Chapter Twenty Crescendo
At forty-five minutes past ten Harry stood before the house at #12 Grimmauld Place. The streets were quiet. People who were headed for work or taking their children to school had already gone about their daily activities. Harry studied the street, the small park and when he thought it was clear he envisioned the address in his head and the house materialized. He hurried up the steps and went in quickly.
They were all assembled in the library. Harry hurried down the hall past the empty space on the wall that had housed Sirius’ mother’s portrait and entered. Hermione was pouring the Polyjuice potion from the large cauldron and all their luggage was piled around them. They had waited for him.
Hermione poured a ladle full into each of their cups and said “good luck,” before moving on to the next. When at last she came to Snape she poured his and watched him look into the brew. He sprinkled the red hairs cut from Ron’s head and stoically drank the entire mixture without making a face. The rest followed suit. Harry knew how horrible it tasted.
“Now each of you has a flask,” she said. “Repeat the dose in exactly one hour or you’ll change back too soon.”
Suddenly there were little popping sounds and people began to transform. Harry watched with fascination as Hannah took on the lustrous brown bushy hair of Hermione, Snape shortened an inch or two and his black hair turned red, his nose shortened. Ron wearing dark, over-sized clothing suddenly grew several inches and his nose extended into a slightly beaky hook. He turned to Harry and looked at him with the famous Snape glare. Harry almost found himself laughing. For a moment during their transformation, there were two Snapes and then two Rons. As Harry stepped into the room he noticed that Lucius Malfoy was seated in a chair obviously bound and gagged with Binding Charms. Snape, transformed as Ron, stepped over with his wand in his hand. He removed the gag with a quick flick of his wand.
Malfoy glared up at him and said, “You won’t get away with this Severus.”
“Oh, I think I will Lucius. Think of it this way. If everything goes as planned, Voldemort will die and you will no longer have a master. You may spend the rest of your life in prison, but not suffer the horrible fate that he has planned for you.” Snape bent and reached for the man’s nose. “You didn’t think that he would hold you in his favor if he found you alive after such a long period of time did you?” Snape raise him up by pulling his coat with one hand and squeezing his nose with the other. Hannah, as Hermione tipped the goblet. “Drink up, Lucius.”
Harry watched, mildly amused. What he saw was Hermione pouring the brownish-green, thick liquid into the man’s mouth; his essence mixed in with the liquid. It was doubly amazing to see the man turn into him. The real Hermione shoved his glasses onto his face after the gag was replaced. Harry walked over and stared at himself; an exact duplicate.
After taking the potion, they collected the luggage and headed out. One-by-one they filed past him and headed out the door.
Lupin was the last to leave and the last one to speak to him. “Harry, I hope you know that I care about you and will be thinking of you. Hurry to Hogwarts as soon as you can.”
Harry hugged him and nodded, unable to speak.
Hermione walked through the double doors to the library and waited for him. “Ready?” she asked.
“In a moment, “Mione,” he answered.
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The small group gathered at Platform 9 and ¾’s at King’s Cross station and one by-one they crossed the barrier.
Ginny Weasley, caught up with them and they boarded the train together. She whispered something to Snape( Ron) and he nodded. They quickly found a compartment where Ron (Snape) waved his wand over Harry(Malfoy) and spoke the incantation that bound and gagged him.
Hermione (Hannah) looked at him curiously and he noticed and mumbled, “The Imperious Curse won’t work on him for long. It held just long enough to get him on the train. This way I can control him.”
They settled themselves in. Lupin sat near the door, Hannah as Hermione sat next to him and Ron as Snape crowded in next to the transformed Malfoy who sat rigidly in a corner staring out at them from Harry Potter’s eyes.
They had boarded just in time as the steam whistle gave out a last warning and children on both sides leaned from windows and yelled goodbyes to their families.
“Ron,” Hermione nudged him. “We have to go forward for awhile. REMEMBER we’re perfects…”
“Prefects Hermione,” Ron corrected her. He looked at Remus who nodded. “We have to go forward to the meeting with the other prefects, Remus. Do you think you can handle him while we’re out? If we don‘t go it will look suspicious.”
“I think it’ll be alright. We’ve gotten this far and I didn’t think we’d even do that,” Remus said. “I’ll put a locking spell on the door after you leave.” He held his wand with one hand and crossed his arms tucking it out of sight.
“Lupin, this will be the most dangerous time,” Ron warned him. “He will want to get to Harry with no one or very few people around.”
“It’s alright, Sev…Ron. Go and make some excuse to hurry back,” Remus slipped and caught himself before he said Snape’s full name. They slipped out the door and Ginny slipped in before he could lock it.
“Ginny, I don’t think this is wise,” Lupin began.
“I know,” she said putting a hand on his chest and pushing him back and sticking her head out the door. “Come on, hurry!” Before he knew it, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Dennis and Collin Creevy, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas had crowded into the compartment and made themselves comfortable. Lupin looked out and saw the hallway lined with people making themselves comfortable on the floor.
