Chloe Cullen 4 - A Harry Potter and Twilight Crossover

Chapter 21: The Meeting

Dumbledore turns to us. "Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry upstairs?" "Of course," says Professor McGonagall. She goes up to Barty and points her wand at him. "Severus. Please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me. Chloe, could you go to the Gryffindor Common Room and find Hermione and the Weasleys? They are probably very worried and I don't want them to question Harry tonight," Dumbledore says. I don't reply with words. Instead, I nod and make my way to the Common Room.

The atmosphere in the Common Room is like nothing else I've witnessed. There aren't many people in the Common room, but the people that are here are sobbing. The atmosphere is very mournful. In the corner of the room, I can see Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny. I feel numb as I walk over to them and pull up a seat beside Fred. I still haven't wrapped my mind around what's happened. As soon as I sit down, Mrs. Weasley starts questioning me, as I expected her to do. "Chloe, dear, what's happened? How's Harry?" she asks. I can't bring myself to say the words out loud, but they need to know. Instead, I take a piece of parchment and tell them that way.

Voldemort's back

I push the paper to the middle of the table. I watch their faces as they take in the words. Mrs. Weasley gasps and her face pales to around the same shade as mine. So does Bill. I suspect that their reactions are more noticeable because they actually remember when Voldemort rose to power the first time. 'W-wh-where did you hear this," Mrs. Weasley asks in a voice that's barely above a whisper. "Harry witnessed him coming back." Mrs. Weasley starts to shake like a leaf in the wind. I can hear everyone's heartbeats pick up. "Where is Harry now? What happened?" Hermione asks, sounding like she's on the verge of tears. Quickly and quietly, I recap what Crouch told Dumbledore under the potion. Afterwards, I tell them that Harry will soon be in the hospital wing. Without waiting for us, Mrs. Weasley heads for the hospital wing with us behind her.

I walk hand-in-hand with Fred. Having him close to me keeps me calm. When we get to the hospital wing, everyone - except Fred and I - start harassing Madam Pomfrey. Around five minutes later, we hear the door open. In the doorway are Harry, Dumbledore, and a black dog that I recognize to be Sirius. I know it's him because that dog doesn't smell like any dog at all. "Harry! Oh Harry!" Mrs. Weasley shrieks. She starts to go to him, but Dumbledore stops her. "Molly, please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him, you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."

As soon as Harry lays down and drifts off to sleep, I start to think more about everything that's happened. Voldemort's back, and Harry is in more danger than ever. I have to do something to help him. That much is obvious. Maybe Dumbledore has ideas. I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I hear arguing. Not in the hospital wing, but farther away. It's McGonagall and Fudge. "Do you guys hear people arguing?" I whisper. Mrs. Weasley looks towards the door. "Yes. They'll wake him if they don't shut up!" she says. "What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?" Hermione asks. I can hear Harry stirring beside me, but I pay no attention to him. "Fudge brought a dementor into the castle," I tell them after listening in on the argument. "What for?" Fred asks. Then, they start rushing toward the hospital wing. "Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva -" I hear Fudge shout. "You should never have brought it inside the castle! When Dumbledore finds out -" They burst into the hospital wing.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demands of Mrs. Weasley. Before she can answer, I do. "He's coming. I can hear him. He's angry," I tell him, looking Fudge in the eye. Sure enough, Dumbledore comes in a second later. "What has happened? 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! The Minister has seen to that!" she shrieks. McGonagall looks pissed. More pissed than I've ever seen her before. "When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events, 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 -" Snape says in a low voice, but McGonagall interrupts him. "I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore! I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but -" "My dear woman!" roars Fudge, "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous -"