The Kidnapping

Chapter Fourteen

Questions and Answers

Harry had been thinking of very little other than asking Dumbledore about what had happened in Mount Solon while they had breakfast, but he found that right after he had finished eating he was much too tired to do anything other than be led by Moody up to one of the several bedrooms on the second floor. Cho was also succumbing to exhaustion, and she went into a room down the hall.

Harry fell onto his bed and had barely enough energy to get under the blankets before he fell right asleep.

He woke up a few nightmare-free hours later, feeling refreshed and relaxed. As he was stretching out his legs after getting out of bed, however, he noticed a distinct and mildly unpleasant smell that he realized with dismay was coming from his own clothing.

Well, no surprise there, he thought. Neither he nor his clothing had been washed over the past two days. He was certain there was a shower somewhere in the house, but he wasn't sure what he would do about laundry. It would be something else to ask Dumbledore.

Out of curiosity's sake he opened up one of the drawers of the dresser that was in his room, and was surprised to see a complete fresh change of clothes. And they looked like they would fit. Well, that was taken care of. Now for a shower...

Twenty minutes later, Harry was feeling wonderfully clean. It was perhaps the first time in his life he'd been able to have a shower without the Dursleys going on about him wasting water or the other Gryffindors waiting for him to hurry up (if he was lucky and got there first). He was also dressed in some half-decent clothing outside of his Hogwarts robes for a change. He was now wearing black jeans, a white t-shirt and an emerald short-sleeved collared shirt over top.

He walked down the stairs to see that the wall of the sitting room facing the lake had vanished. In its place was a white-washed sunroom. The sunroom's windows were thrown open, although each had a mesh screen. There was a wooden picnic table in the centre of the sunroom, adorned with a table cloth and covered with platters of appetizers: cold cut meats, vegetables and dip, what looked like fresh-baked baguette, cheese squares, and a few small serving-bowls of sauces and butter.

There were a few lawn chairs sitting at random in the sunroom, and a small sofa in the centre, facing out towards the lake. Sitting in that sofa was Cho Chang. She turned upon hearing his footfalls, and smiled at him in greeting.

"Harry! You're up!" she exclaimed. "Come over and have a seat. Professor Dumbledore made a spread for lunch. He's off somewhere seeing what he can do for your owl." She gestured at the food. Then she took a closer look at him.

"Oh," she said, "you found some new clothes in your dresser too! I must say, they do suit you."

Harry felt a slow flush crawl up his neck as his stomach did a somersault... Cho, complimenting his appearance?

He came around to the front side of the sofa and saw that she had a fresh change of clothes as well, and, blinking hard, forced his mouth shut. She looked very pretty indeed in a pair of smooth rust-red slacks and a long-sleeved white button-down blouse.

"Er-er, thanks," he managed to stammer out. Then, as an afterthought, "and, er, you look nice too..."

Harry resisted the impulse to smack himself, but to his relief Cho just smiled shyly, and he thought he could see her blushing, too.

Harry walked over to the table, and seeing a small stack of paper plates picked one up and grabbed a few pieces of food. He then sat down on the sofa, but he found that he was feeling rather nervous as he did so.

Cho was looking out at the lake. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked in a distracted fashion.

"I - er, I suppose," Harry managed to say. He inwardly cursed his tongue for getting tied up in knots.

There was an awkward pause.

"I can't believe how lucky we are," Cho said after a while. "Between... between Him and those-those things... I thought we were - well, you know..."

Harry nodded silently. They were indeed fortunate. That did not stop a sinking feeling from developing deep within him. This was conversational ground that he wasn't quite ready to cover.

"What I can't believe is how quick you were on your feet, Harry," she said after another long pause. "You reacted right away when they were distracted, even after he'd used Legilimency on you."

"Used what?" Harry asked.

"Oh, um, it's basically mind-reading," replied Cho.

"Oh," Harry said dully.

"But you couldn't see what you looked like. The way your jaw was set, and you were all tensed up like you would spring up and tackle him if you could. You just looked so-so brave trying to stand up to You-Know-Who like that."

Harry felt his spirits lift a little. Cho, in the meantime had shifted over, ever so slightly closer to him, and she was now looking straight at him. On noticing this, Harry felt his breath catch in his throat, and he could hear his heart pumping in his ears.

"Harry, do you remember earlier this morning - was it really just this morning? - when I woke you up?"

This time, Harry did not feel annoyed or sullen, as Cho had shifted a little closer, and he was starting to feel panicked. Part of him wanted very badly to jump up and run away, but his legs felt like jelly. He sat there, transfixed, staring into Cho's eyes. She was close, too close...

