The Portkey Solution

CHAPTER 5 - Connections Made

Harry fell to his knees, both hands pressed to his forehead in a futile attempt to block the agony. Staci dropped down beside him and pulled his hands aside.

"Let me see," she insisted, pushing his hair back.

Harry blinked in surprise. The second she had touched him, the pain had stopped. She was studying his scar, murmuring to herself, "...glowing...hot..." Her voice sounded very far off.

Harry realized he was not seeing her or the beach cottage. Instead he seemed to be somewhere dark, like a cave or cellar with just a few torches lit. Figures surrounded him in a quite familiar broken circle.

Staci dropped her hand, about to get up and like that his scar was on fire again. He lost the vision and frantically grabbed her and clapped her hand to his head again.

Staci was puzzled, then recognized the distance in his eyes. "What do you see, Harry?"

"I think...it's Voldemort's hideout. It's not clear..."

"Turn slowly, see if it gets any clearer in one direction."

Harry got up and did as she asked, but before he could get more than halfway around the vision began to fade. Knowing somehow that it was over, he let Staci's hand go.

"It's gone."

Staci strode inside and fetched paper and a pen from her desk. "Write it down, now, before you forget. Or dictate it to me."

He started describing what he'd seen, the dim room, the people surrounding him in the same ragged circle he'd seen the Death Eaters form before. Malfoy and Macnair had been hit with the Cruciatus Curse. The walls had been smooth, so a cellar was more likely than a cave. And finally, just as his vision had faded, Harry had seen Snape bowing low.

Once he'd recited everything, Staci copied her notes into something more legible and added her observations to his.

"I don't suppose anyone has noticed before, if it happened before, but your scar was glowing very faintly, the same glow that the Death Curse produces. It was also hot to the touch." She glanced up at him thoughtfully. "Am I right in guessing that me touching you seemed to block the pain?"

Harry nodded. "Completely. That's never happened before. And I've never been able to see Voldemort's location when I wasn't dreaming."

She frowned. "I wonder if it has to do with the blood-bond on the protection spell, or if it would have happened at the Dursleys'." She wrote down a few more sentences, then folded the paper and went over to the fireplace. She thumbed a switch and gas jets obligingly spit out dancing flames. She took a pinch of some powder, lighter in colour than Floo powder, from a large shell on the mantle and tossed it into the fire, stating "Dumbledore's office." A hole appeared in the flames, showing the headmaster's office just as Harry remembered it. He wasn't in the room, but Staci scribbled his name on the paper, murmured an incantation under her breath that made it shimmer, and tossed it onto his desk. She turned off the gas and both fire and hole disappeared with a pop.

Harry was thinking about what he'd seen. Snape had apparently managed to infiltrate the Death Eaters again at Dumbledore's request. He wondered whether Voldemort trusted him--he'd been quick enough to accept the likes of Malfoy and the others who had presumed him dead and gone on with their lives.

Although there had been some satisfaction at seeing Lucius Malfoy being tortured...

Suddenly Harry remembered Neville, his year-mate at Hogwarts, and the gut-wrenchingly sad story of his parents that Dumbledore had told him. Neville's parents were still alive, but hopelessly insane as a result of being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse. And with a start, Harry realized something that made his stomach twist with nausea: last year when "Mad-Eye" Moody had comforted Neville after his reaction to seeing the curse performed in a Defence Against Dark Arts class, it had actually been young Barty Crouch doing the comforting, one of the four Death Eaters who had tortured the Longbottoms. Harry wondered if Neville realized that; he didn't know how well Dumbledore had kept Crouch's impersonation a secret from the other students.

"Staci!" Harry burst out. She looked up at him from the kitchen, where she had started pulling out sandwich makings.

"Do you know who's planning to come to...Monday?" He couldn't quite bring himself to say "my party". It felt too precious and new to be said out loud yet.

"The Weasleys, Hermione Granger, Albus and Sirius, as far as I know. Maybe Remus Lupin if they can track him down."

"Can we add someone else?"

Staci raised one eyebrow but nodded. "Sure, who did you have in mind?"

"Neville Longbottom. He's in my year at school. Can I send him an owl...oh, wait. I don't know where Hedwig is."

Staci glanced up at a sound on the deck, and smiled. "But she knows where you are."

Harry turned to look out the sliding glass door and saw his owl, sitting on the rail and preening proudly, a letter tied to one leg.

***

Hermione popped through the fireplace at the Burrow, dusting soot and Floo powder from her carryall. Ron pounced on her immediately.

"Can you tell me what's going on? Where's Harry? All my parents will tell me is that we're going to see him Monday!"

Hermione held up her hands, backing away from the verbal onslaught. "Stop, Ron. I don't know anything more than you do. Practically as soon as Harry sent me that phoney letter from Gringotts he disappeared--"

"Letter from Gringotts?" Ron yelled, then lowered his voice to a hiss, pulling Hermione upstairs to his room by an elbow. "What letter from Gringotts?"

