Harry Potter and the Elements of Valor

Chapter Five: Unexpected Discoveries

Mac was grumbling to himself. It was the evening before they were to go to the Department of Mysteries and he and Harry were alone in the parlor. The rest had gone off to bed an hour ago, but Harry was still reading over his mother's notes, while Mac was working on something at the desk. Harry thought Mac had been quite surly the past few days. "Emm...Mac, is there something wrong?" Harry asked.

Mac looked over at him, a scowl gracing his face. "Wrong? Yes there damned well is something wrong, young Harry," said Mac, who seemed to have been waiting for an opportunity to unload on someone. "That cursed Dumbledore has snagged me in hasn't he? I told him I'd come teach, as a favor, for one year. Now he has me staying on, and taking on this to boot." He brandished a letter he had been reading. Before Harry could ask about the letter, Mac stormed on, "I told him I wanted nothing to do with his little war, but I ended up part of the battle, the night young Ginny was rescued. Now he's got me doing a mission with you and Granger into the Ministry of Magic. So much for staying out of the thick of things!"

Harry wasn't sure what to say. "Mac, I know you wanted to stay out of it because I heard you tell Dumbledore so. You don't have to come tomorrow. Maybe someone else could do it," Harry said "I hope you know I really appreciate all you've taught me...and thanks for taking my side."

Mac's face softened into a craggy smile. "Young Harry, I took a liking to you as soon as I met you. You've got character, boy, and heart. I feel honor-bound by my friendship with your grandfather to keep you from being used by these noble-minded fools. I thought I could do this, but remain on the sidelines as it were. I've no stomach for seeing more young wizards that I've trained, sent up against bad odds, and sent to their deaths by those who want to move the chess pieces on the board," he said.

Mac sighed heavily, "I must confess it isn't working. I can see that in order to be of help to you, I'll need to ask the question that I haven't wanted the answer to. I'll need to know the black secret at the bottom of all this. Dumbledore has offered but I refused to listen and I'll not ask him. It is your secret, or destiny, or bane, and not his. Young Harry, if we are to go into the Department of Mysteries on a quest for information, I'd like to know what is at stake. However, you should consider well before you tell me. Whatever it is, it caused the capture and torture of young Ginny. That means it's something deadly, and it also means there is already a leak."

Harry looked at him. "I don't mind telling you the prophecy. I thought you might even have seen it when we did Occlumency training," replied Harry.

Mac face twisted, "There is a prophecy? That's what's driving all this?" To Harry's surprise, he let out a small laugh, "I'm sorry boy, but I've never put much stock in Divination."

Harry looked away. Wouldn't it be nice if the prophecy were so much nonsense? Unfortunately, whether it was or wasn't, Voldemort believed it, and for good reason. Harry found he didn't want to try to justify something that would likely be the death of him. Before he knew it, he had stood up to leave. Mac caught his arm.

"Sorry, boy," he said. "I should think before I speak. Go on, tell me this prophecy."

Harry felt rather silly telling the prophecy to Mac, knowing that he had scoffed at the idea. It made a part of him feel a bit mad for believing it. Harry explained the entire thing in a flat voice, trying not to indicate his own feeling of being trapped by the thing. When he had finished, he explained what Dumbledore had told him about his and Neville's birth. He explained too that Voldemort had only the first part of the prophecy and that he had killed Trelawney and then captured Ginny to get the remaining piece.

"So, based on this prophecy, Voldemort has been trying to kill you since you were a year old? He's had several goes at you, all unsuccessful, obviously, and now we're training you so that you can kill him...but no one knows how to do it?" Mac sighed and shook his head, "Brilliant... really brilliant plan, that."

Harry did not know what to say. He was tempted to defend what Dumbledore had done, but in reality, he too thought it a bit weak. Hiding and learning ancient magic was all Dumbledore had come up with.

Mac looked hard into Harry's eyes. Harry was sure Mac's voice cracked a bit as he spoke, "And so you asked me to teach you the Avada Kedavra curse last year because you felt like you were unprotected...because he could do the curse and you could not."

Harry nodded his head.

Mac rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger and sighed, "It's a sorry state of affairs, make no mistake. It doesn't matter whether the foul prophecy is real or a fiction, Voldemort believes it's true and unless you want to hide out your entire life, you'll have to face him."

"Yeah," said Harry quietly.

