Harry Potter and the Guild of the Night

Chapter 35

Midmorning the next day found Remus helping Harry back to the suite, with Sirius limping along beside them. Madam Pomfrey had been reluctant to let Harry leave but the fact that he was merely tired and sore did not give her a strong argument, particularly when Harry was adamant that he would recover better in familiar surroundings. Sirius had opened his mouth to comment that the Hospital wing was familiar surroundings but had subsided at a glare from Remus.

They walked into the suite to find Harry's Battle Guard sprawled on cushions on the floor and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape sitting in chairs waiting for them. Remus deposited Harry on the couch and sat down beside him while Sirius also limped his way over to the couch and flopped down on the other side of Harry.

Harry settled himself comfortably and then looked around expectantly. "Alright, are any of you hurt?" he asked bluntly.

There were chuckles from many in the room.

"Honestly Harry, of everyone here, you, Severus and I were the only ones that spent more than one night in the Hospital Wing," Sirius said with a grin.

"Yeah, Harry," Ron said cheerfully. "We got a few bumps and bruises and Neville and Luna had a couple of small gashes and we all got knocked out and deafened for a day or two by the explosion but other than that, we made it out of that whole thing basically intact." He paused for a moment. "Which when you think about it is pretty much a first for anything we've been involved in."

Harry and the others laughed then Harry turned to his godfather and guardian. "What about you two?"

"A black eye and some bruised ribs," Remus said calmly before grinning wryly. "Which are almost healed. There are some times that I'm glad I'm a werewolf and injury recovery is one of them."

Sirius gave a laugh. "I think I was the worst off out of everyone," he said wryly. "I obviously landed awkwardly when we got thrown by the explosion and I broke several things in my shoulder. Poppy's fixed it up and as long as I don't go swinging from the rafters for the next couple of weeks I'll be fine."

Harry grinned then looked over at his teachers expectantly, an eyebrow raised in question.

Dumbledore smiled, a twinkle in his eye. "Well funnily enough, I was awfully well protected during the battle, Harry, so other than being terribly tired for a day or so, probably because I'm so terribly old, I'm fine."

"I am perfectly well, Mr Potter," Professor McGonagall said primly then she softened. "We were far more worried about you, Harry."

"I am...well," Snape said slowly but with an odd air of triumph in his voice. Harry cocked his head as his sensitive hearing picked up that note of triumph.

"You seem pleased about something," Harry observed lightly.

Snape raised an eyebrow and the students were startled to see a very amused light in his eyes. "Yes, I am," hissed Snape in Parseltongue.

Harry's mouth dropped open in surprise. "What? How?" he stammered.

Snape's lips twitched into a small smile. "Something about my encounter with your Runespoor. I...used Legilimancy to enter his mind. It does not seem to have affected me in any other way however."

Harry smiled and shook his head. "Somehow it seems more appropriate for a Slytherin to be a Parseltongue." Harry looked around with a frown. "Where's Master Nhean?"

"The Aurors and some of the Unspeakables have appropriated him," Dumbledore replied with ripples of laughter in his voice. "They were rather impressed with your Battle Guard, Harry, as well as his and your skills. They wish to learn what you have but Nhean is being somewhat evasive with them. I believe he was apparating back to the Guild Academy today to speak with the Council about the problem."

Harry nodded with relief and then he drew in a deep breath. "Alright, tell me the worst."

The mood in the room dimmed and everyone looked around at each other before the Headmaster sighed.

"The casualties on our side were not too great, Harry. Some members of the Order that you had not met and some Ministry personnel. Of those you do know...Firenze and Professor Sinistra from the teaching staff; Ernie McMillan, Zachariah Smith and Colin Creevey from the students."

Harry bowed his head; though the numbers were fewer than he had thought there would be, they were still too many for his peace of mind. The others watched him with sorrow on their faces then Ginny stood up and walked over to him. She gently lifted his head and kissed him then settled herself in his lap and wrapped her arms around him, much to the delight of Sirius and Remus. Harry wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her hair. They sat there for a minute or so then Harry shifted Ginny slightly in his lap and looked up at the Headmaster again.

"Who else was hurt?" he asked solemnly.

