Chapter 3 The White Cliffs of Dover
“Harry, do you think you could get away for the weekend?” Hermione asked on the way back to Number 4 Privet Drive. “My family’s going to the beach. We borrowed a cottage from one of mom’s patients.”
“The Dursleys would be happy to be rid of me for a few days,” Harry told her, “but I doubt if they will let me go if they think it might be fun.”
"I'll talk to your Aunt Petunia," said Hermione.
When they arrived at Harry's home, Hermione went in with him. Harry had to go directly upstairs to change back into his work clothes while Hermione went to the kitchen to talk to Aunt Petunia. She met him at the foot of the stairs when he came down in his baggy jeans and dirty t-shirt a few minutes later.
"It's all set with your aunt," Hermione whispered to him. "We'll pick you up on Friday afternoon if Dumbledore approves. Dad will call you and give you the details."
They went out the front door. Percy was standing next to the car impatiently
.
"I just hope they don't work you to death between now and then," Hermione said in a sympathetic tone. "I'll see you Friday."
She ran over to the car, but Harry called to her.
"Hermione," he called running after her, "I'm sorry. I almost got you killed. I don't want that to ever happen again. I don't want you in danger again."
"Harry," she said holding his hand, "Voldemort doesn't fight alone. Let your friends help you."
Hermione got into the car with Percy, and she blew a kiss to Harry as they drove away.
Harry walked around to the garden and retrieved his wheel barrow and shovel. Then he went back to the driveway and began loading sand. Uncle Vernon arrived home from work a few minutes later. He told Harry in no uncertain terms that all of the sand and flagstone had to be moved back into the garden and his car parked safely in the garage before Harry would get his supper. Harry worked as hard as he could, but it was nearly eleven o'clock before he earned a slice of bread and a piece of cheese for supper.
For the next three days Harry rose early and worked until past dark in an attempt to finish Uncle Vernon's footpath so he could go to the beach with the Grangers. The only thing interesting that happened was the arrival of the Daily Prophet on Tuesday. It was late. The owl didn't deliver it until mid-morning when Harry was working hard in the garden.
Harry was surprised to see that the story about the trial of Jurgson and Dolohov was not on the front page but buried on page seven. The story focused on Harry and even made it sound like he had cast the silencing charm that had blunted Dolohov's entrail expelling curse. Harry Potter saved the girl. That was the story. It implied that Hermione had been stupid enough to get caught in a bad situation and had to be rescued.
There was a photo of Hermione leaning on Harry's shoulder and shuddering while she rubbed her eyes. Harry knew that she was waking up from a nap, but it looked like she was crying. The caption beneath the photo read: "Terrified victim is comforted by her hero."
The author of the article was Rita Skeeter. She hated Hermione. Rita Skeeter also reported that Hermione was Muggle-born and that both of her parents were dentists. She might as well have had printed a map showing the location of her house.
The big news on page one, that had driven Rita Skeeter's mean little article to the back of the paper, was ominous indeed.
ANOTHER MASS ESCAPE FROM AZKABAN
Dementors Attack 3 Guards Dead, 1 Missing Lucius Malfoy a Fugitive
Yesterday afternoon the followers of You-Know-Who attacked Azkaban prison and freed all of the Death Eaters that were awaiting trial. It is rumored that the missing guard assisted the Death Eaters by opening a door. There were only four guards on duty at the time of the attack. Unofficial sources in the Ministry of Magic suggest that the heavy security arrangements for the trial of Jurgson and Dolohov in London contributed to the staff reduction at Azkaban. The attack on Azkaban was probably led by You-Know-Who himself and a handful of his followers joined by dementors. (Continues on page 3.)
Most of page 1 was covered with headlines.
Fudge Resigns, Defends Record
Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic for the last 14 years, resigned yesterday evening when news broke of a massive escape of prisoners from Azkaban. He defended his record of attempting to bring reconciliation to the wizard community following the disappearance of You-Know-Who 14 years ago. (Story continued on page 4.)