Harry, Hermione and Mac were set to apparate to the atrium of the Ministry of Magic on Friday afternoon. Their goal was to see if the Department of Mysteries contained any useful information regarding Elemental Magic. Harry particularly wished to find the paper his mother had written nearly twenty years before. Dumbledore did not hold out much hope that anything of value could be learned; however, Harry saw Dumbledore and Mac with their heads together in the garden that morning and he was sure Dumbledore was giving Mac some instructions about what types of things to look for.

A pass had been secured so Mac, along with two student helpers could do research in the library of the Ancient Magical Studies area. Mac had prepared them for the changes within the Ministry itself. There was now tight security and some areas had listening spells placed on them, so conversations could be monitored. It was not safe to say anything one did not want overheard.

The atrium echoed with the pop that signaled Hermione's arrival at the apparation point. Mac had apparated first, followed by Harry. Harry saw he had arrived in an open area cordoned off with a heavy velvet rope attached to gleaming golden posts. Most of the workers had left early anticipating the weekend, and the cavernous space was quite empty, as Mr. Weasley had predicted it would be. Aurors stood guard, wands at the ready, near the only spot within the Ministry that was now open for apparation. Due to the recent terror inspired by Voldemort and his death eaters, the Ministry had placed heavy anti-apparition spells on the entire place. Only this single spot remained open.

The aurors looked churlish and quickly checked Mac's pass, then pointed them all toward the security desk near the golden gates. "Pass," demanded the bored wizard at the security desk. Mac presented the parchment note that would allow them temporary access to the Department of Mysteries, and then leaned casually against the man's desk. Harry kept the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and avoided looking up at the security wizard as his wand was inspected. Hermione chatted with Mac about the atrium ceiling and the meaning of the golden symbols that wound their way across it, while her wand was also inspected. The security wizard finally issued them all small badges to pin to their clothes. Harry's simply said Hogwarts Student - Research Project. This was just fine with him.

Once they had been logged in, the security wizard pointed, unnecessarily, toward the golden gates and the lifts beyond. Mac walked rapidly toward them with Harry and Hermione behind him. Remus and Mad-Eye Moody were standing near the gates as they approached, pretending to be deep in conversation. Remus gave Harry a quick wink as he passed.

Soon they were descending amidst many bumps and grinding noises, down to the ninth floor. Mac looked irritated as the lift clunked to a halt and the cool female voice announced, "Department of Mysteries."

"I really dislike this place," Mac said as they stepped out into the corridor that led to the, all too familiar black door that used to haunt Harry's dreams. "Least secure place in the wizarding world," giving a bit of huff as he led them forward. It seemed as though Mac knew his way around here. He walked right up to the door to the Department of Mysteries and pushed it open, motioning them inside. "Ancient Magical Studies," he said gruffly, before the doors in the round black room had a chance to start spinning. The doors moved slowly around three positions, clunked to a stop, and Mac strode forward toward the one that had opened directly in front of him. Harry and Hermione followed, glancing at each other. Harry wished he would have had a clue how the door system worked on that night a year ago when he and the others had come here to find Sirius.

They stepped through the doorway and found they were in a kind of laboratory, similar to the room that held the time turners, and the large bell jar. There were long tables standing in the center of the room and shelves of books lining the walls. A stooped wizard in the far corner was turning pages in a book and examining an object that resembled an urn set upon the table next to him. Along one wall was a glass case that was filled with an assortment of what looked like wizard's staffs, large glowing crystals, and other oddments. Set along the far wall was a large door with heavy, strange carvings upon it. Over the doorway was a sign that simply read Restricted.

A witch that Harry recognized as Emmeline Vance came toward them. "Conner MacNessa," she said politely. "It's been a long time." She took his hand.

"Emmeline, good to see you again," said Mac, taking her hand graciously. "I didn't know you worked in this department."

"Yes," she replied. "Research is my passion." She gave a little wink. "Dumbledore explained your visit of course, but I'm afraid you've come at a bad time, though. There are very few workers in the building. I can get you started, and then you'll have to work on your own. Most of my colleagues have left for the day."

"Imagine that," said Conner, with a hint of a wink back. "Well, we'll just have to soldier on ourselves. Just a bit of a school project, you know."

