Harry Potter and the Summer of the Dementors

That tumbling, whirling feeling. Sick though it made him, never was he so glad to experience it again. He staggered, lost his balance, and fell sprawling across the carpet on the floor of Mr Weasley's office. He saw Mr Weasley's face, his mouth forming an O of astonishment.

"Harry! What in the world?" Mr Weasley gaped, one hand still holding a parchment in mid air.

"We've got to hurry," Harry gasped, picking himself up from the floor. "Voldemort - I know why he was so happy last night. One of the goblins joined him - he tricked me, to take me to Voldemort. And he's after Ron and Hermione as well. We need to get to them as soon as we can."

Mr Weasley was on his feet now, looking grim. "How?"

"Gringott's. We've got to get to Gringott's. Diagon Alley - we've got to Apparate there now."

He didn't stop to see whether Mr Weasley was going to argue further - he just disappeared. But a moment later a slightly dishevelled Mr Weasley was standing next to him on the pavement of Diagon Alley, and together they pushed their way frantically through the crowds towards the bank. As they hurried forward, thrusting annoyed witches and wizards aside, Harry was able to gasp: "Raknuk's son - Zakod - he's become a Death Eater. He tricked me into meeting Voldemort."

"What?"

"Yeah. I've just got away."

They were at the entrance to the bank.

"Harry Potter." "Arthur Weasley, Private Secretary to the Minister," they both shouted out at the same time.

The goblin doorman blinked.

"I need the Arithmancy Department - now."

"My son - Bill Weasley. And Ron. Where are they?"

Another bank official appeared behind the doorman.

"Is there a problem?"

"There is. I want the Arithmancy Department. Now!" Harry yelled.

That was another advantage of the scar. He was instantly recognisable.

"Follow me. This way."

Mr Weasley was being hurried away by another goblin doorman. He'd have to leave Ron to him.

Harry was running now, the goblin scurrying to keep up, down stairs and along corridors, dodging goblins carrying messages, pushing carts, before he came skidding to halt by some large open doors.

"The Arithmancy Division, sir," a bewildered goblin told him.

He stood by the doorway and scanned the room, looking round at all the people. No Hermione. Nowhere to be seen. "Where's Hermione Granger?" he demanded in a shout.

The room came to a standstill, taken aback by the sudden yell, and then someone recognised him, pointed to another doorway. He ran through to the next chamber.

He could see Hermione's unmistakeable frizz of hair at the far end, and relaxed. She was safe! He had arrived in time. Thank Heavens for that!

She was standing with her back to him, and he began walking towards her. She was talking to a goblin ... who turned round as he approached. Zakod!

The goblin's face froze when he saw Harry. He could see that the goblin was about to panic. What would Zakod do now? He had to stop him before he could get away.

"Duck, Hermione," he yelled. He pulled out his wand, pointed it, then: "STUPEFY!"

The spell shot from his wand across the crowded room and hit the goblin, who slumped senseless to the floor. There was pandemonium around him as people reacted to what he'd just done. Harry could just imagine the goblin reaction to a wizard bursting into the bank and using a spell like that. He slipped the wand back into his pocket and held his hands high, fingers open.

"Someone fetch Goblin Raknuk," he yelled.

The panicked goblins in the room were rushing for any possible exit. Hermione stood rooted to spot, staring at him, her face a picture of astonishment, obviously wondering what on earth was going on. Then he could see other goblins appearing by the doors - obviously the Gringott's security guards.

"Goblin Raknuk. Fetch him. I'm Harry Potter," he yelled at them. The security goblins halted, uncertain what to do next. He looked at them, his hands wide open. "No wand. Look. I'm unarmed. Someone fetch Goblin Raknuk, please. Hurry."

There was a hasty muttered conference at the door. One of the goblins turned and left. The others stood there waiting and watching him very carefully. There was an extremely tense silence.

"Harry," whispered Hermione.

"Later, please, Hermione."

"Okay."

To her credit, she stood where she was, not moving.

A commotion at the door again. Raknuk was standing there among the guards. They stood aside as he stepped forward, concern on his face.

"Mr Potter."

The voice was calm, despite the scene of chaos.