Diggory New Minister of Magic
In a surprise move at an emergency session of the Wizengamot, dark horse candidate Amos Diggory was selected to be the new Minister of Magic. Amos Diggory was formerly Head of the Department of Magical Transportation. (Details on page 5).
Azkaban in Ruins
Details are revealed of the attack by dementors on Azkaban. (Story on page 6).
Krum Joins Tornados
Victor Krum, star seeker for the Bulgarian National Quidditch team, has signed a contract to play professionally for the Tutshill Tornados. (Sports coverage on page 2.)
2 Death Eaters Executed
Antonin Dolohov and John Jurgson, acknowledged followers of You-Know-Who, were convicted yesterday on the charges of attempted murder. (See page 7.)
Harry didn't have time to read the whole paper and he really didn't want to think about the escape of Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters. He just hoped that all of his friends would be safe today and that he could make a lot of progress on Uncle Vernon's flagstone footpath. He thought he should be practicing defensive spells more and working on landscaping less, but he had to eat. And around here he had to earn his meals with physical labor. So he put aside the paper and went back to work.
For the entire week Harry worked hard all day long. At night, before going to bed, he would practice a couple of spells. Harry knew he could get in trouble for setting off spectacular magic, but he also knew he could cheat a little if there were no Muggles around. The spells he worked on were not spectacular, just lumos and accio. The Ministry of Magic didn't care if he used his wand as a flashlight or summoned some small object from across his bedroom as long as he was discrete.
Harry added a twist that he thought might reduce the ability of the Ministry to detect what he was doing and at the same time increase the defensive value of the spells. He was trying to set off the spells without his wand in his hand. The idea came to him one afternoon last week when he was working in Mrs. Figg's garden. He had been thinking about dementors, and the attack last summer in the alley. Part of his inspiration also came from a Star Wars movie that Dudley had watched on his VCR.
He would lay his wand down and move a few feet away from it. Then he would try to make it glow in the dark with a lumos spell cast with his empty hand. He knew it could be done. It had worked last year in the alley. It was difficult. He failed many times. Just when he began to think it would work only when he was terrified, he got a faint glimmer of light from his wand.
The Luke Sky Walker trick was even more difficult. He wanted to make his wand jump across the room and land in his hand. By Thursday night of the second week of summer, he could make his wand roll towards his hand, if it was less than a foot away.
On Wednesday afternoon there was a phone call from Hermione's father with instructions for the pickup on Friday. Mrs. Figg went shopping for him on Thursday and bought him a swimsuit and sandals. He paid her with sickles. She was always happy to get money she could spend in Diagon Alley without having to pay the high exchange fee that the goblins charged.
On Friday Harry finished up the footpath and then started weeding the flower beds. At a little after three o'clock he went into the garage where Sturgis Podmore was waiting. Sturgis had used an invisibility cloak to approach the house unseen and he had brought a vial of Polyjuice Potion. Harry yanked a few hairs out of his own head so Sturgis could finish the potion. In a few minutes Harry was looking at Harry.
"Yuk!" exclaimed Sturgis-Harry as he made a nasty face. "That stuff tastes horrible. Do you have anything to drink around here?"
"Aunt Petunia won't let me come in the house when I'm dirty unless I really have to," said Harry. "So when I'm thirsty I just take a drink from the hosepipe."
Then Harry had to explain to Sturgis-Harry how to turn on and off the water without using magic. While Sturgis-Harry went to the garden to get a drink of water, Harry changed clothes, picked up his backpack and put on his invisibility cloak. Then he walked out of the garage. Sturgis-Harry had moved to the front of the house, where he could be seen by prying eyes, and was busily pulling weeds from Aunt Petunia's petunias. Harry walked away from the house unseen.
He went a few blocks to the designated street corner and stood waiting by the stop sign. It was hot under the invisibility cloak and Harry quickly got tired of waiting. Fortunately it wasn't long before a strong looking man in his mid thirties drove up in an old classic green Triumph TR6 and stopped at the sign.
The man continued to look straight ahead as he said out loud, "My name is Jason."
The top was down on the Triumph so Harry hopped into the car without opening the door. He settled into the passenger seat and said, "Tallyho Corporal Granger."
They drove off.
After they had gone about a block Jason Granger muttered to Harry, "Corporal Granger? What kind of chicken shit insult is that? Did Jack tell you to say that?"
"Yes," said Harry defensively, "I said exactly what he told me to say."
Hermione's uncle reached over and touched Harry on the shoulder.
"Damn!" he exclaimed, "that’s a nice piece of camouflage! Where can I get one of those?"
"Invisibility cloaks are very rare and expensive," explained Harry. "I inherited mine from my father. I've never seen them for sale in Diagon Alley."
"Diagonally from where?" asked Jason.
Jason drove into the lot of an automobile repair shop and parked behind the building.
"We change cars here, for security," he explained. "We'll take that minivan there. I'll open the cargo door and toss in my gear, let me know when you're in so I don't slam the door on you. Once we leave here you can take off the invisibility cloak."
They pulled back out onto the street and Harry took off his cloak. "Hi," said Harry holding out his hand.
"Glad to meet you," said Jason, "I've seen pictures of you."
"Really!" exclaimed Harry, "where?"
"Hermione has about a dozen of them hanging in her bedroom," he laughed.
"Do you have a nickname, Potter?" asked Jason.
"No," said Harry "am I supposed to have one?"
"Yes, I'll issue one," he said officially. "We'll call you Dragon Killer."
"But I've never killed a dragon," said Harry, "I just had to steal an egg from one."
"What was that big snakey thingy in the secret chamber?" asked Jason.
"That was a basilisk, it was much worse than a dragon," said Harry.
"Dragon Killer is easier to remember," said Jason definitively.
"What's your nickname?" asked Harry.
"I have lots of nicknames," replied Jason, "most of them are obscene. You can call me Gunny."
They drove into the parking lot of a row of shops and stopped in front of a clothing store. Hermione, her mother and father and a strikingly beautiful blonde woman came out of the store and got into the van.
"Hi Harry," said Hermione happily, "you've met my mom and dad, right?"
"Call me Diane and this fellow Jack," said Hermione's mother.
"And you've met my Uncle Jason," Hermione gushed. "He's the second bravest man in the whole world."
"Ow! Witchy Girl," complained Jason, "When did I get demoted? This lady is Miss Marilyn Monroe from 1957," said Jason indicating the blonde.
"Wotcher Harry," said Tonks.
"Tonks!" laughed Harry, "why do you look like that?
"Because I lost a bet to this cheating twerp," she said indicating Jason Granger.
"She bet me I couldn't shoot a tin can off a fence just because she put a magic spell on it. But I knocked it off with one burst," bragged Jason.
"He sawed through the fence post with his machine gun," whined Tonks. "Is that fair?"
Two hours later they arrived at a small cottage by the sea. The cottage had electricity and running water but no television or phone, the Grangers thought that made it perfect. After supper they all went for a short walk to explore the neighborhood and to watch the stars come out. They could hear the waves pounding the beach and the sea gulls crying. After a while they went back into the cottage and Mrs. Granger played the old piano in the living room while Harry and Hermione sat on the sofa and listened.
Tonks and Jason went into the kitchen to clean up the dishes. There was a lot of teasing and joking going on in there. The cottage had two tiny bedrooms so it looked like someone would be sleeping in the living room. Jason devised a plan to "maximize security" by putting one magic user and one pistol packing non-wizard in each room.
"Hermione and her mother can take one bedroom," Jason explained. "Harry, you and Jack can take the living room. While Marilyn and I use the other bedroom," he finished with a grin."
"In your dreams, Gunny!" shouted Tonks, laughing.
Harry ended up sleeping on the sofa in the living room anyway but his roommate in the overstuffed chair was Jason. Hermione and Tonks took one bedroom while Hermione's parents used the other.
Saturday was a glorious day. Harry spent most of the day walking along the beach with Hermione. They waded, skipped stones, collected seashells and listened to the music coming from the pavilion but they didn't go swimming. Harry couldn't swim, unless he ate gilleyweed. Also they were holding their wands at all times, wrapped up in their towels.
They couldn't conceal wands in their swimsuits. In fact Hermione's new bikini didn't conceal much at all. It was golden brown and matched the color of her eyes with Gryffindor red and gold trim. Harry thought she looked really nice in it. She looked more slender than he remembered. When he asked her about that she admitted with a shy smile that she had lost some weight, mostly while in the hospital. Harry didn't want to talk about her hospitalization.
The Granger brothers had each carried a cooler down to the beach. Harry almost made the mistake of opening up Jason's red cooler to get a drink. He had thought Jason to be napping but that illusion was shattered when Harry tried to open the cooler. Jason's arm shot out incredibly fast to block Harry's movement. It startled him for a moment.
"The drinks and food are in the blue cooler by Diane, Dragon Killer," said Jason in a bored tone.
"So Gunny, what's in this cooler?" asked Harry.
"You and the witches have your wands with you, right? You wouldn't want Jack and me to be out here naked. Our guns are in the cooler," he explained. "Hermione and her mother are talking. Grab yourself a drink and come back, I have questions for you."
When Harry returned he had to warn Jason that there were a lot of things he wouldn't tell him about the wizards' world, and that a lot of what he did say would sound so crazy that Jason would have to keep it a secret to avoid sounding insane.
"I really just have one question," said Jason. "We had decided that Hermione would stay at home for the rest of the summer and I would stay and help defend the family. Then this old guy pops up in the middle of the living room. I don't know how he got in. He takes her to another room and talks to her for a few minutes. When they've finished, she announces that she has to leave for the rest of the summer. She won't tell us why. She won't say where she is going or what she is doing. So my question is this. Who is this Dumbledore character? Is he trustworthy?"
"I trust Dumbledore," said Harry. "But he keeps secrets from me."
Harry thought that Dumbledore had a tendency to shelter him from unpleasant truths. He didn't want to say that to the Grangers. Was there some unpleasant truth about the plan for Hermione?
That evening Harry and Hermione walked down to the seashore and made their way to a bench out at the end of the pier where they sat and watched the sunset.
"It's beautiful," Harry said as the sun sank into the sea, "the end of a perfect day."
"It's sad, when the day ends," said Hermione.
"Somewhere, on the other side of the ocean, the sun is rising," observed Harry.
"Do you think there's a peaceful country over there, where it's morning, where there's no war?" asked Hermione.
"Maybe," said Harry, "I like to think that the whole world isn't crazy."
"Will you take me there, Harry?" she asked.
"What?"
"Put me on your Firebolt and take me far away," she pleaded. "Take me somewhere there is no Voldemort or Death Eaters or dementors. Let's make a run for it, you and me. We could go to Mexico, or Australia or Hawaii. I'd wear a grass skirt and a lei and I'd do a hula dance for you if you would run away with me. Please, Harry." A tear rolled down her cheek.
"Hermione," he said putting his arm around her, "that sounds wonderful. It sounds sensible. But I can't run away. I have to stay. I have to face Voldemort. I have no choice."
"But why, Harry?" she asked in anguish, "Why can't you let someone else fight the war? You've done enough. You saved the Philosopher's Stone. You killed the Basilisk. You dueled with him in the graveyard. He just keeps trying to trap you and kill you."
"It's that prophecy," he said dully, "Voldemort has heard part of it, and he believes it. He thinks he has to murder me. He's tried five times. He won't quit. He'd follow us. The prophecy says I have to face him. It's him or me, we can't both live.”
"It's too dangerous, Harry," she said nervously. "He's so powerful. How can you defeat him?"
"I don't know," admitted Harry, "I've heard the whole prophecy, Dumbledore has a copy. It says that I have some power that the Dark Lord knows nothing about, a power that can vanquish him. But I don't have a clue what that power is."
They sat quietly as the day faded into twilight and a bright star appeared low in the west. Then Hermione spoke.