"Fred and George Weasley as well as Bill Weasley were badly hurt," Dumbledore said gently. "They were taken to St Mungo's and their prognosis is excellent. Molly and Arthur are with them. Nymphadora Tonks had her hip badly broken; she will be fine but will probably be left with a permanent limp. Alastor Moody is suffering from the after effects of repeated exposure to the Cruciatus curse but is expected to recover. Professor Flitwick is still being affected by some of the curses he received. It's left him with an odd tendency to break out into show tunes but the experts at St Mungo's expect it to wear off in a few days. Seamus Finnegan and Blaise Zabini have suffered from extensive bruising, apparently due to being thrown against the castle wall repeatedly by a disgruntled Death Eater. Cho Chang, Michael Corner and Susan Bones are suffering from a particularly strong but somewhat intermittent version of the Jelly-Legs curse so if you see them lying on the floor, do help t! hem out. Millicent Bulstrode is walking around in quite a temper but I gather that has little to do with the battle itself. Oh, and Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Theodore Nott and Tracey Davis are currently in the Hospital wing suffering from a truly remarkable assemblage of curses and a severe lack of memory as to how they received them. This is somewhat concerning as they were believed to be safely locked up in the Slytherin dormitory at the time." The Headmaster's voice was remarkably lacking in concern at this last statement and his eyes twinkled.

Harry swallowed and breathed a sigh of relief. It was not as bad as he had feared; then his eyes narrowed. "And what about the Death Eaters?"

"Ah well, we have already spoken about Voldemort," Dumbledore began. "A number of them were killed or rendered unconscious during the battle and more were captured after your defeat of Voldemort but a few are still on the loose."

Harry groaned. "Don't tell me - Draco Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and Pettigrew."

"Very good, Harry. Absolutely correct," the Headmaster replied. "I'm afraid those four were not to be found. Draco's disappearance was well-documented but the others, well, what happened to them we cannot say."

Harry sighed. "Of all the Death Eaters to escape, it had to be them."

"Yes, it is unfortunate," Dumbledore mused, "but reports from those who confronted Bellatrix Lestrange during the battle indicate that she is quite insane. This will undoubtedly hamper Pettigrew and Draco rather than help them."

Harry nodded in reluctant agreement. "So what happens now?"

"Now you tell us what happened with you?" Sirius jumped in. "For example, why did you suddenly attack the Death Eaters?"

Harry blinked. "Oh! I was trying to force the issue."

"What?" Sirius said blankly.

"I was trying to force the issue," Harry repeated. "I was trying to get Voldemort to come out of wherever he was hiding. I mean the whole point of his attack was to get to me and all staying within our own lines was going to do was get more people hurt or killed." Harry shrugged and grimaced. "So I forced the issue. I didn't expect the shielding spell to fail so quickly though. That was a bit of a miscalculation. I should called the retreat much sooner than I did to allow us to recast the spell. I messed up that one."

Hermione frowned. "Not really, Harry. I mean we've used that spell a number of times but I don't think we'd ever been hit with that many curses and hexes before. You weren't to know that that would shorten the effective period of the spell."

"I still should have anticipated it," Harry said firmly. "I knew the spell was affected by what was cast against it; I should have guessed that it would fail earlier if overly-stressed."

"Harry," Hermione said firmly, "I didn't know that would happen. Now if I didn't know, why should you be expected to know?" She flipped her hair back and affected a prim expression that strongly resembled Professor McGonagall's best. "I am the smartest student in the school after all."

Everyone stared at her for a moment and then the room was filled with laughter.

"You're right, Hermione," Harry said, still chuckling. "You're right. I just...well, I didn't exactly plan to draw Voldemort out in quite that way." He sobered and shook his head. "I could have gotten you all killed."

"I don't think so," Neville said mildly. "That would have kind of spoiled things for him, wouldn't it?"

"What brings you to that conclusion, Mr Longbottom?" Dumbledore asked.

Neville threw his hands out. "Well, V...Voldemort wants to triumph over Harry, doesn't he? Well, to do that he kind of needs an audience. If he'd killed us, he'd have been missing the most important part of his audience. The horrified and desperate friends."

"Very astute," the Headmaster complimented.

Neville blushed and Ron grinned at him. "Now Neville, you're going to ruin your reputation as a bumbling incompetent if you keep making intelligent and coherent comments like that."

