Harry Potter and the Ring of Reduction

Chapter 2

Teddy and Anna

Three days later, Harry stood with Arthur and Ginny in the living room, waiting for their dinner guests to appear in the fireplace. John was first, coming a minute before six, followed by Dentus a few minutes later. Introductions were made, and the five stood and chatted until dinner was ready; at the table, Dentus was introduced to Harry's friends. John already knew everyone else, though he had never formally met Molly, Ron, Neville, or Pansy.

The conversation started out on Muggle-related topics, the main participants being Arthur and John. Watching them talk, it was clear to Harry that they could talk for hours on the topic. John talked for some time about current events in the Muggle world, and in a passing reference, found that he had to explain to almost everyone present what the internet was, as only Hermione was very familiar with it. Harry had heard the word mentioned at the Dursleys', but he had never been allowed near Dudley's computer, and had no particular interest in it in any case.

"Well, thanks for that explanation, John," said Arthur. "I had a general sense of what it was, but now I feel like I really understand it. Most people I talk to haven't mentioned it, but a few are pretty concerned. Archibald, I don't suppose that this has been any kind of concern at high levels?"

Dentus shook his head. "Not that I've heard. Of course, as you know only too well, the top leadership tends to dismiss anything to do with the Muggle world unless it's of vital, immediate importance, like when they tried to get the Muggles to help them find Sirius Black a few years ago. But, no, I've heard nothing. I'd bet dozens of Galleons that nobody high up in the leadership has even heard of the internet, never mind understand what it is, and why it could be a problem."

"Why could it be a problem?" asked Ginny.

"It's not a real problem, not now," explained John, "but it has the potential to be a big problem as time goes by; one that could sneak up on us and then suddenly explode, and threaten the secrecy of the wizarding world. Of course, wizards have always tended to use Memory Charms to keep knowledge of the wizarding world away from Muggles. Obviously, as we all know, there have been times throughout history where that wasn't done as well as it should have been, and so you have this mythology in the Muggle world about witches and wizards-well, what they think is mythology, anyway-in which they get some things right, like that wizards ride on brooms and do spells, but they get a lot of things wrong.

"Now, there's never really been a danger of a large-scale exposure of the wizarding world to Muggles... until now. Books have protections in case they fall into Muggle hands, but the internet doesn't. If enough information gets put there, it could get out to the Muggle population at some point."

"But would Muggles believe it anyway?" asked Arthur. "My experience with Muggles is that most believe magic is a load of rubbish, or tricks designed to amuse children."

"Most wouldn't," agreed John. "The danger is in the long term. What's happening right now is that some of the few witches and wizards who are interested in the Muggle world, or who have one foot in it, are talking about wizarding affairs on the internet. It's no more than a few dozen, and they're all connected. In what seems to me to be a weak attempt to preserve wizarding secrecy, they portray it all as if it were fiction, a make-believe world. This is not unheard-of, of course; in the Muggle world, people do form groups based around fictional or ancient historical ideas, and participate and interact as though it were real. Most Muggles think it's peculiar but harmless, and shrug and ignore it. They will with this, too; no Muggle will read this and think it's real. But what if this continues for some time? More wizards might start doing it; it could start to become popular with Muggles. They could join in, thinking it was fiction, or just read it and enjoy it as fiction. But then the danger is, if something happened, some significant event that affected the Muggle world... normally the Muggle governments would give some false cover story, and people would believe it, or maybe it would end up some unsolved mystery that no one could prove. But if there was corroborating evidence on the internet, or if wizards talked about it on the internet and enough Muggles saw it, it could start to cast an uncomfortable light onto the wizarding world. And, worse, the nature of the internet is such that the information would be almost impossible to erase or cover up. You can't do Memory Charms on people sitting at computers spread out all over the world."

There was silence for a moment as everyone digested what John had said. Then Hermione said, "Wow, I'd never really thought of it like that. I can see how that could happen. It still seems unlikely, but yes, I can see the danger. Do you think nobody at the Ministry would?"

Arthur shook his head. "Especially in the current climate, with Voldemort around, people would think it was trivial. I mean, even I didn't know about this. If I tried to tell anybody about this, their attitude would be, oh, that's Arthur, he's always on about something to do with Muggles, and they'd ignore it."

Dentus nodded. "No matter who it was who tried to explain it, nobody would sit still for five minutes to listen to the explanation that John just gave. They just can't be bothered with anything to do with Muggles."

John looked at Harry. "Oh, and Harry... I know this won't thrill you, but I did some searches a few days ago, and your name is mentioned in these pages every now and then. It's hardly surprising, since yours is definitely the most famous name in the wizarding world right now, maybe even more than Voldemort's. Anyway, a few pages have information about your history-not only about being the Boy Who Lived, but stuff you've done at Hogwarts, even up to what happened a few weeks ago. They write about what was said publicly, and speculate about what really happened."

"Great," muttered Harry. "Just what I need, to be famous in the Muggle world."

"Well, that's nowhere near happening now, I was just talking about a long-term danger," John reassured him. "Also, there's a page whose focus is all six of you," he added, as Harry saw the others react with surprise. "The page is titled, 'The Potter Platoon,' and has pictures of all of you, and short biographies."

Now grinning, Harry surveyed his friends, who were looking at each other in mild alarm. "See, I warned you all about the danger of hanging around with me. Now, you can see it for yourselves."

"I'm going to have to visit my home and use the computer, check this out," said Hermione.

"You should know, you six are starting to get known as a unit," said Dentus. "Of course you already are at Hogwarts, since you all spend time together, and everyone knows how close you are with each other. But it's actually starting to come to Ministry attention, partly because of Harry's importance, and partly because of the abilities you're starting to manifest. For example, Hermione, I'm pretty sure most of the top leadership is now aware of you, now that you can do Harry's spells, and faced Voldemort with bravery. And very recently, Ginny and Neville, now that they can also do the energy-of-love spells."

"The Ministry leadership knows about that?" asked Neville, obviously surprised that the Aurors would have told them.

"The Aurors are responsible to the Ministry, Neville," pointed out Arthur. "I'd think they'd have to have a pretty good reason for keeping something like that secret, and something that could be that important, they almost have to tell them."

"Arthur's right, of course," affirmed Dentus. "Only you four can do this, which makes you of great interest to the leadership. I talked to my contacts more than usual yesterday, trying to find out anything interesting to tell you tonight. One thing I discovered is that they're starting to take the idea of the energy of love far more seriously."

"You mean they weren't before?" asked Harry. "I didn't know that. How could they ignore it?"

Dentus shrugged lightly. "You have to remember, according to the scientific community, there's no such thing as the energy of love. A few people believed that what you said was factual, but most just thought you and Albus were exceptional, and you had a youthful and fanciful notion of the nature of what you had discovered, or that you just associated it with love mistakenly. They were more comfortable believing the scientific people. But now that they know that four of you can do it, they assume Harry taught it to the others, which he couldn't do unless he really knew what it was. Also, they don't ignore the fact that you four are two couples, obviously in love. That's making people rethink their attitudes. One even said-excuse me, Ron and Pansy-'You notice that the two not together can't do it, that's got to mean something.'"

Molly smiled at Ron. "Well, they'll probably be able to soon, then."

"Mum," moaned Ron. "What are you going to do, call the Prophet and tell them? Oh, no, wait, you probably already have."

"You really do take this business of not wanting people to know about your personal life a bit too far," admonished his mother. "Goodness only knows when I would have found out if you were the only one who could have told me. A week before the wedding, probably."

"Yes, and the use of words like 'wedding' is part of the reason for that," Ron retorted, to smiles from his friends.

"Don't worry, Ron, I know we've only been together for a day," an amused Pansy assured him. "I don't have those kinds of expectations."

"It's her expectations I'm worried about, not yours," replied Ron.

"Well, pardon me for taking an interest in my son's life," said Molly, acting wounded by Ron's attitude.

"This topic reminds me, we haven't had a session for a week," said Harry. "How about tomorrow after dinner, would that be okay with everyone?"

The others nodded, except Neville. "I'll have to check, but I'm sure tomorrow night or Sunday night will be okay."

"On this topic," said Dentus, "there's something I should tell all four of you, and Ron and Pansy should be aware of it in case they learn to use the spells too... I've only been told this by one person, so it's not confirmed, but the person is someone I trust. Apparently, Fudge has been getting nervous lately about his personal security, he thinks that as Minister of Magic he'd be a pretty appealing target for Death Eaters. Which is true, and that's hardly a secret; that he's afraid of Voldemort and Death Eaters is an open secret at the Ministry."

"Must be, since even I knew it," said Arthur humorously.

"The new wrinkle," continued Dentus, "is that Fudge is thinking of you four in terms of your potential to aid in his personal security. Not like as part of a detail, of course, since you're all still at Hogwarts, but for special occasions, like where he's in public, or around large numbers of wizards. One of you could be around, say, under an Invisibility Cloak, and could protect him from a Killing Curse should one come at him."