Up in Ron's violently orange room, surrounded by the Chudley Cannon posters, Hermione filled him in on the letter and how Harry had apparently gone from the Dursleys' the very next day, with no word to Dumbledore or anyone he knew. Ron complained bitterly of first his mother's frantic blitz at the local post office, then the letter from Dumbledore and her calm refusal to tell him anything more than they'd see Harry in two days.

"...and then there's Bill, sending Mum an owl with some garbage of how Harry's bound to be just fine, not to worry...how can he know anything about anything, all the way down in Egypt?"

Hermione leaned over and took his face in her hands. "Ron, calm down. We've got to trust the adults right now. They said we're going to see Harry on Monday and we will!"

Ron shook his head. "That's not good enough! Anything could happen by then! I'll try and nab some of the Floo powder from the kitchen, if you'll distract Mum. Otherwise it'll be broomsticks--you can borrow Fred or George's. Ginny's still too enthralled with the broom they gave her to let it out of her sight." Ignoring Hermione's attempts to interrupt him, he started pacing. "If we can get to Hogsmeade, we can walk up to Hogwarts and demand to see Dumbledore, or maybe McGonagall if he's not there. At the very least we can talk to Hagrid!"

"RON!" Hermione bellowed and he jumped in surprise. "Calm down. We can't go running off on our own, especially now that You-Know--blast it!--Voldemort is active again! What if he gets the idea to come after Harry through us, the people Harry cares about?"

"Then stop saying the name if you're so worried about him being back!"

"No, I'm not going to give Voldemort the satisfaction of being too scared to say his name! I will break that habit, and you should, too!"

Ron simply shook his head at her foolhardiness. "Hermione, he's our best friend. After the way I treated him last year, I just can't sit and wait for the grownups to tell us he's all right without knowing for myself. Please, can we at least try for the Floo powder? That would take us straight to Hogwarts and back; There'd be hardly any chance for You-Know-Who to do anything."

Hermione looked frustrated, but nodded, wondering if she dared deliberately flub at distracting Mrs. Weasley. They had gotten downstairs and were passing a parlour when arms shot out and pulled each of them in by the shoulder.

Ron had his mouth wide open to yell and Hermione's hand was in her pocket for her wand when they realized it was Bill. "Boggarts on toast, Bill! Why'd you want to scare us like that?" Ron cried, catching his breath.

Bill looked down at them grimly. "It would appear that you need scaring. Just where did you think you were going?"

Hermione thought about covering for Ron and decided against it. Better to leave it between the brothers.

Ron turned a bright pink. "Just down to the kitchen for something to eat."

Bill shook his head at his brother. "Ron, if you're serious about pursuing the Auror idea, learn to lie well. You've got some crazy idea of trying to find Harry, don't you?"

Ron flushed deeper. "And so what if I am? Everything I've heard says the adults aren't doing anything at all!"

"That's because they don't have to. I know where Harry is, I know who he's with, and I can assure you on the honour of Gryffindor that he's just fine."

"Just fine? And we're supposed to believe you like that? How would you know anyway? You've been at your job all this time--and what are you doing here and not there?"

Bill sighed. "Ron, if you're not going to calm down, I'm not going to say another word."

Ron inhaled for yet another rant and Hermione stepped in and covered his mouth with a hand. "Stop it, Ron! You're going to start foaming at the mouth in a minute." She turned to Bill, keeping her hand firmly in place as Ron tried to twist away. "Please, go on."

"Thank you, Hermione. I am here because I've taken a leave of absence from Gringotts for at least the next month to help in dealing with the threat of You-Know-Who--" Bill paused "--Voldemort, it's Voldemort, Voldemort." Hermione nodded in understanding. "I know Harry's safe because I'm in touch with who he's staying with and she says he's doing splendidly. He's happy to be away from the Dursleys and he's looking forward to seeing you all at his birthday party."

"Birthday party?" Ron had dodged and succeeded in getting away from Hermione.

"That's right," she said. "Harry's birthday is Monday. I sent a card and some sweets, and I was going to do something else as well, but I need to go to Diagon Alley..."

Bill smiled. "I'll be glad to escort you both, if you like."

Ron looked dejected. "What can I do? I don't have a Knut to my name right now."

Hermione punched him in the shoulder. "Get over it, Ron. You can help me finish my idea and it'll be from both of us. Can we go now?"

"As soon as we tell Mum where we're going."

They filed down the last staircase to the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was poking at some dough with her wand, encouraging it to rise. Ginny was snapping beans at the table.

"Mum, I'm going to take Ron and Hermione to Diagon Alley for a little shopping. Harry's birthday, you know."

Ginny looked up, knocked the bowl of beans and caught it before it could spill. "Can I go too?"

"Sure," Bill and Hermione replied together before Ron could say "no".

She jumped up and pulled off the apron she had been wearing. Mrs. Weasley nodded her assent and visibly bit her lip against whatever warnings and admonishments she longed to deliver. She settled for fixing a stern eye on her eldest, who smiled in return. "If we're not back by five o'clock, send out the Ministry, Mum."

He ducked just in time as a wooden spoon sailed over his head and hit the wall.