“We’re Harry’s bodyguard,” Ginny said. She glanced over at Harry and pulled out her wand and sat next to him. Lupin was surprised however to observe her point the tip of it at his face. “Of course, should there be an accident and my arm gets bumped, anything could happen.” She was glaring at him and the others followed her example.
Lupin set the spell on the door and sat down to look at them all. “How?” he asked quietly.
“We wanted to make it look real,” Neville Longbottom said. “If Vol…Voldemort shows up…,” he stuttered and couldn’t finish.
“Then he’s going to have the fight of his life,” Seamus Finnigan finished for him. Every head nodded slowly. “If no one was protecting him then it wouldn’t look real.”
Harry, I hope you know how many people care about you, Lupin thought as he looked back into their faces, completely overwhelmed by the determination he saw there.
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Harry walked through the house very slowly. It was quiet. He stepped into the kitchen and ran his hand along the table, stopping at the place where he had last seen Sirius. The room was neat and clean and held none of the lingering stench that it had before the ’cleaning crew’ had taken over. He remembered it clearly.
He stepped through the door, glanced back once and closed it.
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Ron walked through the rocking corridor. Students rushed past him and ducked into compartments. It took him a moment to realize they were seeing Snape. From that point on, he stood straighter and began greeting each one with a smile. “Hello, Miss Turpin, Miss Patil, nice to see you.” He almost broke out laughing when one approached him by herself. He greeted her and she screamed and flew down the corridor in terror.
It wasn’t until he came to the end of the train and saw several open doors and the food cart along with riotous laughter and giggling that he knew he’d found his destination. The trunks laying scattered in the way had the Slytherin insignia.
He stepped up to the door and saw Draco Malfoy pawing at Tracey Davis, a rather plain Slytherin girl. He was surrounded by his admirers, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, and Theodore Nott. When he caught sight of Ron who he thought was Snape, Draco hurriedly straightened his clothes and got to his feet.
“Professor!” he gasped. “What are you doing here?”
“It seemed wise that you had an adult looking out for you Mr. Malfoy since it is widely known that your father was abducted. We wouldn’t want a Slytherin Prefect harmed would we?” Ron laid it on heavily, hoping that it would have the desired affect.
Draco smiled broadly and puffed out his chest as if to say to the others, See how I’m favored? They’ve even sent the Potion’s Master and the Head of House here to be my body guard.” Ron knew that the moment he left those would be the exact words that would come out of his mouth.
“Could I have a word, Mr. Malfoy?” he asked, politely. He scowled at the others, “Behave yourselves and act like young ladies and gentlemen. You will not sully the name of Slytherin while I am present on this train. Is that understood?” They nodded fearfully and sat up straight and neatly on their seats.
Together Snape and Draco Malfoy walked down the corridor to an empty compartment. They stepped in and Snape closed the door, looking both ways before doing so and grinning, just before he composed his face and turned around.
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Harry knew that the house was empty with the exception of he and Hermione. They were in the library.
“Do we need to go over this again or are you ok with it,” Harry asked. He moved a chair so that his back would be to the wall. There was only one exit through the door they had entered and another through the fireplace.
“I’m alright with it,” Hermione said. As he placed the chair she touched her pocket and felt the object. Her wand was tucked into her sleeve, where she found it easiest to reach. It wouldn’t be needed anyway, she knew.
“We’ll only have seconds,” Harry said, looking up at her.
“I know Harry,” she answered. She didn’t chastise him for reminding her because she knew they had done what they could do to perfect their plan. She was so nervous that she thought she would heave her breakfast all over the carpet.
He stepped over and held her, only to pull back and smile. “A promise made ‘Mione. We will not regret anything that we do, nor will we blame ourselves for the outcome.”
“Right,” she said and felt the anxiety leave her as she looked into his green eyes. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips. They smiled and she swallowed and said, “Me first.”
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An hour into the trip, Remus slid the door open and allowed Ron and Hermione to enter the compartment. The Creevy brothers slipped out to make room. Ron glared at the others in the room and Remus almost burst out laughing. Even changed into the body of Ron, Snape could scowl impressively.
“Anything, so far?” he asked.
Lupin shook his head. And then, the train started to slow down. The lights went out and there was deadly silence.
“Everybody on the floor,” Ron hissed. “LUMOS” The end of his wand lit up into a bead of light large enough to show a path through the bodies. “Let me out Remus. You stay here. While you’re here waiting take your potion again. All of you. Hannah,” Ron ordered, “hold Malfoy down and drown him in it if he speaks a word!”
“Can he…Voldemort apparate right onto the train,” Ginny asked quietly.
Lupin shook his head, his own wand lit enough to check the position of the people on the floor. “No one move and don’t do anything. We could end up hurting each other if we start waving our wands around.” He stared out a crack in the door. “Ginny crawl over and help Hermione with Harry.” Lupin nodded and waited until he heard her begin to wiggle around and through the bodies. The two of them wrestled the struggling ‘Harry’ onto the seat, one sitting on top the other holding his nose. The minute he swallowed Hermione let go and waved her hand over him to replace the gag on him.