Before any of Harry's friends could react, Molly did. "Why, that..." Appearing to be struggling not to use impolite language, she calmed down enough to say, "That's the most cowardly, despicable... you six have all put your lives at risk for this fight, and now Fudge, already well protected, wants to hide behind you? I thought my opinion of him couldn't get any lower, but obviously I was wrong."

Harry appreciated Molly's concern on his and the others' behalf, and he couldn't help but agree that Fudge was not exactly behaving bravely. Still, he found that he wasn't personally offended, and his already low opinion of Fudge prevented his being terribly surprised.

"I can very well understand your reaction, Molly," said Dentus. "It may make you feel better to know that according to my contact, Kingsley reacted in much the same way when he was told about the idea, except that the language he used was much coarser than yours. He was speaking to my contact, of course, not Fudge. Among other things, he said that he now regretted telling the Ministry that Neville and Ginny could do it. Adding to his anger, of course, was the fact that Aurors already protect Fudge, and the implication of this idea is that they can't be totally counted on."

"Do you think he will end up making such a request?" asked Arthur, obviously not especially surprised that Fudge would contemplate such a thing. "And would he make it through the Aurors, or to Harry and the others directly?"

"That's a good question, Arthur, I don't know," replied Dentus. "It would be highly insulting to the Aurors if he didn't go through them, but I'm not sure that would stop him. Even he can't be so slow-witted as not to know how this looks to them. If he thought he could get the agreement of Harry and the others, he might present it to the Aurors as a fait accompli, and try to placate them to the extent necessary. He may not even do it at all; it's just something he thought of and talked to a couple of people about. But I thought it was only fair that the six of you know."

"What do you all think?" asked Arthur, obviously curious. Harry was curious as well to know what the others thought.

"I'm not as angry as Molly," volunteered Pansy, "but I don't like it at all. I don't want them putting their lives at risk for anything but what they positively want to, not because they're asked to."

"I'm definitely with Pansy on this," agreed Ron. "You can't risk your life because you're asked to. You have to do it because it's what you think is right."

"Not Aurors, Ron," pointed out Neville. "That's part of their job, and I'm training with them. They want me to become one, and I want to as well. If I do, doing that very kind of thing will be my job."

"Yeah, but you're not one yet," pointed out Ron. "And Hermione and Ginny certainly aren't. They could be asked this as well."

"That's true, and I'm not crazy about that," agreed Neville. "And I definitely don't want Harry doing this, even though he's training too. Aside from his being my friend who I'm concerned about, he's way too important to risk for something like that. It would be totally stupid."

"Neville's got a point, I hadn't thought of it that way," said Ron. "It would be like, in chess, putting the king at risk to protect a bishop. Does Fudge even know how important Harry is? Or does he just not care?"

Harry now wondered if Dentus knew about the prophecy; he was reasonably sure John didn't. He watched as Dentus responded. "Albus did tell me, and I'm not surprised that you're all aware of this, that there's substantial reason to believe that Harry will play a prominent role in Voldemort's downfall. Considering that, Neville's point is a very good one; it would be foolish to put Harry at risk for this kind of purpose. As for whether Fudge knows this, I very much doubt it. Albus would have known Fudge either wouldn't believe it or wouldn't keep it to himself."

Harry noticed that if Dentus knew about the prophecy, he avoided referring to it, no doubt because of John's presence. Harry assumed that Dumbledore had either told Dentus the first part of the prophecy, or conveyed the essence. He decided to speak up. "Yes, but how much risk would I really be at? Especially if I had an Invisibility Cloak, or something like that, and can defend myself against the Killing Curse as well? What could they do?"

"Harry," said Hermione quietly and somberly, "would you want Ginny doing this?"

He hadn't expected that question. He looked across the table at Ginny, and knew the answer was obvious. "No," he said, equally quietly.

The others looked on with sympathy as Hermione nodded. "And I don't want Neville doing it, not for this kind of reason. Obviously, when we think about this, we're going to have different standards for what we accept as risk for ourselves, and what we're willing to have those we care about face. Harry knows this better than anyone, he spent a lot of last year struggling with it. It seems pretty clear that none of us thinks this is important enough for those we care about to risk their lives for it. Fudge can resign if he's so worried about being killed. And as for what you said about Aurors, Neville, it would be a good point, except that you and Harry aren't even official Aurors-in-training. What they're doing with you is purely personal on their part, nothing to do with their official duties as Aurors. Some of them, like Dawlish, choose not to be a part of it, and you've said that they give up one of their days off every week to do it. I think that means that whatever obligation you have, you have to the Aurors who've trained you, not to the Ministry."

After a few seconds' silence, Harry said, "As usual, it's very hard to argue with Hermione. I assume this means that we're pretty much agreed that this is not something we're going to do?" He looked at the others, who by their nods or expressions indicated that they agreed.

Dentus looked at them in turn. "I have to say, I find it touching that what persuades each of you is the danger the others would face."

"Like Hermione said," said Harry, "we went through this a lot last year."

"You had ample opportunity," agreed Dentus. "I have a feeling Fudge would find that hard to understand, he's never had to worry about anyone's life before. Of course, this means you'll have to tell him no to his face if he chooses to bypass the Aurors."

"I don't look forward to that especially," said Harry, "but I find that if I think about Ginny being in that position, I'm pretty sure I can do it."

"Of course," said Molly emphatically, "Ginny's not of age, and there are no circumstances under which Arthur and I would have allowed it. But I was trying not to say anything, because I knew you six had to reach your own conclusions."

"Four," Ron corrected Molly.

"No, she's right, Ron," countered Hermione. "You and Pansy could start being able to do this anytime, especially now, and then you'd be in the same position. And this had to be a kind of group decision anyway." Ron nodded his acknowledgment of her point.

"He may not end up asking you anyway," pointed out Dentus, "or he might go through the Aurors, who would say no without even asking you, I'd bet. But it's good that you've thought about it."

"We wouldn't have been able to, if not for you," said Harry. "Thanks, we all appreciate it."

Dentus shrugged. "If we had a leadership that I could be proud to be part of, it wouldn't be necessary for you to be warned about that kind of thing at all."

"Well, that would be too much to hope for," said Molly. "Oh, have you two heard about Harry's news from Hogwarts? He's replacing McGonagall as Head of Gryffindor House."

Dentus's eyebrows rose. "My, my, yet another youngest-ever record. My impulse is to congratulate you, Harry, though I see from your expression that condolences would be more appropriate. You didn't want the position?"

Harry wondered just how strongly his expression showed how he felt. "I might not have minded so much if it happened next year, if I decided to stay. But you know how busy I was last year, and it's only going to be worse this year, now that I'm teaching the N.E.W.T. classes as well. I really don't need anything extra to worry about."

"Maybe," said John, "but it shows that McGonagall has confidence in you."

"No, it shows that there were no other former Gryffindors available who could do the job. She admitted that was the reason."

"No, you're wrong there," said Hermione. "She put it that way so you'd accept it and not argue with her. But she's right, it is a serious responsibility. Do you really think she'd give it to you if she thought you couldn't handle it? She'd have done it herself even though it's a conflict, or had John do it. She'd break tradition or risk a conflict of interest rather than make someone Head of House who was irresponsible or not worthy of the position. You know her, you must realize that."

Harry was silent, thinking about what Hermione had said. "She's right, Harry," put in John. "I know Professor McGonagall well enough to know that."

"Well, maybe I'll go back and argue with her then, see if I can get her to have you do it," replied Harry humorously. "If you say so, Hermione. I just still don't get it, really. I just don't think I'm the best person for this. I'm not the type who's going to discipline people; I'm just as likely to say, 'well, don't do it again.'"

"Harry," said Ron, "I'm going to be serious for a minute, so listen carefully."

Before he could continue, Pansy cut in. "That's my influence, I'm starting to work on him."

"Good idea to get started early, Pansy, there's a lot of work to be done," put in Hermione.

Ron gave Hermione an annoyed look, then turned to Harry and continued. "See, this is what I get for trying to be serious. Anyway, you are good for the position, even if you're not a disciplinarian. I doubt you're going to expel anyone, no matter what they do. But remember when we flew the car to school, how Dumbledore made us feel, like we'd let him down? Especially the younger ones, you'll make them feel like that, without even trying. We wouldn't have felt so bad if we didn't respect and like Dumbledore as much as we did. That's how they feel about you. They won't want to let you down."

Harry had never thought of it that way. As he digested this, Hermione said, "Of course, he's right, I hadn't thought of that. I bet McGonagall understands that, and it's part of her reason for giving you the position. Also, I'm sure she wants you to have some experience in a very responsible position, for the future, if you stay on."