"I remember I had a question I wanted to ask you," she went on, leaning forward. Harry's heart was racing wildly, and all rational thought had been driven from his brain.

Cho leaned in further, her lips parting slightly.

There was a loud pop! behind them, and they both started. Cho stood up, flushing heavily.

"I must beg your pardon," Dumbledore's voice said, and Harry sat there feeling an inchoate rage. Of all the times - !

Then there was a flutter of wings, and a loud hoot.

"Hedwig!" he cried out, standing up himself as his snowy owl launched herself from Dumbledore's left arm and flew over onto his outstretched right hand. His brief anger passed in a heartbeat, replaced with an immense relief, like a heavy load had been lifted from his shoulders.

Hedwig hooted again and affectionately nuzzled him beneath his chin.

"I wonder, Miss Chang, if you would be so kind as to feed Harry's owl. I would like to have a quick conversation with him," Dumbledore asked her. The way he spoke suggested that the word alone came immediately at the end of his sentence, without his actually having to say it.

"Right... of course, Professor. In fact, maybe I'll write home," Cho said. Harry was quite curious. What did Dumbledore want to talk to him about? He gave Hedwig over to Cho, and she left.

Dumbledore walked in from the sitting room and grabbed a nearby lawn chair. He sat down in it, and gestured at the sofa. "Please, sit down, won't you, Harry?"

Harry sat, and Dumbledore smiled at him.

"So, were you surprised when you saw the sunroom?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes, yes I was," Harry admitted.

"Usually by this time of year I've brought it out. I pack it up, so to speak, for the winter," Dumbledore explained. "But I didn't come to ask you about what you think of this house." His expression turned grave. "I am afraid I must ask you what Lord Voldemort wanted with you."

"Well," Harry said, thinking back, "he wanted to find some things out... like the extent of our connection, and-and if I knew why he had come after me as a baby."

Dumbledore nodded. "That would explain why he didn't kill you outright. What did you tell him?"

Harry felt his face grow red with shame. "I tried not to tell him anything, but he-he-"

"He used Legilimency?" Dumbledore asked carefully.

"Yes!" Harry said. "It was awful - I felt...violated."

"Lord Voldemort is not known for his sensitivity," Dumbledore said. "One can make use of Legilimency without resorting to mind-rape, but Voldemort rarely bothers with such niceties. In any case, it is safe to assume that he knows everything you know. Did he tell you why he had tried to destroy you all those years ago?"

"No," Harry said simply.

Dumbledore nodded. "I wouldn't think he would. Very well, Harry. I have put off this day for a very long time, and I fear that the events of the past year and a half are the result of that procrastination.

"Have you ever wondered why it is I keep Sybil Trelawney as part of the Hogwarts faculty? You no doubt have noticed by now that the subject she teaches is of dubious value to wizardkind."

"I never really thought about it," Harry admitted. "I mean, I know she's a right old fraud, but she did make that prediction before Wormtail escaped. And - " and here Harry put something together - "didn't you say that that brought her up to two genuine predictions?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Very good, Harry," he said, nodding. "Yes, that was the second time Professor Trelawney uttered what you and I would call prophecy. As it so happens, the first genuine prediction I heard her make is of great importance to both you and Lord Voldemort.

"It was a few months before you were born when I was interviewing Professor Trelawney at the Hog's Head pub to see if she was a suitable candidate to fill the position of Divination teacher at Hogwarts. I must admit, I had my doubts, and I had not been too keen on continuing the teaching of Divination to begin with. However, she was a descendent of a famous Seer, and it was reputed that she had the Sight herself, so I decided to give her a chance.

"As the interview was winding down, I was beginning to be quite disappointed, and I turned to leave after stating that I was not certain she was the right person for the job. Then she spoke in a fashion quite alien to her personality. She was no longer speaking to me personally, but was Seeing. She declared that the one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord would be born as the seventh month - July, of course - died, and that Voldemort would mark him as his equal. The one who could defeat Voldemort would be born to parents who had defied him three times before, and he would have power that the Dark Lord would know nothing of."

Harry brought a hand up and traced his scar with a finger. Dumbledore nodded.

"I have that memory stored in my Pensieve," he continued. "At our first opportunity upon returning I would like to show it to you. In any case, it has since become obvious that the boy to whom Trelawney was referring was you. It also turned out that Voldemort had an informant in the Hog's Head that night, and he heard the very first part of the prophecy. Fortunately, he was discovered before he heard all of it, and so Voldemort acted rashly, not knowing that he would mark you as his equal or that you had power that he was unable to fathom.

"There was one other part to the prophecy, though: neither Voldemort nor his nemesis could live while the other survived. One would have to prevail over and destroy the other, sooner or later."

Dumbledore bent forward, and his next words were a whisper, as if he were afraid of being overheard.

"Harry, you must understand that Lord Voldemort knows nothing of the true content of the prophecy. He is unaware that you are in effect his equal, and, as the prophecy stated, he knows nothing of the secret power within you. He must never learn of it."

These last words were spoken with an incredible intensity despite the fact that Dumbledore had dropped his voice so as to be almost inaudible. He then spoke once more with his normal tone of voice.

"Which brings us to the problem of your connection with Lord Voldemort, and I say problem because he is now very much aware of it. He will not hesitate to exploit it to sift through your mind for any crucial information to which you are privy. You are safe here in this house, but once we have left you will be out in the open, and he will take full advantage of the opportunity before him.

"To that end, Harry, we will need to train you in the art of Occlumency: the ability to seal your mind from outside intrusion. It will protect you from Lord Voldemort, and," and here Dumbledore's tone grew lighter, "you may find it can come in quite handy at other times as well.

"Now, if you have any other questions, Harry, please feel free to ask."

Harry was silent for a minute. Then he remembered one of the things he had wanted to ask Dumbledore since the Headmaster had rescued him from the wraiths.

"Sir, what happened when you were in Mount Solon?" he asked. "Voldemort said that you two and Connor Salisbury nearly destroyed each other."

"I was the first of the three of us to arrive," Dumbledore explained. "Lord Voldemort came shortly after. We spoke, briefly. Had it not been for the fact that we were both there at the behest of another powerful wizard, we may have come to blows. But we kept our peace.

"When Connor Salisbury arrived, he was in his limousine. He wasted no time and began attempting to put us under his power and take us prisoner. I did what I could to break free from his enchantments, but Lord Voldemort, predictably, reacted violently. It was not long before we were locked in a pitched battle. I am afraid most of Mount Solon was levelled by the energies that were unleashed.

"Once it became clear that the only possible conclusion to the battle was our mutual destruction, I decided to withdraw, and I Apparated here. Since you encountered Lord Voldemort this morning, he must have left the battle soon after, and Alastor told me after he got here that he saw Salisbury's limousine returning to his home."

There was another moment of silence. Then Dumbledore stirred.

"Harry, Alastor told me you found a ring in your robe pocket that hadn't been there before. Apparently you thought that Salisbury perhaps had planted it on you. Do you still have it?"

"The ring? I think so," Harry said. "Did you want me to get it for you?"

"No, that's all right, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Alastor told me he couldn't see any Charms on it. Perhaps I'll take a look at it later. In the meantime, would you be able to fetch me the papers you took from Salisbury's study the day you made your escape? Perhaps they may hold clues as to where our friends are being held prisoner."

"Yes, of course, Professor," Harry said, and he got up and dashed away. In a matter of seconds he had gone up the stairs and into his room. He picked up his backpack and took out the folded up papers.

He walked out of his room just as Cho was coming out of hers.

"Harry, I hope you don't mind, but I sent Hedwig off with a letter to my family," she said with a hint of trepidation in her voice.

"Oh, no problem," Harry said. "I'm sure they'll be happy to know you're all right."

"I know they will, but they're probably so angry with me right now," she said, wringing her hands. "I ran away from home to join Ron and Hermione, you know, to help rescue you. But Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were already there, at Ron's home, and they invited me to join the official rescue party after I told them what had happened."

They walked down the stairs together and back to the sunroom, where Harry laid the map on a table. They walked into the sunroom and Harry gave Dumbledore the letter to read. Then he and Cho snacked on some of the food that was still out while Dumbledore examined first the letter and the map.

"Hmmm...." Dumbledore began. "I wonder what this 'last phase of the operation' is and why it is likely, if this map is any indication, going to take place, in New York City."

Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"It seems that Salisbury has been building up support in all levels of the Department of Magical Affairs here over the past few years, and he even seems to have contacts among the Muggle politicians and military men," commented Dumbledore.

"Yes, he had a general named George Kaplan over for dinner one Sunday while I was at his house," Harry said.

Dumbledore gazed thoughtfully at the map. "I wonder..." he said very quietly.

"If this place here," he began, pointing to Lake of the Woods, "holds an underground life-sized mock-up of Hogwarts, and houses a number of Muggle soldiers, then it stands to reason that it would also have enough room for some prisoners."

"Do you think that is where they'll be holding the others?" Cho asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "It is as good a choice as any. It is remote enough from the principal centres of magical civilization here on this continent yet its central location makes it quite easy to reach."

He gazed at it a bit longer, then looked up at Harry and Cho, and Harry saw a steely determination in the old wizard's eyes.

"Come tomorrow morning," Dumbledore declared, "we shall at long last wrest the initiative from Connor Salisbury."