The adults all looked horrified as Harry and his friends collapsed in laughter. They had become accustomed to Neville's ability during their many training sessions but they knew that many of their fellow students only saw Neville as he had been in their first few years. Neville didn't exactly help himself as he was still very shy and reserved in classes. Harry and the others spent a great deal of time teasing Neville about this. The adults stared at them, somewhat baffled, until Hermione finally took pity on them.

"We tease Neville all the time about his schizophrenic tendencies," she said with a laugh. "He's Mr Confident and Skilled in our training sessions and Mr Meek as a Lamb into his classes. Strange boy." She said this last affectionately.

The adults smiled in understanding then Professor Snape scowled fiercely at Harry.

"Now I would like to know what on earth possessed you to try Legilimancy on the Dark Lord," he said acidly.

"I was kind of hoping you'd forget about that," Harry said ruefully to a muted chorus of chuckles. He shook his head slightly. "I...I don't really know why, sir. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I got in really easily; I didn't think I'd be able to do that. I...think maybe I was just hoping to distract him so that I could cast a spell at him." He shrugged. "I just didn't expect to be able to get in like that."

"You got in easily?" Snape queried with a frown.

"Yes, pretty much immediately," Harry replied.

"Odd," Snape mused.

Harry started; remembering something that had almost slipped his mind. "That wasn't the only thing that was odd," he said in a strange tone before looking over at the Headmaster. "Professor Dumbledore? How widely known is the Priori Incantatem effect caused by duelling with brother wands?"

"It's not overly well-known," Dumbledore replied with a curious look. "It doesn't often happen. Why?"

"Well, when Voldemort confronted me, he told me to pull out my wand. He wanted to duel with me and he said something about me not having the advantage of phoenix magic this time." Harry frowned. "Maybe that's why I could get into his mind so easily; because he was so surprised about the Priori Incantatem happening again."

"Voldemort did not realise that the two of you share brother wands?" Dumbledore asked keenly.

"No," Harry said. "I think maybe he thought what happened in the graveyard was some magic of yours. Who really knows?"

Dumbledore frowned and shook his head. "Very odd," he said quietly.

Harry sighed and leaned back. "So what happens now?" he asked.

"There will be a memorial service for the teachers and students who were killed in the battle," Dumbledore said quietly, "and then classes will resume. There are still things to learn and exams to take."

The students groaned and the adults chuckled.

*********************************************

The remainder of the school year passed peacefully. The memorial service had been simple and profound and although many of the students complained, resuming classes the next day had been a good idea. Getting back to normality had settled things down greatly. Master Nhean had agreed to take over Professor Sinistra's Astronomy classes until the end of the year and many students came up to Harry to tell him how much they liked his teacher.

Pansy and her little group of fellow Slytherins recovered completely except for their memories of what happened to them. The story of what they had done had gotten out none-the-less and they very soon found themselves ostracised. Blaise, Millicent and the rest of their group of Slytherins on the other hand found themselves much admired for their stalwart defence of Hogwarts. This made them wary and suspicious at first but they soon came to accept it. The members of the DA were very pleased with themselves. They had been publicly praised by Madam Bones and they were all to receive special awards along with the other defenders, with the ceremony to be held at the end of year feast.

The Quidditch final had been held, with the two teams being Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. After a long and hard-fought match, Gryffindor had won by twenty points. They had been trailing badly, suffering from the loss of one of their Chasers, when Harry had caught sight of the purple flash of the snitch and he had chased hard and fiercely to catch it. The spectators, which included Charlie and a recovering Bill Weasley, had widely agreed it to be the best game of Quidditch the school had seen in years. Charlie had been enthusiastic in his congratulations to the Gryffindor team and had conceded that it was possible that Harry might be a better Seeker than he was. This instantly resulted in an invitation to Harry to join the next Weasley Quidditch game to find out.

After the final, they had all had to face the fact that exams were rapidly approaching. While their sixth year exams did not count towards their NEWTs, they were used as general indicators as to how well they were going. Hermione had immediately drawn up study timetables for her four fellow Sixth-Years and extra ones for Ginny and Luna for their OWL revision. There had been much groaning and complaining but everyone had agreed that they should stick to them. Dumbledore had informed Harry that they had made special arrangements for his exams. As he could not actually read an exam written on paper it had been agreed that he would be allowed to use the device Hermione had given him for his birthday and he would be permitted to use a dicta-quill. He would also have a silencing spell cast around him by the teacher supervising the exam so that he did not disturb the others. Master Nhean had also informed him that he too would be conducting an examination of his training; both t! he physical training and the theoretical work he had been assigned. He had also been told by his teachers that during his practical exams he would be required to attempt each task using both his wand and wandless magic.