Harry felt he should explain what Hermione meant. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't repeat this to anyone," he said, looking at Dentus and John, "but Professor McGonagall told me that Albus wanted me to become the headmaster after she retires."

To Harry's surprise, Dentus and John chuckled. "I don't think that's much of a secret," explained Dentus. "It may not have been in the Prophet yet, but I know he has mentioned it to a few people, including myself. I think he was laying the groundwork for it, putting the idea in people's heads."

"All the teachers know that's what he had in mind," added John. "And before you ask, no, no one resents it or feels that you don't deserve it. It's not a question of seniority. It has a lot to do with what Ron was talking about."

Harry found himself wishing the topic of conversation would change. He glanced up at Ginny, and saw from her grin that she knew how he felt. "Well, I still don't know what I'm going to do," he said. "But if I stay, then you have to be a teacher," he added, to Hermione.

"I probably will," she said. "I was going to tell you all, I was at the library today, and I ran into Professor McGonagall. We talked for a while. She was telling me that usually the headmaster or headmistress doesn't teach, certainly not a full schedule. She said that she will teach Transfigurations this year, but she wants me to do it next year. She basically offered me the job. I said I'd think about it, but I'm sure I'll do it."

Everyone at the table smiled; Molly got up, walked over to Hermione, and kissed her on the cheek. She accepted congratulations, then Ron said, "Wow, Hermione a teacher, who would have ever imagined it?"

She gave him a wry smile. "Thank you, Ron. I know that's as close to 'congratulations' as I'm going to get from you."

Sitting next to Hermione, Ron stood and leaned over. "Congratulations, Hermione. I know you'll do great." Then, to Harry's great surprise, he too gave her a kiss on the cheek. He sat down to laughter, as people took in Hermione's stunned look. "Pansy told me to do it," smiled Ron, to more laughter.

"I did not," laughed Pansy, obviously pleased. "And if I had, I wouldn't have imagined that you'd actually do it. Now, that was a lot more surprising than her being Head Girl. I mean what you did, of course, not her being a teacher."

"Oh, you're Head Girl?" asked John. "I hadn't heard, but yes, I would have been stunned if it hadn't been you. Head Boy was Ernie, right?"

Harry nodded. "Right. How about you, Archibald, were you a prefect, or Head Boy?"

"Both, I confess," said Archibald. "Always was ambitious, rule-abiding, that sort of thing."

"Which house were you in?" asked Harry.

"Slytherin, of course," replied Dentus. "You are familiar with the 4-3-2-1 rule, aren't you, Harry?"

Harry and Neville nodded. "Yes, the Aurors explained it to us," said Harry. To his other friends, he continued, "It's something they say about the Aurors and the Ministry. They say that the composition of Aurors by house works out roughly as 40% Gryffindor, 30% Hufflepuff, 20% Ravenclaw, and 10% Slytherin. And with the Ministry, it's the exact opposite: 40% Slytherin, and so on. Apparently it's very accurate, and has been for over a century."

"Yes, it means the Sorting Hat does its job pretty well," agreed Dentus. "And the higher up in the Ministry you go, the more Slytherins you find."

"What did you study at Hogwarts, Archibald?" asked Harry. "I mean, what did you get N.E.W.T.s in?"

Dentus raised his eyebrows. "The usual things for becoming a politician... History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, Charms, and a few of the usual subjects. Why do you ask?"

Harry shrugged. "Just wondering."

Dentus smiled. "Why, Harry, I think that's the first time you've ever lied to me. You really should avoid it, or I could teach you, you could get better at it."

The others chuckled at Harry's expression as he asked, "Are you a-"

"No, I'm not a Legilimens. But you have to remember, I've spent my career in a profession in which I dealt with truly professional liars, people who lie all the time, and for whom being good at it is practically a prerequisite for advancement. So, when you lie to me... I say this with affection, I'm sure you know, but you lie with all the subtlety and finesse of a four-year-old who denies having broken the vase which is lying in pieces at his feet."

Harry felt himself blushing as the others laughed yet again. "All right... I didn't want to just come out and say this, but now I suppose I have to. Professor Binns isn't coming back next year, and we need a new History of Magic teacher. I thought of you, that you would be good at it."

Dentus was obviously surprised. "Why would you think that? Being a politician doesn't necessarily involve the same skills as being a teacher."

"It's not because you were a politician, exactly," answered Harry. "It's because... you've been teaching me about politics for a few months now. I have absolutely no interest in it, as you know, but you make it interesting enough that I pay attention and learn it anyway. It seems to me that being able to teach someone something they don't care whether they learn or not is very important in being a teacher."

"Is that from your perspective as a student, or a teacher?" John asked, amused.

"Both, but more as a student," said Harry. "I've always felt that I'm lucky, that I teach a class that's very directly useful to someone's life. Well, okay, maybe more to mine than most people's, but most students know that being able to defend yourself is very important."

"Well, Harry, I will say that I'm flattered," said Dentus. "I would never have thought of it. I may be a bit rusty on my history, but I suspect with some study, I could get up to speed. I have been enjoying my retirement, however, and would hate to give it up, even for a few years."

"But you would have remained a politician for a while, wouldn't you, if the thing with Voldemort hadn't happened?" pressed Harry.

Dentus appeared amused at Harry's enthusiasm. "You're pushing a little hard," he advised. "You want to back off, give me time to think about it."

"See, even now you're being a teacher, telling me the best way to persuade someone of something," Harry responded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to push you. I'd just like to see it, and not just because I want to help Professor McGonagall find someone."

"I know, and I appreciate it. It would be interesting, to teach you in an actual class."

"Actually, I'm not taking History of Magic anymore," Harry pointed out. "I failed the O.W.L., and had to cut back on my classes to be a teacher last year."

"Ah, I see. Well, let's make that a condition of doing this, then. If I end up doing this, then you have to take my class."

"Archibald, I would really want to, but my schedule's very tight as it is..." Harry trailed off, then thought again. He was very busy, but he really did want to have Dentus teaching there, and it was only two more hours a week. Harry made a decision. "All right. If you come as a teacher, I'll take your class."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Wow, you really do want him to come." To Dentus, she said, "He really is busy. I should know, I'm the one who didn't get to spend as much time with him as I would have liked in the last few months."

"It would be nice to have a proper History of Magic lesson, though," Harry mused. To Dentus's puzzled expression, Harry explained how Professor Binns' classes were regarded. "So, it would be a bit like it was for me last year, replacing Umbridge. You couldn't possibly do worse."

"It's always nice to benefit from low expectations," said Dentus wryly. "Oh, speaking of her... you may be interested to know that apparently, she's beginning to peek her head out from behind the rock she's been hiding under. Since returning from Hogwarts, she's kept a very low profile, practically invisible, though she never resigned her position as an undersecretary. She lost a lot of whatever influence she had. Now she's starting to talk to people again. I assume she's trying to determine how much of the influence she had before she can get back. If I had to guess, I'd say that Albus's death has emboldened her to come out of hiding."

It had to happen sometime, Harry thought. Ron spoke up, asking, "Can she really come back now? After torturing Harry, and setting those dementors onto him? Is everyone at the Ministry going to just ignore that?"

"Unfortunately, Ron, now that the dementors aren't under Ministry control, it would be very hard to prove that she did that, even though you heard her admit it," said Dentus. "But it may be possible to do something... Harry, would you be willing, if interviewed by the Prophet, to give details of what she did that year?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure. What good would it do, though?"

"Well, obviously, you have a status now that you didn't have two years ago," explained Dentus. "What she did to you is going to look a lot worse to people now than it would have then, and anything you said would be believed now, while it wouldn't have been then. It could be... made clear to her that now is not the best time for her to make a comeback, while if she waited until, say, after Voldemort is defeated, then the timing would be better for her."

"Ah," said an obviously satisfied Ron. "Blackmail."

Dentus gave Ron a faint smile. "Politics, Ron. Worse things than that happen all the time. This is exactly the sort of thing that your father, to his great credit, wants no part of. I myself prefer to only do it in the service of what I consider to be a very good cause, and this strikes me as one."

"I will say, Archibald," said Arthur seriously, "I've heard what she did, and I have no qualms about this being done, moral or otherwise."

Molly said nothing, but her expression made it clear that she agreed with her husband. John said, "I suspect you'd have no trouble getting a lot of quotes for the article from the Hogwarts teaching staff."

Harry felt that he should give his explicit approval, since he understood it would be done on his behalf. "If this is something you can do, Archibald, I'd like you to do it. I can't imagine that her coming back is going to do anybody any good."

"I understand, Harry," said Dentus. "I'll look into it, let you know what happens."