***

The letter was from Sirius. Harry took it and patted Hedwig affectionately. Staci brought out a dish of water and Hedwig hooted in appreciation. Harry took the letter over to the hammock chairs and curled up into one to read it.

Dear Harry (and Anastacia, if you're reading over his shoulder stop it now),

Dumbledore has informed me of Staci's taking you in, but neither of us knows exactly where you are. Please send a reply as soon as you read this and tell me what's going on. As your legal guardian, according to your parents' wishes, I do have a right to know more than I've been told so far.

A Gringotts owl came to Dumbledore, unable to find you within the time limit the goblins gave it. They haven't traced the letter yet, but they'll keep trying.

Harry, please be on your guard. Dumbledore wouldn't tell me much about this Anastacia Patterson, and I don't remember her very well--her sister Annalise kept to the Ravenclaws--but until I can get there Monday, watch your back. Hedwig can find me easily, even though I'm travelling a lot.

Write me back now.

Sirius

Harry smiled at the final directive and carried Hedwig inside. Staci glanced at him from the kitchen counter and waved at the sandwich makings she had spread out. "Tell me what you want."

Harry looked at the selection and said, "Turkey, cheese and mustard on toast, and parchment and a quill."

"Those last two aren't good for your digestion, so I hear," she quipped, nodding her head toward her desk. "Help yourself."

She brought him a sandwich and grape juice as he worked on letters, not only composing a reply to Sirius, but also notes to Ron, Hermione, and Neville. As he labelled each one so Hedwig could take the lot, he looked around Staci's desk, marvelling at its glorious jumble of Muggle and magical items. Biros and quills rested together in a large mug. The computer drive had a list of spells taped to its side, apparently to unlock certain enhanced functions. A non-moving action figure of a rabbit dressed as a samurai shared the top of the monitor with a wizard figure of a Quidditch player in unfamiliar blue robes with red and white trim. He paced back and forth, moving his broom as if to block the goals.

"What player is this?" Harry asked as Staci brought her own meal to the dining table nearby.

"That's Michael Doherty, Keeper for the US team back in the late 1980s. He was Ben's favourite player. Ben was a Keeper for his school team."

"Do you play?" Harry asked curiously.

"No, I don't fly well. And I just wasn't as interested in sports as a kid. I was the type to shut myself in my room with a stack of books."

Ah, Harry thought, she'll like Hermione, then. He ruffled Hedwig's head once more and thanked her as she nipped at his fingers and took off through the open sliding-glass door. He sat back down to finish his lunch and asked, "Now what?"

"Well, I've got a list for the grocery store started--here, if you have any favourites jot them down. After that, it's pretty much do whatever we want: laze around, study or do work, swim..."

"I don't swim very well."

Staci grinned. "Then lessons might be a good place to start."

***

Dumbledore looked around at the group he had called to his office: all of Harry's professors were there, except for three. Professor Binns, being a ghost, wasn't very concerned about the fight against Voldemort until it was over and in the annals of history. Professor Trelawney had refused to leave her tower, claiming that the future was just too dreadful to bear. And Hagrid was still out recruiting more giants to their side.

Also attending were Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. They sat a little apart from the others as Dumbledore cleared his throat and began. "I called you all here because we need to start thinking of what safeguards we can provide for Harry Potter this year. As you all know, the circumstances changed dramatically at the end of last term with Voldemort's resurrection. And while Harry is slowly getting better at coming to the adults around him for help, we will still need to keep a very close eye on him and his friends. Any sign at all that his scar is causing him pain should be reported--it seems that with his return, not only does Harry react to Voldemort's feelings of anger or hate, Harry can actually see what Voldemort sees, possibly even track him." If Dumbledore noticed Snape starting at that bit of information, he did not show it. "Harry is no longer with the Dursley family, but is being well cared for. I have seen him and where he is staying, though I do not know the location itself. He will be well-protected until he gets to Hogwarts, at which point we must take up the load."

Professor McGonagall replied, "Albus, how are things with Cornelius Fudge? I know we have taken steps to prepare for You-Know-Who's return--"Dumbledore mouthed Voldemort at her and she pointedly ignored it"--but has he?"

"Alas, not yet. He is keeping everything as hushed as he can, which has been remarkably easy since Rita Skeeter seems to have stopped writing for the time being. He has not removed the dementors from Azkaban yet, nor has he tried to contact the giants officially. While we do have a great deal of support within the Ministry, and the Aurors are being retrained by Alastor Moody, I doubt we can count on anything official at this point."

Dumbledore closed the meeting and watched the others file out. As he expected, Snape remained behind for a moment. When they were alone, Snape tossed his greasy hair out of his eyes and asked, "Do you have anything more for me?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, at this point there is no harm in telling Voldemort the exact truth. I do not know where Harry is. There is only one person who does. They may surface in Diagon Alley before taking the train. If it can be arranged, that would be our best chance of ending this now."

Snape nodded and prepared to leave. As he exited, Dumbledore called after him, "Be careful, Severus."

He got no response.