Tales of a Spiritual Warrior

Chapter Eleven: The Summer Before the War

The first of July was a beautiful, sunny, cloudless day. When Harry heard the doorbell ring he didn't think anything of it. If a salesman was trying to sell something to Aunt Petunia, Harry knew he would soon be off with a flea in his ear. Harry had certainly not expected to see anyone from Hogwarts before his birthday, but to his great surprise, Dudley came running up the stairs as if the devil were at his heels, and quickly, before barricading himself in his bedroom, told Harry to go downstairs.

Harry looked down the stairs cautiously, and was delighted to see Emmitt Lovegood and Remus Lupin in the hallway. The look on Aunt Petunia's face was one Harry would never forget. She was frozen against the wall, looking horrified.

"Harry," said Lupin urgently, "get your things. Make sure to take everything. We're taking you away and you may never be coming back. Something serious has happened."

"Is it Voldemort?"

"Yes, Harry. Please hurry," Lovegood said quickly.

"Wait a minute!" wailed Petunia. "Who are you? And where is he going? As long as he stays here, we are supposed to be safe from Voldemort! If you must take him, what will happen to us?"

Lovegood looked at her, more angry than Harry had ever seen him. "We are taking him somewhere safe. Trust us, unlike you, we have only his welfare in mind."

Lupin added, "The Order of the Phoenix stands against Voldemort, now more than ever. And as long as you do not involve yourself in the business of the wizarding world, while a single member of the Order still lives, you will remain safe here. Dumbledore has seen to it."

"Which is more than you deserve," Lovegood said angrily. "You did take Harry into your home, and that kept him safe as a child. For that I cede you the protection you are allowed. But I know you used him and abused him, and for that I will not forgive you. If you ever do anything to harm Harry or our cause, I will see you exposed."

"I have nothing to do with wizards!" Petunia cried.

"But from what I hear, you have a nosy nature, and a big mouth," Lovegood snarled. "Keep it shut, or Voldemort will shut if for you, after he gets done using YOU."

Harry got his things together, and brought them downstairs. Aunt Petunia had fled, and Harry was now very concerned. Something serious indeed must have happened to make the normally good-natured Mr. Lovegood so angry and Professor Lupin so worried.

"We'll be taking a portkey to the Quibbler offices in Diagon Alley," said Lupin. He took Hedwig's cage, and told Harry to hold tightly the handle of his trunk. He then produced a piece of rope with three knots in it, and checked his watch. They all took hold of a knot, and Harry felt a familiar jerk as he left Privet Drive. When they arrived in Mr. Lovegood's office, Harry looked back and forth between the two men.

"Now," Harry said, "tell me what has happened."

"We knew Voldemort and his followers had left Eastern Europe and were headed west. They arrived in France sometime last week." Lupin hesitated. "They killed the Delacour family."

"Fleur?" Harry whispered.

"No," Lupin said heavily. "Fleur was here in England with Bill. Her parents and her sister were the ones who died."

"I considered Mr. and Mrs. Delacour friends of mine," Mr. Lovegood told Harry. "They helped me set up my office in France. Voldemort either struck at them to get at Fleur for being involved with the Order, or to get at me for my association with you."

Harry was horrified. An image came into his head of a young girl, with long blonde hair and a sweet smile, holding his hand. He felt sick, and angry. "What happens now?" Harry said, his voice tight.

"For now you will stay in Diagon Alley," Lupin answered. "Dedalus Diggle moved there recently. He's living in a flat near Gringotts. He's a very gifted apparator. You will be staying with him. He will be teaching you the basics, and as soon as you turn seventeen, you'll be able to take your test. It's very important that you know how to apparate. I will go to him now. We have a few last minute details to discuss. Then I will come back and get you and your things." Clasping Harry on the shoulder, he left the room.

Harry looked back at Mr. Lovegood. "If you think it's too dangerous to have me around anymore," Harry said, his voice tight, "I'll understand."

"Harry, I will not abandon you. I don't care how close Voldemort gets to me. I will never do anything to give him an advantage. I believe in you." He smiled slightly. "If you go down to the press office, I think you'll find someone else who does, too."

His heart lifting for the first time since he'd left Privet Drive, Harry left the editor's office. The press office door was open, and Harry heard a dreamy voice. Luna was sitting in front of the small fireplace, talking softly to someone in the fire that Harry could not see or hear.

"Guten Morgen...Ja, bitte...Ich weiss nicht. Ich spreche nur ein wenig deutsch." She shuffled through some papers on her lap, and then continued. "Danke! Das ist sehr nett von Ihnen, aber ich finde schon alleine hin...Prima! Vielen Dank."