Three hours later, after Dentus and John had left and with Arthur and Molly upstairs, the six students were in the living room talking. Harry and Ginny sat at one end of the sofa, his arms around her as she sat as close to him as possible while still facing the others. Ron and Pansy were at the other end of the sofa, her leaning against him. Neville and Hermione sat in chairs, holding hands. Harry wondered if he and Ginny were being even less reserved about physical closeness in front of the others, since now that Ron and Pansy were together, no one had to feel left out.

"So, what did you all think of Dentus?" Harry asked the others.

"Pretty impressive," answered Hermione. "I'd say you're lucky to have him helping you. I can really see how he'd be a good teacher, I hope he accepts."

"Me too, I'd even pay attention in History of Magic," agreed Pansy.

"I liked how he called you on lying," smiled Ron.

"Yeah, you would like that," retorted Harry.

"You know he was just teasing you, Harry," said Ginny, moving a hand off his arm and holding his right hand. "I think he knew why you did that. But yeah, I liked him too. And I'm glad he's willing to do that thing with Umbridge."

Ron made a noise of disgust. "When he mentioned her name, I almost said, 'damn centaurs,' but I didn't want a lecture from Mum."

"I'm not sure she'd have given you one, Ron," said Ginny. "We told you some of what she said the night Percy was killed. She knows Umbridge tried to have Harry killed, and it's not that different. She might have even been with you. I'm not sure."

Hermione looked at Ron. "So, you wished the centaurs had killed her? You truly wish she were dead?"

Ron thought for a few seconds. "Yes, I do. In a way, it's like you're asking me whether I approve of people who kill people being executed by the government. She tried to have Harry killed, so should she die for that? I know Harry doesn't agree with me. He didn't let Sirius and Remus kill Pettigrew, and what he did was even worse than what Umbridge did. If I'd been in his position, I'd have let them do it."

Harry thought back to that event, about how he'd felt. "You might be right, Ron, but I'm not sure you can really know something like that until you're in the situation, when it's your decision whether someone lives or dies. There's a real... I don't know how to say it, pressure, maybe... you know what I mean, you've been in dangerous situations. It's similar, but different. It's like, you really find out how you feel about something, and in my case, it was something different than what I thought it would be."

Ron thought again. "I see what you mean, and maybe you're right. All I know is that's how I feel now, and I think I would in the situation. You wouldn't, Hermione? You led her to the centaurs, after all. You must've known what could have happened."

Hermione looked uncomfortable. "That's not exactly something I'm proud of, Ron. I mean, I would do it again, to save Harry, but... it's a bit like with Harry and Goyle in January. If Harry had another way, he would have done it, and so would I. She could easily have been killed. I can see why you say she deserves it; I can't disagree. But I was glad that Dumbledore went in there and saved her. It took some of the load off my conscience."

Ginny looked at Ron curiously. "Would you kill her, Ron? If you could, if you wouldn't get caught, no one would know... would you?"

Ron looked almost disappointed at his own answer. "I'm not sure; I have a feeling I wouldn't. But I should, if I want her dead; it's almost like I just don't have the nerve to do it myself." Ron glanced at Pansy, and his face hardened. "But one thing I do know... if I had a chance to kill Malfoy, I would." Harry saw Pansy look up at him, her expression seemingly both grateful and concerned.

"I would too, Ron," said Hermione. "I think we all would, if we could, because we all care about Pansy. We know that she's in danger as long as he's alive. But let me ask you... would it be because of what he might do in the future, or what he did in the past?"

Ron raised his eyebrows. "Does it matter?"

She spoke quietly. "There's probably no right answer to that. I think it does, anyway."

"Then I guess I couldn't answer right away," he said. "I just know that the threat to Pansy is what makes me so certain." He held her a little more tightly as he spoke.

Harry didn't think he could kill anybody even if he wanted to. He was sure that using the energy of love would prevent him from doing so, but he could understand how Ron felt, as was sure the others could as well. He wondered how he would feel if someone had made the same vicious threats to Ginny as Malfoy had made to Pansy.

He was still thinking about it when he went to bed that night, and he asked Fawkes to sing after he did his Occlumency exercises. He wondered whether Ron might find it as helpful as he would.

* * * * *

Harry groggily looked up at the alarm clock, which read 7:08. It was set at 7:30 to prevent them from oversleeping, especially on days Harry was with the Aurors, but they had not yet slept long enough to need it. He looked over at the sleeping Ron and decided to have some fun. He got up and nudged Ron, saying, "Wake up, Ron, hurry up. We've got that big Transfigurations exam today, remember."

Ron's eyes shot open. "Oh, bloody hell, I-" He took in his surroundings, and Harry's smiling face. He exhaled, lay back, and gave Harry a look of great annoyance, though Harry was sure it was mostly annoyance at himself for being taken in. "Harry, have I ever told you how incredibly funny you are?"

"No, you haven't," replied Harry, playing along even though he knew where Ron was headed.

"And it turns out there's an excellent reason for that," Ron said, following up as Harry had expected. As they changed from their pajamas into their regular clothes, Ron asked, "So, Dumbledore talk to you last night?"

Ron had asked this most every morning since they had returned to the Burrow. Sometimes Harry answered seriously, and sometimes he made a joke; he assumed Ron had started asking regularly as a running joke, or to see what kind of answer Harry came up with. Today Harry said, "Yes, we talked about sex."

Harry got his reward, which was a split-second look of surprise, followed by Ron's attempt to look casual, as though he hadn't been fooled at all. "If you don't want to tell me what he said, just say so."

Harry chuckled. "Wouldn't surprise me if he did, actually. If he doesn't, it's because he doesn't have anything to say about it, or because he knows I'll be embarrassed. Well, no, he wouldn't care that I was embarrassed." They finished dressing, but Harry stayed in the room, not heading right downstairs as usual. "No, we talked about the stuff that was talked about at dinner last night."

"Ah, so it was kind of heavy, then. Do you want to wake up the girls, tell them too?"

Harry hesitated. "No, I might tell you differently than I'd tell them. Some of it had to do with you."

Standing in readiness to go downstairs, Ron sat on his bed and looked at Harry expectantly. "Well, go ahead."

Serious now, Harry said, "A lot of it had to do with what you said, about wishing Umbridge were dead."

Ron nodded slowly. "He thinks I shouldn't wish that?"

Harry tilted his head. "Not that, exactly. He probably does think that, but he wouldn't say you shouldn't wish for it, because he's not very judgmental, especially since he died. No, it's more that he thinks you're... he talked about it for a while, and it's kind of hard to say simply and quickly. He says you're kind of damaging yourself, like I temporarily damaged myself when I did the Cruciatus Curse on Lestrange, only in your case it's much longer and slower. And, he thinks, more dangerous, because you-not just you, but anyone who has similar feelings-don't realize what you're doing. While what I did was like touching a hot stove, he thinks what you're doing is more like very slow poison. It won't kill you, but it'll hurt you."

Ron looked puzzled. "But it's not like I obsess over it, constantly thinking about how I'd love to see her dead. Also, it's just thinking, not actually doing, like in your case. Sorry," he added, not wanting to rub Harry's nose in what he had done.

"I know what you mean," agreed Harry. "I said the same thing to him, and he explained why he thinks this. I only sort of understand it, so I may not be able to say it to you very well, but I'll try.

"The basic gist of it seems to be that thoughts are more powerful than we realize they are. We think they're harmless, because except with magic, we think things or wish things and they don't happen. Thoughts are one thing, reality is another. We can think one thing and do another, and we see what we did, not what we thought. He said the dangerous thing is that if we think something, it sort of creates a foundation for the idea that it might happen someday. It steers us in a certain direction. Like, if you're on a diet and you always think about how much you want to eat something fattening, you're more likely to do it eventually, but if you can manage not to think about it, you probably won't do it. He said, thoughts lead to actions, and thoughts lead to words, which lead to actions. He also said, 'The line between wishing someone dead and actually killing them is far thinner than most people would like to believe.' He's afraid that by having that wish, you're doing something destructive to yourself and don't realize it."

Harry could see that Ron was disturbed by the idea, and that he took it seriously because it came from Dumbledore. "So he thinks that I should just change my mind, that I shouldn't wish her dead anymore? I can just do that?"

Harry shook his head. "He's not trying to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. It's more like, if you're going to think this, or wish it, you should be aware of what you're doing, of the danger. He said it was like a slow decay, so slow that most people don't notice it. But with us, we six, it's more dangerous, because we get put in situations where we could have to make important, life-or-death decisions with not much time to think. If we've primed ourselves to think in a certain way, it makes us more likely to act in that way, in the situation."

"Is he afraid that I'm going to kill someone?" asked Ron, surprised.

"He didn't say that, but it does kind of follow from what he said. Or, at least, you put yourself in danger of doing so, if you don't do whatever you do with a lot of conscious thought. Bear in mind, a lot of this didn't really sink in with me, either, so I'm not going to be able to say it nearly as well as he did. I do know that he meant that even if you don't end up killing or hurting anyone, thinking that way still harms you."