Emmeline led them through the restricted door. Beyond it was a short hall with a room to the left and a door straight ahead. There was the musty smell of old parchment here. Emmeline leaned closer to them and whispered. "Start with the shelves near the back wall and to the right." Then she steered them into the room to the left, which housed an impressive collection of books, old wooden file cabinets and a few tables and mismatched chairs.

Emmeline took them forward to a clear orb mounted on a tall strand in the center of the room. "This orb can point you to the materials you seek," she explained rather loudly. "Just ask it, and it will tell you the shelves to search." She leaned toward Mac and whispered, "Highly inaccurate." She raised an eyebrow at him and then she strode to the door. "I'll return in two hours to collect you. Good luck," she said as she swept from the room. Harry lowered his hood and checked his watch. Hermione, now clearly in her element, moved to the shelves Emmeline had indicated and began running her finger along the spines of book after book, checking their titles.

Mac approached the orb and made a show of saying, "The theory surrounding Elemental Magic."

The Orb glowed blue and an ethereal voice said, "shelf number twelve, center aisle five."

Mac grunted and then began to take parchment and quills from the bag he was carrying and placed them on a table. Hermione quickly accumulated a large stack of books that she laid on the table and she and Mac began flipping through them. Harry went looking for documents and reports instead of books. The file cabinets were the logical starting point.

Harry walked over to the row of cabinets and pulled the first drawer open. The files had little yellowed tabs on them announcing the name of the author of each report. This should be simple, thought Harry. He shut the first drawer and moved along until he found the drawer labeled P.

Dust floated upwards as he ran his fingers over the folder tabs in search of Potter. Pingle... Porter... Potter, there it was. Harry pulled the file out and sat down at the nearest table. Inside were several short reports, penned in the same hand as his mother's notes. The first read, A Discussion of the Uses of Gold in the Magical Ceremonies of Egyptian Snake -Cult Wizards. The next was entitled, Locations and Properties of Enchanted Obelisks of Britain. The final item was a single sheet of parchment that said Lily Potter was going to take a leave of absence due to pregnancy and that research concerning protection spells of the Druids had been passed on to a wizard named Morris Timberlake.

The report that Harry was looking for did not appear to be among these. Where could it be he wondered? Had it been lost? He sat sullenly for a full minute before it hit him. Harry jumped up again and returned to the files, this time searching out the drawer labeled E, for Evans. How stupid, he thought to himself. Sure enough, there was a much thicker file under the name Lily Evans, and he wrenched it from the packed drawer.

This file also contained several reports, but one was much larger than the others were. It was entitled, Calling upon the Elements, Magic of Great Power, Harry flipped through the report. At a quick glance, it was hard to tell if it would provide any new insight. There was a section concerning control, which could be valuable. He wouldn't have time to spend going over it carefully now. Mac had told Harry they would simply take away any document of interest, and hope not to be caught. Harry placed it in front of Mac, who nodded and set it aside.

They spent the time allotted to them combing through books and tracing references. Lily's report was the only thing Harry thought worth the time. Most of the book references Hermione located did nothing to add to Harry's knowledge or understanding of the spells. He was beginning to think that Dumbledore had sent him here just as a way for the three of them to pass a dull afternoon. Then something quite unexpected caught Harry's eye.

Hermione was showing him yet another reference in which some shriveled old sorcerer had claimed he could move a mountain at the command of some king, if paid a lot of gold. This was a storyline, now common in their readings. Harry's eyes flitted across the page, as Hermione whispered to him about the sorcerer and the king, Harry's attention wandered to the next page. The word Lycanthropy caught his attention.

As Harry gazed at the passage Hermione's voice faded in his head. The passage was devoted to werewolves. It was explaining that the bite of a werewolf could be reversed

and it referenced a book. Harry stepped back from the table, feeling a rush of excitement. He'd seen the book that was mentioned in the text. He knew he had. He'd seen it right in this room.

"Harry!" came the annoyed voice of Hermione.

"Just...wait," he said, sprinting down the far aisle and scanning the titles. He was looking for Octonarius Magnus Metamorphosis. He had seen that title just a few minutes ago. He remembered because he wondered briefly if Octo meant six or eight? Harry ran his hand over the edges of the books as he scanned spines for the one he wanted. And, there it was. Harry pulled an old battered book carefully from its shelf and returned to the table. Hermione was shaking her head in an exasperated manner and searching through yet another book, but Mac was eyeing Harry with curiosity.