Professor Snape had told him that he would also be sitting a special potions exam, both theory and practical. Harry's skills in potions would never be great but he had taken some good steps towards being able to brew some of the more basic potions. He had to do this strictly by rote and with great concentration. Many mistakes broadcast themselves by colour changes in the potion itself, something which Harry could not see. He had to make sure he followed the instructions absolutely in order to achieve an acceptable result. While he was informing Harry of this Professor Snape had also taken the opportunity to finish the conversation that Harry had deflected after the battle. He had spent time describing Harry's choice of Legilimancy in terms that were sarcastic, snide and decidedly caustic. Some time was spent determining the extent of Harry's intelligence. Harry had managed to listen to the entire thing without grinning; he knew he had scared the taciturn and surly Potions! Master with his actions and this was how Snape traditionally reacted to being scared. Harry had apologised and promised to work harder on his mental discipline with him.

All of this consideration of studying and exams had the result of steadying Harry considerably. He had been quite upset by the deaths that had occurred and not even the best efforts by Sirius, Remus and Professor Snape had been able to convince him that they were not his fault. Professor Snape in particular had been quite abrasive and sarcastic in his words but they had had little effect. But the intense concentration of studying had had the effect of allowing Harry to take a step back from the events of the battle and had allowed him to gain a little bit of perspective. That was when what he had been told finally sank in and he gradually stopped blaming himself for something that he could not have stopped.

Eventually they reached the night before their exams and once again they gathered in Remus and Sirius' suite.

"Mione, can't you put the books down for once," Ron groaned as he collapsed on a cushion in front of the fireplace.

"Ron, these exams are very important," Hermione chided as she looked over at her boyfriend.

Ron was looking at her with a very plaintive expression. "Hermione," he said firmly, "you are so far in front of the other students you cannot possibly fail. You've pushed the rest of us so hard that we are all up to date in our studying. I don't think we're going to fail. Can't you take just one night off?"

Hermione opened her mouth to argue with him then sighed. Harry had noticed that the two of them were much more inclined to compromise these days. Ron studied more and Hermione relaxed more. Harry thought it was an improvement.

Hermione put her book down. "I suppose so," she said with a smile and crawled over to join Ron on his cushion.

"Good," Ron said firmly.

Harry and the others chuckled and Ginny snuggled further into Harry's embrace. They were lying on the couch in the reverse of the positions they had taken in the Gryffindor common room that night before school started. Neville and Luna were also lounging together on cushions on the floor. Harry and Ginny and Ron and Hermione had been amused when Neville and Luna had gone down to Hogsmeade together during their last free weekend. They had only just realised that their fellow Battle Guards had started feeling that way towards each other but they were pleased for them and had endeavoured to give them plenty of space whenever they could.

"So what's happening with you this summer?" Ron asked Harry lazily.

"Um, we're staying here for a bit then we'll be going to Grimmauld Place again," Harry replied. "I've asked Dobby whether he would like to work for Sirius, Remus and I." Harry chuckled. "He was literally bouncing up and down he was so happy at the idea. Winky will be coming along as well and Professor Dumbledore's allowing Dobby to 'borrow' some of the Hogwarts house-elves to help clean up the place. I think their first task is going to be to get that portrait down or else Sirius might do something drastic to it."

"Are you paying them?" Hermione asked severely.

"We'll be paying Dobby," Harry replied. "But Winky threatened not to come if we tried to pay her. Sirius and Remus talked it over with Dumbledore and Sirius has offered her a position at Grimmauld Place serving the Black family. She cried when he made the offer to her she was so happy and she accepted it pretty quickly."

Hermione looked disapproving and Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "Winky leapt to accept the offer, Hermione," he said firmly. "You can't force them to accept being paid. That's just wrong. You can introduce them to the idea but if they don't want to embrace it, that's their prerogative."

Hermione scowled for a moment then reluctantly nodded.