"So I assume he thinks the same thing about my being willing to kill Malfoy? Because I'm not changing my mind about that."

"He said that's not the same thing," explained Harry, "because it's very conscious. Having that desire does damage you, as would actually killing him, but you would do it to protect Pansy, you would cause yourself harm to keep her from harm. That's a conscious decision, you know it would hurt you. What you think about Umbridge, you don't know will hurt you. That was the main difference, according to him."

"So," wondered Ron, "this advice was mainly for me, not for you? You wouldn't kill Malfoy if you could?"

Embarrassed, Harry said, "Well, I kind of hesitate to say what he said about me, because I'm afraid it'll seem-"

"-like you think you're better than I am," Ron finished. "I promise I won't think that, Harry. I would like to know."

Reluctantly, Harry nodded. "The fact is, I couldn't kill Malfoy if I wanted to. I accept the fact that using the energy of love won't let me do it. In a way, it was a good thing that the thing with Lestrange happened, especially when it did. It was like being immunized, he said. Having the experience of doing it made me decide firmly not to do it again, and that helped me become able to use the energy of love. Also, he said Fawkes wouldn't have chosen me if I could want a person dead. Phoenixes dislike anger and violence, they can't deal with it. Remember after the department store attack, when we were in that room at the Ministry? Fawkes usually shows up if I'm having a hard time, to help me, but he didn't then. It was because I was angry, angry at Albus, angry at the situation. He couldn't be around me then; he showed up later at the Burrow when I had calmed down. Anyway, back to the main point, Albus said that when I threw myself into feeling love, during the Voldemort thing last September, that I made a mental shift that changed my whole life, I just didn't know it then. He said I committed myself to a different way of thinking, that it was a positive example of the importance and power of thoughts. I focused on love so intensely, and for so long, that it changed who I was, in a way."

"Hard to argue with that," said Ron thoughtfully. "I guess I see what he means. Of course, I don't have this huge incentive to change the way I think, like you did."

"That's true," agreed Harry. "I don't think he thinks you will, he just wanted you to be aware of it."

"Well, I'll certainly think about it, anyway. Be kind of hard not to. Well, what do you say we get on down to breakfast?" Harry nodded, and they headed out. "Oh, and buck up, Harry, maybe he'll talk to you about sex tomorrow."

"If he does, I promise to tell you all about it, in detail," Harry joked as they started down the stairs.

"Even if it's about you?"

"Sorry, I meant to say, I promise not to tell you about it."

"That's what I thought you said."

* * * * *

Trailing behind Kingsley, Harry walked into the dining area of the Aurors' training center four days later. Neville and a half-dozen Aurors were already there, waiting for the house-elves to bring lunch. "Well, he did it," announced Kingsley. "Took his first bout from me dueling." As Harry sat down, Kingsley playfully mussed his hair. "Ah, they grow up too quickly."

"Especially him," agreed Jack Temble, sitting next to Harry. "Congratulations, Harry. There's more than one Auror who never takes a bout from him."

"So, who won the pool?" asked Neville.

Tonks looked disappointed. "There wasn't one, dammit. Somebody should have thought of that."

"Well, we can't have a pool for everything," observed Jack.

"Seems that way sometimes," said Neville.

Tonks grinned. "He's just annoyed that we had one on how fast he'd learn to Apparate."

"No, I'm annoyed because you felt you had to tell me how Harry did before I tried," replied Neville, in the same spirit. In a slight imitation of Tonks' voice, he went on, "Oh, and Harry did it on his first try, Neville. No pressure, though."

Harry was too embarrassed to laugh, but the Aurors did. "Aurors have to be able to handle the pressure, Neville," joked Kingsley.

"Probably she was just remembering it because she won the one on me," said Harry to Neville.

"I won his, too," said Tonks happily. "Picked twenty minutes, only a minute off."

"Twenty minutes is very good, Neville," said Kingsley, obviously impressed. "A lot of us didn't do it that fast. You can't go by Harry, he's one of those people who screws up the average." Neville had a small smile, but didn't respond; Harry assumed he was just giving Tonks a hard time, but didn't want to admit it.

"You must have had to do a lot of paperwork for this," observed Harry. "Not only getting him permission early, but also an exception from the ARA."

Kingsley shrugged. "Yeah, but it makes perfect sense, like it did with you when we did it then, just for a different reason. Being able to use your spells makes him a potentially important resource. We've done it for Hermione and Ginny, too, we were going to ask you to talk to them, see when they can make it in. We want to give them a half-day of Apparation training, pretty much what we just did with Neville."

Harry's first thought was that Ron would be very displeased that his younger sister would be able to learn to Apparate before him, but Harry thought it wasn't the best thing to say to the Aurors. Instead, he said, "I'm sure they'll be happy to. We'll talk to them."

"Good," said Kingsley. Looking uncomfortable, he continued, "Look, there's a promise we had to make, that we were pressured to make, in return for doing that. It was to relay a request from Fudge, a request that you should feel complete freedom to reject. He wants-"

"-us to use the spells to protect him," Harry finished, then saw Kingsley looking more surprised than he'd ever seen him look. "Yeah, we heard about that. We decided we weren't going to do it."

"Good for you," said Jack firmly. "Sniveling coward..."

Kingsley was looking from Harry to Neville, seemingly trying to work out how they had found out. "Boy, you've got some good contacts. Not many people knew about that. But yes, I'm glad you said no. If you'd said yes, I'd have tried to talk you out of it. I was really angry that they even made us promise to ask in return for making sure that Neville and the others could Apparate, which is a perfectly legitimate request. Well, I'm glad that now I can tell them I asked, you said no, and that's that. But I won't tell them that you knew already, I'll let them think you thought it over."

Harry wasn't sure he cared whether Kingsley let them think that or not, but he knew it was probably better to do so. "Did you have anything in particular in mind with Ginny and Hermione, after teaching them to Apparate?"

"Nothing specific, no," replied Kingsley. "Just that their abilities make them potentially valuable, and for better causes than protecting politicians. I don't want to have a situation where their help could be very useful, but the ARA hinders them from traveling. Oh, and Harry, you almost don't need this because you have Fawkes, but we arranged this for both you and Neville. You both have the same exemption from the ARA that Aurors have. As we already explained to Neville, we can't Apparate casually, but we can in the course of our duties as Aurors, though we try to avoid it if we can. You two will have the same status. You may not be Aurors, but there may be times when you'll need to Apparate as if you were, so now you can. You don't have to justify it to the Ministry, just to us."

"I understand, thanks," said Harry. "Although I'm not sure what situation-"

He was interrupted by a very loud alarm that seemed to be coming from not only the room they were in, but every adjacent room as well. Startled, he saw the Aurors leap to their feet and Disapparate; all were gone in less than a second. He looked at Neville, now the only other person in the room. "What the hell... do you know what just happened?" He had to shout for Neville to hear him above the alarms.

"It's their pendants, someone's-" Neville cut himself off as the alarms suddenly ceased, and he was shouting in the silence. Changing to a normal tone, he continued. "You remember how our pendants have that adrenaline alarm? Well, theirs do too, of course. One of theirs just went off."

Harry felt his heart sink, as he understood that at least one Auror was in mortal danger. "Fawkes!" he shouted, and Fawkes appeared. "Can you take me to wherever that happened?" Fawkes settled onto the table in front of them as Harry tried to clear his mind so he could understand whatever Fawkes might want to communicate to him. He immediately knew the answer, though, because if Fawkes could take him, he would be in the air, tail feathers sticking out. Harry listened anyway. Neville stayed quiet, knowing what Harry was doing.

Half a minute later Harry exhaled, frustrated. "He can't," he said to Neville. "I should have known he couldn't, but I had to be sure. He was just letting me know that I'm really the only person whose location he can simply know. He also let me know that the closer I am to a person-emotionally closer, not physically closer-the more easily he can know where they are, even if I don't, but it's not instant. He has to focus, it's harder. It's as if where I am is a bright beacon, because we're bonded, and the people I'm close to are very faint, but visible, because of their connection to me. Probably you and the others are the only ones he could do that with. Well, maybe Molly and Arthur, too."

"So, obviously, if you knew where it was, he could take you," Neville clarified.

Harry nodded. "Damn, I wonder what happened."

"I think we have to assume there was another Death Eater attack," Neville speculated. "Maybe a few went out to the scene and ran into some trouble, maybe there were more lying in wait, or something."

"I wish we could do something besides just sit here," said Harry impatiently. "But I guess we can't, we just have to wait for someone to come back and tell us what happened." Neither said anything for a few minutes. Then Harry said, "They couldn't just Apparate out to the scene, right? They had to find out where it was first."

