Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything (19)

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Chapter Nineteen: Pomp and Circumstances

"Where could those children be?"

"Molly, dear, I'm sure they're just running a bit late this morning. You know how Ron is."

"I don't like it, Arthur. Something must have happened to them. What could they possibly be doing to make them so late?"

The mirror image redheads sitting between the two speakers scratched their chins in mock thought.

"Yes, what could three teenage couples be doing together? What say you, dear brother?"

"Rune puzzles? No, Ronald doesn't like words, Cooking? No, Ginevra is allergic to domesticity. My guess would be that the six of them are working on increasing their number by half."

By the time that Molly caught on to her sons' meaning and was prepared to give them a clap around the ear hole, the six teens in question were spotted coming up the aisle. Fortunately for the twins, Molly's focus shifted to her two younger children.

"Ronald, Ginevra, where HAVE you been? And what about the rest of you? I was about to send Arthur to look for you! Well, why are you all so late, hmm? Most of the students have been here for nearly an hour!"

Ginny and Luna took seats next to Penelope and Percy and shared a knowing glance with the other four. Ginny's smile drew the attention of the rest of her family.

"Why don't Luna and I fill you in on recent events while the rest of this lot go and take their seats? With Hermione being valedictorian, I'd imagine she should be getting up to the podium."

It dawned on Hermione now that she was indeed expected to make a speech after Dumbledore's opening remarks.

"Good Lord, it completely slipped my mind! We have to get down there! Come on, you two!"

Hermione grabbed Harry and Ron both by the arm and sped them down the stadium steps towards the pitch where the ceremony would take place. Since Neville still remained, only due to the fact that Hermione didn't have a third arm to seize him with, he took the opportunity to give Ginny a lingering kiss that brought comments and whistles from Fred and George. The now red-faced Neville had barely turned to follow the others when Mrs. Weasley moved down the row in order to interrogate her daughter about what, exactly, the term "recent events" meant.

While Ginny was getting the third degree, Hermione and company was streaking across the Quidditch pitch towards the Headmaster. Upon reaching him, Hermione finally stopped running and let go of her brother and fiancée. Instead of looking menacing, Dumbledore favored them with a huge grin.

"Ah, just as I suspected. The three of you are together, just as it should be. Mr. Weasley, why don't you take your seat while I have a quick word with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger?"

Ron didn't seem very happy with being separated from his best mate and fiancée, but he had matured enough in the past year to know that they had their own lives. With a quick kiss on Hermione's cheek, he turned and made his way to the back of the row of seats. Once gone, Dumbledore directed the two teens over to Professor Snape and Remus Lupin.

Harry was confused and became fearful.

"Professor, what's wrong? Is there something involving the Order?"

Professor Snape and Remus both laughed at Harry's nervousness. Remus doing this was acceptable, but Snape? Dumbledore quickly put up privacy charms and placed an arm around Lupin's shoulders. Harry and Hermione both thought things were getting a little strange, even stranger than most things involving Dumbledore. Giving Remus a squeeze, the Headmaster turned his still beaming face back to Harry.

"Everything is fine, Harry. In fact, things are better than they have been in many years. Now, I think that the hour is nearly... ah, yes, how time does fly when one is having fun."

Harry and Hermione both noticed immediately that the two Order members standing before them were changing appearances into two different Order members. They were not nearly as used to seeing the two standing before them now.

"MUM!"

"DAD!"

Harry leapt forward and hugged his mother while Hermione grabbed hold of her biological father. They had both hoped that James and Lily would be able to attend, but knew better than to expect it. They knew the danger their parents were in and appreciated the favor that Dumbledore was doing them by allowing them to be there. For the two of them, this was by far the greatest graduation gift they could have received. So great was their emotion that the telling of their recent engagements was pushed to the back of their minds, replaced by questions of how they could be there, and how long they planned to stay. Although they had all talked together recently, all of them seemed to have an endless amount of questions to ask.

Meanwhile, some thirty feet above them, another endless series of questions were being directed towards another two members of the group.

"You...You're...What?"

"I believe our ickle Ginnykins said she was engaged, dear mother. Perhaps you should get your hearing checked. What say you, brother?"

"I concur, George. They do say that hearing is the first thing to go."

"I thought the memory was first?"

"Oh, yes, I forgot."

Mrs. Weasley elbowed both of the twins out of the way, causing the two of them to fall into the laps of their respective girlfriends. Both agreed that the unexpected turn of events had worked out rather well for them.

"Ginny, you are only sixteen! I know you care about Neville, and I know that he cares about you, but engaged? Luna, why didn't you try to talk some sense into her?"

The twins, both sets, seemed to find this statement quite funny. However, they were quickly silenced by a sharp look from Mrs. Weasley. Despite the Weasley matriarch's level of anxiety, Luna looked as if she were watching a mildly entertaining tennis match.

"Well, it would have been hard for me to say anything to Ginny at the time. I was too busy proposing to Harry."

All of the Weasleys were stunned now. Even Arthur seemed at a loss. Mrs. Weasley now looked at both girls as if they had passed up seconds at her dinner table.

"You proposed to Harry? Proposed marriage? Luna, how could you do such a thing? You of all people know how emotionally fragile that poor boy is! Why would you do that?"

Luna's usual dreamy expression turned to one of a very pleasant remembrance.

"So he could say 'yes', of course. Oh, and for the delightful snogging afterwards. Harry sometimes refers to it was 'heavy petting'. I'm not sure why. We don't do any actual petting. It's mostly rubbing and stro..."

Luna was quickly cut off by Mrs. Weasley's constantly rising voice.

"Well, I can see the two of you are not nearly as mature as I thought you were. What about Hermione? Surely she tried to do something about all of this."

Luna adjusted her wand behind her ear as she shook her head.

"Oh, yes, Hermione was a great help. She thought up getting the boys on their own with us so that we could, how did she put it, oh, yes, 'have our way with them'."

Mrs. Weasley sat down heavily on her seat and grabbed at her heart. Ginny quickly attempted to clarify matters.

"Mum, what Luna means to say is, Hermione thought that if we talked to the boys one on one, they would be more apt to listen to what we had to say. The three of us girls proposed and the boys all said yes. Snogging followed, but nothing heavier than that, I promise. We'll all still be able to wear white for the ceremony."

Mrs. Weasley didn't seem overly convinced of her daughter's veracity.

"I'm no fool, Ginevra Weasley. I'm not so old that I don't remember what happened after your father proposed to me in our seventh year."

Instead of looking properly ashamed, Ginny's eyes lit up.

"What did happen, Mum?"

From behind Arthur, Bill made a comment that sounded very much like the word "me." Further comment from him was halted by another sharp look from his mother.

"Never you mind, young lady. I can't believe the nerve of you three. Arthur, do you have anything to say about this?"

Mr. Weasley cringed. When Molly brought him in to back her up, he knew he was in dire straits. Saying the right thing meant jam tomorrow. The wrong thing meant a long weekend sleeping on the couch.

"Uh, well, Molly dear, think of it this way, you'll have three more weddings to plan."

Everyone, even Luna, held her breath in trepidation of how the matron of the Weasley clan would react to this statement. After what seemed an eternity, tears began to well up in the now beaming woman's eyes.

"Oh, my babies are getting married! There is so much to plan! What time of year should we aim for? Should we have one triple wedding, or three separate ones? Should there be a Muggle priest as well as a magical one? What about a dowry? Do you think Penelope or Fleur would be pregnant by then? What about...?"

As Molly worked herself into a matrimonial frenzy, Charlie gave his sister a hug.

"Congratulations, Gin, and you, Luna. Mind you, I'd hate to be in your shoes. You do realize that mum will be on you about the wedding until you're walking down the aisle, don't you?"

Ginny seemed to take this fact in stride. In fact, she seemed pleased by it.

"Yeah, I know. Don't feel too bad for me, though. You do realize that this just leaves you as the last unattached Weasley, don't you? Even the twins have found girls to put up with them. How long do you think it's going to be until Mum makes you her current project?"

Charlie suddenly thought that dealing with a few Horntails would have been much preferable to dealing with his mother when she was on a mission.

As Charlie attempted to hide behind Bill and Arthur dutifully nodded to his wife, Ginny noticed that Luna had suddenly gone quite pale. Well, paler than normal.

"What's wrong, Luna?"

Luna's eyes darted all around as she seemed to go into a sort of trance. After a minute or two she looked fearful towards her redheaded friend.

"Something bad is going to happen, Ginny. I can feel it."

Ginny attempted to calm Luna's worry.

"Luna, all of the Hogwarts staff is here, not to mention some of the Order. This would be the last place Voldemort would show up."

Luna responded by pulling her wand from behind her ear.

"Voldemort might not, but his followers would."

As Luna was convincing Ginny of her seriousness, unnoticed Portkeys were activating. Certain members of Slytherin house had scattered them over the Quidditch pitch early in the year with a time delay set for the time of graduation to activate. Having been disillusioned before arriving, the new additions to the crowd went completely unnoticed, at least to the naked eye. In addition to Luna, someone else seemed to feel that something was seriously amiss.

"Hermione, can you hear me?"

"Harry! You scared me! I'm supposed to be getting ready to make my speech."

"Sorry to barge into your mind without notice, but we've got a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"I've picked up the residue of the Dark Mark. I've been able to feel it radiating off of Snape for quite a while now, but it's much stronger now. I can't detect Voldemort, but I can feel a tremendous amount of evil quite suddenly. Since apparating isn't possible, I'm guessing they've arrived by Portkey. I don't know how they planted them, but the fact is they're here."

Hermione, who had made her way to the podium now and was looking around at her fellow classmates, cleared her throat in order to buy herself some more time. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but she knew better than to doubt Harry's warning.

"Harry, we have to alert the rest of the Order somehow. What do you want me to do?"

"GET DOWN!"

Hermione immediately flattened herself to the ground as a wide green stream of light rushed past above her. A second's hesitation would have resulted in her instant death.

The all too familiar screaming came next. Students and parents alike were running for their lives, while faculty and members of the DA took up battle stations. It wasn't long before the enemy presented themselves.

The first person Harry noticed was Peter Pettigrew. At least, that's whom it vaguely resembled. The silvery armor that had once only accounted for his hand had since spread to cover the entire arm, the majority of his torso, and his left leg. The effect made him look more metal than man.

Closely behind him were the missing Slytherin students. Never handsome to begin with, Goyle, Crabbe, and Parkinson now looked even more like the darkness of their hearts had bled through into their physical selves.

Hosts of other cloaked Death Eaters were moving to engage everyone they could in battle. Seeing the panic erupting all around him, Harry quickly projected himself into the minds of the students and faculty.

"ATTENTION! We are under attack. Students, head for the exits immediately. Once outside, head towards Hogsmeade. Once off Hogwarts grounds, Apparate to safety. If you cannot Apparate, partner with someone who can. Members of the DA and staff will attempt to cover you. Older students should take care of any younger students. Parents, you can help us or look after the students. DA, meet me in front of what used to be the podium."

If anyone was shocked at suddenly hearing Harry Potter's voice in their heads, they didn't let it affect them. Doing as instructed, most of the students fled towards the exits as the rest of the crowd formed a line to provide cover for them.

As the Death Eaters continued to send of curse after curse, the members of the DA made their way towards their leader. Once assembled, Harry took control.

"I can sense eleven of them total. Pettigrew seems to be the one in charge. I don't know what that silvery stuff is on him, but it seems to have a consciousness of its own. His prime objective seems to be taking down the Headmaster. The rest of them are bent on causing as much death and destruction as possible. Let's try to prevent that."

"Mr. Weasley, take Bill and Charlie and try to contain Crabbe Senior and Junior. Tonks, take Dean and Fred and work on Tracey Davis and Goyle Junior. Hagrid, take George and Ginny and confront Goyle Senior and Lucius. Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Draco, you all come with me to surround Nott and his dad. Remus, Professor McGonagall, Mrs. Weasley, Neville, you take Pansy and Zabini. We may have them outnumbered, but they won't hesitate to kill. GO!"

The group all went to the appointed spots and engaged the Death Eaters in battle. As Harry had stated, Pettigrew made his way directly towards Dumbledore. At one time, this match would have been laughable, but not now. It appeared that the "living armor" Pettigrew wore strengthened his magical ability greatly. With its help, he was now quite able to challenge his former Headmaster.

The entirety of the Quidditch pitch was a battlefield. A kaleidoscope of colored hexes and spells were flashing across the freshly mown grass. After a little over an hour, Harry allowed himself the opportunity to re-evaluate the situation.

"Bill and Charlie are both hurt, but Mr. Weasley seems to be more than holding his own. He and Crabbe Senior seem to be concentrating mostly on one another. I sense a lot of animosity there that goes back a long time."

Harry looked over at another fierce battle being waged a short distance from the other.

"I'll have to have a talk with Dean. He's holding back because he's fighting with Tracey. She's certainly not. Tonks and Fred look like they've got Goyle Junior under control. I'll suggest that Tonks take over for Dean."

Harry sent Tonks a telepathic message telling her that Dean's attempt at being a gentleman might well get him and others killed. Harry then moved on to the next group of fighters.

"Damn, George's group is in trouble. Lucius seems to be focusing on Ginny. I can sense that he still feels like she should have died back in her first year. Goyle Senior is really letting loose with the Unforgivable Curses. I need to send Fred over there to help out since he's got Goyle Junior hogtied now."