"So you get to have a good summer for once then?" Ron asked, trying to change the subject. "Mum and Dad'll want to know whether you're going to come to the Burrow at all. I think they were talking about inviting all three of you."

Harry grinned. "Yeah, that'd be great. Maybe Charlie, Bill and Percy could get some time off work and we could get that Quidditch game going."

Ron grinned back. "Yeah, that'd be great. Oh! I almost forgot." He shook his head. "Well, you already know about what Percy did for the order this year, don't you?" Harry nodded. "Well, he's been going home for dinner a lot since the battle. Mum's really happy about that. Anyway, she owled Ginny and I yesterday; she wanted Percy to move back home but he refused. Apparently he and Penelope Clearwater are getting married. Mum's over the moon."

Ron rolled his eyes and Ginny groaned. "Over the moon doesn't even begin to describe it," she said. "She's been waiting for this ever since Bill graduated. I suppose this will take the pressure off the rest of us for a while though. At least until she starts getting anxious for grandchildren."

Ron groaned again. "Don't even whisper that idea anywhere near her," he said with a tragic expression as everyone laughed.

"So you and Hermione and Ginny and I should start worrying then, should we?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Oh no, we're fine for the moment," Ginny said. "She wants us all to finish school first but once you guys graduate she'll start dropping hints to Ron and then she'll start on us after I graduate."

Harry laughed and Neville and Luna began teasing them. This continued until Remus and Sirius walked in from the staff meeting they had been attending. The two men stared at the laughing teens and shook their heads.

"They've gone bonkers from the pressure of exams," Sirius said grinning.

"I hope not," Remus observed mildly. "Because if they have with all the preparation they've done the rest of the students are a lost cause."

The teens got themselves under control and Harry looked up at his godfather.

"So why did they want you to go to that staff meeting?" he asked.

"They've offered me the Astronomy teaching position for next year," Sirius said blandly then grinned at their reactions. "I've accepted too. I wasn't the best student of Astronomy at school but I did enjoy it." He grinned mischievously. "I think I'll make sure everyone knows where the Dog Star is."

There was general laughter and Harry blinked back a few tears. He had expected Sirius to perhaps go back to the Aurors and had set himself for not seeing his godfather during the next school year, consoling himself with the fact that Remus would still be there, thus breaking the curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching position. He knew he was perhaps being a little clingy but he wanted to have Sirius and Remus around; he'd had too many years being amongst people who didn't care about him to want to avoid it now.

"Sirius, Remus," Ron said. "Mum wanted to know whether you guys and Harry would be coming over this summer." He paused and grinned at them. "Better say yes or Mum'll kill you."

The two Marauders laughed. "Well, in that case," Remus said. "Of course we will. Tell your Mum to let us know when and we'll be there."

**********************************************

Two weeks later they were all lying on the grass next to the lake, idly watching the giant squid swim around. All of their exams were over and they were finally relaxing.

"Seems a little weird, doesn't it?" Ron said lazily.

"What does?" Harry replied equally lazily.

"Not having death, disaster and chaos hanging over our heads at the end of the year."

"Well, strictly speaking we haven't always had that," Harry said. "It's just this is the first year where we haven't had to think about Voldemort and I haven't had to go back to the Dursleys because of the protections."

"Speaking of the Dursleys," Neville said, plucking blades of grass, "do you know how they are doing?"

"No," Harry said firmly then he shrugged. "I can't really bring myself to care at the moment. I...may write a letter to my aunt but...I don't know."

"I'm sorry, Harry," Neville said, throwing the grass down. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Harry gave a small laugh. "You didn't, Neville, so don't worry. I refuse to let them get to me any more."

There was a companionable silence for a while.

"Has anyone heard anything about Draco?" Ginny asked finally.

Harry blinked. "Oh yeah," he said. "I forgot to tell you guys. Draco is apparently back at Durmstrang, minus one eye and with a severe limp." There were grins at this news. "Apparently it hasn't done much for his disposition. He's been telling anyone who cares to listen that he's going to get me."

"You don't seem worried," observed Luna.

"Compared to Voldemort and his father, Draco is a lightweight," Harry said dismissively. "Dumbledore's going to keep an eye on him but I don't think Draco has the courage to back up his threats. He ran pretty quickly during the battle, didn't he?"

There were chuckles of agreement and they once again lapsed into silence.