"Goblin Raknuk." The relief.

"What is going on, Mr Potter?"

Harry very slowly and carefully walked over to the stunned goblin still on the ground. "Could you come here?"

Raknuk walked up and saw who it was lying there unconscious. He stopped, then whirled round to face Harry.

"My son! You have used a stunner on my son!"

Suddenly his voice was no longer calm nor friendly. There was anger. And Harry could see from his face that if he didn't do something fast, he'd really be in trouble.

On an impulse, he reached down and rolled back Zakod's sleeve. There was a livid black mark on his arm. The Dark Mark.

Behind him, Harry heard a hiss of breath, then a wail. Something in the goblin tongue. Something Harry didn't understand. There was a mingle of distress and agony in the voice. Then Raknuk reached down to touch the spot on Zakod's skin.

"My son. A Death Eater."

The goblin knelt down, grieving at what he had just found out.

Harry sank back in a chair, the adrenaline no longer rushing through his body, leaving him cold, clammy and shivery. Hermione moved towards him and took his hand.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Harry did his best to smile up at her. He was too exhausted to talk to her just yet.

Raknuk began shouting at the security goblins, just as Zakod was beginning to stir. The goblins seized him as his eyes flickered open.

"Father!" Zakod cried out, as he saw who was bending over him.

"No son of mine!" spat Raknuk, and added something that Harry couldn't understand, but he saw Zakod's face crumple at his father's words.

The room began filling with more people now: Harry could see Mr Weasley and Ron; Bill looking curiously round at the sight of the room with its upturned chairs and abandoned desks.

Ron pushed his way through the throng to Harry and Hermione. "Someone tell me - what's going on?"

Harry looked up at him wearily. "Later. Please."

"Okay," although Harry could see Ron was bursting to find out just what was going on.

Harry leaned forward in the chair and put his head in his hands. He was aware of the bustle around him, but his mind shut it out.

Things seemed to happen very slowly after that. People kept asking: ' 'Are you alright?', and he gave them all the same reply: ' 'I'm fine. Honestly.' - which wasn't entirely true, but it kept people off his back.

There were hurried conferences going on in various parts of the room. Harry sat in his chair, Ron and Hermione stood either side as if to protect him. Finally a harassed looked Mr Weasley loomed up in front of them.

"Can we all go to my office? The wards have been temporarily lifted so we can Apparate directly from here." Harry nodded and stood up. "Everyone ready? I'll go first."

Harry went second, followed closely by Ron and Hermione. Mr Weasley produced three chairs, thrust the youngsters into them, then conjured up some mugs of steaming hot chocolate and handed them round. Harry sipped his gratefully.

"Wait there," he told them, and disappeared.

The room was very quiet. Harry concentrated on his mug, but was grateful for the silent presence of the other two. After a while he finished his chocolate and put the mug on the table. He glanced at Ron, who looked back with a worried expression. Harry did his best to smile a reply. Hermione still looked a little shocked, but relatively composed.

The door opened again, and Mr Weasley returned.

"Harry," he said quietly. "There are some people next door. Are you up to talking?"

Some of his strength had come back. "Yeah. It's okay."

"You sure?" Harry nodded again. "All right then - come through."

Arbuthnot's office, spacious though it was, seemed crowded. There was Arbuthnot himself, Raknuk, and, inevitably, Dumbledore. There were four other chairs: Mr Weasley took Harry to one, took one himself, and Ron and Hermione also sat themselves down.

"Begin when you're ready," said Arbuthnot quietly after he had given them all time to settle down.

"Yesterday, I felt something, something really powerful ..." he reached up and touched his forehead, traced the outline of his scar with a finger. Arbuthnot nodded. "Well, I think I know what caused it now." He avoided looking at Raknuk. "That's when Voldemort marked Zakod. Gave him the Dark Mark, I mean. When I got home, there was a letter from him, asking me to meet him at the bank this morning. He didn't say why."

He ran through the tale, relating how Zakod was also going to bring Ron and Hermione along for a Dementor's Kiss as well. He glanced over to Ron, who was very white, his freckles standing out as blotches against the pale skin. Hermione had her hands in her lap, and she was gazing down at them.

"I managed to get away to Mr Weasley's office, and persuaded him to get over to Gringott's." He turned to Raknuk. "I must apologise for using a wand in that way in your bank. Please tell the bank that, and the Council. But it was the only thing I could think of doing at the time."

Raknuk bowed his head. "In the circumstances, I do not think that anyone will worry about that. There are bigger issues."

"True," said Harry, with an attempt at a smile. "Well, I suppose that's it, really."

Everyone was silent. Dumbledore surveyed him carefully. Arbuthnot looked across to Mr Weasley and then back to Harry.

"I missed something," he said. "You got away to Mr Weasley's office - but you were under an anti-Apparation jinx?"

"Ah yes," said Harry. "Well, the thing is - I know I shouldn't have done, but I made a Portkey."

There was a mumble of noise. "Merlin's beard," whispered Mr Weasley. Dumbledore surveyed him with a twinkle in his eye. Arbuthnot's expression was unreadable. Finally he turned to Dumbledore.

"Is this now part of the Hogwarts syllabus, Albus?"

"Alas, sadly not," Dumbledore told him.

"So, Harry, how on earth did you know how to make a Portkey?"

"Um, well," mumbled Harry, "I read it in a book." He wasn't going to drag Remus into this.

"A book??" Arbuthnot's mouth was twitching.

"Yes."

"Which book, may I ask?" Harry told him. "And where did you get that from?"

"Er, Flourish and Blotts."

Arbuthnot was shaking his head. "There's no way you could have practised that beforehand. We'd have known."

"No - well, I was reading it up last night."

"And you did it first time?" Harry nodded. "And it worked?" Harry nodded again. Arbuthnot looked across to Dumbledore. "He'll be teaching us things next."

"Oh, I always learn something from Harry - and about Harry - each time he gets into one of his escapades."

Somehow, referring to what had just happened as an ' 'escapade' seemed very funny. Harry smiled despite himself.

"Well, Harry, using a unauthorised Portkey is highly illegal, as I'm sure you know." Harry nodded yet again. "But in this case, I think we might give you what might be called retroactive permission."

"Thank you, Minister."

Arbuthnot leant forward, his elbows on his desk. "We'll want more detail from you soon, but it can wait for the moment. You need some rest first. What do you suggest, Arthur?"

"Molly would be happy to have him."

"Sounds a better idea than being by himself in Grimmauld Place. What do you say, Harry?"

Harry cleared his throat. "Fine by me." He looked at Ron and Hermione in turn, and each gave him a small nod.

"You never fail to amaze me, Harry," said Arbuthnot. "And this time - not only another escape from You Know Who, but rescuing your friends too. Well done."

"Thank you, Minister," Harry mumbled.

"You three come through to my office," Mr Weasley said. "Leave us to tidy up the loose ends. As the Minister said, you need to have a break - some rest. All of you. Come on."

Harry nodded. "Sorry," he said to Raknuk. "About - well, about everything."

The goblin gave a grimace, looking uglier than usual. "These things happen. I too am sorry - but we can talk about that some other time."

Mr Weasley stood up and shepherded the three youngsters away. "Straight to the Burrow, all of you." He turned to his son. "Fill your mother in the details, will you?" Ron nodded. "Hermione, keep an eye on Harry. Okay, Ron you go first." Mr Weasley turned to Harry. "I'll catch up with you later this evening, but I want to say thank you for rescuing Ron and Hermione."

"No problem."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

Harry thought of the Burrow, and appeared in the kitchen. Ron was talking quickly to Mrs Weasley, but broke off as Harry arrived.

"Harry!" she cried.

"It's okay, I'm fine really." He suddenly realised that he was starving. "Um - could I have some lunch?"

"Sit down at the table," commanded Mrs Weasley.

Hermione had appeared, and sat next to him.

"I just want to say thanks for rescuing me," she said quietly.

"No problem. Mr Weasley went to look for Ron, so I went to find you."

"Zakod - he came up to me when I was working, and had started telling me about how you were meeting some people, and that I was wanted too. He'd got this slip of parchment with the Apparating instructions, and I'd just starting reading them when you came in, and, well ..."