Luna sighed and shook her head. Whoever she had been speaking to had obviously vanished. When she got up, she noticed Harry standing in the doorway, and went to him. He hugged her tightly. "Oh, Lu, I'm so glad to see you. But what are you doing?"

"Dad is still trying to start a German version of the Quibbler. I've been trying to help, but my German is awful." She looked up at him, suddenly sad. "Did they tell you about..."

"Yes, and it makes me furious. If Voldemort wants me, why doesn't he just come and get me instead of striking all around me?"

"Harry! Don't say that! It's not your fault, and you're not ready anyway. And some good has come out of this. Voldemort has some rogue goblins and giants on his side. They are dangerous. It looks like his goblins killed those people, but it's good in a way, because goblins and giants can't apparate. They have to travel over land, and that makes it harder for them to get around, and it makes it harder for them to hide. "

"Have you heard anything about what the Order has planned for me?" Harry sat down in the desk chair, and pulled Luna onto his lap.

"As far as I know, you're going to stay with Mr. Diggle. The extra security around Gringotts is supposed to be an advantage. You'll work with him in the mornings on the theory behind apparation. If he doesn't take you to lunch, Dad and I can come and get you. You can come here in the afternoons, but you have to be back at Mr. Diggle's flat by dark. You can't go anywhere without an adult wizard being with you until you can apparate."

"Oh, great."

Luna laid her head on Harry's shoulder. "At least I'll get to see you. I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too." Harry kissed her, and she began to kiss him back, but a startled gasp from the door, caused her to climb off his lap with a disappointed sigh.

"Is this standard business practice now? I must have missed the memo." Albert Braddock eyed the two teens with obvious distaste.

"Just a little reunion," Luna said, smiling sweetly. "If you came for the rent projections from Hamburg, they aren't ready yet. They'll get back to us tomorrow."

"I'll look forward to that." He left, rolling his eyes.

Dedalus Diggle was a very good apparation teacher, but he was so in awe of Harry, that Harry was often able, when he was tired of practicing, to get Diggle started on some story that went on until Harry could escape at lunch time. The day before Harry's birthday, they had lunch at the Leaky Cauldon, and when it was time for Mr. Diggle to walk Harry to the Quibbler office, Harry convinced him he could just go on home. "I want to talk to Tom about the reservations for my birthday party. Luna and her father are having some of my friends here for dinner, and I want to make sure we've got the largest private parlor. I'll be fine. It'll only take a minute, and then I'll be back in Diagon Alley."

"Oh, all right, Harry," Diggle said. "Just promise me you'll go straight to the Quibbler office afterwards. How's the job going, anyway?"

"Smashing. It's really interesting. I love it." Especially, thought Harry, the storage cupboard next to the art department. With help from Libby, he and Luna were occasionally getting in a little private time.

Harry talked to Tom about the party, and made him promise not to let Mr. Lovegood pay the bill. Even if it was Harry's birthday, he was determined not to let Mr. Lovegood go to any expense. Harry felt that he owed Luna's father enough already.

Harry was happy as he left the pub and went out into the small, walled courtyard. A he took out his wand, he noticed the weeds were more overgrown than ever, but he never noticed the rat hiding behind the trash bin. Harry was just about to tap the bricks above the trash bin, when a hand closed down hard on his arm, knocking Harry's wand away from him. Looking down in horror, he saw that the hand was silver.

"Wormtail!"

Harry began to struggle, but the metal hand held him tightly. Wormtail began to fade out, and Harry realized to his horror that Wormtail was apparating out of the courtyard. Harry was being kidnapped, and he cursed himself for being stupid enough to wind up in this position. Something was going wrong, though. A great weight seemed to be hanging around Harry's neck, holding him to the ground. Wormtail was almost completely gone now, except for the silver hand, but Harry wasn't going anywhere. The strange weight pulled him to his knees, and he heard Wormtail swear loudly. Then Wormtail was gone, and Harry, gasping for breath, fell to the ground. When Harry next opened his eyes, he was in the room he was using at the flat near Gringotts. He hear shouting coming from the next room, and sat up, rubbing his neck, which was a little sore.

"We told you not to leave him alone!" That was Lupin.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Diggle whined. "Who would have thought a Death Eater would attack in Diagon Alley?"

"He wasn't in Diagon Alley, you idiot!" That was Emmitt Lovegood.

