Hermione's Furry Little Problem | By : Gandalfs-Beard Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 242702 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 20 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its associated properties. They belong to JK Rowling. I make no money from the production of this work. |
When the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler’s reports of muggle disappearances shifted to reports of random Inferi attacks the following morning, the Headmaster of Hogwarts knew that an assault against Hogwarts by Voldemort’s forces was imminent. He and Professor McGonagall exchanged a dark look, then glanced down the table at several professors too busily engaged in conversation to have read the papers yet.
“I must say Remus, it is simply splendid to see you with a professorship at long last,” said Professor Slughorn proudly. “You deserve so much more...”
“Really Horace?” Professor Lupin raised his eyebrows with a bemused expression. “I was dreadful in potions...”
“Nonsense my dear fellow,” Horace responded, twitching his bushy moustache. “You may not have been a match for Severus here...”
Professor Snape snorted and rolled his eyes, but Horace ignored him and soldiered on, “...or Lily Evans, but your work was always excellent. I expected great things from you, despite your... erm... condition. You were among the few students of your year to graduate Hogwarts with Honours after all.”
“That’s very kind of you Horace,” Lupin flushed slightly. “But if Voldemort’s curse on the DADA position is true, then there is some question as to whether I will still be here when term begins--I managed to finish out Lockhart’s year, and complete one of my own, but... well... we shall see soon enough I suppose,”
“And I wouldn’t be able to manage it at all if it weren’t for Severus’s Wolfsbane Potion,” Lupin concluded with a grateful glance at Snape.
Something almost like a smile flickered in Snape’s eyes, but he merely nodded curtly in response. Severus didn’t care for the personal direction of the conversation, and despite having come to gradually respect one another, it wasn't as if he would ever be best mates with Remus Lupin or Sirius Black.
“Ah, that is another thing I have been meaning to discuss,” Slughorn carried on, paying no attention to Snape’s obvious discomfort, “I think it is simply marvelous that you two and Sirius Black have managed to put aside past enmities and buried the hatchet. How did that come about?”
Snape and Lupin regarded each other uncomfortably, then Severus sighed and raised his eyebrows.
“I had... an epiphany!” said Snape finally.
Horace was not to be put off so easily. He gazed shrewdly at Severus.
“And did this ‘epiphany’ have anything to do with Lily’s son?” Horace asked pointedly.
“I suppose... you could say that,” Severus stiffly replied.
Slughorn was about to press for the juicy details, but the Headmaster thought this would be a good time to interrupt the conversation and come to Professor Snape’s rescue.
“Ahem...” Dumbledore passed the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler down the table, “have any of you seen the news this morning?”
Once he had everyone's attention, the Headmaster began.
“I believe it is time. We must make final preparations immediately. I shall recall Shacklebolt, Dawlish, and some others of the Order to assist us in defending Hogwarts. However, I do not wish to leave the members of the school’s Board of Governors nor the publisher of the Quibbler unguarded...”
~o0o~
Viktor, who had been keeping Karkaroff company at most mealtimes throughout the summer, sat next to Neville and Ginny and nodded in greeting at the Unaffiliated. After the Headmaster finished explaining, a sudden thought occurred to Hermione.
“Professor Dumbledore,” Hermione flicked her bushy tail anxiously, “I just remembered... when Draco Malfoy escaped from the Castle, he must have used a secret tunnel. The Map--the one which used to belong to Sirius Black and Harry’s father. I think I remember seeing some secret passages on it. What if Voldemort uses them to get in?”
Dumbledore looked troubled for a moment.
“Thank you for bringing that to my attention Mrs Potter,” Dumbledore replied after a moment. “Yes, that is certainly a possibility. Harry, if you would be so kind, I should like to borrow the map for a bit to be certain that we block any tunnels which we know about. I shall return it to you when the task is complete”
“Yes, of course Sir!” Harry nodded. “But what do you mean by ‘which we know about?’ Wouldn’t the map have all of them?”
“That is not very likely,” Dumbledore replied with a shake of his head. “Your map would only contain the secret passages known to those who created the map--your father, Sirius, Professor Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. There are undoubtedly more passages which we are unaware of, but which may have come to the attention of others.”
“Thus, it is even more important that I return the map to you, so that you and your friends can keep track of any infiltrators. The rest of the staff, the Order, and myself can look after ourselves...”
The Headmaster paused and peered somberly around the Mingling Table at his students.
“I know that you have all been preparing for this moment,” Dumbledore continued. “I wish it were that you did not have to face this danger at all, but I have confidence in your abilities to defend yourselves. I simply ask that you please do not put yourselves in unnecessary peril to come to the aid of any professors,”
“And Harry--if at all possible--please avoid contact with Tom Riddle... I must reiterate that the Prophecy is now a moot point. It is not necessary for you to fight him unless you find yourself directly facing him--and he is immensely dangerous. The safety of you and your friends is of paramount importance.”
Harry swallowed as he flushed with a hot wave of anger. The wizard who had killed countless people, who had murdered his parents, who had tried to steal the Philosopher’s Stone, and had been responsible for nearly killing Ginny Weasley, and who had tried to kill Harry three times already, was going to be at Hogwarts again--with Wormtail. And Harry wanted to see them both dead.
Harry felt Hermione stiffen, and she curled her furry tail around him. He knew she was shocked at the waves of hate which she could sense rolling off him. He was shocked himself. But Harry also knew that Hermione understood--and that she was just as keen as him to put an end to Riddle and Wormtail once and for all.
Professor Dumbledore was still staring at Harry, waiting for some sort of response. Finally, Harry sighed and nodded.
“Yes sir... I’ll do my best to stay out of his way. I won’t fight him unless I absolutely have to.”
“Thank you Harry. That is all I can ask.”
