Harry Potter and the Sacrifice of the Traitor

Chapter 14

The rest of the class passed in a blur for Harry: it seemed so odd to be learning to make something that they had made illegally more than four years ago. The rest of the class was chattering excitedly as they left the dungeons and headed for the Great Hall for lunch, but Harry, Ron and Hermione were silent, just looking at each other. Harry wondered why they were being taught to make Polyjuice potion - whether it was just something on the syllabus, or whether perhaps it was something that they would find useful in the battle against Voldemort. Malfoy, ominously, didn't seem at all surprised by the news. He smirked at the three friends as they passed, and Harry heard him say to someone next to him,

'Well, of course I knew what it was used for. It's going to come in very handy having some freshly made though, very handy indeed.'

Then he saw Harry looking at him, and pushed past him roughly on his way to the Slytherin table.

After this remark, Harry and the others kept a close watch on Malfoy and his cronies. The next couple of weeks, however, passed without any major incidents. There was another meeting of the Duelling Club, but this time Snape seemed to have reverted to his previous tactic of completely ignoring Harry and his friends. Harry spent the evening trying to perform the simpler charms without his wand. He did manage to disarm Ron, and even hit Hermione with a wandless Tickling Charm, but he also gave himself a bad headache, and had to go up to bed early afterwards. Wandless magic, he felt, wasn't really going to be a major weapon for the foreseeable future.

The next blow fell nearly three weeks after they had started making the Polyjuice potion. Harry was late down to breakfast, and entered the Great Hall to find everyone sitting in clusters at their tables, peering over the shoulder of anyone who had a copy of the Daily Prophet. He hurried over to the Gryffindor table, where he squeezed in next to Hermione and Ron, who were poring over Hermione's copy.

'What's up?' he asked anxiously, and Hermione pushed the paper towards him so he could see.

The headline read 'YOU-KNOW-WHO FINALLY MAKES HIS MOVE! ATTACK ON DIAGON ALLEY MADE AT NOON YESTERDAY! 30 WITCHES AND WIZARDS INJURED!'

Harry felt a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

'Who's been hurt?' he demanded. 'Has anyone been killed? Ron, is your family alright?'

Ron, his face very pale, nodded shakily.

'Professor McGonagall caught me as I came down this morning. My parents were there yesterday morning, but were just entering the Floo network when the attack happened. There was an explosion which threw them through the fireplace back to the Burrow, but they only got bruised as they fell out of the Floo onto the floor.'

He looked very shocked though, and no wonder, Harry though. If Mr and Mrs Weasley had stayed any later at Diagon Alley, they could easily have been among the injured people.

'Was anyone killed, though?' he persisted.

Hermione opened the paper and read out, 'It appears that nobody was killed in yesterday's attack, although several witches and wizards are in St Mungo's being treated for curses, and for broken bones caused by the attack. It is not clear whether He Who Must Not Be Named intended only to terrify our community, or whether it is a matter of good fortune that no lives were lost.'

Harry suddenly felt absolutely furious.

'How dare he?' he growled. Hermione and Ron looked startled.

Harry went on. 'How dare he ruin peoples' lives, people who had never done him any harm. Well, I'm not putting up with it any longer. You know what the Prophecy says.' Hermione made shushing noises, looking nervously around them, but Harry just lowered his voice and swept on. 'I don't want to kill someone, but if it's the only way to stop him doing this, then I will do it if I can find a way.'

Ron was looking half impressed, half scared, but Hermione just looked terrified.

'But Harry, you can't just rush off now, you don't know what to do!' she whispered.

'I'm not saying I'm rushing off now,' snapped Harry. 'I learned that lesson last year, don't you think?' It was the first time he had spoken so sharply about the events of last June. 'But when the time comes, if I can do something to stop him, then I will.'

He suddenly found he was ravenously hungry, and as the groups of other students looking at the paper gradually started to break up, he sat down, helped himself to sausages, and hacked at them viciously with his knife.

Their final lesson that day was Muggle Studies. Professor Biddle started the lesson with an announcement, standing in front of the class with an uncharacteristically serious look on her normally cheerful round face.

'Now then class, I was going to give you details of the proposed field trip into the Muggle world today,' she said quietly. 'However, after the events of yesterday, I'm sure you will understand why we cannot make the longer trip that we had originally envisaged. On the other hand, Professor Dumbledore feels that it should be safe enough to make a short trip to a Muggle town, and do some, ah, shopping or sightseeing there.'

The class burst out with excited questions and she held up her hand to quieten them.

'We haven't worked out all the details, but it will probably be next week, and you will be heavily supervised. The same rules that we spoke about earlier will of course apply - you must not perform magic, or talk about magic, or do anything suspicious, in front of the Muggles. You must not even refer to them as Muggles, is that clearly understood?'

The class nodded, and she smiled.

'Well then, we should be able to have some fun. Now then, on to our next lesson - how to catch a Muggle bus or train.'