Harry then heard another voice. "Daddy, please! We've had Harry examined and he's going to be all right. He just needs some rest. Mr. Diggle meant well. Let it go. What's done is done!"

"Luna," Harry called to her, his voice raspy.

The shouting in the other room stopped, then everyone came pouring into Harry's room. Luna arrived first, and sitting on the edge of the bed, she clung to him, tears in her eyes. "Oh, Harry, you're awake! You were out for hours. We were so worried about you!"

"It was Wormtail," Harry whispered.

Madam Pomfrey stepped forward. Harry was shocked to see her. He had never known her to leave the Hogwarts grounds. She looked him over again quickly, and said, "He's fine, really."

Harry was doubly shocked to see Snape standing in the doorway. "If you are ready to return to the castle, Poppy, I will go with you. I will do some checking and see what I can find out about Wormtail's present whereabouts."

"He tried to take me away," Harry said confused, "but he couldn't. Something went wrong. Something was holding me down."

A voice from the doorway made them all jump. "That would have been your rune necklace."

"Professor Dumbledore!" Luna looked up at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

Dumbledore entered the room, as Snape and Pomfrey left it, and looked back at Luna calmly. "When Harry showed it to me last year, I put a charm on it to protect him. Forgive me, Harry, but I wasn't sure I could trust you to behave." He glanced over his glasses sternly. "You do have a certain disregard for rules we set up for your safety. The necklace was the one thing I could be sure you would always have on you. When Wormtail tried to take you, the chain held you down."

"You knew he was going to try and kidnap me? Why didn't you just tell me that?"

"I did NOT know that he was going to try to kidnap you. Would it have mattered if I had? I don't know. All I knew was that I had to try everything I could think of to guard you. The pendant will hold you down if anyone tries to take you anywhere against your will, and if you ever lost, hold the arrow rune in the palm of your hand and it will point the way. Forgive me, Harry?"

Harry considered this, then smiled ruefully. "On one condition. Whatever you did to my chain, do it to Luna's chain, too. I bought her a necklace in Hogsmeade last year that she never takes off, either. Her life means just as much to me as mine does, maybe more."

"Very well." He turned to Luna. Give me your chain." Luna held out the silver moon charm trustingly, and Dumbledore took it in his hand. It glowed brightly in the darkening room. "There! If anyone ever tries to apparate Luna anywhere against her will, the chain will hold her down, and if you are ever separated, Luna will be able to see you reflected in her pendant. Are you satisfied, Harry?"

"I will be, if you will join us for my birthday party. You've already given me one of the best gifts possible. You should at least get to eat with us."

Dumbledore smiled. "I would be delighted. We can talk there about the special Dark Arts lessons you'll be taking. I'm going to teach you myself for the time being. " Mr. Lovegood, Professor Lupin and the headmaster all looked at each other and smiled, but Harry was too tired to wonder what they were up to.

At Harry's party, while the adults talked quietly at their own table, Harry and Luna quickly told Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny about the attempted abduction behind the Leaky Cauldron. Because of that, and because the sad news of Fleur's family was still on their minds, Harry's birthday was not very happy, but they were all glad to see each other. They managed to eat their way through a delicious dinner and splendid birthday cake.

They were all anxious to get back to school. Harry was a bit concerned about his apparation test, which was scheduled for the following morning.

"Just don't splinch yourself, Harry," Neville told him. "I wish Gran would let me take the test. She made me put it off. I wish she'd at least let me try. I've decided to go into Healing, and healers need to be able to apparate, in case of emergencies."

"I can't wait until I can go," Hermione said. "I'm supposed to take it in Hogsmeade the first weekend after my birthday. I've been studying the directions like mad. If I don't pass the first time, I'll just cry. I want it over with so I can concentrate on my N.E.W.T.s."

"Herimione, we don't even start seventh year for another month! No one wants to think about N.E.W.T.s," Ron groaned. He turned to Harry. "So, what did you decide to do about auror training?"

"I don't want to work for the Ministry," Harry told him. "I don't know what I do want to do, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually."

"I wish you'd change your mind, mate," Ron told him. "I thought we'd be able to get through it together."

"We'll see."

After Harry saw Dumbledore and his other friends off, he turned to Luna, who was waiting say goodnight. "I wish I could spend more time with you," he said, holding her close, fully aware of her father, Lupin, and Diggle talking right outside in the hall.

"We'll walk as far as Gringotts with you," Luna offered.

"I know, but that's not what I had in mind."

She smiled, and whispered in his ear, "I know exactly what you had in mind, Mr. Potter. Be patient."

Harry blushed.