rest of the wizarding world.

"And we mustn't forget that the centaurs left neutrality in part, perhaps in large part, because Hermione and I back the elves," Harry added.

"Ah, yes." Dumbledore stood. "Harry, may I trouble you to join us? A group of aurors and hit-wizards will be joining us to investigate the Chamber of Secrets. We must quickly investigate that report."

Dumbledore surveyed the rest of the group. "Please stay here. If you need it, there is a lavatory three doors down on the left side of the platform. Otherwise, please stay here. Food will be delivered soon. If we encounter Voldemort, Harry may have to confront him. No matter if he does or does not, you must decide if you wish to continue the experiment."

Harry stood, and Hermione stood as well. They hugged and briefly merged their magic. Luna and Colin did the same with Harry, then Dumbledore left, with Harry trailing behind.

Luna turned to Ginny, and they embraced and merged. Hermione walked over and joined them. After a moment, Colin joined the three girls, followed by Dean. Padma stood and gestured the remaining students to move aside. She rearranged the Headmaster's office and managed to get the five merged students in more comfortable positions on cushions.

When everything met her satisfaction, she said, "Siblings should not join directly with siblings. At least two people should say out this time." She turned to her twin. "Have you merged with Lavender or Neville?"

"Both," Parvati admitted.

"Then I shall stay out, this time. Who else?"

"I will," William said.

"Ron?" Padma asked.

"Are you joining?" Ron asked Susan.

"Unless you ask me not to."

"I'm not asking that," Ron told her. He turned to Padma. "I'm in this time."

"Alright," Padma agreed. "Now let me position you all, and if I pull you out, end it."

"Let's go," Lavender said.

"They are merging, are they not?" Dumbledore asked.

"Almost all of them," Harry answered. "I wonder why Padma and Wills haven't joined?"

"Padma Patil is a most cautious young woman," Dumbledore answered. "I would imagine she believes it best if at least two stay out of the group merging to keep an eye on them. She will pull any out that are under stress."

"That's good."

"Let us hope this is unnecessary, but just practice."

They walked up to the door of Moaning Myrtle's toilets, where seven aurors, including Tonks, were waiting.

"I have arranged for a dozen aurors and hit-wizards to be entering the cave in the forbidden forest in a short time. We should go; we should have a cave-in to clear," Dumbledore told the group.

Myrtle took one look at the group and dove into her toilet. Harry opened the hidden entrance and looked at Dumbledore.

"May a suggest you ask for stairs, Harry?"

Harry shrugged, and said, "Stairs," in Parseltongue. They appeared. "Wish we'd thought of that four years ago," Harry muttered. He went down next to last.

The aurors satisfied themselves that there were no back-passages from the bottom, although they saw several sets of pipes on the way down. It took nearly an hour to clean up the cave-in and make certain the roof was well-supported.

As they approached the door to the Chamber, one of the aurors sniffed and said, "What IS that smell?"

"Probably the remains of the basilisk," Harry answered. "Would there have been enough rats and other scavengers to pick it clean by now?"

"There should have been, if they could have found any way in," Dumbledore mused. "If not, or if the basilisk's flesh was poisonous to the scavengers, then the air will be very rank. I suggest bubble-head spells for all of us."

Once they were in the Chamber, they could see that while it was far from air tight, few scavengers had made it to feed on the remains of the huge snake. Those that had, had died from the internal poisons.

"Harry, you and Tonks go behind the image and see if there is indeed another exit to the Chamber. We shall attempt to sweeten the Chamber itself, at least a bit."

At first they didn't think there was any other exit. Tonks however kept coming back to a statue of a wizard against the back wall. It was really the only decoration behind the head of Slytherin.

Finally Tonks stepped in front of it and declared, "This must be guarding something." She pointed to the feet of the robed statue, where an adder was curled. "Ask the snake."

"Open," Harry commanded.

The eyes of the statue opened. "You do not command me. Whom do you serve?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Who are you and whom do you serve? Which of the Hogwarts Four, if any? Or do you serve only yourself. Answer true."

Tonks stared at the statue, wondering explaining being an auror to a statue might entail. Harry puzzled a moment, and felt the right answer coming to him. "I serve the cause of Light Magic. I follow Merlin, Godric Gryffindor, and Albus Dumbledore. I am Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Scourge of Voldemort."

"Blimey, Harry, you've been reading too many Muggle fantasy novels," Tonks muttered.