"Yes, that's right," agreed Neville. "They had to go to the place where all the Auror movements are tracked and Apparation is detected. So the ones here with us would have gone straight there, looked to see where it was, and then Apparated to the scene. I doubt they got there in time to do anything, though."

Harry hoped Neville was wrong, but knew he was probably right. Another few minutes passed in silence, neither Harry nor Neville touching their half-eaten food.

Finally there were two simultaneous popping sounds, and Kingsley and Tonks appeared, both grim. "Teddy and Anna," said Tonks, trying hard to control her emotions. "Both dead."

Harry looked down for a moment as he absorbed the information. He had met Anna a few times, but hardly knew her. Teddy had participated in his training occasionally, and had always been friendly. But Harry knew that how he felt wasn't a question of how well he knew them, but of how this affected the Aurors, of whom he felt a part even though he wasn't officially one. I'd been having such a nice summer, Harry thought, that I'd forgotten that we're in the middle of a war. The summer didn't feel so nice anymore.

"What happened?" asked Neville, obviously very upset as well.

"It was an ambush," said Kingsley quietly. "They were responding to a call, an unauthorized Apparation. It was only one Apparation, but when they got to the scene, there were at least eight Death Eaters there... and Voldemort. They all got away by taking Portkeys when we got there-most all of us went to the scene-but Voldemort stayed just long enough for us to get a glimpse of him, he wanted us to know that he had done it. The Dark Mark was up, of course. They set it all up, used a Portkey or whatever to get there, except for one-probably Voldemort-who Apparated there, so we'd send out two Aurors, as usual. They didn't stand a chance, not against that many."

Harry found himself imagining it, and felt rage toward the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Then he looked up at Fawkes and reflexively tried to get rid of the feeling or at least minimize it, as he knew how it affected Fawkes. He had an idea that had started forming even before he found out what had happened, and he wanted to know if it could be done. He looked at Kingsley and asked, "What happens the next time there's a report of an unauthorized Apparation?"

Kingsley slowly nodded, understanding Harry's meaning. "We have to decide that. Right this second, probably twenty of us would go."

That made sense to Harry. Now, they would have to assume any unauthorized Apparation was a similar trap, and act accordingly. It would be a drain on their time and resources, which Harry assumed was part of the reason for it. "The next time there's a call," he said, "I want to go."

"Me, too," said Neville quickly.

Kingsley regarded them solemnly, obviously still very emotionally affected by the deaths. "So you can protect whoever goes."

Neville nodded. "And I think Hermione and Ginny will want to too, when they find out about this."

"They can't Apparate yet," pointed out Tonks.

"Then they should learn, as soon as possible," said Harry. He wasn't happy about the idea that Ginny would go into a combat situation, but he knew she would want to, and that he had to respect it. "In the meantime, if there's a call and I go to the scene, Fawkes can pick them up and take them there. They'd get there only a few seconds after I did."

Kingsley appeared torn. "I'm not thrilled at the idea of using sixteen-year-olds in combat situations."

Harry understood that Kingsley wasn't referring to their lack of experience, but rather that he didn't want them at risk. "Kingsley, we've all been in combat, in situations that make going out surrounded by Aurors look like a tea party. And it makes sense, you know it does. I know you weren't training Neville and I with the idea that you'd be using us this soon. But we really want to help, and it would be a waste not to let us. And remember one other thing-what Albus did to Voldemort, he thinks I did. If he's out with them the next time it happens, and he sees me, he may get scared and leave right away. There might not even be a fight."

Kingsley sighed. "You're right, it does make sense," he admitted. "But this isn't a decision I can make right now. I need a little time... I mean, this just happened."

Harry decided to press. "I know... but the next call could come any time."

Kingsley closed his eyes, then opened them. "All right. Provisionally-I could change my mind at any time-you're coming with us on the next call. Tonks, are you okay to coordinate with them, make sure they know exactly what to do?"

She nodded. "I could use something constructive to do. I'll show them what to do, and teach the girls to Apparate this afternoon if they want to do this. You go on ahead, I'll keep in touch."

Kingsley looked at Harry and Neville. "Thanks, both of you." He Disapparated.

"Okay," said Harry to Tonks, "I'll call Ginny on my hand, ask her and Hermione to come down here. Then-"

"No, Harry," interrupted Tonks. "You and Neville go there, talk to them there. I don't want them here when they find out about this, I don't want them feeling like they should have to do this. Tell them at the Burrow. You'll have to have Molly's approval for Ginny anyway. Whoever agrees can come back here, I'll tell you all the procedure for responding to a call, and I'll do Apparation training after that, if necessary."

"All right," agreed Harry. He lifted his left hand and looked into his palm, and spoke before Ginny had a chance to look back at him. "Ginny, get everyone who's there together in the living room." She nodded, and Harry put his hand down. "Let's go, Neville." They walked to the fireplace.

At five-thirty Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny exited the Burrow's fireplace one by one, as Ron and Pansy got up from the sofa. "Molly! They're back!" yelled Pansy.

Molly walked into the room from the kitchen, wearing an apron. "Good, I was wondering how long they were going to keep you. Well, I want to know what happened, of course, but I also want to wait for Arthur, it's pointless to have to tell the story twice. Maybe you-" She stopped talking as the fireplace lit up again, and Arthur came through. "Oh, good, that helps," she said, kissing her husband on the cheek.

"It was all over the building about the Aurors, of course," said Arthur, addressing Harry and Neville. "I'm sorry. Did you know them well?"

"Teddy somewhat, and Anna hardly at all, but you know how it is with Aurors, that almost doesn't matter that much," replied Harry solemnly. "Neville and I may not be real Aurors, but they've made us feel like part of the group enough that this really affects us."

"Which is the only reason..." Molly looked at her husband hesitantly, which Harry could barely recall her ever doing. "I did something I should have waited for your input to do, Arthur. But there was an urgency to it, the kids were so insistent... I gave our permission for Ginny to go out on calls with them. Harry and Neville persuaded Kingsley to take them next time, and Hermione and Ginny wanted to too."

"They want to protect them," nodded Arthur. "I thought about the possibility, of course. I assume you felt it was urgent because the next attack could have happened at any time?"

"Yes, Hermione and I spent the whole afternoon Apparating," said Ginny. "I'd always looked forward to Apparating, thought it'd be fun, but now it isn't, not in this situation." Harry wondered if she was saying that in case Ron envied her, but a glance at Ron showed no signs that he did.

"So, now we're all set on what to do if there's another call," explained Hermione. "Our pendants will let us know, and we immediately Apparate to the room where they detect Apparations, or take a fireplace if we're here since we can't Disapparate from here. Then we all go out to where it's happening. For the first few times, Aurors will take Ginny, Neville and I, just to be sure we end up where we're supposed to. Harry's practiced enough so that his aim is good enough, he can do it by himself."

"Do you think they're really going to do it again, so soon?" asked Arthur. "Wouldn't it be smarter for them to not do it again for a while, wait until the Aurors get tired of sending ten or twenty people every time there's a call?"

"They might do that," agreed Neville. "But the Aurors have to assume every unauthorized Apparation from this point on could be a trap. So there isn't much choice, really. It's either send lots of people every time, or let the Death Eaters Apparate at will again."

Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Neville took turns relating the rest of the day's events, after which Molly returned to preparing dinner and Arthur went upstairs. Hermione said, "Oh, I just remembered something that happened this morning, I was going to tell you before all this happened. I got a fireplace call from Rita Skeeter."

This can't be good, thought Harry. "What did she want?"

"Apparently she was offered an interview with Fudge. She didn't say it exactly like this, but the Ministry wants her to do a favorable story about him. Basically, be as unfairly positive about him as she was negative about Harry and I in what she wrote in fourth year. She wanted to ask my permission to do it, though of course she didn't admit that was what she was doing. She was all snide as usual, and asked if I was going to make trouble for her if she did it. I decided that she's been on the sidelines for two years, and that's enough. I told her that as long as she doesn't write about us, and as long as she tells the truth, she can do what she wants."

"Bet she wasn't exactly grateful," guessed Harry.

"No, her first reaction was, 'with those kinds of restrictions, what can I really do?' She was just being sarcastic, of course, but there was obviously some truth to it as well. I told her to just consider it a challenge, then she said something else snide and left the fireplace. I wondered if I did the right thing letting her write again, but I was worried that if I let it go on too long, she'd just get fed up and decide it was worth getting in trouble for being an unregistered Animagus so she could try to get me in trouble for blackmailing her."

"Actually, I kind of wondered about that," said Ron. "If that happened, could you get into any real trouble? If somehow she could prove it?"