“Merlin’s Beard!” Lupin swore under his breath. He saw flashes of red and green light at the end of the corridor where the door interconnected to the next car. “Wand’s out!”
Hermione crawled through the door followed by Ginny and Lupin, who placed himself at the foot of the door. “Hannah get those kids into compartments right now,” he whispered vehemently. Together they crouch-walked down the corridor, one taking each side and pushing open doors. The door screeched open at the end of the train and a figure was silhouetted in the light, it was Ron.
He moved down the train slowly shielding himself at each door and shouting as he went, “Keep your heads down!”
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Harry situated himself comfortably on the chair and faced the fireplace. He let the Siamese cat jump up into his lap, take a turn and settle herself down. Her green eyes also focused on the fireplace. The clock struck twelve and a sudden whirling of ashes and dust told him that Voldemort was on his way.
Experienced players always take their time, he said to himself. “They sit back and bide their time and play ten or twenty moves ahead.” He heard Ron’s voice in his head. Ok Ron, he thought. He reached down and stroked the cat’s silky fur and got a resounding throaty purr.
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The real Ron was crawling on his hands and knees and moving forward from the other direction. He’d already taken out two of the Deatheaters as they boarded the train. He heard a thump as one fell off the platform between the cars and another when his curse, STUPIFY hit him. He knew they wouldn’t stay down long and he wasn’t accustomed to the older, larger body that he wore. Although Snape was amazingly fit for such an old man, he was still bigger, Ron was thinking as he rolled and dodged a red flash that just missed his head. He lay on his back, raised his head and pointed the wand up just as the man came up on him.
Mulciber, the infamous Deatheater who specialized in the Imperious Curse towered over him. Ron knew that if the man used the curse all would be lost. He had not been able to throw it off no matter how often he had tried while practicing with the other D.A. members. He suddenly kicked upward with all of his strength, landing a blow between the man’s legs, and shouting INCENDIO at him at the same time. The man’s hair caught fire and Ron watched him slapping at his head, holding himself between the legs and running down the length of the car the way he had come.
Ron got to his feet and ran full tilt towards the door to the next car.
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Harry watched the whirling figure stop and step into the room. It was Voldemort, holding a squirming rat in his hands.
“Hello, Harry,” he said. “Just wanted to see if you were alone.” The skull-like face and red eyes stared at the cat in his lap that was suddenly looking at the rat dropped to the floor, it’s ears swiveling forward.
“Hello Voldemort,” Harry said easily. “I see you got my message.”
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Ron slid down the wall in front of Lupin just as the lights came on. “What is it? What’s happening?” Doors were coming open slowly along the side and heads were peeking out.
Snape who had not taken his Polyjuice potion again was sitting across from him on the floor next to Remus and in front of the door to the compartment. They all turned and stared as a group of figures came charging down the corridor towards them. It was Cornelius Fudge and Wizards from the Ministry of Law Enforcement Squad.
Fudge stopped and looked at the two Snapes and Remus all sitting on the floor. ‘What is this?” he asked. “Where’s Harry?”
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The cat in Harry’s lap jumped down and pursued the rat across the floor and trapped it beneath the couch. Voldemort followed it with his eyes and laughed uneasily.
“I see you brought your wand,” Harry said.
Voldemort swung it around and nodded, “ I see you have yours as well.” He nodded towards the wand tucked into Harry’s pocket. “Yes, although it is a worthless thing isn’t it. You see I found out what happened back in the graveyard. I had forgotten about Priori Incantato. So, Harry, how shall we resolve this?” Voldemort walked slowly from the fireplace around to the middle of the room.
Wait for it, wait for it, Harry said to himself. Let him make the first move.
“You know Harry you’ve almost become like a son to me,” Voldemort said and the very sound of his voice made Harry cringe. “But I have grown tired of these little games we play with one another. So how should we do this?”
And then, it happened. All in one simultaneous action. Peabody flung open the doors of the library and shouted at Voldemort. “Take me, Riddle! Take me instead!
Then, Voldemort raised his arm pointed it at Peabody and shouted, “AVADA KEDAVRA!”
The Siamese cat transformed into Hermione who reached in her pocket and pulled out a mirror and shouted into it, “Now Professor. We need you now!”
A beautiful familiar white owl swooped down through an open window and picked up a scurrying rat in it’s talons and swept back out;
and,
Harry rose slowly from his chair and before he reached his full height, he transformed into a magnificent white tiger. He took one step and leapt into the air landing on Voldemort, his fangs fastening into his neck.
The green flash of the killing curse landed squarely in the middle of Blackmoore’s chest who miraculously appeared just in front of Peabody.
And somewhere, on the way to Hogwarts, Snape reached in his pocket, pulled out a child’s pink plastic mirror and heard a scream coming from within it. With a Pop! he apparated.