The class was very excited about the class, chattering about it in the common room after dinner. Hermione and Ron were snuggled in one of the big squashy armchairs, talking quietly about where they might be going. Ginny had challenged Harry to a game of chess, and he was rapidly discovering that she was nearly as good as her older brother. His pawns were already in trouble, and throwing disgusted looks up at him whenever he suggested which square they should move to. It wasn't that he had forgotten the attack on Diagon Alley, but that he had decided there was nothing he could do immediately, so he would wait and be ready for whatever happened next.

'What's up?' asked Ginny quietly, after Harry had lost the third game in a row.

'Nothing,' he muttered, and then felt rather rude, seeing the hurt look on her face. 'Sorry Ginny, I just keep thinking about the attack today.'

Ginny's face immediately became pale and serious, and Harry kicked himself. He had almost forgotten the near escape of Mr and Mrs Weasley.

'Have you heard anything more from your parents?' he asked her quickly.

'Not since we were told this morning that they were alright,' she said. 'I don't think Professor McGonagall would say that if they were badly injured, but if there was something wrong, how would we ever find out?'

'You could borrow Hedwig if you wanted,' Harry suggested. 'Write to them to make sure they're alright.'

Ginny's face lit up, and Harry found himself thinking how lovely she looked, with her red hair glinting in the firelight, and her eyes sparkling happily.

'Oh Harry, could I? I'm sure they are fine really, I'd just feel better if I could hear from them directly. Do you think', she blushed slightly, 'that we could sneak up to the Owlery now?'

Harry considered this. It wasn't very late yet, and they ought to be able to get back to the common room before getting in trouble. 'Come on then,' he said. 'Do you think we ought to take Ron and Hermione?' He looked in their direction, then looked hastily away as he saw Ron kissing Hermione again.

Ginny glanced over at the armchair too, smirked, and said 'I don't think they'd really notice if we left, do you?'

Harry flushed, and the two of them got up quietly and left the common room. They went up to the Owlery, where Hedwig was sitting with the other owls, stretching their wings in preparation for the night's hunting. Ginny wrote a quick note to her parents, and then Harry called to Hedwig.

'Would you be able to take this to the Burrow tonight please? It's quite important.' Hedwig came swooping down to them, and nibbled Harry's ear affectionately. They tied the note on, and watched from the window as Hedwig flew away into the night.

'Thank you, Harry,' said Ginny, making him jump. He hadn't realised she was quite so close. He turned and looked down at her large dark eyes, feeling almost as if he could fall into them ....

CRASH!

They leapt apart as a loud crash came from the floor below. 'Someone's coming!' muttered Harry. 'Quick, hide in this corner!'

They fled into a dark corner of the room, as the door was flung carelessly open, and Draco Malfoy stalked in, followed by Crabbe and Goyle. He glanced around, then summoned his Eagle owl down, and tied a note to its leg.

'Get to the Manor quickly,' he ordered it. 'This news is very important for my Father's plans to escape.' The owl flew off. Harry and Ginny hardly dared breathe, hoping that Malfoy would say something more that would let them find out what was going on, but all they heard was another crash as Malfoy swept from the room, the other two trailing behind him.

'Now that was interesting,' said Harry thoughtfully. 'Is Mr Malfoy planning to escape from Azkaban? Only Si...' he cut himself off, then reluctantly continued. 'Only Sirius ever managed it before.'

Ginny looked at him sympathetically, but said nothing about Sirius. They left the Owlery and walked quickly back to the common room, lost in their own thoughts. As Ginny had said, Ron and Hermione hadn't even noticed they had left, but Harry didn't really feel like talking any more anyway.

'I'm going to bed,' he told Ginny. 'See you in the morning.' He went up to the dormitory, took off his robes, and lay in bed, thinking. What was Malfoy up to now? And why did he keep wanting to fall in Ginny's bottomless eyes?

The next few days passed quickly. Mrs Weasley had sent Hedwig straight back with a note confirming that they were fine, just slightly bruised from falling to the floor, which Ginny, Ron and the others were all relieved to hear. The Daily Prophet reported that the injured witches and wizards had now all been released from St Mungo's, and life seemed to be carrying on as usual. Professor Richards sometimes seemed to look surprised at how little help Hermione needed with the Polyjuice Potion, which would now be ready in another week, but had not yet asked any difficult questions. At the weekend, Hagrid sent a note inviting the four of them to tea. They went down to his hut after lunch, taking care to eat well first.

Harry grinned when he saw Alex cropping the grass outside the hut. He waved, and the Thestral lifted his head inquiringly, then trotted towards him.

'I'm sorry, I didn't think to bring anything much,' he apologised. 'I've got some mints in my pocket, would you like them?'

The Thestral sniffed delicately at the sticky mints Harry pulled out, then took one and chewed it thoughtfully.

Ron laughed. 'That really does look weird, Harry,' he said.

Harry grinned, and patted Alex for a while, the Thestral rubbing his nose against Harry's neck. Then he said goodbye, and they knocked on Hagrid's door. They heard Fang's booming bark, and then Hagrid opened the door, grinning widely.