An idea occurred to Harry. "Have you still got it? The parchment with the instructions?"

Hermione looked surprised, then said: "I think I have. Hang on." She pulled out a scrap of crumpled parchment from a pocket. "Here it is."

"Go back to the Ministry and give it to Mr Weasley. Might be worth sending a team of Aurors there."

Her eyes widened. "Of course. I should have thought of that - how stupid of me! Wait a minute."

She stepped into the middle of the room and disappeared.

Ron came and sat down next to Harry. "Okay, mate?"

"Okay."

"There was mayhem at Gringotts. I've never seen anything like it."

"Using a stunner like that in the middle of the Arithmancy Department was probably a bit of a surprise for them."

"They'll be talking about it for months."

Mrs Weasley put two bowls down in front of them. "Tuck in."

"Thanks, Mrs Weasley," said Harry gratefully.

Hermione re-appeared. "They're on their way," she said briefly.

"Good."

Another bowl appeared on the table.

Harry really was famished. He cleared his plate, and without a word Mrs Weasley refilled it. Finally he pushed it away.

"I'm going to sit out in the garden," he announced.

"We'll join you," said Ron.

"You don't have to."

"I know we don't. But we're going to."

"Fair enough."

Sitting in the warm sun was too much. He was fast asleep within minutes. And he had no idea how long he'd slept for, because when he woke the sun was much nearer the horizon, and he could hear Mr and Mrs Weasley nearby, talking in low tones.

"How's the office?" he asked, turning to look at them.

"Ah, Harry. We didn't wake you, did we?"

"Don't think so. I must have slept for ages." He stretched, rose to his feet, and walked over to them. He realised then how tired Mr Weasley looked. "I'm going for a wash. Back in a few minutes."

"I'll have some tea ready in the kitchen," promised Mrs Weasley.

Things were a little more relaxed when they sat round the table. Mr Weasley took up the story from when they'd left that morning.

"Raknuk was really embarrassed. Not only for the goblins, but also because it was his son that was involved. Zakod's told all, apparently, and there weren't more than a dozen or so of them in the plot anyway. But family honour in goblins is very important, and Raknuk will have lost quite a bit of face. Arbuthnot, of course, is thinking it all through in terms of what this'll mean for future relations.

"But Harry! Going into Gringott's like that with a wand! Merlin's beard! That would have been an incident and a half if it had gone wrong. As it is, everyone's frightfully apologetic - particularly, Hermione, since you were just a guest, so to speak.

"And as for that Portkey. You should have seen Arbuthnot's face afterwards. I'm not whether he was more amused or impressed. Did you really get that from a book, Harry?"

Harry shifted slightly uncomfortably. "Promise to keep this a secret?"

"Of course."

"Well, Remus and I had been going through the book the night before. It had just arrived. I was curious about the Portkey, and so ..."

"It's usually taught to Ministry employees only."

"Well, we knew we'd be in trouble if we tried it out. But we spent some time working it out, without actually doing it."

"Just as well. And you remembered all that?"

"It was fairly fresh in my mind. And what else was there that I could use?"

"No, that was good thinking. By the way, all the Aurors found when they got there was the Dementors. Quite useful - we mopped up some more. But no sign of You Know Who. He'll be long gone. Thanks for the parchment, Hermione. Actually we didn't need it anyway - the Portkey gave away the location. A team was ready to go before we got in touch with them. Just as well they didn't pop up to investigate an unauthorised Portkey and find themselves confronting You Know Who and a load of hungry Dementors."

Hermione came in. "I knew there was something fishy about those Apparating instructions when Zakod gave me them. I mean, they were deliberately written so that you couldn't work out where you were going."

"That's right," said Harry. "That's what I thought too, but since it was Zakod, and since I'd already been doing a lot of cloak and dagger stuff, I assumed ..." He gave a shrug.

"Understandable," said Mr Weasley. "Ah, well. It could have been a lot worse."

"You can say that again," said Mrs Weasley. "Harry, do you want to stay the night?"

He hesitated. "That's very kind - I'll go back to Grimmauld Place and have a word with Remus, and get some stuff. Give me half an hour."

"That's fine. Gives me time to get supper ready."