"She can't, Ron," said Hermione with certainty. "It's all verbal, she can't prove a thing. Even if she put the memories into a Pensieve, it wouldn't help, since in legal proceedings memories are considered more as testimony than proof, because Pensieve memories can be wrong or faked. But even if she somehow could, it's debatable whether what I did was strictly illegal. It would be if I made her do something illegal, or give me money or a service of some kind. Since all I did was make her not do something, it probably wouldn't really be considered blackmail. So while I wasn't worried so much about legal trouble, I was starting to get concerned about how it would look, since I'm starting to become well known in the wizarding world after facing Voldemort. If she didn't mind suffering her own legal fate, she could make my life more miserable. I'm just hoping that now, she'll leave us alone."

"I don't know, Hermione," said Pansy. "I was there when you were talking to her, and she seemed kind of unbalanced." To the others' surprised looks, Pansy explained, "Not like she's a loony, though, I just mean that I think she really hates Hermione, the way she came across. If she thought she could hurt Hermione without getting into big trouble herself, I really think she would do it."

"Fortunately, she can't," said Hermione. "Being found out would end her career-the Prophet wouldn't employ her anymore-so she'll never risk it. I know she hates me, but I don't care. She picked a fight with me, and came out on the wrong end. Too bad for her."

Harry's first thought was of Marietta Edgecombe, who had also ended up on the wrong end of Hermione's wrath. He hoped that aggressive streak would help them when turned against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and he hoped it would be soon.

* * * * *

Harry bolted awake as he felt something like static electricity on his chest. It was his pendant, and that was the signal that would be sent out to all Aurors in the event of an unauthorized Apparation. Fawkes appeared; Harry quickly grabbed his tail, and found himself in the Apparation detection room. Fawkes then disappeared, Harry knew, to get Ginny and Hermione. A few Aurors Apparated in, although most were already there or had arrived faster. As Harry looked up at the maps showing where the Apparation had occurred, he saw Ginny and Hermione arrive. He didn't spare them a glance, as he was focused on zeroing in on the exact spot where the Apparation had occurred.

"Everyone got it? Let's go!" shouted Kingsley, and twenty Aurors and four teenagers Disapparated. Harry willed himself to the spot he had visualized, and he was suddenly in a field. There was no light except for moonlight, but his eyes adjusted quickly, as in anticipation of this problem the detection room's lights had been dimmed. He looked around, and saw no one but the Aurors.

"I saw him," shouted Cassandra, to make sure she was heard by everyone. "He was over by that tree. Wearing a hood, so I couldn't make out the face, and he disappeared less than a second after I saw him. Took a Portkey, I'm sure of it."

"Well, we thought this might happen," said Kingsley. "Okay, let's be sure. Look around, four groups, one of the kids with each one." Harry teamed up with five Aurors and followed them, ready to activate the Killing Curse shield at a second's notice, but they found nothing and no one. Kingsley called off the search after a few minutes, and they all Apparated back to the detection center.

Kingsley faced the others. "Okay, there were obviously two reasons for them doing that. One was reconnaissance; they wanted to know how many we would send, and who. They probably wondered if we'd take the kids. The second was to annoy us, throw off our sleep schedules. We can probably expect more of this, tonight and future nights."

One of the Aurors spoke, a middle-aged man named Mark Tarman. "And we can expect this to continue until we catch one of them."

"That's right," confirmed Kingsley; from his and the others' expressions, Harry gathered that Tarman's comment had been rhetorical. "The problem with that, of course, is that while most of the time it'll be only one, we always have to assume that it could be a bunch, so we have to go at least ten at a time.

"They're trying to take back the benefit we got from the ARA, people," Kingsley continued, now sounding more like he was making a speech than conducting a briefing. "They're trying to get back the ability to Apparate, and make our lives difficult in the process. We've got a fight on our hands, and we've got to win it. We've got to work on our response times, get them even lower. I know, we all know, how hard it is to get out there fast enough to catch someone before they can take a Portkey away. That's our one advantage: they can Apparate to draw us there, but they can't get away by Apparating after that. They have to reach or Summon the Portkey and take it away before we can get there. If we get out there really fast, we could get lucky, and find someone who didn't Apparate as close to the Portkey as they intended. I'll be setting up schedules for drills, probably do that tonight while we wait for the next Apparation. As long as this lasts, there's going to be ten of us on ready status, and ten on standby, at all times. So, half of us will be night shift, and half, day. I'll put up the groups as soon as they're ready. We're going to get them, everyone. We can do it."

Aurors broke off into small groups or pairs and started talking among themselves. Hermione, Ginny, and Neville approached Harry. They exchanged glances, all understanding the seriousness of the situation. Ginny asked, "What did he mean by response times? Is it the time it takes to respond to an unauthorized Apparation?"

Harry and Neville nodded. "The Auror-level standard is two seconds," Harry explained, "though I think most of them can do better than that. It's not a matter of how fast you can get there, because that's instantaneous, but how fast you can identify the location well enough to go there. It's going to be harder for us than for them, both because they have much more experience Apparating and because they've done these drills many times."

Kingsley had walked up to them as Harry finished speaking. "I think you'll all do fine with more practice," he assured them. "I wanted to let you know what I have in mind for you four. As you heard me say, there'll be four shifts of ten, and I'd like each of you with one shift. Harry and Ginny, I'd like you on the midnight-to-noon shift, and Neville and Hermione, noon-to-midnight. For each twelve hours, six will be spent here on ready-to-go status, and six on standby, during which you could be relaxing, or doing response-time drills. And you should relax sometimes; this could last a while, and twelve hours a day is a lot. If any of you, at any time, needs some time off, let me know." He looked around, and saw that no one was likely to take him up on the offer. "Okay, then. Neville, Hermione, go home and get some sleep, and come back tomorrow at noon. Harry, Ginny, you'll stay here until noon. Whichever of you isn't on ready status can join the drills, as soon as we get them set up.

"And, a couple of things... first, I know none of you has that much experience Apparating, and I don't want you getting down on yourselves if you can't manage two seconds anytime soon; Aurors are experts at this sort of thing, we have to be. Just do the best you can, treat it as a skill you're trying to learn. What's important is that you get out there in time to protect the others, which you will, even if it takes you an extra second. And second... thank you for doing this. You don't have to, and we all appreciate it." He made eye contact with each of them in turn, then walked off.

"It looks like we two won't be seeing much of you two for a while," said Hermione to Harry and Ginny. She and Neville said goodbye, and headed for the fireplace.

Harry looked around the large room, watching the scene. There were magically displayed maps of Britain, and maps of London and other major cities, on all the walls. Aurors were walking in and out of the room, or talking in groups of two or three; the sense of mission and determination was palpable. Harry found that he hoped he would be on standby rather than ready status at first, so he could start doing drills. He wanted to help the situation be resolved, and, he admitted to himself, to prove himself to the Aurors. They had spent a lot of time training him, and he wanted to help in a tangible way.

He and Ginny found two chairs together, and sat down to wait to find out who would be on ready status and who would do drills. They held hands, holding them low so as not to be too conspicuous. Harry looked at Ginny, and they exchanged support and love with only their eyes. "It's not watching the sunset," he said after a minute, "but at least we get to do it together."

"I'd rather do this with you than watch the sunset, or do anything else, alone," she replied. Harry nodded, once again feeling grateful to have her. They looked at the maps, and waited.

There were two more unauthorized Apparations that night. The first had occurred at 2:02; the next two were at 4:04 and 6:06. After the third, in which no Death Eaters were sighted, it was widely assumed among the Aurors that the times were being chosen to taunt them. The Aurors were primed and ready at 8:08, but nothing happened, then or until the end of Harry and Ginny's shift.

They came through the Burrow's fireplace a few minutes after noon. Ron and Pansy were sitting on the sofa, arms around each other, when they stood after hearing the noise in the fireplace. "Bet you two are pretty tired," said Ron sympathetically. "I heard you only got a couple hours' sleep."

"Yeah, doing these shifts, I might have to take up coffee," said Harry with a small grin for Ron, reminding Ron of a joke he had made a few weeks before.

"Cool robes," said Ron. "The Aurors gave you those, I assume?"

Harry nodded. "When we go out on a call, the Aurors don't want us looking obviously different from them. They're afraid it'll make us better targets."

"Hermione told us all about what happened," added Pansy. "Did anything else happen after she and Neville left?"

They all walked into the kitchen, where Molly gave Harry and Ginny a hug and kiss each. They sat down, and Harry and Ginny took turns telling the story as they ate. "So, we got in a few hours each of response-time practice, but other than that, nothing much," concluded Harry. "It's funny... I usually see the Aurors when they're not on duty, they're pretty relaxed people. But right now, they're deadly serious. For obvious reasons, of course. They may be busy, but nobody's forgotten about Teddy and Anna."

"I must say, I'll be glad when this is over, and not just for the Aurors' sake," said Molly, looking like she wanted to adjust Harry's hair or clothes, but refraining. "I don't like you two doing this. I know why you are, don't worry, I'm not starting that again, I just can't help it." Harry started to mentally dismiss Molly's concerns, then had a sudden thought: he wondered how he would feel if he were a parent and a child of his wanted to do something like that. He then wondered if the fact that he was now with Ginny, and that they had ideas of having children in the future, had prompted the thought.

