Harry slept until someone started shaking him. “What?” Harry said startled out of sleep, “what’s the matter?” He opened his eyes to see Albus Dumbledore standing over him.
It was still very dark and Dumbledore put his finger to his lips in a shushing way, “Please keep your voice down, Harry. There are many things we need to discuss very quickly.”
Harry tried to sit up, but the pain that shot through his side was so bad that he yelped and his vision swam. Harry fell back to the bed again, his side still throbbing. Dumbledore looked over to someone else standing nearby, “Severus, please bring over the potions.”
Professor Snape walked over to the bed and handed Dumbledore a variety of small bottles. Snape started explaining them to Dumbledore, “The red one in the small round bottle is a blood restoring potion. The tall clear bottle is one dose of Skelgrow. The blue and green potions are general restoratives. The other bottle is the Muggle’s pain relieving medicine which Potter has been taking. I’ve researched this pill, it is very potent form of a medicine from the poppy plant, which we also use for pain relieving potions. The large grey bottle is for dreamless sleep.”
“None of these will react with the medicines the Muggles have given him?” Dumbledore asked.
“The particular drugs we were worried about were the ones they used to induce sleep before surgery. Those particular potions induce a near death state. Those are cleared from his body now. The other drugs they have given him are for pain and to prevent an infection. None of the potions will react dangerously with the Muggle potions, although they’re not going to be as quite as effective,” Snape explained.
“Thank you Severus,” Dumbledore replied. “As soon as Remus Lupin arrives, you can return to your other duties.”
Snape nodded and left the room. Dumbledore turned back to Harry, and started handing him bottles. “Drink up these three first, Harry,” Dumbledore said handing him the red, green, and blue bottles.
Harry drank them one at a time, and although he was still in pain, he began to feel stronger.
Dumbledore continued, “You are in a great deal of danger. More than even I realized at first. We were aware that Voldemort had additional plans to try and destroy you. What didn’t know was that he had several in the works, and has decided to implement them now; some of which show particular cunning. He was been in league with Muggles as well as Wizards.”
“You mean he has Muggles under the Imperious Curse?” Harry asked. “Like the gunman?”
“No, I mean that he is working with Muggles, using them with their own volition, at least at first. I don’t think the gunman was under the Imperious Curse. I think Voldemort used a more insidious means of controlling him. From what we could gather about Ned Rivers, he did have a passionate desire to harm your Uncle. Voldemort removed his inhabitations. Rivers wanted to hurt your family, but he never would have done so on his own. I think Voldemort enabled him to do it. This is actually more dangerous than the Imperious Curse. People under the Imperious Curse can barely function, beyond their orders. People acting on their own free will, especially if their inhibitions have been removed, can function quite well, and they are capable of horrible acts.”
“How do you know that?” Harry asked confused. This thought of Dumbledore’s didn’t seem to fit his dream.
“I spoke with Rivers today at the prison. I’m enough of a Legilimens to know that he wasn’t under the Imperious Curse. He was quite rational and passive about everything in his life, including his divorce. But when I brought up your uncle, he became very aggressive and hostile. He turned into another person. I believe that Voldemort used a potion to release his anger and use it against your family. I have to admit, this is a new step. Voldemort has never willingly brought Muggles into his leagues. Now, it seems that he will go to any lengths.”
“Ned Rivers is dead, Professor,” Harry stated flatly, “Voldemort came into my dreams again tonight,” Harry proceeded to explain the dream in great detail. “If I hadn’t been able to wake up, we all would have died.”
Dumbledore looked at him solemnly, “I knew that Ned Rivers was dead, that was probably the Imperious Curse. I didn’t foresee him using Muggles to get to you. This man was a victim. I should have realized this afternoon that Voldemort would try and dispose of him.”
Dumbledore continued, “Back to present problem, you are no longer safe here at Privet Drive. Voldemort cannot touch you, but Muggles in league with Voldemort can walk right in your front door.”
“So does that mean we’re leaving?” Harry asked confused.
“Yes and no,” Dumbledore answered. “We need to move you, yes, but we don’t have a place for you to go.”
“What about Grimmauld Place?” Harry queried. “Why can’t I go back there? That’s where Mrs. Weasley was sending us.”
Dumbledore sighed, “Without Sirius, Grimmauld Place is not secure. Kreacher no longer has a master to obey, which gives him free reign to provide as much information as he wants to his next nearest kin.”
“Meaning the Kreacher is handing Order information directly into the hands of Death Eaters?”
