章 79: Chapter 98 - Back to Hogwarts (1)
It was the 1st of September, and that meant they were on the train to Hogwarts, though right now, there was a crowd outside Tifa's and Aerith's compartment. For parts because of them, and the other parts for Harry and Hermione, the two who had been kidnapped and were back with them.
No doubt, when the train stopped, and they had reached Hogwarts, they had to go out, but they couldn't until Hagrid rushed inside.
"Move, move. Ye'er move out of the way!" He cleared the path, trying to open the door to the compartment, but ended up breaking apart as he pulled the door off the hinges. He watched it, startled.
"Uh," He moved the gate around, and the ones crowding the place rushed back, shouting. He waved it a few times, trying to judge where he should put the gate down before putting it down.
"Four of you, come with me. Dumbledore wants to see you."
"Yes," Tifa nodded, following after Hagrid, looking around at the student, whispering, mumbling, and pointing at them.
"Ah, brilliant. This is what it feels like to be Harry Potter," Aerith giggled, and Harry scratched his cheeks.
"What do you think Professor Dumbledore wants to talk about?" Hermione whispered under her breath once they had left the train away from others.
Rather than finding the answer, it was a hug she found from the semi-giant, "Oh! I am so glad you are all okay!"
"We are glad that we are ok, too," Hermione closed her eye and squeezed into a hug.
Hagrid released them, "Where is that Weasley boy?"
"Late as usual," Harry looked behind him for Ron, "When he came, the whole place was packed so that we couldn't open the door."
"That's alright," Hagrid guided them, "First meet Dumbledore, and then you'd be free."
"Free as in expelled?" Harry looked up with a pained expression.
"No, no, no," Hagrid shook his hands, "Why would you think that? You were kidnapped; Dumbledore only wants to know what happened. Nothing to worry about. Nothing…nothing."
Harry nodded, dreading since even Hagrid didn't seem so sure. They thought the time when they would be paraded was over, but the ghosts were coming to look at them right now. Tifa was scared most; even after years, she hadn't managed to overcome her fear of ghosts. In the first year, the first spell she ever researched was how to keep ghosts away. The ghosts only left them when they reached Dumbledore's office stairs.
"Finally," Tifa sighed, "This will go on for months."
Aerith pressed her lips, walking in front of them up the stairs, "We'll be fine. Probably."
Hagrid had already stopped, and they entered, thinking it would be Dumbledore they saw, but it was different. There were more people than they had thought, Professor McGonagall and Cornelius Fudge.
Dumbledore looked at Harry, worried, and only nodded in relief when he saw him and Hermione be good, "Come on, all four of you. This is our fine Minister, Cornelius Fudge."
Aerith grinned, waving her hand, "Hi, Uncle Cor. Should have told us that panned to come."
Harry and Hermione gave her a strange look that Dumbledore shared, and Cornelius awkwardly nodded, "Right. I didn't realise Harry Potter and Miss Hermione Granger would appear at the train station. I came running when I heard that."
Aerith shrugged, "We already told you that Cloud wouldn't hurt them. He'd return them before the school year starts."
"Yes, you did," Fudge seemed quite amiable toward her, careful too. He turned to look at Harry and Hermione, "Were you two kidnapped by Cloud Strife?"
"Kidnapped? No. He asked—" Harry was saying when Hermione kicked his leg and nodded, looking scared, "Yes. He kidnapped Harry and me. He seemed like he had gone mad, and nothing he said made sense. He kept saying he had to serve Voldemort."
Tifa pinched her waist, whispering under her breath, "Too far."
Hermione winced, slumping her head, "He then left in a house, unplottable of course, sealed from outside, and we couldn't send a message or anything."
Professor McGonagall noticed the shifty look in their eyes and hugged her from behind, stroking her shoulder, "I am sure Miss Granger had a traumatic experience. We shouldn't force her to talk about it."
Hermione sneakily looked away, and Harry wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.
"Yeah, Harry, boy, can you tell me where Cloud Strife is? Remember, he is a criminal that the Ministry seeks."
Harry wanted to argue when Aerith patted his shoulder, "Yes. Harry. It's better if we know where Cloud is, and then we can bring him back. As soon as possible, to help him. We have a few houses in Australia, London, and Hawaii. Was it one of those places?"
Harry blinked, remembering, "Yeah, yeah. I think it was Australia…I can't be sure, but the accent of people was something like that."
"Australia…that's far…." Cornelius muttered, "I will tell the Australian authorities. Anything you remember, boy, tell us. This is for the good of Mr Strife."
"I understand everything I remember…I'll try to tell, but there is much to explain."
Cornelius nodded.
"Cornelius, now can we talk about Voldemort?"
Fudge waved his hand, "I told you, Dumbledore! There is no You-Know-Who!! It's all Cloud Strife, and I will show you by bringing him, you understand?!"
"Fudge!" Dumbledore growled, and Fudge took a step back, turning in a huff, leaving through the stairs.
"By Uncle Cor!" Aerith waved, and they were sure they heard someone stumble.
Hermione snickered, and Professor McGonagall patted her head, "Traumatic, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," Hermione made a severe face, nodding, "Very traumatic."
"Yes, we won't ask the details about that," Dumbledore shook his head, "Did Mr Strife say why he went through the trouble to take you two?"
"Uh…" Harry scratched his cheek, "He wanted to train me in Legilimency and Magical Combat. Hermione too…since she knew more spells and could teach me."
"Legilimency? Why?" Professor McGonagall asked, creasing her brows.
"Uh…" Harry hesitated, looking towards Dumbledore as if to ask if he should say it or not.
"Say whatever it is."
"He…had this diary, Tom Riddle's diary, and over the years, he learned that Tom Riddle is Voldemort, and he looked deeper to see what Voldemort was planning, even in his younger years. How he opened the chamber, killed Myrtle, and blamed Hagrid," Tifa explained, mainly to Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore, though, knew of all this, having heard it from Cloud before.
"We thought as much," Professor McGonagall said, nodding, looking at Tifa, waiting for her to continue.
Tifa placed her fingers together, nodding, "Yes, and then he found something strange, so he dug deeper, learning about the Horcruxes. A Dark Magic."
"Dark indeed," Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, "Until they exist, he cannot be killed. However, this immortality comes at a price, a Murder. One that mutilates the soul of the Murderer."
"That is what I heard too, but he thought…that since this Mark connects me to Voldemort, and that I was able to have a vision of him Last Year, then with Occlumency and Legilimency, I should be able to protect my mind from him, and do it in reverse. Know…of the whereabouts of these Horcruxes. We can make sure…he doesn't come back this time."
"A fine plan," Dumbledore nodded, writing down on a letter, "I am happy to know that Mr Strife is still on our side. Very well. I will ask Professor Snape to continue your lessons. Harry. Would you mind taking this to the Professor?"
Harry was caught off guard, but he knew this was coming. Even so, it stung as he nodded, walking out, feeling left out.
Once he had left, Dumbledore walked around the table, asking, "Now, Miss Granger. Did you ask him why he went through trouble allowing Voldemort to regain his body?"
"Not really?"
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, watching her, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah…well, the first day I got there…it was already in the middle of the battle, and then the next week…I tried to wrap my mind around what happened. By then, we were plunged into a busy schedule, training day in and day out. It wasn't until the last day that we had time to have a good talk, and I could only ask so much."
Dumbledore sighed, walking back, and it was the first time Hermione felt his figure slumped. She remembered something, "Oh, right. He did mention something."
(To Be Continued)
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