'Alrigh', you four?' he asked. 'Come on in then, the kettle's on'.

They trooped inside and were offered large sticky slices of Hagrid's home made fruit cake. Hermione and Ginny politely refused, and Harry and Ron took a slice between them, which they secretly fed to Fang under the table.

Harry asked Hagrid if he had heard anything more about the Diagon Alley attack, but Hagrid shook his head firmly.

'Even if I did, I wouldn' be telling you lot. I know what you're like, you'd be rushin' off to investigate stuff,' he frowned down at them. 'But I'll say one thing, this might be the last straw for that idiot, Fudge.'

'What do you mean, Hagrid?' asked Hermione, leaning forwards.

'Well, you know he hasn't been too well lately, what with the shock he got last summer an' everything,' said Hagrid.

They all nodded eagerly. 'Well,', continued Hagrid, 'They say he's in a state of near collapse now. Reckon they'll have to get a new Minister before long. Specially if the Death Eaters do branch out like the Order...' he suddenly broke off as Hermione's eyes lit up.

'So you do know something about it then, Hagrid,' she gasped. 'Go on, do the Order know if he's planning further attacks?'

Hagrid glared at her. 'I ain't sayin' one more word on that. Now, how abou' this class trip I been hearing about?' and he refused to say another word about the Order or the attacks.

They walked slowly back up to the castle as dusk was falling.

'That was an interesting slip,' said Hermione thoughtfully. 'I wonder what he knows?'

'More than we do, as usual,' said Harry rather bitterly.

After supper Harry worked hard on his wandless magic - if there was a possibility of further attacks, he wanted all the practice he could get, in case he was in a position to do something.

But the next few days were quiet and peaceful. Hermione seemed to have given up her extra lessons with Professor McGonagall, and now spent a lot of time in the library with Luna. Neville and Ron weren't too keen on this, but the two girls seemed to be getting on better as they searched through large and dusty volumes together. Harry wasn't sure what they were looking for, but assumed it was something to help him defeat Voldemort. He himself couldn't think of a way, and it was starting to affect his sleep. Instead of dreaming constantly about Sirius, he now often woke up with a jump from dreams where he had tried desperately to perform magic, and found that nothing worked anymore.

One day next week, after breakfast, Professor McGonagall came over to the Gryffindor table as they were getting up.

'All sixth year Gryffindors over here, please,' she said, as they gathered around her nervously.

'Today you are going to a short class trip to a Muggle town nearby,' she told them. 'Please go and get your cloaks, and meet in the Entrance Hall. A special stop has been arranged on the Hogwarts Express, to take you to a Muggle station.'

They rushed upstairs and got their things, and ran back to the Entrance Hall to find the sixth years from other houses already there.

'Oh no, why do we have to have a trip together with Malfoy?' moaned Ron.

They were reminded once more not to use or speak of magic, at risk of expulsion, and then they piled into the carriages and were taken to the station. The scarlet steam engine was already at the platform, and they got on board. Harry, Ron and Hermione took special care to sit well away from Malfoy - they felt that any contact with him would be bound to risk a magical duel taking place.

The train set off with a jerk and a blast of its whistle, and for about 30 minutes they chuffed through the bleak hills and mountains surrounding the castle. Then they felt the train slow down and stop, and Professor McGonagall came through the carriages, collecting all the students. The platform seemed much the same as the ones at Kings Cross and at Hogsmeade, with a magical ticket barrier set up. Professor Biddle went through the barrier first, and the sixth years were sent through in twos and threes every few minutes. Eventually they were all grouped together on the Muggle side of the station.

Harry looked eagerly around him to find out where they were. He had never been anywhere except Little Whinging really, the Dursleys certainly would never have spent money on taking him on any trips. Just above his head, he saw a large plastic sign reading 'Edinburgh'.

'Ooh, I've never been to Edinburgh,' said Hermione keenly. 'There's lot of interesting things, I've heard. There's a Castle, all sorts of historic streets, there's the Queen's official residence, lots of busy shopping streets ...'

'Hermione, you sound like a tourist guidebook,' complained Ron. 'Can't we just enjoy the trip?'

Hermione looked rather affronted. 'Well, I think it's much more enjoyable if you know something of what you're looking at, but if you want to be ignorant ...'

At that point a quarrel was averted by Professor Biddle calling out their names and presenting them with small amounts of Muggle money. There was a lot of quiet whispering and giggling from the pupils like Ron and Seamus, who had never or hardly ever seen Muggle money. Then the group was led out of the station and onto the street, where a light drizzle was falling.

'Now then class,' said Professor Biddle quietly. 'Who can remember how to hail a bus, and how to find out where it's going?'

Hermione's hand as usual shot into the air, but Professor Biddle chose Ernie McMillan instead, beckoning him closer so that there was no risk of Muggles overhearing. He answered correctly, and they were shortly all on a bus riding up to the Castle perched high upon its rock.