“Essentially, yes. There are pieces of information which he can’t give. He’s not secret keeper for the Order so at least he cannot relieve our location. Anything else is suspect. You are safe at Grimmauld Place insomuch as Voldemort cannot find the location. But everything you do and say there will potentially be discovered. House elves are very good at not being seen, and have a certain magic of their own. The Order has stopped meeting there.”
“So I can’t go to Grimmauld Place?” Harry questioned.
“You can’t go to Grimmauld Place unless it’s a desperate situation. Molly Weasley knew this and sent you there because it was a desperate situation.”
Harry remembered George laying on the floor unconscious, and quickly asked, “Is George all right?”
Dumbledore sighed again, and replied, “Yes, he will be. He’s at St. Mungo’s right now. He’ll probably be released tomorrow. He suffered a bad blow to the head, but he’ll make a full recovery.”
“So if I can’t stay here, I can’t go to Grimmauld Place, I’m assuming the Burrow is out, where am I going to go?”
“I have Remus Lupin working on that right now. Due to the circumstances surrounding the death of your parents, I appointed myself as the executer of their will. I believe that you own some property. Your grandparents were fairly wealthy, and I think they owned a summer cottage somewhere. Professor Lupin is trying to figure out where that is, and once we have it in hand, we’ll set you, the Grangers, and the Weasley’s up there for the summer.”
“Why everyone, I can’t imagine Hermione’s parents want to live in a magic household for the entire summer?”
“They are in danger. Your friendship with Hermione and Voldemort’s new contacts within the Muggle world put them in danger. Voldemort will use any means to destroy you, Harry, including your friends, and their families.”
Harry felt a wave of guilt wash over him. “This is all my fault,” he whispered. “Everyone who has been a part of my life is now in danger, because of me.”
“Harry, this isn’t your fault and deep inside, you know that. Voldemort is to blame. You were dragged in unwittingly by forces beyond your control before you were even born,” Dumbledore stated firmly. “You cannot allow yourself to feel self pity about the course of your life. You were spared from death when you were a baby, and you continue to walk a path with death surrounding you. This is your path. You were selected for it. Not by me, not by your parents, but unwittingly by the person who you have the power to destroy. And those people who are in danger right now because of your connection with Voldemort are here because they love and care about you.”
“But I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do. How am I going to,” Harry dropped off, he couldn’t bring himself to say kill, “you know, stop Voldemort.”
“I don’t know, Harry. What I do know, is that you are strong where Voldemort is weak, and that will come in play. When the time comes, and it has several times already, you have known what to do instinctively, and when that time comes you will know. In the meantime, those us who have sworn to protect you, must do so. Hopefully better than we have this week,” Dumbledore finished and handed Harry some pills to take for the pain.
Harry took the pills without a word. He fell into a sort of numbness. The guilt didn’t go away, he just stopped feeling altogether.
Harry brought the topic back around to where he was going to stay for the summer. “Where am I going? I’m assuming that we are leaving right?”
“Actually, no, you’re not leaving yet. I wanted to warn you, but I think you need to stay here for a couple more days at the very least. We don’t have any secure places to move you too. Here you are in danger from Muggles, but I think we can protect you from them. There is no where we can move you to that is safe from Wizards.”
“What about Hogwarts?”
“The staff is gone for the summer holidays as well. Without the protection of the staff, I don’t think you’d be safe there from Wizards. Any Wizard can easily enter the Hogwarts grounds from Hogsmead, especially when there is no one there to keep watch. Hogwarts is safe from Muggles not Wizards, your home here is safe from Wizards not Muggles. At this point, I’m betting that Wizards are the greater threat.”
Both Harry’s side and his leg were quite painful, even though the potions seemed to be helping his strength. Harry was so tired, so miserable that he couldn’t help but say, “So far it’s been Muggles that have done the most damage.”
Dumbledore looked at him with concern, and sighed, “I’m sorry, Harry. I’m sorrier than you will ever know. There are still several things we need to discuss, but I think we should wait on them until morning at least. The elder Weasley brothers have agreed to guard you until tomorrow morning. We’ll work on the other issues then.” He handed Harry the bottle of dreamless sleep potion. “Take a few sips, Harry. I’ll be back soon.”
Harry took the bottle and was asleep before he could hand it back to Professor Dumbledore.
Harry woke again to someone shaking him, but this time it was Ron and he was being a lot more forceful about it.
“Come on, Harry. Wake up!” Ron demanded.
“What?” Harry said groggily, looking at him through hazy eyelids, “what’s the matter?”
“There are people, lots of people trying to break into your house,” Ron stated desperately. “They have knives, chains, and guns. Bill and Charlie are down there now trying to stop them, but we need to be ready.”
