Harry woke to an uneasy feeling with Fawkes sitting on his chest emitting a soft, sad song. “What is it Fawkes?”
Harry, using his mind, went searching for the cause of Fawkes’ irritation; it didn’t take long to find it. Suddenly sitting up in bed and causing Fawkes to take flight, Harry exploded, ”GINNY…RON…HERMIONE, EXECUTE ‘DUMBLEDORE’ PLAN ‘THE BURROW’. Ron, be careful, you may need to use your secondary position by the shed.”
“I got him located. You are right, I will use the shed.”
“Dobby…DOBBY!” Harry yelled. Dobby popped next to Harry. “Warn Mr. and Mrs. Weasley that the Burrow is under attack and then take care of Winky and Nancy.” Dobby left without saying anything. Harry finished putting a robe on and went down to the kitchen.
Ginny reported, “Harry, I’m in my position in the orchard.”
Ron was next, “I’m in position.”
A few seconds later, Hermione said, “Sorry, Harry, I had to get dressed. I’m in my primary position in the garden.”
Harry told the three, “I’m in the kitchen. Dad is just getting here. I’m going to brief him, then I will go to my position.”
Arthur flew down the stairs in his pajamas with his wand in his hand. “Harry, Dobby said we are under attack.”
Harry calmly reported to him, “We will be, however they are still getting into position. Dad, you and Mum stay here, only use the Floo Network to alert the rest of the family. Then…”
Molly rushed into the kitchen and cried, “Oh Harry, the beds are empty. Where’s Ginny?”
“Mum, we are getting ready to defend our home. Mum, stay with Dad. PLEASE do not leave the house. One of us will send a Patronus to let you know it is us, anyone else that tries to enter, stun them first and then we will determine who they are later. He then kissed her cheek. “Ginny sends her love. Ron and Hermione send their love too, and not to worry.”
Harry turned to Arthur, “There are seven, with one acting as the leader, who is well versed in Occlumency. We know it isn’t Voldemort.”
Dobby popped into the kitchen. “Winky and Nancy is safe, Master Harry.”
“Dobby, stay with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.”
“Mum…Dad, we love you,” Harry stated. Before Mrs. Weasley could say anything to Harry, he Apparated to his position.
Molly turned to Arthur and with a bit of panic, “Arthur, what are we going to do? We have to stop them Arthur!”
Arthur reached up and grabbed Molly’s upper arms, “Molly, you of all people should know that wars are fought by the young. Those four, just like your brothers, are going out to do what is right. As for us, we are going to do exactly what Harry told us to do.” Arthur then hugged Molly hard. Breaking apart slightly, Arthur gently lifted Molly’s chin, “Now go get your healing potions together, in case.” Molly bit her knuckle as tears started down her cheeks. Arthur went to the fireplace and started to alert the family.
Harry reported to the rest, “I’m in position. Is there anything new to report?”
“No.”
Ron called, “Harry, this one just keeps getting closer and closer. I need to stun him. He is alone.”
“Take him Ron!” and one of the presences Harry felt went out.
“Hey, I’ve seen this one before. I just can’t remember where!” Ron exclaimed.
Ginny called, “Harry, the leader, I think it might be Snape.”
“Are you sure?” Harry felt a fire starting in the pit of his stomach at this news.
Ginny hesitated, “No, just a feeling.”
Harry put a damper on the fire, “Okay Honey, stick with the plan. I love you.”
Hermione’s ‘voice’ had a bit of scared feel to it as she said, “Harry, the two near me just stopped moving.”
Ginny said, “These two have stopped, too.”
Ron reported, “The one across from me has stopped too. It appears they are waiting for orders.”
Harry called to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, “Alright, it’s time to stop being the victims. I love you all so much. If they are easy targets, stun them now.”
Ron exclaimed, “One down.”
Ginny said, “My two are down.”
Hermione screamed, “Ron, HELP ME! I got one but missed the other.”
Harry felt Ron Apparated to Hermione. Harry was moving towards the leader when the Leader Apparated. Harry urgently called, “The leader just Apparated, watch out for him.”
Just at that moment Bill, George, and Fred burst out of the Burrow’s front door. All three immediately noticed the Death Eater dueling with Hermione and Ron. The last Death Eater looked around in confusion at the new players just as Ron and Hermione and the other three Weasleys all hit him with stunning spells.
Harry briefed his ‘troops’, “All the Death Eaters are down. Fred, George, and Bill are outside the Burrow. Keep a lookout for the leader.”
Harry cast his Patronus at Bill and then sent it to the Burrow. He walked up to the group. “Fred…George, please go collect the other five and bring them here. Stun them again if you have to.” By this time Molly, Arthur, and Dobby emerged from the house and joined the group.
“Dad, please summon Aurors to take control of these people,” Harry said. Arthur didn’t even bat an eye as he did as he was told. In just a few seconds, two Aurors arrived, then one, two, and finally, one more. Lights were produced and the other four masks were taken off the Death Eaters laid out on the ground. As Ginny walked up, she let out a gasp and started shaking.