Sure enough, on the ground in front of Fred was a hogtied and whimpering Gregory Goyle. Harry sent the message that he was to immediately go help out his sister with Lucius. Once he had looked over them all, Harry projected his thoughts into the rest of his compatriots.

"Hermione, you and I will go help Dumbledore. Ron, you, Luna, and Draco should take Nott and his father. If you get a chance, head over and help out with Fred, too."

Harry then cast a quick Incarcerous Ferrus to take out Nott Junior, who had been distracted by Luna, and grabbed Hermione's hand to follow him. Apart from helping the Headmaster, he also wanted to try and find out what had happened to their parents.

After a couple of yards, they came across another group of allies.

"Remus, what happened with Pansy and Blaise?"

"Molly and I made short work of the pair of them. I guess I should be thankful now that they were so inattentive in class. Minerva and Neville went to help the other students and their parents. I've sent word to the Ministry and the rest of the Order that we need back up. They should be here in a few minutes."

Harry felt slightly more at ease after hearing the good news.

"Excellent! Hermione and I are going to help Professor Dumbledore. I also have some people I want to look for."

Before Harry could run off with Hermione, Remus stopped them.

"Harry, Hermione, everyone's parents are safe. ALL of them."

Molly looked at Remus a bit oddly because of his stressing of the fact, but dismissed it. Harry, however, understood the meaning perfectly.

"I'm glad, Remus. We can talk about this later. Go help the others, and make sure all the students got out."

Harry and Hermione then ran towards the area where Pettigrew and Dumbledore were fighting, while Remus and Molly went to help out where they were needed.

Once they were within range, Harry and Hermione both sent off powerful stunning hexes at the mutated Death Eater. Deflecting them with an ease that he had never possessed in his days at Hogwarts, Peter turned to watch them approaching.

"Ah, here comes the hero. I've been waiting for you, Potter. My master will be pleased when I tell him I have disposed of you and Dumbledore both. Oh, and you brought the mudblood with you! I shall be rewarded as none of his servants have been before."

Harry tried to probe Pettigrew's mind again but was blocked out somehow by the armor surrounding him. He decided to try and distract him, instead.

"Am I supposed to be intimidated by an overgrown rat wrapped in butcher's paper?"

Peter laughed as he easily reflected another assortment of hexes that had been sent his way.

"Your father was as arrogant as you, Potter. Everyone looked up to him and your mother as if they were immortal. I was always shunted to the side like an inferior. Well, look who has survived, and who hasn't. When my master has claimed his rightful throne, I shall be his most trusted follower."

Harry dodged the curses Peter had launched back at him and continued to try and distract him enough to buy them some time.

"What do you get for being his number one follower these days, Wormtail, a better place to park your broom? You should ask for a nose guard to protect it from getting hurt when you thrust it repeatedly up his arse."

Pettigrew's face twisted in rage as the silvery substance seemed to spread over even more of his body.

"You think you are so smart, don't you? It is luck that has kept you alive this long, Potter. Unfortunately for you, that luck has just ran out."

Peter than created a magical shield around him and raised both of his arms to the sky. In the next instant, the sun's formerly strong rays became completely obscured. It was as if night had fallen in the middle of the day.

Harry could feel a sense of dread come over him. It wasn't the fear that self-loathing that pre-empted a Dementor attack, it was the feeling that something horrific was about to happen. Next to him, he could sense that Hermione was petrified in shock and terror. He did not need to look up to see what it was; he could see it through her eyes. He realized now that the Death Eaters' attack was merely the first wave of the battle. They had merely been stalling until the time was right. What had seemed seconds ago like a victory now became a near impossibility for survival.

Harry quickly projected his thoughts to all of his allies.

"ANYONE NOT AN ORDER MEMBER OR AN AUROR MUST GET OUT NOW! PETTIGREW HAS SUMMONED A DRAGON! RUN FOR THE CASTLE!"

A great river of flame came down from the sky as the flapping of the gigantic wings aided in its spreading of the deadly rain. Fighters on both sides ran for their lives as the requested backup from the Ministry and the Order finally arrived. Harry saw that Charlie Weasley and Hagrid were amongst the first to rush towards the fire-belching creature of nightmares.

Knowing that the bulk of attention would now be focused on the dragon, Harry decided that he would continue to focus on Pettigrew.

And then, just as Harry was turning his attention back to the man who had summoned the creature, a searing pain tore through his head. The last thing he saw as he fell to the ground beneath him was the face of a victorious Voldemort, and the manic smile of Bellatrix Lestrange.