Harry was barely awake, but he allowed Ron to pull him up into a sitting position. He actually felt fairly good, considering. Ron walked across the room and tossed him his wand.
“I think your aunt has called the police,” Ron continued.
“What time is it anyway?” Harry asked, becoming more alert.
“About 5:30 I would guess,” Ron said, looking out the window. He looked up as Bill and Charlie Weasley walked in the room.
“So, what’s up?” Ron asked looking between the two of them.
“No idea,” Charlie admitted. “We hid out of sight while Harry’s aunt made a phone call to the police. I don’t think she knows we’re here. The people outside looked like teenagers. I have no idea why they are here, or what they intend to do. They are just milling around.”
They heard a soft thump downstairs. Bill and Charlie both looked concerned. Bill said, “I’ll check that out, you stay here, Charlie. I’ll holler if I need anything.”
Charlie nodded and Bill quietly left the room.
The house was entirely, eerily, quiet. A minute passed. Then two minutes passed, then five minutes, in complete silence. Charlie was really worried, he started to pace up and down Harry’s room, pausing to look out the window. They heard another soft thump.
Charlie looked at the door like a cooped up dragon. It was obvious that he wanted to go and check on Bill, but he didn’t want to leave Harry and Ron alone. He went back to the window and stared out at the group of kids milling in the street. The police had arrived and were trying to disperse them. Ron and Charlie were both watching at the window with interest.
All of sudden, Harry’s door banged open. But there was no one there. Charlie quickly crossed the room to the door and looked out. Not seeing anything he stepped cautiously out into the hallway. A man dressed in black slipped from the shadows and slammed the door into the back of Charlie, sending him flying across the hallway. Charlie hit the hallway wall with a sickening crack and then fell to the ground with a thud.
The man was a small Asian man, dressed in classic ninja clothing. If Harry hadn’t seen it for himself, he would have thought it impossible. This was the kind of thing you saw in really bad Muggle movies, not in his bedroom.
The man sized up Harry and Ron, Harry sitting on his bed, still in the hospital gown, still half asleep, and Ron over by the window. The man seemed to be hesitating, waiting for Ron or Harry to make a move before proceeding.
Ron was quicker than Harry. He shot a stunning spell toward the smaller man. The man was very quick. He dodged the spell and flipped and landed right next to Ron. The ninja did a low spin kick, knocking Ron’s legs out from underneath him. Ron fell backwards into the window, his head connecting painfully against the window sill with a large bang. The ninja followed that move with a sharp jab downward right on Ron’s chest.
Harry shot off a stunning spell as well, but just as Harry thought it would hit, the man leaped out of the way and the spell hit Ron instead. Harry cursed under his breath. He couldn’t even stand up and face the attacker like a man. Harry started shooting off as many spells as he could think of, one after another desperately trying to hit him.
The man was truly dexterous. He easily managed to dodge all of Harry’s spells, finally coming to a rest with in reach of him. The man grabbed a dagger from the side of his leg and moved to strike. Harry, even more desperately tried to stun, but it was no good. The ninja grabbed Harry’s hair, and was attempting to slit his neck.
Harry fought back with all the strength he had. He flailed against the small man, desperately trying to survive, and then he felt the sting of the knife hitting his skin on his shoulder. All of sudden Harry’s body coursed with anger, and with it an almost electrical surge of energy racked his body.
The ninja screamed and left go of Harry immediately. The man held his hand back like he had been burned, and sure enough Harry saw the skin on his hand turning red and puffy. Harry was completely outraged. He shot a stunner off at the ninja which connected full in the chest. The ninja fell across the room and landed with a thud on the floor.
Harry tried to stand up, but his bad leg wouldn’t hold his weight. Harry sat back down, and worked his way onto the floor. He dragged himself on the floor over to where Ron was lying unconscious. Ron was still breathing, which was always a good sign.
“Is he okay?” Harry heard Charlie’s voice coming across the room.
Harry turned to look at Charlie. Charlie’s nose was obviously broken and bleeding freely. He was hurrying toward them.
“He’s still breathing,” Harry said, “he took a nasty blow and fell backwards into the window.”
Charile bent over Ron and checked him over. “I think he’ll be okay for the moment. I’m going to tie up the attacker, and then go look for Bill. You stay here with Ron and guard over them, all right?”
“Yeah,” Harry agreed.
Charlie quickly walked over and tied up the attacker with ropes that came out of his wand. With one backward glance at Harry and Ron, he left the room only to return three seconds later, helping Bill into the room.