“Honey, what is wrong?” Harry said very concerned while wrapping her in his arms.
Ginny, feeling the warmth of Harry’s arms and stated, “I know him, not his name, but he was in the same box we were in during the World Cup. He was with the Bulgarian delegation.”
One of the Aurors asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yes! He kept giving me these weird looks that freaked me out!” shouted Ginny.
Another Auror spoke up, “Which one of you used the killing curse on this one?”
Harry spoke up, “No one used it. We only used the stunning spell. Uh…he was hit with five of them, actually.”
“I would like to verify that please,” he said as he went around to each person and caused their wands to emit its last spell cast.
Puzzled, the Auror remarked to the crowd, “That’s weird. Five stunning spells shouldn’t have killed him. I think we will have a Healer look at him.”
Hermione was now shaking uncontrollably saying over and over, “I killed him.”
Ron quickly wrapped his arms around her and kept whispering to her, “No. Something else did. You only stunned him.”
Molly, looking up to see both of her daughters shaking and with frightened looks on their faces, took charge and told the boys to get their wives inside. She then ordered the rest of her family inside too. She looked at the Aurors and commanded, “Get these vermin out of my garden.”
Back in the house, Molly began fixing everyone big mugs of hot chocolate. After everyone had one cup in them, the girls started to calm down. When Fred saw everyone relaxing some, he felt it was time, “Harry! Mate, will you kindly tell me why you are wearing Ginny’s robe?”
Harry looked down shocked. He was indeed wearing her robe and she was wearing his. Then his mind realized why she was wearing his robe.
“Harry, you didn’t really want me to go out there wearing that robe did you?” Ginny said laughing at the look on his face. “You do look really cute in it.”
Harry snarled, “Well, I hope nobody looks too close because I’m going back to bed.”
Harry started to get up when Ginny landed in his lap. Ginny kissed him and said to the room, “Harry wants to go back to bed, so if you don’t want to see anything you better leave.” The kitchen emptied so fast Harry was sure someone had dropped a Dungbomb.
A few days later, Shacklebolt came to the Burrow to brief everyone about what they had learned about the attack. He said with an extremely embarrassed voice, “We were able to confirm the one Death Eater was in the main box at the Quidditch World Cup. He volunteered for this mission hoping he would be able to get his hands on you, Ginny.”
For the first time in a long while, Harry felt his famous temper begin to rise. Ginny put it back in its closet by kissing Harry.
Shacklebolt continued, “The Healer feels the Death Eater who died did so because of the intensity of the stunning spells that were cast. Instead of just stunning him, the combination of stuns stopped his heart. None of the Death Eaters knew who the leader was. They met him just an hour before and he never said anything or took his mask off.” Molly asked him if he wanted to stay for dinner, but he had to get back to the office.
No sooner than he left, Tonks showed up looking puffy-eyed and tired. Molly got her a mug of hot chocolate as she told them that Remus was in St. Mungo’s. The girls started to get very worried until Tonks told them he was only there to rest. “During the last full moon, he went to the werewolves for one last try to get them to join our side. He and Fenrir Greyback had an argument and Remus was forced to kill him,” Tonks finished. Molly was able to talk her into staying for dinner.
The rest of the summer holidays went by without anything unusual happening to the four. The afternoon before leaving for Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione both had a warm glow about them as they watched their best friends stare in awe at the magnificent new robes, books, quills, cauldrons, and the rest of their school supplies that Molly had picked up for them that day. For the first time ever, they were going to school with nothing that was second-hand.
During their end-of-holidays dinner which the whole family was present, which included Tonks and Remus, Bill turned to Harry and said seriously, “Harry, I and Fleur greatly appreciate the Galleons you gave us, but you don’t need to keep giving us more. We both have good jobs.”
“Bill, what are you talking about?” inquired Harry.
“You know I used some Galleons to go on our honeymoon right?” Harry nodded. “Well, I went back yesterday to get some Galleons for some furniture and there are exactly 10,000 Galleons in the vault.”
Molly stopped and said excitedly, “Oh my, Harry! Both Ginny’s and Ron’s vault both had 10,000 Galleons in theirs and you know we used some to buy new clothes for them earlier in the summer.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I think I know who to talk to,” he vowed. One more item to add to the list he had to talk to Grorn about.
That last night at the Burrow found Harry with a small problem; what to do about Hedwig and Fawkes. Technically, he was only allowed one pet and there was no way he was leaving either behind. Hedwig wasn’t even a pet in his eyes since she had been with him for six years. Besides, Hedwig had been Harry’s only companion for so many days and nights at the Dursleys. No one in his right mind would consider Fawkes anything but a trusted friend. Harry decided to take both; he had broken so many rules through the years one more wouldn’t matter!
The morning was clear and sunny. All four of the students were quiet as they realized this was their last year to attend Hogwarts. Everyone was up and ready way earlier than their normal last hour dash. Crookshanks, Pig, and Hedwig were in their cages ready to go. Harry never even considered trying to put Fawkes in a cage. The trunks had been shrunk and put into pockets of their robes.
Professors Tonks and Remus arrived along with Moody. Once again, using the same security procedures of having Moody go first, followed by Remus, was used. After Remus reported that Platform 9 ¾ was clear, everyone, including Arthur and Molly, Apparated to the station.
For the first time, Harry and the rest had thirty minutes of free time before the train left which they used to greet old friends and say their ‘goodbyes’ to Mum and Dad in a calm fashion.
After boarding the train, everyone went to the last compartment which seemed to have become a custom of theirs. Ron and Harry enlarged the four trunks and stored the trunks in the overhead compartment. Harry and Ron then released Hedwig, Pig, and Crookshanks from their cages while Fawkes settled on the back of the seat. They were soon joined by Luna and Neville who both showed shocked faces at the sight of Fawkes. Since no one had Prefect duties to perform, everyone began settling in for a nice long ride, when Ginny said, “Luna, can I look at your ring?” The compartment didn’t settle down for quite a while as the girls started comparing notes and Ron and Harry shook hands with Neville and beat him on the shoulders.
During the long ride, it was revealed that Neville asked Luna to marry him soon after their weddings and they planned on an early summer wedding next year. Too soon the train began to slow and the animals were put back in their cages. Everyone changed into their school robes and the four pinned on their new ‘Guest Staff’ Badges. Both Luna and Neville looked at the four and their new badges. Hermione said that Professor McGonagall would explain everything at the feast.
They exited the train to the familiar yells of “Firs’ years!” from Hagrid. Harry was very happy to see Hagrid as he hadn’t been at the weddings. “All right there, Harry, Mrs. Potter, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?” The trip up to the castle was marred only by the fact that Ron, Ginny, and Hermione told Harry they could see the thestrals.
Harry, with Fawkes on his shoulder, holding Ginny’s hand, and Ron and Hermione in front of them holding hands, walked into the Great Hall. The noise seemed to quit as they walked to the Gryffindor table and took their seats. Fawkes hopped to the back of an empty chair next to Harry. Soon Professor Flitwick was escorting the first years into the Hall and then went to get the Sorting Hat. He placed the hat on the stool. The sorting hat took a long time before it began.
Through times of triumph
Through times of peril
One era has ended
While another is starting
Sort you I must
So let it begin
The whole Hall was shocked, two verses and nothing about the individual houses. Harry wasn’t the only one to think the Sorting Hat missed Dumbledore too.
While the sorting was going on, Harry looked over to the Slytherin table and realized that only five or six sixth- and seventh-year students had returned. Harry looked at the other three and confirmed that they had already registered the lack of Slytherin sixth- and seventh-year students.
After the sorting, Professor McGonagall rose and stated she was glad that nearly all had chosen to return and that how pleased she was that so many new students were here. She clapped her hands and the feast began. When everyone was finished, she again rose and started in on the start-of-term announcements. Her first announcement showed she had a sense of humor that was rarely displayed when she stated all items bought at ‘Weasley Wizards Wheezes’ were supposedly banned. The second announcement was the introduction of Professor Lupin as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and new Head of Gryffindor House. Nearly all the students in the fifth year and above clapped and yelled. Professor McGonagall then introduced Professor Tonks Lupin as the new Transfiguration teacher. It took a few minutes before everyone realized she was Remus’ wife and then she received a big round of applause as well.
Professor McGonagall then went on to explain that while Professor Lupin was away from the school because of his condition there would be four ‘Guest Staff’ to conduct his classes. She turned slightly to the Gryffindor table and said, “The ‘Guest Staff’ will be Mr. Ron and Mrs. Hermione Weasley, and Mr. Harry and Mrs. Ginny Potter.” There was complete silence until the Gryffindor table exploded with shouts and clapping, quickly followed by two other tables and a small amount of clapping from the younger Slytherins.
When the Great Hall quieted down, she dismissed everyone to their houses. Professor McGonagall caught Harry’s eye and motioned for the four to come up to the head table. She informed them that there was a third stairway off the common room leading to their suite that only the four could use. She told Harry that Fawkes’ stand would appear once they decided who would get which bedroom. She bid them ‘goodnight’ after telling them the new password.
They made their way to the common room where the rest of Gryffindors was waiting for them. After an hour of congratulations and well wishes, they were finally able to make it up to their new suite. The stairway emptied into a small common room, with two bedrooms on opposite sides. By some process Harry didn’t understand, Ginny chose the left bedroom and Hermione the right. The first thing Harry noticed was his and Ginny’ trunks appear at the foot of the huge bed. He then felt Fawkes leave his shoulder and flew over to his stand which was now in one corner of the bedroom.
A/N Chapter 12 Trophies