"I know, Mum," said Ginny. "I will too. But you'd be doing this too if you were me."

"I wish I could be," said Ron, in what was obviously understatement. "And since you four are on different shifts, we can't have any sessions until this is over."

Harry tried not to smile, and wasn't completely successful. "Well, nothing says there have to be six. You two could have your own energy-of-love sessions."

Molly and Ginny stifled their giggles, as Pansy laughed out loud. Ron gave Harry a long-suffering look. "Oh, good, Harry. Very subtle."

"I don't think he was trying to be," pointed out Pansy, now amused at Ron's discomfort. She held his hand for a second, then ran the hand up his forearm. "It's not a bad idea, really."

Ron looked at Harry accusingly. "This is all your fault."

"Really?" Harry asked, as if surprised. "I'm not the one touching your arm."

"Thank goodness for that," put in Ginny.

Ron ostentatiously changed the subject. "Well, I guess we're going to have to be pretty quiet around here for a while. With you two on this shift, you'll be sleeping most of the afternoon and evenings. Hope you aren't light sleepers."

"We'll work something out," said Molly. They chatted more and finished eating, then Molly asked Ron and Pansy to leave so she could talk privately to Ginny and Harry. They looked mildly surprised, but did so.

Molly faced Harry and Ginny, her expression serious. "This is about how you're going to sleep. Ron had a point, which I'd already thought of as soon as Hermione told us what happened. The fact is, we could probably be quiet enough, but it would be a real effort, not to mention that Ron and Pansy would be shut out of their rooms all day. They could get by, but the bottom line is that given what you're doing, your sleep is very important right now. Someone could make an accidental noise, wake you, and you might have a hard time getting back to sleep, and then you'd have a hard night with the Aurors. You'll be in danger, and you have to be alert.

"So, I think the best solution is for the both of you, as long as this goes on, to sleep in Harry's quarters at Hogwarts." Ginny and Harry raised their eyebrows and glanced at each other, but had no other visible reaction. Molly remained serious as she continued, "You know I'm not trying to encourage you, and my daughter's already made it clear that you need no encouragement. This has nothing to do with that. You need a place to sleep where you won't be disturbed, and Hogwarts is perfect. I've already called Professor McGonagall to explain the situation and what I had in mind. Now, there are other possibilities; for example, she asked me if I was sure I didn't want to have Harry in his quarters and Ginny in her Gryffindor dormitory, or a guest room. But you two can already do what you want, so there would be no point to that. And since you're committed, it would seem unfair to separate you like that just because Ginny's underage. You deserve to be treated like adults, given what you're doing."

Ginny's expression was as serious as her mother's. "Thanks, Mum. We appreciate it. Obviously, in other circumstances I'd be thinking all kinds of things, but right now I'm just thinking about sleep, and I'm sure Harry is too. It was really nice of you to do that for us." Harry nodded his agreement.

"Well, it just makes sense," said Molly, seemingly satisfied that they were taking the situation seriously. "You two can go on upstairs, get whatever you need from your rooms, and go ahead. I know you're tired."

They thanked her again, headed upstairs, and went to their respective rooms. They met in the hall, Fawkes appeared, and they were soon standing in the bedroom of Harry's Hogwarts quarters. Harry put down his bag and sat down on the double bed, then she sat next to him. "Funny," he said, "I imagined what it would be like the first time we got to sleep in the same bed, but it wasn't anything like this."

"I'm glad I wasn't the only one imagining what it would be like," she replied, smiling mischievously. "I've imagined it quite a bit, actually." Now Harry smiled in embarrassment as he wondered if she meant what he thought she meant. "But, yes, it was nothing like this, and we are tired, so that sort of thing will have to wait. Never thought I'd hear myself say that," she added, almost to herself.

She rolled over to the other side of the bed and lay down, and Harry lay next to her. After a minute of silence, Ginny said, "Suddenly, I'm very tired. I was going to change, but I don't think I'll bother. I feel like I could drop off whenever I wanted."

"Well, I have to do my Occlumency exercises, but I'm sure I won't be far behind," said Harry.

She rolled onto her side to face him. "I love you, Harry."

"I love you, too," he answered. She smiled, kissed him, then rolled onto her other side, facing away from him. A minute into his Occlumency exercises, he heard her breathing loudly, obviously asleep. Five minutes later, he was as well.

Harry slowly awakened, and the first thing he noticed was Ginny, still sleeping, lying on her side so that she faced him. In his hand he had watched her sleep more than once, but this was the first time he'd seen it face to face. He wanted to touch her, but was conscious of waking her up. He didn't want to move, for the same reason, but he had to use the bathroom, so he reluctantly got up. When he came back, she was still asleep, but she stirred awake as he lay down on the bed again. She looked up at him and smiled. "What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty, so we slept almost seven hours," he answered.

"Probably enough," she said. She moved closer to him and put her arms around him. "Suddenly I don't feel like going back to sleep, anyway." He smiled and kissed her, then she kissed him, more aggressively. After they broke apart, she touched his face and said, "And now, I feel like getting into the water again."

Harry grinned, remembering the swimming pool analogy he'd used the last time they were there. "Do you think the water will be okay?" he asked, wanting to know if she would feel comfortable doing anything, considering his memories could be viewed later by Snape.

"Only one way to find out," she replied, and kissed him again. The kiss lasted for over a minute, and Harry found that his desire to keep going was beginning to outweigh his concern that what they did might be seen. They finally broke apart, and she smiled at him again. "You seem pretty enthusiastic."

"I suppose I am," he agreed.

"Well, that's good, I like you that way," she said teasingly. "I have to go to the bathroom, unfortunately, but I won't be long." She kissed him again, then got up.

He lay back on the bed, thoughts competing for attention in his head. He thought for the first time since waking up of the Aurors, of the challenge that they faced. He thought about Ginny, about how lucky he was to have her. He thought about Dumbledore, with whom he had not talked during his sleep for the first time since Dumbledore had died; Harry assumed that it was because in the current situation, he needed all the sleep he could get. He looked around the room, remembered that he was at Hogwarts, and wondered how he would teach a full schedule and study as well next term. Most of all, he wondered what would happen when Ginny returned. He recalled that in the most recent nighttime conversation he had with Dumbledore and the 'other' Snape, Snape had told him that his physical counterpart planned to avoid viewing sexual memories indefinitely while Harry adapted to the situation, and that the knowledge that he could do so if he chose was more important than actually doing so. Harry hadn't had a chance to tell Ginny about the conversation, and decided to do so when she returned.

Ginny came out of the bathroom, and took a few steps toward the bed; he was sitting on the edge, waiting for her to sit next to him. She stood a few feet away, looking determined and a little nervous; Harry wondered if he was imagining it, as she was normally far less reserved about anything intimate than he was.

"Remember what you said about getting into the water a little bit at a time?" she asked. "Well, one thing you need to know about me is that I'm not a very patient person." She moved her arms and shoulders, and the Aurors' robes fell to the floor; Harry gaped in astonishment as he took in the fact that she was now wearing nothing. "I decided to jump in the deep end," she said.

Harry just stared for a few seconds, so surprised that he was unable to do much else. Although still nervous, she was amused at his expression. "I've never seen you look quite like that before. I hope it's because you like what you see."

He knew that to say that he liked what he saw would be a vast understatement. He recovered from his shock enough to realize that she was nervous, and probably very uncomfortable. He stood and walked to her. "I love what I see. I've never seen anything more beautiful."

She beamed and kissed him. "I think that's the first time you've ever used that word to describe me. I think you just want to encourage me to do that more."

"That would be good," he agreed. "But I meant what I said." Conscious of how exposed she was, he unbuttoned the top few buttons of his robe, lifted the front, and draped it over her as he moved closer. They were now both covered by his robe, their heads barely fitting through the top. He took his arms out of the robe's sleeves and put his arms around her under the robe, and she put hers around him. They held each other for a few seconds, then he met her eyes and said, "I didn't think I'd ever feel so proud, and so excited, both at the same time." He realized that what she had done had had the effect she clearly hoped it would; he now didn't care who saw what from his memories later. What inhibitions he had felt were gone.

"Well, I'm very glad about both of those, but right now, the second one especially," she said happily.

He smiled. "Not only that, but... it's like what people said about me last year, about saying Voldemort's name. You inspire me to follow your example," he said as he moved his arms under the robe to try to remove his shirt.

She stopped him, holding his arms in place. "Oh, no. No, this is my reward for doing what I did. I get to do this."

Very pleased at her attitude, he stopped moving. As she started, he had a sudden thought. "I forgot to ask, did you ever go to St. Mungo's?" The only answer he got was a smile.