"Harry," she began, "tomorrow night Dumbledore will take me to a place where I'll be safe for the rest of the summer. It'll be one less child that the Order of the Phoenix has to worry about," she added a bit bitterly. "I can't tell you where I'm going or what I'll be doing. It may be impossible to contact you at all. I'll try to send you letters, I promise, but… I'll miss you."
They sat silently together and watched the stars come out. When it became uncomfortably cool they got up and began walking back to the cottage. Half way down the pier Harry put his left hand on Hermione's shoulder and she reached across his body and took his right hand. They had walked on for only a few steps when she stopped abruptly.
"Harry!" she said in a panic, "where's your towel?"
Harry ran back out to the end of the pier to fetch the towel that he had left on the bench. His wand was still safely rolled up inside of it. He took a deep breath and scanned up and down the beach, there were no signs of dementors. They walked back to the cottage.
That evening while Diane Granger played the piano, Hermione sang an old song at her father's request. It was called "The White Cliffs of Dover". They said it was one of Hermione's grandmother's favorites. It dated back to the Second World War.
There'll be blue birds over,
the white cliffs of Dover,
tomorrow,
just you wait and see.
There’ll be joy and laughter
and peace ever after
tomorrow
when the world is free.
It was a sad song, but it was hopeful. It was about a longing for peace and the end of a war. Harry thought it was very appropriate.
Sunday was another beautiful day. Jason teased the girls all day, even Diane. Hermione finally got tired of being called "Witchy Girl", and she complained.
"Jason, you used to call me Magic Princess, why did you change my name to Witchy Girl?" she asked him in an exasperated tone.
"Magic Princess sounds so pampered and spoiled," Jason explained, "Witchy Girl sounds sexy, more daring. What do you think Harry?"
"Oh yeah, Gunny," said Harry just to tease Hermione, "Witchy Girl is better. Somehow I can't see a Magic Princess being turned to stone, or beaten up by an animated tree, or befriending a werewolf, or…" his voice had lost the joking tone, "being surrounded by a hundred soul sucking dementors, or tied up at the bottom of an icy lake for an hour, or…"
"Harry! Shut up!" Hermione interrupted.
Her parents were staring at him in shock.
Hermione talked her dad into letting them stay at the beach until after sunset so it was very late when they arrived at the Grangers' house. Mr. Granger had found a public telephone and had called the Dursleys about being late. The Dursleys didn't want to be bothered by Harry coming in late, so the Grangers agreed to take him home with them for the night.
When they approached the Grangers' house Tonks told Harry to get under his invisibility cloak and she hid under it with him. The six of them entered the house, but it looked like only the four Grangers. Harry wondered if their arrival was being reported to Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters or if they were just being paranoid.
Since Dumbledore would be arriving soon to take Hermione away, Harry was given her room for the night. Her father showed Harry where to put his things while Hermione said good-bye to her mother in the kitchen. When Harry came downstairs he saw Hermione in the living room and walked over towards her.
"Harry," she said, "will you please give me a kiss before I leave? I won't see you until September."
Harry held her hands and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey," said Jason, "get your own girl!"
Hermione came into the living room and asked, "What's going on in here?"
"I was just teasing Gunny," Tonks said with a laugh. Then she warned Harry, "Try to do a good job of kissing the real Hermione. That little smack was pathetic."
"She does me perfectly doesn't she," said Hermione. "It's like having a twin."
They heard a crackling sound in the dining room. Dumbledore wandered into the living room and gave Harry a smile. "Say your goodbyes, it's time for her to go," he said.
Harry gave Hermione a decent hug and kiss. She broke away from Harry to give her father a kiss and then she took Dumbledore's outstretched hand.
"Where are you taking her?" asked Harry.
"Don't worry about Miss Granger, Harry," said Dumbledore. "She will have a hundred body guards watching her this summer."
Hermione was wearing a T-shirt and jogging shorts over her bikini, she had sandals on her feet. She held a small bag that could not hold much more than a toothbrush. Harry supposed her wand was in the scabbard that fit on her back. She smiled weakly at him and suddenly disapparated with Dumbledore.
"She's traveling pretty light for a seven week stay," observed Harry.