"You speak as one should, but your minion is disrespectful," the statue said, rebuking Tonks.

"Minion!"

"Would you follow Harry Potter into battle? Would you risk your life to save his? Would you obey him?"

Tonks flushed in anger, but answered, "Yes, but. . . ."

"Minion," the statue affirmed. It turned to Harry. "My maker was not evil, although he had a very different set of values than you on what was good. Still, I am authorized to let the good pass through. However, do not try to take anything out that you do not take in."

"Did you ever allow Riddle in, or through? Or to take things?"

"I did when he was first here. I did not when his avatar returned, and my counterpart at the other end has not let him through more recently. Now, I shall allow you and one other through. Decide who goes with you."

"Tonks, go tell the Headmaster," Harry said.

Tonks looked at him and snorted. "Minion!" she muttered, and went to get the Headmaster.

"I had best go through with Harry," Dumbledore decided when he had come back with Tonks. "Tell the others you should all stay here for ninety minutes, and then leave if we haven't returned."

Tonks nodded, while Dumbledore turned to the guardian. "You will let us through?"

"I shall let you in. You may not leave with anything that you find inside."

"Very well."

"Headmaster, perhaps we shouldn't . . . tarry."

"We were warned not to take anything, Harry, not not to look." Dumbledore could only imagine what might be the scrolls and codices that filled the shelves lining the passage. He was trying to read the titles.

"Perhaps we shouldn't take too much knowledge, either."

Dumbledore sighed and straightened up. "Perhaps you are correct. Come along, then."

The passage was only some fifty meters long. As they approached the other exit, a face formed in the stones of the wall. "I see you were tempted, but did not give in to the temptation. Very well, you may pass." The slid open.

"Be on your guard," Dumbledore warned softly. "It is just after sunset. If there are any vampires, they will awake soon."

"Albus. . . ?" a weak voice called.

Dumbledore turned around, saying, "Stay here and keep watch, Harry."

"Harry. . . ." the voice called, more weakly.

When Dumbledore walked fully into the chamber, torches around the parameter lit. It was the size of the Chamber of Secrets, but undecorated, and mostly empty. There was a long table covered with various goods against a side wall, a chair, and also six large marble-like blocks -- and trapped inside were what even Harry could tell at a distance were vampires.

"It's Cassandra," Harry stated.

She seemed to be the only one awake. Dumbledore and Harry approached her, Harry making a slight detour to the table to see what was on it. Harry then came up to Cassandra and Dumbledore. The Headmaster was examining the block. Only Cassandra's left arm and head and neck were free of the block.

"Here," Harry said, helping Cassandra drink some of the spring water he had found on the table.

"Thank you," she told Harry, still weakly but a little clearer. "Voldemort has been feeding on us, myself and his own five remaining vampires. They are all very weak -- fledglings or fledglings made by fledglings!"

"He's a vampire?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"In small amounts, vampire blood helps heal serious magical injuries, although it can have quite a disturbing affect on a person's internal organs," Dumbledore explained. "I doubt that would bother Voldemort at this point in his existence."

Dumbledore turned and looked at the other vampires. "They are all his, are they not?"

"They are. Wait!" Cassandra pleaded. "Do not kill them just yet!"

"Why?"

"Please, let me feed on them! I am very weak."

Dumbledore seemed to hesitate.

"If you're going to destroy them anyway, why not?" Harry asked. "If you're going to bring them to the Ministry to be destroyed, again why not, even if she can't take as much as she'd like?"

"It might take some doing to break these blocks," Dumbledore pointed out, "and I need to discover what the other auror team is doing."

Harry's wand slashed downward, and the block crumbled. Dumbledore looked on in shock. He had figured it would take at least himself and Harry working together some minutes to achieve that result. He looked at Cassandra, who looked weak and hungry, but still in control. "Very well. Harry help her, but please do NOT destroy them. They need to be questioned." He turned and made for the other door.

Cassandra sat weakly on the floor, trying to control herself. Suddenly, a welcome odor made her moan. She opened her eyes and saw Harry holding out perhaps an ounce of his blood in a small glass in one hand, and the goblet of water in the other. She took both, and satisfied her greatest craving. "If you keep feeding me, Harry, Hermione will get jealous."

"As long as it's just a little blood now and again, I don't think she will mind."

Cassandra smiled and let Harry help her to her feet. "I understand, Harry. Now, you may not wish to witness this."

"Would you prefer I didn't watch?"

"No, I don't mind, but many people find it a bit . . . disturbing."

"I thought we were supposed to find it erotic?"

"That is a minority reaction to seeing it, although a significant one. When done with affection, it is always erotic to a direct victim."

"When will they wake up?"

"If I hurry, they shall not awake until tomorrow evening."

It turned out Voldemort had been using the outer chambers for some months, although apparently only Wormtail had had frequent access. He had acted the go-between to supply Michael Corner with objects like the portkey targets. Corner had then turned them over to Cho or Pansy for further distribution.

The five trapped vampires remained unconscious after Cassandra had drained them of as much blood as possible. After some negotiations with the statue in this outer chamber, the vampires were transported, still trapped, back to Hogwarts via the Chamber of Secrets under Harry's guard while Dumbledore and some of the aurors completely destroyed the tunnel leading to the Forbidden Forest, going out through the tunnel itself. They left the outer chamber intact as part of the deal with the statue.

The remaining aurors in the original Chamber transported the five trapped vampires and Cassandra straight out of Hogwarts to the Ministry via portkey once they reached Myrtle's bathroom. Harry returned to the Headmaster's office with to await his return and to break up the merge.

To Harry's slight surprise, he found Henrietta waiting for him at the outer entrance to the Headmaster's office. Then he remembered that she and Ron had no-doubt merged their magics more than once in the seven months they had been involved.

Henrietta returned Harry's greeting and then said, "I suppose you know why I'm here."

"I know why you might have been drawn here, anyway," Harry answered.

"My father is fighting this war. I barely escaped with Luna before the cottage was destroyed last July. Just because Ron and I aren't dating anymore doesn't mean I don't want to help."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

As far as the best intelligence could now tell, Voldemort was alone except for his snake, the few remaining Death Eaters and dementors having deserted him. Where Voldemort and Nagini were, however, was unknown to everyone but Voldemort.

The wizarding communities of western Europe heaved a collective sigh of relief and hoped everything would go back to normal. The rest of the wizarding world hadn't really been paying much attention to the problem to begin with.

The International began having hearings on the rights of werewolves, house elves, and sentients in general, reopening arguments that had been troubling the magical world for centuries.

The British community were a bit startled to learn that they had the most restrictive anti-werewolf regulations in the world. It also came as a bit of a surprise to learn that elves had been partially freed in North America, Australia, and New Zealand for over a century (ie house elves were owned, but their children were able to choose their owners), and that the ministries in Australia, North and South America and much of Africa and Asia had at least banned house elf abuse (although these rules were often poorly enforced).

Around the world, free elves presented their employers contracts based on the ones Hermione and Mr. Diggle had created -- and refusing to work without a contract. That the old restrictions on house elves did not apply to free elves came as a surprise to nearly the entire wizarding world. Desire to get the elves to agree never to harm wizards pushed the desire for a settlement forward. It was clear that it would take some time to work out the details, but that they would be worked out.

At Hogwarts, the students interested in Quidditch (other than the Seventh and Fifth years) swarmed back to the pitch for impromptu scrimmages, to prepare for the return of Quidditch the following year. Seventh and Fifth years were entering the final stretch of study for their N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s.

Like all the students other than Harry, Hermione gave up most of her extra defense work. She split what little extra time she had tutoring the Fifth years, researching merging, overseeing ELF and ROMP, and watching over Harry. Ron spent his free time snogging Susan and thinking about Quidditch.

Harry kept up his training schedule, trying to build his physical and magical endurance. Harry now had a professional physical trainer, a Squib from America who worked with professional Muggle athletes. He had to help Harry gain that endurance while making certain Harry kept his reflexes sharp. As the weeks of spring flew past, Harry sometimes wondered if he was the only student who realized that the war might be far from over.

Dumbledore certainly realized that the war wasn't over. He and Harry met several times in April to work out Harry's summer. Harry did wonder how many of the students would be willing to come with him to an unknown location for what would likely be very tough training.

Hermione would go, and Ginny and Luna would likely demand to go as well. Ron would want to, but would feel torn if Susan decided not to or if she was not allowed to. Colin would likely have to go even if he didn't want to (fortunately, he did wish to, but hoped Wills would go as well). Dumbledore did not push anyone to make a quick decision.

School would be out on June 28, and Harry would be spending a week at the Dursleys. The group would be returning sometime around August 17. Hermione told her parents that she would be with them for the week after school and hopefully between August 17 and 24. As May approached its close, that was were the entire trip stood.