"What do you have there, boy?" he asked.

"Maybe it's nothing," said Harry, but expectation was swelling in his chest. He flipped the pages and found the text was hard to read. Some of it appeared to be English but much of it made no sense to Harry. He showed the cover to Mac and asked him if he could translate it.

"Eight powerful transformations, or something of that kind," whispered Mac.

Harry plopped down and leafed through the book. It took him several minutes to find the section he was looking for. At the top of a worn and ragged page was the word, Lupin, in ornate, hand-penned letters. "Sir," asked Harry, "does the word Lupin have some meaning?"

"Yes, young Harry, it's Latin for wolf," said Mac.

The information that followed was in some arcane form of English, from which Harry could gather little. However, the pictures, as in the old book Dumbledore had showed them concerning the Mark of Domination, told the story.

Harry carried the book to Mac and laid it in front of him, then stood waiting. Mac glanced up at Harry and then down at the book. Hermione too, leaned in to look. Mac finally let go a low whistle. "Interesting," he said quietly. "Extremely interesting, young Harry." Then in a very low whisper, he said, "Quite a find. I wonder if the Ministry realizes they have this?"

Harry shrugged and whispered back, "The book was really dusty...I don't think anyone's looked at it for a long time."

"Is it...?" Hermione asked, squinting at the page.

"Maybe a cure for Remus," whispered Harry, "and others like him, too."

"Oh my!" said Hermione aloud. "Can you translate this?" she asked Mac, but he had already begun making some notes.

Emmeline Vance rapped softly on the door and then opened it. "Your time is nearly up," she announced. Then she came to their table and bent low, whispering, "You should clear out now. The Minister has learned that you three were in the building and he's on his way down to see Harry. Apparently, he has some rather unsavory characters with him and Arthur Weasley says not to let them find you working in the records room. I'll be out in the lab area and I'll try to stall them till you can clear up."

After the door was closed, Mac scowled. "That huge git. Look you two, if there is anything you want to take along, lay it in a stack here on the table."

Hermione looked questioningly at him then seemed to catch on. "You mean we're going to steal documents?" whispered Hermione aghast.

"The word, girl, is borrow. We are borrowing documents, which, by the way will never be missed. Haven't you noticed the layer of dust over everything?"

Harry laid the two files on the pile along with the book containing the werewolf cure and several that Mac had been perusing. Mac waved his wand and transfigured the stack into an ordinary looking writing quill, which he placed in his bag. They replaced the rest of the books and then headed for the door.

Voices were coming from the laboratory as they stepped through the restricted doorway minutes later. "Minister, it's so nice to have you visit our little corner of the Department of Mysteries. Would you gentlemen like a cup of tea?" Emmeline was saying.

"No need to trouble about that," said Ludo Bagman rocking on the balls of his feet and sporting his usual boyish grin. Harry recalled Bagman's strange reaction upon running into him in the hallway of Hogwarts after his escape from St. Mungos. Spotting Harry, Hermione and MacNessa, he said enthusiastically, "There's the boy I was telling you about." Bagman came forward and pumped Harry's hand. "Harry this is Heathcote Barbary and Gideon Crumb. And you are?" he said turning to Hermione.

"Uh...this is Hermione Granger, and this is Professor MacNessa," said Harry jerkily making introductions.

Bagman turned to his guests, "They're here to do a special project for school, over the summer holiday and all... very impressive." Harry thought he detected a note of condescension in Bagman's voice. The other two men were standing mildly by, but Harry felt very uneasy.

Just then, Kingsley Shacklebolt burst in the door, looking anxious. "I was leaving the building when I heard from Alastor Moody, that he'd seen you come in today, Harry. How are you? Are you having a good summer? Quite a piece of flying you did last year at Hogwarts when the match was attacked. I have told so many people about that one," he said laughing appreciatively. But, Minister, you were there too. It was quite something, didn't you think?" Kingsley seemed to be talking a bit to fast.

Mac began to nudge them toward the door as the conversation about the disastrous Quidditch match of the following year continued. Kingsley, Bagman and his guests trailed along. The group got into the lift and soon were back on the entrance hall level. Bagman and the two dodgy wizards continued up, while Kingsley stepped out with Harry, Hermione and Mac, saying he'd walk with them to the entrance.