The Headmaster made his way back to the Staff-Table and Harry glanced at Viktor Krum.
“Right then,” Harry began, “The rest of us are about as ready as we’ll ever be Viktor, and I know you can fight, but I was thinking we should maybe drill together a bit and later work out a plan with Dumbledore. And... er... well, I’ve tattooed everyone else with some protection Runes--it might be good if you had some too... if you want to that is. I don’t know if you...”
“Very good Harry,” Viktor nodded, “I vould like zat, yes.”
~o0o~
The professors and Order members who had flooed to Hogwarts had all cast additional protective charms and inspected the grounds, and were now waiting after having organised into teams. The students had practiced spellwork all afternoon in the Room of Requirement.
Before dinner, the Headmaster had conferred with the Coven and their friends, and they were now biding their time in the Astronomy Tower as they had planned while trepidation set in.
Dora chewed her fingernails nervously while Luna and Parvati snuggled together, and Ginny and Neville chatted with Jennifer. Fleur and Daphne were taking their turn at watch, looking out through telescopes over the battlements as the rain thrummed against a conjured umbrella which covered them. However, there was little to see as the grounds were shrouded in mist and darkness.
“Thanks for the training Harry,” Viktor said quietly as it neared midnight. “The Room of Requirement is amazing. I haff never performed a Patronus Charm--zey vere not part of the curriculum at Durmstrang. I hope mine is strong enough...”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, they aren’t part of the standard curriculum at Hogwarts either, and even a Non-Corporeal Patronus will still provide some protection against Dementors,” Hermione interjected encouragingly, as Harry appeared to be somewhat distraught about not having included Viktor in the Coven’s practice sessions.
“I’m sorry Viktor,” Harry began, “I suppose I thought you already...”
“Zere is no need to apologise Harry,” Viktor replied firmly. “I know you and the Unaffiliated haff something deeper together vich is something I could never be a part of. And except for ze defensive Runes and the Patronus Charm, you vere correct--I am vell studied in ze fighting arts and spells...”
A clap of thunder interrupted Viktor and lightning lit up the sky. Moments later Daphne dashed in through the open door, her heart thumping so loudly that she was sure everyone could hear it.
“Harry, come take a look quickly, I think we saw something...” she gasped.
~o0o~
“What news do you have for me from your rodent spies Wormtail?”
“They tell me that Hogwarts is occupied my Lord,” Wormtail replied nervously. “Dumbledore and members of the Order have apparently anticipated our arrival and...” Wormtail hesitated, hoping that the Dark Lord wouldn’t be angered by the news, “and the Potter boy--he is with them.”
The Dark Lord hid well his surprise. It was too late to alter his plans. The window of opportunity before the beginning of term was narrowing, and his forces were already in place at key locations, ready to breach the grounds of Hogwarts once he had countered the Protection Charms which warded the borders.
“It matters little,” Voldemort responded calmly, “We have an occupying force which is certainly now vast and powerful enough to overwhelm whatever piddling resistance the Old Fool can muster.”
“I have prepared for every contingency,” the Dark Lord said to Wormtail and Bellatrix, “I do not know for certain what protected the boy the first time I encountered him, though I suspect... an Ancient Magic invoked by his mother. It prevents me from touching him directly, or using the killing curse against him, and I expect it will also hamper my ability to possess him,”
“But I know this much, it will not protect him again. What I know of the Prophecy is clear enough--Harry Potter must die by my hand, and by my hand he shall...”
Lord Voldemort held aloft the ceremonial dagger which he intended to use on Harry Potter when the time was right. Bellatrix cackled gleefully as several Dementors hovered nearby. A cruel smile twisted Wormtail’s features.
“We shall carry on as planned,” the Dark Lord continued, “I shall wait in the Forbidden Forest with Crabbe, Goyle, a squad of Lycans, and a squad of Inferi while Macnair leads a regiment of Inferi, Giants, Snatchers, Lycans, and Trolls in a frontal assault. The Acromantulas will join us once Hagrid's little friend is dispatched with. Rabastan and Rodolphus shall launch an attack with the Snatchers from this very bluff. Bellatrix, you and Wormtail will take your team of Snatchers and Lycans through the hidden passages directly into the castle,”
“When I give the order, moments before we begin the attack, the new Inferi with the Contagion Curse shall be unleashed in towns and villages across Britain, and Snatchers will hit wizarding districts to keep the Ministry occupied. We strike at midnight...”
Huddled nearby, shivering from the cold and wet, Theodore Nott edged towards the back of a group of Snatchers. He was sick of it all.
Without his father, Theodore's lot in the Dark Lord's army had grown even worse. He wished he'd never participated in the assault of Luna and Parvati, or helped Draco kidnap Astoria and escape Hogwarts. Since then, his life had gone into a tailspin. Theodore had lost a handful of fingers, and ended up in Azkaban, and then in the clutches of a maniac who would just as soon torture and murder any of his own followers as look at them.
Nott knew he deserved everything which had happened to him. His father had always encouraged him to embrace the Dark Path and taught him that his blood-purity gave him the right to use and abuse those lesser than him as he wished, for his own pleasure--until they themselves had both ended up being tortured by the newly risen Dark Lord.
The night before Nott's father had been captured by Aurors during the Liverpool raid, he had made Theodore promise to try and escape if the opportunity arose. Now that a chance lay before him, Theodore decided that if he should make it out alive, he was done with blood-purity and Dark Magic, and that he would do whatever it took to make himself a better person.
While everyone's attention was focused on the Dark Lord, Nott slipped into the shadows of a copse of pines. The noise of the falling rain covered his footsteps. Once assured that nobody had seen him, his heart pounding rapidly, Theodore Nott scrambled around a rocky outcropping and disappeared into the darkness.
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