Bill was sporting a black eye, huge goose egg on the left side of his forehead, which was also beginning to turn purple, and he was limping. “Little bastard caught me by surprise. He hit me over the head with, I don’t know, something, and laid me flat before I even knew what was happening.”
Charlie nodded his nose still bleeding, “Yeah, same here. He knocked me out into the hallway with the back of the door.”
Bill looked over at Ron and Harry, “They okay?”
“Ron took a bad blow to the head. We’ll have to get him to St. Mungo’s. Harry seems okay,” Charlie summed up quickly.
Bill gave Charlie a wry smile, “I suppose all three of us Weasleys should go check ourselves in St. Mungo’s.”
“Someone has to stay here with Harry. We can’t take him to St. Mungo’s. It’s not safe,” Charlie stated.
“It’s safe here?” Bill asked, feeling the large bump on his head.
“Good point,” Charlie conceded. “Still, we need to get Ron some help and we need to stay here with Harry.”
“I’ll go and see what I can drum up for help. Why don’t you do some patch up work on Ron. You’ve got more experience on that front. I’ll be back in less than five minutes, if I can’t find anyone to help; we’ll all go to St. Mungo’s together,” Bill replied seriously. “Oh and it would be good to figure out how to get Ron there.”
With a loud CRACK, Bill disappeared. Charlie came back over to where Harry and Ron were laying. Ron still hadn’t woken. Charlie seemed to assess him using a couple of spells Harry had never heard. Charlie started talking to Harry while still working on Ron, “It’s kind of important when you work with dragons to know basic first aid. I think he’ll be okay. I’m guessing he just took a really bad blow to the head. He’ll probably have a nasty headache, but be fine.” Charlie abruptly changed tone, “Oh man, I’m going to have to explain this to Mum.” He started shaking his head. “And George hurt too. This is not our night.”
Charlie walked over to make sure that the attacker was still bound on the floor. He was, still unconscious. Charlie knelt next to him and seemed to assess him similarly to Ron. He called over to Harry, “What did you hit him with anyway.”
Harry was surprised at the question, “Just a stunner, nothing fancy.”
“Are you sure? I think he’s going to have to go to St. Mungo’s. I think he might have some internal injuries.”
Harry’s stomach turned at the information, “I’m sure it was just a stunner, but,” Harry drifted off, “there was a lot of emotion behind it. He stabbed me. I snapped and then hit him with the spell.”
Charlie looked over at Harry, “That will do it. The worse trouble I ever got in was when I hit Percy with a bat bogey hex after he had messed up my broom, I was twelve I think, and he would have been about nine. Mum had my hide. They had to take him to St. Mungo’s.”
Harry had to smile; the thought of a twelve year old Charlie hexing nine year old Percy was pretty funny.
With two loud CRACKS Bill and Percy showed up in the room. Harry gave Percy an angry look. But Percy didn’t seem to notice Harry at all; he looked between Bill, Charlie, and Ron.
“Hey Perc,” Charlie greeted cautiously. “What are you doing here?”
Percy answered, “Getting Ron to St. Mungo’s. I’ve got a permit for a Portkey here. I’ll take him there, if one of you could get Mum and Dad?” Percy looked at his older brothers expectantly.
Bill replied, “There’s no need to go get them, Percy. Mum and Dad are already there. George was injured tonight in the hospital attack. Fred and Ginny are probably there as well.”
Percy looked concerned at the news. He then took in Harry, and looked at him coolly. “Hello Harry,” he stated formally. “Looks like you’ve gotten my brother in trouble again.”
Charlie came to Harry’s defense, “This isn’t about Harry, Percy. It’s about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” Charlie addressed Bill, “You and Percy take Ron and go, I’ll stay here with Harry. Send some more help my way, if you can. Defending against Muggles is a lot harder than we were anticipating.”
Percy muttered, “Portus,” to one of the empty bottles by Harry’s bed. Percy took it over to where Ron was laying and put the bottle in his hand. Percy held the top of the bottle, and counted down, “Five, four, three, two, one.” In a whirl of color, Ron and Percy vanished.
Charlie gave Bill an exasperated look, “The only help you could find was Percy? Mum is already under enough stress without Percy walking in and starting another row.”
Bill shrugged, “You have to admit, no matter what Percy’s problems with the rest of us are he would never do anything to hurt Ron or Ginny. He could get Ron to St. Mungo’s, we couldn’t. You can count on blood.”
“I suppose,” Charlie conceded, “But you better get there and keep him under tabs. You might want to get that large mass on your head checked out as well. It could leave a mark.”