Once they reached the apparition point, Kingsley gave them a knowing nod and said, "Get back home quickly, I don't trust those two with Bagman."

Hermione went first and Mac shook Kingsley's hand as Harry apparated.

Dobby was calling everyone for dinner as Harry Hermione and Mac entered the cottage after their trip to the Ministry. Mac set down his bag and told them both they'd review the materials they had lifted from the Department of Mysteries on a full stomach. "A thief has to eat too," he said laughing jovially.

Harry had a hard time concentrating on chicken and potatoes when a load of potentially valuable information was lying in an old leather satchel in the hall. Once Harry had finished his meal, he quickly went to the bag and pulled the enchanted quill from it. He laid it on the hall table and removed the transfigurment charm, returning the books and reports to their normal forms. It was hard to decide what to tackle first. Harry was tempted by both the werewolf ritual and by his mother's notes. In the end, He opted to read his mother's paper, as he could do nothing with an ancient text written in an arcane language. Mac and Hermione would have to sort that out.

Harry took the research paper, walked outside, and sat down on the front steps to the cottage. The sky was growing dusky but there was still light enough for reading. Two hours later, however, Harry was forced to conjure candles to help him finish. Once he had begun, he didn't wish to stop, or to move. There was definitely something here worth his attention. When he reached the end, he stared off into space for a bit and then paged through the report again looking for the one passage that had made the trip worthwhile.

Ron joined him as the sky darkened to velvety black. "What are you reading?" he asked.

"It's my mum's paper," he said vaguely. "Ron, would you try something with me?" Harry asked. "An experiment?"

"Sure," he relied.

Harry reread the passage: This magic may be able to be increased in power by increasing the power of the one casting the spell. Ancient texts claim wizards can draw on additional power to feed the spell but there is no description of this ever having been done...

"Umm," Harry said casting around for a way to test out the hint of an idea woven into his mother's words. He could tell she didn't understand it when she wrote it, but after months of practice with Elemental spells, he could see the point. Harry rose and Ron followed him. He walked to the bon fire area and piled a few logs and sticks in the place then set them on fire with his wand. He watched the fire for a moment. "I'm going to do a spell, without my wand. I'm going to draw power from you as I do it. If it works, we may be able to raise this fire off the ground. It could make you feel a bit weak. I don't know exactly what will happen." It was a lot of fire, and Harry knew he could not move it upward himself. Ron nodded.

"Should I do anything?" he asked.

"I don't think so," said Harry. Then he added, "It may not even work. We'll have to hold on to each other, though."

Harry concentrated on the flame and grasped Ron's wrist and Ron clasped Harry's. Ron signaled he was ready and Harry worked the spell. Harry cleared his mind and then concentrated on the flame, letting the power of the spell sweep through him. Then he began to sense power flowing into him to support the spell. It must be coming from Ron he thought. Harry pushed the spell harder and the bonfire flame began to rise. Harry felt thrilled and focused even harder. Soon the flame had risen several feet above the ground and with a final effort, it popped loudly and disappeared.

He turned happily to Ron who looked pale and weak kneed but was still upright. Harry had felt the power of the spell definitely increased, being linked to Ron. "That was fantastic," said Ron, breathing hard. "I feel really weak right now, though."

"These spells drain you," replied Harry. "Maybe you should sit down?"

"Good idea," said Ron dropping down onto the ground. Harry started imagining the possibilities. Perhaps with more practice, he and Ron could bring off an even more impressive display. His thoughts were interrupted when Ron spoke. "That was really strange," he said. "Is that how you feel when you make that storm thing?" he asked.

Ginny and Hermione strolled into the garden at that moment. "What's up?" asked Ginny.

"I just tried something I picked up on in my mum's report," said Harry, lowering his voice. He explained how he'd tried to link Ron and himself to cast a stronger Elemental spell.

"It really worked too," said Ron enthusiastically from his spot on the ground.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," said Hermione. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Hermione, I'm fine," said Ron. "Don't fuss so much."

"Listen," said Harry, as he sunk down on the grass next to Ron. There was no one else in earshot. "Listen, I don't know what difference it will make, but I'd like to keep this little experiment quiet for now. I don't want anyone else but us to know about it, Ok?"

"But surely, you're going to tell Dumbledore what you discovered?" said Hermione.

"Not even him," said Harry with finality. Then seeing the look of skepticism on their faces, he said, "Look at it this way. Dumbledore trusted Snape and Snape betrayed him. I need any advantage I can get in a fight with Voldemort. The more people that know about this, the more chance of a leak. Look what happened to Ginny with the prophecy. You and Ron were going to be next, Hermione. This has to stay secret, at least until I know if it could help or not. Agreed?'

They all three nodded and murmured their ascent.

By the end of the night, they had discovered that Ron was by far the strongest link for Harry, and that adding a third person did absolutely nothing, whether the third person held Harry's other hand or Ron's free hand. In fact, when Hermione and Ron had each held one of Harry's hands, the spell hardly worked at all. Harry had the feeling that the flow of the force needed to conjure the fire spell was confused or disrupted somehow using three people.

Harry surmised that having someone hold Ron's other hand did not work because Ron could not perform the spell himself, so he couldn't channel the extra power to Harry.

Harry did not attempt to use the air spell. He wanted to work on the control issue more before subjecting Ron to it. If he, Harry, ended up on the ground from casting it, who knows what damage could be done to Ron. No....he needed far more control before trying anything that potentially dangerous.

Mac had gone off to bed by the time they all came back in the house. The spell book Harry had found was gone. He was sure Mac had it with him. Harry decided to call it a night.

The next day, Mac looked up at him as he entered the dining room for breakfast. "Let's get cracking on that spell book after we eat, shall we?"

Harry nodded.

"Find anything in that paper of your mother's?" Mac asked.

Harry avoided looking at Mac and concentrated on pouring pumpkin juice, "Not really."

"Too bad," said Mac, turning a page in the newspaper.

After breakfast Harry, Hermione and Mac poured over the books they had borrowed. They used the large dining room table. Hermione immediately began taking notes and making lists of references. Harry, however, had a book open in front of him but was not concentrating on it. He was more interested in watching Mac, attempting a translation of the Lycanthropy ritual.

"I've met Remus Lupin you know," said Mac without looking up from his translation. "Seems a nice sort. Another of Dumbledore's little club."

Harry watched Mac as he scratched some more notes and then continued, "I'm sure you know boy, that the life line of a werewolf is very short. It just takes too much out of you, what with the constant transformations, say nothing of the dangers in the dark. It drains your life force too fast."

Harry waited.

Mac finally turned to Harry and said, "There is a potion that needs to be made. Here, take a look."

Harry got up and took a seat next to Mac. He glanced down through Mac's notes. "We'll need to use that potion aging spell you taught me. Look at the timing," said Harry reading over the complex set of instructions again. Harry had resisted telling everyone about the notation they had found in the old spell book that purported to be a cure for werewolf-ism.

"I just wish there was a way to test it before feeding it to your Mr. Lupin," said Mac. "I don't like this combination of ingredients here," he said pointing to the book.

No, thought Harry, he didn't fancy consuming something containing dragon's blood and essence of belladonna. It sounded poisonous to him. "Could we test it on an animal first?" asked Harry.

Mac seemed to be deep in thought. "What? Oh, I don't think it would present a fair test of the results. I was thinking that I might know someone who could give us an answer." Mac smiled and raised his eyebrows but would say no more.

George returned from the joke shop in the evening with a stack of heavy parchment envelopes bearing the Hogwarts crest. He passed them out to Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. "Rather thicker than normal," he said as he handed the final one to Harry. Silence fell as they ripped open their school letters. Hermione was by far the fastest reader and so when she gasped a few moments later, none of the others knew what was wrong.

"Did you see this!" she shouted. "Well I don't know how that can work, after all..." she said heatedly.

"What are you on about, Hermione?" asked Ron.

"This," she said, holding up a two page letter from Professor McGonagall.

Harry normally skipped the welcome letter from McGonagall, as it was always more or less the same, giving the time to catch the train at Kings Cross station. He had turned instead to the list of schoolbooks. Now he shuffled the pages and began to read Professor McGonagall's letter.

Dear Students,

Another term is approaching and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stands ready to educate all young magical students. However, due to recent events, the Ministry of Magic has demanded that the school train, the Hogwarts Express, be idled at this time. The Ministry fears that a trainload of students would present far too interesting a target to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his death eaters.

The Ministry feels that any mode of transportation involving a large number of students could prove disastrous. We cannot disagree with this logic and therefore, Hogwarts offers the following options for transportation to school:

Those 'of age" may apparate to Hogsmeade and carriages will run from the station to the school regularly beginning on August twenty-eighth and continuing until September third.

