Brighter Than the Sun

Chapter Eighty-Seven

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Luke staring down at me. He looked like he was about to say something extremely meaningful, but of course, being Luke, all he said was, "I'm going to go get some coffee for you. And maybe some pastries, too."

I actually appreciated this more than what I thought he might say, like Things will turn out fine or, even worse, You'll be okay.

We kept vigil over Harry. Luke, accompanied by two house-elves, had brought food and tea for everyone.

"I remembered," He said. "That the preferred drink in this country is tea, not coffee, but they tried their best." He gave the house-elves a thumbs-up "I'm sure it'll still be delicious, everything you guys make is delicious. Anyway, dig in, everyone. We're in for a nice, long night."

Mrs. Weasley fawned over how considerate he was while Luke smiled, looking a bit embarrassed. Sofia pointed out that Harry might be hungry when he woke up, so we set aside some food for Harry, too.

A few hours later, there were a lot of loud footsteps and voices shouting. We all stopped our whispered conversation and frowned over at the doors of the hospital wing, where the noise was coming from.

"They'll wake him if they don't shut up!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed softly.

"What are they shouting about?" Sofia asked. "Nothing else could have happened, right?"

"Dude, if something else happened, I'm going to explode," Brion muttered.

"Guys, shh," I hissed, glancing over at Harry, who stirred and opened his eyes. "Never mind, he's up."

"That's Fudge's voice," Mrs. Weasley whispered. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"

"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva —" Cornelius Fudge was saying loudly.

"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" yelled Professor McGonagall. "When Dumbledore finds out —"

The hospital doors burst open. Fudge came striding up the ward. McGonagall and Snape were at his heels.

I felt Harry's hand slip out of mine and looked around in time to see him sitting up and reaching for his glasses. I handed them to him and gave him a small smile.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Mrs. Weasley.

"He's not here," said Mrs. Weasley angrily. "This is a hospital wing. Minister, don't you think you'd do better to —"

But the door opened, and Dumbledore came sweeping up the ward.

"What has happened?" said Dumbledore sharply, looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you — I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch —"

"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"

I'd never seen Professor McGonagall lose control like this. There were angry blotches of color in her cheeks, and her hands were balled into fists; she was trembling with fury.

"When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," said Snape, in a low voice, "he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch —"

"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" McGonagall fumed. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but —"

"My dear woman!" roared Fudge, who also looked angrier than I had ever seen him, "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous —"