Chapter 25 : Plans, Practice, Potions and Portkeys
Dementors...and Boggarts…and Giants…Oh, my! It’s getting serious and the kids are buckling down to get ready. KABOOM! Well, that’s one way to rearrange things. Then there’s Bella, that naughty, naughty girl. NOW what’s she up to?
Chapter 25 : Plans, Practice, Potions and Portkeys
After Professor McGonagall left with the sleeping Scabbers in her hand, the Headmaster waved his wand and moved some of the benches into a semi-circle, so everyone could sit and discuss what they had heard.
“I believe we have two immediate problems to deal with,” Dumbledore began. “One: Mad-eye and I must meet with Molly and Arthur and your brothers.” He looked at Ron and Ginny. “We must take precautions for their safety. Your Parents are staying at Headquarters almost exclusively, so it is more about Bill, Percy, Fred and George. We will advise Charlie of the situation, of course, but distance is a safety factor in itself, in his case.”
“Yes, Sir,” replied Ginny. Ron nodded.
“Secondly: the idea of Voldemort unleashing Bella on specific targets is quite worrying, as she wouldn’t hesitate to harm innocent bystanders in her quest.”
Neville spoke up, “Sir, would he send her to kill my parents in St. Mungo’s?”
“Your parents are safe, Neville. I hope you know we’d never leave them unprotected.”
“Yes, sir.”
“That was one of the reasons I asked your Grandmother to come to Hogwarts and teach Potions; more to get her here, under our protection, than to fill the vacant teaching post. But, it was a win-win solution, as it turned out.” He smiled at Neville, who nodded.
“And now we know about Professor Snape,” said Draco, who then took a deep breath and hung his head, while the other D.A. members nodded sadly. “He’s dead,” whispered Draco. “That’s what Wormtail saw and heard, so . . . . it’s true then.”
“Not necessarily,” replied Severus Snape, as he shrugged off Anna’s Invisibility Cloak.
“Ekk!” “Professor!” “You’re alive!” “BLOODY HELL!” “How?” “What the…?”
The D.A. members had jumped to their feet at the sound of his voice, spinning to see him walking down the stairs from the landing, where he had been watching Pettigrew’s interrogation.
“ ‘The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,’ someone once said and I tend to agree.”
The kids were still sputtering and shaking their heads as if to clear their vision. Severus held up his hand for silence, to stem the tide of questions for a moment.
“For all intents and purposes, I am ‘officially dead’. I will stay hidden until such time as you need me; when the attack starts. I can be here almost instantaneously, but must, for all our sakes, remain ‘dead’. No one outside this room can know. You must not mention me in the present tense, if you mention me at all. Do you get my meaning?
“Yes.” “Okay.” “Right.” “Bloody hell.” “Sure.”
“But, Professor . . . . .how?” It was Hermione.
“Ah, ever the practical Miss Granger. I give you two key elements necessary to insure my presence here today: spare wand and Portkey.”
“But, what happened? Did my Aunt Bella really intend to kill you?” Draco stepped forward.
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Having Both is a Blessing - A Harry Potter Story - HP/AU 7th year
FanfictionThe prologue and first two chapters of this story intertwine with the last two chapters and epilogue, (covering, roughly, the last two weeks of term), of my sixth year story ‘What Goes Around…Comes Around…Lost And Found…Love’. If you have not read...