Or

Floo locations have been established at the Three Broomsticks, Shrivenshafts, and the Hogsmeade Owl Post Office. Contact the location of your choice by owl for a time slot.

Or

The Knight Bus can transport students to the gates of Hogwarts.

You must understand that Hogwarts cannot guaranty the safety of any child until such time as they are safely inside the Hogwarts grounds.

I hope that this situation will not deter students from attending school. In the event that a family decides against returning their students to school at this time, a study curriculum may be obtained by return owl. Special O.W.L. testing can be arranged through the Ministry office for Education and Magical Training. Further information is available upon request.

The staff of Hogwarts School wishes all parents and students to know that the utmost care will be taken to insure students' safety during the coming year. We are mindful of parents concerns and are happy to address them.

Signed,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

"Wow," said Ron, "No Hogwarts Express!"

"Seems so," said Harry, trying to digest it all.

"I'll bet a lot of students don't come back this year," Ginny said.

Harry shook his head. Hogwarts was like his home. He couldn't imagine parents keeping their children away or children not wanting desperately to go there.

MacNessa came into the room as they all were discussing this turn of events. "Hogwarts letters?" he asked, gruffly. They all looked at him, nodding. "Sit down, why don't you." They all took seats. "The Ministry is a bunch of bloody fools most of the time. In this case, I'm not so sure. They could put a heavy guard on the train and they could add some magical protections, which I believe, Dumbledore has offered to do, but if there were an incident, the magical community would immediately blame the Ministry. The other problem is that providing a sufficient guard for the train would mean no protection to speak of anywhere else. The Ministry wants everyone's heads down." Mac continued darkly, "They sent the dragons back to Romania after the attack by the death eaters on Hogsmeade. Those dragons did more harm than good in the end. The Ministry had hoped that the tent city around Hogsmeade would clear out and of course rampaging dragons were enough to scare most of them away before the Ministry had to make any announcements about their removal."

Mrs. Weasley's owl followed the next day. It told Ron and Ginny that they could choose to stay home or return to school. She said that they had faith in Dumbledore and the integrity of the Hogwarts grounds and would leave the decision up to Ron and Ginny. Fred or George were to bring their answers home and take care of purchasing any books in Diagon Alley.

How they would get back to school was a point of discussion. Harry, Ron and Hermione could now all apparate. Ron and Hermione had taken the test just after school had ended. Neither had much difficultly learning how to do it, having been taught by Bill Weasley the week before they left for France with Hermione's parents. Ginny had not learned apparation yet, and sorely wanted to. Harry thought it only made sense, as knowing how to do it might have saved her torture at the hands of the death eaters. He argued his case to Dumbledore the next time the headmaster made an appearance.

Dumbledore listened for a bit and then threw up a hand to stop him. "Harry, I can not comment about Ginny being taught apparation before she is of age. I can only tell you that Arthur has asked Conner to give Ginny some private instruction this week, before school term begins." His blue eyes twinkled brightly as he surveyed Harry. Harry smiled back.

"What about her being underage though?" Harry asked.

"There are ways to keep such things quiet and with the current climate of confusion within the Ministry...well," said Dumbledore. "Also, Harry, in war, some rules must by need be broken," he said seriously.

"What about the rest of the students?" Harry asked.

"I am afraid that many parents will keep their children at home this year. The Daily Prophet has run photos of the Quidditch stadium from last years attack and they have been questioning the overall safety of the school almost every day."

"Why would they do that? It was Bagman's fault that the match was open to the public," said Harry angrily.

"Harry, like all politicians, Ludo Bagman does not want a huge disaster to occur on his watch. There are already more than he can handle. People are extremely frightened. Frankly I expect a very low turn out," explained Dumbledore.

It was the last night they would spend in Godric's Hollow before returning to Hogwarts. Dobby had created a wonderful feast for their last dinner. Mac had left for school that morning owing to having some teacher's responsibilities to fulfill. Dumbledore likewise was busy at school. The result was a very young and wound up group around the table.

Fred and George, always game to provide entertainment, removed their socks and performed an impromptu sock puppet show between the main course and pudding. It involved a lot of whacking with serving spoons, but the appreciative audience laughed till their sides ached.

