Harry Potter and the Old Believers

Chapter 19

Friday, May 2, 1997

"Would you like some tea, Harry?" Remus Lupin asked, a little nervously.

"No, thank you," Harry answered, wondering what this was all about. He'd learned over time that Remus was most likely to offer tea when he was nervous about something. "Go ahead, if you want some, though."

As he fussed, Lupin asked, "I suppose you want to know about Pansy Parkinson?"

"She's a killer, but she's still here."

"She is."

"Are they going to wimp out and just send her into exile with Draco?"

"No. The Ministry want to watch her until mid-July, although we doubt it will do much good. If she's made no contacts with Voldemort's supporters by then, she'll be arrested. She left the chameleon mines after she was seventeen. She'll likely spend the rest of her life in one prison or another."

Harry could live with that. "Has Bulstrode been warned?"

"She has. And I hope you'll let anyone you told know, too."

"I only told Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, and they didn't tell anyone." Harry sighed. "What else did you want to talk about?"

"Sirius and I are worried about you."

Harry shrugged. "Not much I can do, except train. Doc says I'm dueling at a high national level, maybe international. I have my power up, too. If I'd fought Wormtail and Voldemort two years ago like I am know, I probably could have saved Cedric and beaten them long before he was resurrected, and I would have beaten him in a fight. I can probably beat him today."

"We don't want you going to fight him alone."

Harry gave a sad smile. "Don't worry. I won't. I already promised Ginny I wouldn't. Shall I promise you, too? He might find some way to capture me alone, but short of that, I have no intention of fighting him and his followers all by myself."

"Well . . . that's . . . good."

"I'd rather someone else capture or kill him, but somehow, I think it will come down to me. At least Doc and some others will be with me, so I can concentrate on fighting Voldemort."

"It might just be your fate to take the others to fight Him, you know."

"That would be great! Trust me, I have no desire to die, Remus. I will, if I have to to defeat him, but that's my last choice. I don't have a death wish."

"That's good to hear. I'm sorry this is on your shoulders, Harry."

Harry shrugged. "After almost six years, I'm getting used to it." He sighed. "It's taken me a while to forgive Dumbledore for sticking me with the Dursleys. I still wish he could have found some other solution, but he was right not to have me raised in the general magical population. I don't think growing up with this burden would have made things anything but more difficult."

"I wish we could have had a better solution for you, too."

Harry shrugged again. "We don't get wishes like that. If I think about it too much, I just feel depressed. I try to think of Ginny and this summer before my birthday instead."

"What are you doing this summer?"

"I guess Hermione will be spending time with her mother. . . ."

"Where is her mother, or can't you tell me?"

"She's somewhere in America, that's all any of us know."

"Good; she's safe then."

"I hope so. I imagine Doc and the Old Believers will have us some where there as well."

Remus finally sipped his tea. "Be careful of where you step these next few months. We don't want you port-keyed away, let alone hurt."

"I'll do my best. What else is on your mind?

Remus sighed. He wished Sirius was here, but instead he was out again, trying to hunt down the new Death Eaters. "How's your scar?"

"It's twinging a bit, but not as bad as it sometimes did over the last two years. I've been talking with the Headmaster about it."

Remus smiled. There was a soft pop and a covered plate appeared. "Eclairs?"

Harry smiled.

Thursday, June 26, 1997

"Snape at Three o'clock," Ron muttered.

Harry looked. Sure enough, Snape was bearing down on the trio. "There goes a happy lunch," Ron said, even more softly.

"Miss Granger, you may wish to consult the Head of your House. I believe you shall find the Sixth year marks are ready for distribution."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said, surprised.

Snape took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "I do have three things to say before you all leave tomorrow. First of all, Miss Granger, it seems I must congratulate you not just on your own marks, but on the coaching you have been giving every one in your House, last year and this. I do not know what field you might be intending to pursue after next year, but it should either be teaching or research."

"Thank you, sir!" Hermione and the other two were now very surprised.

"I must add that it was good of you to include some of the . . . younger members of my own House and the others in some of your revising sessions in the library."

"Harry suggested it, sir."

Snape glanced at Harry for a moment, but was looking at Ron when he said, "Thank you, too, then, Mister Potter. Mister Weasley, do you have an explanation of why your friend's tutorials did not seem to benefit you as much in the practical as it seems to have the others?"

"Yes, sir," Ron answered honestly, since Snape tone was still amazingly civil. "I don't believe . . . it is very unlikely I shall even come close to scoring my N.E.W.T. in Potions, and equally unlikely that I'll ever be brewing anything other than the simple medical potions we learned last year, even in an emergency. Therefore, I concentrated on the material what would be useful on knowing for the Magical Substances N.E.W.T."

"I see. Well, that's your choice. Mister Potter," he said turning on Harry, "I did mean it when I thanked you for asking Miss Granger to include those Slytherin students. In fact, thank you for looking out after them. I could see some of your younger House members would have enjoyed taunting them, and were very tempted. I know it was mostly your doing they did not." Snape sighed. "If you wish to call off our dual in fourteen months, I should be . . . willing to as well. That would not affect the agreement to a Wizard's Peace while you are still a student here."

Harry's jaw dropped, but Hermione elbowed him back to attention. "Very well, sir. I agree we should stop the dual." Harry held out his hand. Snape shook it, turned, and left.

"What was that about?" Ron asked in wonder.

"I guess he finally grew up," Hermione said.

"Could be," Harry said. "Here come two more; Goyle and Crabbe, it looks like."

It was indeed the younger versions of Goyle (now in his second year) and Crabbe. Both were slightly smarter than their older brothers (which, as Ron often pointed out, wasn't saying much), and also much nicer (which even Ron admitted made them acceptable).

"Harry," George Goyle said awkwardly, "can we ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Are you really going to fight the Dark Lord this summer?" Crabbe asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Harry said honestly. "I hope not." He knew the rumors that were flying around the school.

"If you do, be careful," Goyle said. His younger Housemate elbowed him. "Oh, right. Here." He handed Harry a rolled parchment, and the two fled.

Harry unrolled it, and his friends were shocked to see his eyes sparkle a little. As he had always managed except that one time with Ginny, however, no tears fell.

"What is it?" Hermione asked. Harry handed it to her, and she and Ron looked.

There was a dark red lighting bolt down the center, and the inscription, "GOOD LUCK, HARRY POTTER." Fourteen Slytherins had signed it, mostly from the First and Second years, although Blaise Zabini and his girlfriend had as well.

"If I've done nothing else, I've probably saved at least a few Slytherins from going Dark," Harry said, a little awed by the influence he had over them.

"Come on," Hermione said, "We wanted to talk to you about that!"

"But what about our grades!" Harry asked.

"This is more important," Hermione said. Harry knew he was in trouble.

"What?" Harry asked, a little bruskly for him. He refused to move.

"We have to ask you to promise something," Hermione said, deciding to ask right there.

"No."

"You don't know what it is," Ron insisted.

"Bet I do, but go ahead."

"We want you to promise you won't go after Voldemort alone," Hermione said.

Harry looked at them. "Fine. I promise Let's go get our marks."

"No arguing?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"I already promised Ginny a year ago and Remus last month. Now, let's go collect our grades, finish packing, and cheer Ginny up. Remember how dazed we all were last year! Then, we can get ready for the feast."

"Harry. . . ." Hermione started.

"Look, barring a miracle, I'll be facing Voldemort sometime in the next year if not sooner," Harry said, almost angrily, "most likely in about thirty-five days or so. Unless he kidnaps me again, I won't be alone. If he tracks me down, you two, Doc, Sirius, Ginny or someone should be near by. If we track him down, it'll be Doc and some of his people with me. I'm more ready than any Sixth year student ever had the right to be. Now, let's go see our grades."

Ginny was waiting for them. Each student plucked the envelope with their name on it from McGonagall's bulletin board. "Ginny," Hermione said, "you do the honors."

"Hermione. . . . Transfiguration a Hundred and eight; Arithmancy, Runes, Astronomy and Charms, a Hundred and two -- that puts you as number one in your class for Transfiguration and Runes -- Creatures, Herbology, and History, a Hundred; Defense and Potions, Ninety-nine! That's an average of a Hundred and one point four; putting your unsurprisingly number one in your class as well as in Gryffindor."

"Ron, you have a Ninety-nine in Creatures; Ninety-six in Charms; Ninety-fives in Transfiguration and Defense; Ninety-three in Herbology; Eighty-seven in Astronomy and Divination; Eighty-four in History; and a Seventy-seven in Potions. Your over-all average is a Ninety point three three." Ginny looked at him. "Not bad. You lost a spot in the over-all class standings, though."

Ron shrugged. "As long as I get at least six or seven N.E.W.T.s, all will be forgiven."

"Harry you were the top scorer in Defense and Charms, a Hundred and six and a Hundred and four; a Hundred and five in Muggle Studies; Transfiguration and Creatures, a Hundred each; History Ninety-nine; Astronomy, Runes, and Herbology, Ninety-six each; and Divination Ninety-four."

"If everything else fails, your Divination mark shows you could become a great novelist," Hermione teased.

Ginny and Harry both stuck their tongues out. Ginny continued, "That's an average of Ninety-nine point six; placing you second in Gryffindor and third in the class for the year."

"Now we just have to wait for your O.W.L.s," Ron teased.

"Don't worry about my O.W.L.s -- after the twins and yours, Mum will love my scores."

Ginny was right. She'd gotten 11 O.W.L.s, in Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, Muggle Studies, Creatures, Herbology, Runes, Astronomy, History (mostly do to Harry's coaching, since history was now a favorite class of his), Magical Theory, and Magical Substances. Her grades were Defense 99%; Charms 98%; Transfiguration 98%; Muggle Studies 98%; Creatures 98%; Herbology 97%; Runes 95%; Astronomy 93%; History 92%; and Potions 87%.

The quartet was set to leave for North America. Hermione's mother had finished her rehabilitation, and was acting as a consultant with an American medi-wizard research group -- they'd never had a trained dentist to help with the more mundane aspects of dental care. (Too much magic could harm the teeth, and many common potions had wearing effects on enamel. She was helping them understand the use of fluoride and other common Muggle techniques.)

Hermione and Ron would join her until after Harry's birthday. This caused a slightly tearful farewell on Hermione's part. Unspoken was the worry that they might never see Harry alive again.

Ginny and Harry were traveling deep into Old Believer territory. By their best guess, they ended up somewhere in the north-east of British Columbia, or perhaps the extreme southeast of Yukon or southwest of the Northern Territories. Until Doctor Pwy deemed Harry ready, there was no chance of Voldemort hunting Harry down and forcing a fight.

Where ever it was, it was beautiful. It was another long valley, with huge mountains towering around them, and dozens of miles wide. There was a carpet of evergreen trees across the valley floor and skirting the hills and some of the lower sides of the mountains. Small glaciers sparkled off some of the mountains.

There was a small wizarding settlement. Technically, Harry and Ginny lived in one tent, while Doc Pwy and Sirius lived in another. The living arrangements inside the primitive-looking tents broke most of the rules the Old Believers had, but no Old Believer came into the tents, other than the first reception rooms, and so no one said anything. Dobby had come along to help Harry and Ginny out, while one of Pwy's house elves was keeping house for him and Sirius, and they kept all banned items far out of sight of the reception rooms.

Over the next four weeks, Harry trained hard. Ginny often joined him, but she also spent time with Sirius and some of the others in the valley, including Harri Myrddin, who was staying in the valley full-time to help Harry train.

Ginny had cornered Myrddin privately the third day they were there. "Doeth Athro?"

"Yes, my child?"

"Tell me honestly, do you think Harry will survive?"

He studied Ginny for over a minute, and then smiled. "Please don't do anything . . . long term. I will not lie and promise you that Harry will survive, but I can assure you he probably will. I know that's not as much as you'd like to hear, but it is honest. If you were three or four years older, I would still tell you to wait under these circumstances."

She blushed. "Yes, sir." 'So much for that idea,' she thought.

"Remember, knowing you're safe will lend Harry strength. Knowing you are well-trained and able to protect yourself gives him a sense of security. Knowing you love him, and his love for you, will give him the will to survive."

Time passed all too quickly for both Harry and Ginny. Harry's birthday passed by with no official recognition. Harry and Ginny merely spent the day together, since Myrddin and Pwy gave him the time off.

The pair approached Harry on the morning of August 1st. "It's time to go back to England, Harry," Pwy said. "We won't be confronting Voldemort today, but we're launching the attack from there."

"We understand," Harry said, clutching Ginny's hand.

"We'll send for you two later," Myrddin said to Ginny and Sirius.

"Are you going, too?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," Myrddin answered. "Harry won't be facing this alone, I swear it."

Harry was a little surprised to emerge from Pwy's corridor near the Great Hall at Hogwarts. "But we can't apparate from here!"

"No, we can't," Pwy answered, "but we need to be safe until we launch the attack."

"How many of us will there be?"

"In the first wave, just us three," Pwy said. He held his hand up to cut off Harry's protests. "We never found a way to send in more than three. We did, however, make a good alternative plan. The first thing we have to do is scatter these." He handed Harry a small marble out of a bag. "These will allow the second wave to apparate in. We have sixty Old Believer law enforcers and Aurors ready."

"But. . . ." Harry started, looking at Pwy and the Druid. "If you're worried about me," Harri Myrddin teased, "I may not be a trained warrior, but I think I showed myself ready and able." Harry was a bit abashed at that. The Druid chief had indeed shown himself more than combat ready over the previous four weeks.

Dumbledore approached them. He silently handed Harry the Sword of Gryffindor.

"If we can partially disable him, you must use this on Voldemort, if you can," Myrddin said. "If you can't, one of us will try and take your place. I'm sorry, Harry; this seems to be the most certain way."

Harry nodded. He'd been worried something like this was likely. He sighed. "Will Ginny be here when we return?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said simply.

"Ron and Hermione are alright?"

"Yes," Pwy answered, "and they should be here, too."

"When?"

"I want you to take this, Harry," Dumbledore said, holding a small vial. "It will give you a few hours of dreamless sleep. When you wake up. . . ."

"I understand. I guess I always knew this would happen." He looked at Dumbledore. "I'd hoped I'd be more than a tool."

"You are, and have always been, more than that," Dumbledore said, "but I understand why you feel this way today. I hope, when this is over, you can feel free, and that you'll forgive me."

"I've already forgiven you, sir." Harry gave a small thin smile. "We can only feel free until Malfoy or some other dark ambitious bigot starts it all over again."

"Human nature doesn't change," Myrddin said. "Fortunately, it works for the good as well."