Bill smiled a dry wry smile. He looked between Harry, Charlie, and the attacker, “I send someone soon. You might want to take care of that nose, although I must admit, it does look better.”
Charlie smiled back, “Very funny,” he said and then Bill Disapparated.
Charlie walked over to where Harry was sitting alone on the floor. He pulled Harry into a standing position and helped him limp over to his bed. Harry lay down again, to keyed up to sleep. He arranged himself until he felt comfortable.
Charlie sat down on the floor between Harry’s bed and the door, pulled out a Skiving Snack Box. He found the nosebleed nougat and bit off the healing half. His nose bleed stopped instantly. “These are quite handy, and tasty to boot.”
“What do we do now?” Harry asked Charlie.
“We wait,” Charlie answered, watching the door.
“Wait?”
“Yep, we wait. Shouldn’t take to long I’d guess.”
“What are we waiting for?” Harry questioned puzzled.
“It could be several things. We could be attacked again, or reinforced by Wizards, or overrun by Muggles. Or maybe all three. I hope Bill sends someone soon. If you and I are attacked again I don’t know how long we could hold out.”
“Then why did Bill go to the hospital with Ron? Percy could have taken care of him. Percy is a prat as far as I’m concerned, but he would have taken good care of Ron.”
“Bill has a concussion from that blow to the side of his head. You probably wouldn’t have noticed it, but his eyes were doing funny things. Generally speaking, you don’t want a Wizard with a head injury trying to produce spells. Things just don’t go right. There once was a guy I worked with in Romania who was knocked into a tree after trying to subdue a Norwegian Ridgeback. He then tried to stun the dragon again, He did produce a stunning spell, but instead of subduing the dragon, it had the opposite effect. The dragon was invigorated, and it took another four people to bring the dragon down. That’s pretty rare effect, most of the time with a head injury the spells just don’t have the amount of power that they usually have. But you just don’t know what’s going to happen. I’d rather face twenty armed Muggles alone then with Bill in that kind of state.”
“I didn’t realize that,” Harry said thoughtfully, “It’s not something I’ve ever run into in the past.”
“No, I expect not. I didn’t learn about it until I started working with dragons. Lots of people get injured in my line of work.”
“I suppose,” Harry agreed. “Why did you decide to start working with dragons?”
Charlie smiled, “All of us Weasleys develop a taste for danger and adventure at some point, well, except maybe Percy. I wanted to work with magical creatures and I wanted to do something adventurous. Dragons were the only thing that fit both of those desires.” Charlie chuckled and continued, “I’ve heard that you and Ron both want to become Aurors.”
“Yeah,” Harry admitted, “it’d be cool. But I don’t know if I’m going to get the marks to do it. I need an O in potions in order to get the NEWT level, and I need NEWT level potions to get into Auror training. I doubt I did that well in my OWL potions exam.”
Charlie smiled again, “I seriously doubt that Snape is going to be able to keep you out of his NEWT level class if you want to take it. It’s Dumbledore’s school, and you are Harry Potter.”
“So? What does that have to do with it? McGonagall told me that I wouldn’t be able to get in without an O in potions,” Harry defended.
“That’s true, and in most other cases, she’d be right. But you are the person responsible for bringing down You-Know-Who the first time, and he’s still coming after you now. Dumbledore would allow you to study anything that you wanted. They’d probably give you a key to the restricted section of the library if you asked for it.”
There were two large CRACKs and Mr. Weasley and Fred appeared in the room.
Charlie stood up, “Dad, Fred.,” he said clearly looking relieved. “I’m glad you’re here. What are we going to do?”
Mr. Weasley said, “Harry still needs to stay here for the time being. I’ve called in the Ministry of Magic. They are going to send a squad of Aurors to protect Harry. The Ministry is going to relocate Harry’s aunt and uncle to a hospital in London, and provide housing for his cousin and his uncle’s sister there. That will allow us free use of this house until the Order can put together better protection. Charlie, you need to get to St. Mungo’s and get your nose fixed up. Harry, you are going to continue to receive Muggle treatment for your injuries, but Dumbledore insists that you keep taking the Dreamless Sleep Potion. Hermione’s parents will come and stay here with you as soon as the house is secure.”
Mr. Weasley handed Harry the bottle of Dreamless Sleep potion. “Drink up, Harry,” he said. “Charlie, get going. Fred and I will be fine until the Aurors get here.”
Harry quickly thanked Charlie, and then watched him disappear. Harry took a couple of drink of the potion and then quickly faded away into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.