When dinner was over, Harry and Ginny decided on a stroll outside in the warm night air. They walked slowly through the garden and sat down in the grass under a large tree. The night breeze ruffled the hem of Ginny's skirt and lifted Harry's fringe off his face. A pale full moon was rising and illuminating the stepping-stones on the path. Harry thought momentarily about Remus and imagined him shut up in a room in Grimmauld Place, fighting his werewolf urges. Perhaps they're recent discovery could help him.

"I had a long letter from my mum," said Ginny. Harry looked up from his musing and smiled at her. "She's feeling back to normal for the most part. She's really grateful for what you did, Dad too...getting rid of my curse and all. She told me to make sure that I thanked you specially for it." Ginny stuck a flower she had picked into Harry's pocket. "How, can I thank you Harry?" she asked him raising her eyebrows.

Harry grinned at her. "I'd be in trouble if I answered that question," he said.

"Possibly," she replied and she gave him a kiss.

Harry walked into his bedroom an hour later and saw Ron and Hermione snogging energetically on Ron's bed. Hermione quickly disengaged from him. "Oh, Harry!" she said a bit breathlessly.

"Sorry," he said and began to back out of the room.

"No, come in... I...need to get packing," said Hermione, who slid off the bed, straightened her clothes, and Harry thought, did up some buttons before she turned toward him and walked out of the room smiling and looking flushed. Ron crossed his arms behind his head and grinned significantly at Harry who flopped down on his own bed.

"I'll really miss this when we're back at school," said Ron.

"Miss what?" asked Harry, suppressing a laugh.

"Well, except for you barging in, there's loads more privacy here, if you know what I mean, mate."

Harry did know. He had just returned with Ginny from the garden, and was very glad Ron had not been the one to come across them fifteen minutes ago. "Really sorry about that, Ron," he said.

"It's ok, I mean she was about to call a halt anyway." Ron paused significantly, and then said, "Did you know girls have these sorts of spells they can learn so they avoid getting pregnant?"

Harry knew of this because Remus had shared this information with him during a talk they had had last spring. "Are you...and Hermione....?" Harry began and then wished he hadn't. He didn't really want to know what they were doing when they were alone.

Ron rolled on his side facing Harry and looking more serious. "No, we haven't yet, or anything, but it's a matter of time, isn't it." Harry nodded, unsure. Ron lowered his voice. "I gave her a bit of a ring tonight," he said blushing slightly, "I got it when we were in France, but I was afraid what she'd say. I didn't know whether she'd accept it or not. I had to borrow money from Fred and George, but I wanted us to be more permanent, if you know what I mean."

Harry grinned at him. "She's liked you forever, mate. It just took you awhile to catch on."

"You can say that, but with my leg and all," said Ron.

"You're not still on about that?" said Harry. "What's she got to do so that you understand that's not important to her?"

Ron winked at him and smiled rakishly, "Weren't you listening?"

Harry chucked a pillow at him. Ron retaliated and soon they were wrestling so raucously on the floor, that Fred called up the stairs asking if a herd of Hippogriffs were rampaging the second floor.

The next afternoon as Harry deposited his school trunk in the hallway, Hermione and Ginny were bustling around getting their own luggage ready. He noticed a small gold ring on Hermione's finger that he hadn't noticed before. Harry saw her tip her hands slightly and glance at it, smiling. Then his eye flicked to Ginny who was bending over her trunk, adding a folded shirt to it. His mother's necklace was hanging down from her neck. He felt a warm glow of satisfaction.

As the sun was setting, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione hefted their school trunks out into the front yard. Until the various spells protecting Godric's Hollow were removed, they would have to apparate outside the garden gate. Harry looked up at the cottage with a tug of remorse. This was the first summer that he could remember when going back to school was somewhat less appealing than staying where he was. Fred and George had accepted the task of looking in on the property for Harry while it was empty. Dobby would also make occasional cleaning trips. He had already left for Hogwarts. Dumbledore wanted Dobby to continue recruiting elves for his castle defense group. Dobby was very pleased to shoulder the responsibility, although he was skeptical that he'd get them to agree to wear the red and green socks that he'd created to distinguish the group.

Fred and George helped the girls get their trunks into the road. Then the twins stood guard as Harry and Ron brought their trunks along too. Once they were all present, the entire group apparated, leaving only their footprints behind in the dust.