Sorry about the long silence on this story. Unbelieveable workload. All cleared now, so should have some time to write!
In the afternoon, after a long argument with Parvati, which she eventually won by sheer persistence and by looking very like a cross between someone’s pet puppy and a sex siren, Draco looked for Harry Potter. He found him in the library, with Ron and Hermione, surrounded by tottering piles of charm books, and walked straight up, still seething at the insinuation that perhaps he was a little nervous of Potter’s powers. “Potter. I need to talk to you.”
Harry understandably raised his eyebrows warily, got his wand out under the table, and did not budge. Draco went right ahead, ignoring Ron and Hermione completely.
Perhaps because he was nervous, in spite of assuring Parvati that nothing about Harry was at all intimidating, his voice came out in an arrogant snobby tone. Of course, that is the way he usually spoke, so he may just have sounded like that anyway. “I need to practice Occlumency with somebody. Parvati said you might be a good option.” Harry’s jaw dropped, and Hermione and Ron stared. Harry found his voice.
“Why me?” he asked with deep suspicion.
Draco hated admitting it, in fact it had taken him a while arguing with Parvati, who just thought Harry so wonderful that Draco was insanely jealous and had made her cry, and then over two hours battling with his own feelings for him to come at all. His lips twisted into a ferocious sneer, and he sounded sulky. “Because you have already studied it. Added to which you loathe me, so you’ll try harder to break me, which will be better practice for me.”
Harry looked at him again searchingly trying not to feel oddly flattered, and then nodded curtly. “OK. I could do with the practice too.” He started to pack his things away, and Hermione and Ron looked at him, worried. “Harry!” hissed Hermione, “Remember what happened with Snape! You don’t want Malfoy of all people diving into any secrets you may have!”
“Oh, I don’t think I will have as much to worry about with Malfoy. Remember I have been studying with Dumbledore!” retorted Harry, a bit annoyed. Hermione should know he was more than a match for Malfoy. He knew too, that she was trying to hint that he shouldn’t give away any secrets about the Order of the Phoenix, and that annoyed him a bit too. He wasn’t about to.
Draco looked over at Hermione, derision on his face. “Don’t lose your house-elf Granger “ “
She inserted crisply “Like your family did, Malfoy?”
Draco scowled, and ignored her. “I will leave Potter intact. Besides,” he put on a bit of a pout, and leaned across the table to her, “the Weasel King might appreciate some time alone with you!” He made an obnoxious loud kissing noise, intent on finally humiliating the Granger into silence, and followed Harry with a bit of a swagger, leaving Hermione and Ron, looking after him, both blushing furiously, avoiding each other’s eyes. If Ron had not been so scarlet, Hermione would probably have been able to make a comeback, but she glanced at him, and his all-too-obvious expression left her, for once, with nothing to say and a warm tide of crimson mottling her face and neck.
Harry couldn’t help the corners of his mouth turning up, as he strode along, however much he tried not to let them. “Well Malfoy “ you are nothing if not direct!”
“Well, they annoy me,” returned Draco irritably. “Always dancing around each other, and sending each other moony glances. You would think that they would have done something about it by this time.” Harry refused to answer. He felt exactly the same himself, but couldn’t possibly confess that to Malfoy, of all people. He led Draco up to the Room of Requirements, which Draco had never seen properly, and found, of course that it was equipped with all the paraphernalia that they required. There were even a few large pensieves lying around, which Harry used to dump all his Order of the Phoenix memories in, just in case Draco managed to breach his defenses. Draco had not yet learned how to use one, and was rather jealous, but tried not to let Potter know.
After an hour’s work, both hated each other perhaps a little less than they had to start with and each began to feel a somewhat grudging respect for the other’s abilities. Draco had practiced a lot over the summer, and even though Harry had been studying with Dumbledore, Draco found he was able to block far more than Harry, which enabled him to forget the fact that he didn’t know how to use a pensieve, and feel smug again. Although Harry was definitely the stronger wizard, Draco was far more devious. Draco was beginning to suspect that Harry was one of the strongest wizards that he had ever met. He wouldn’t have been surprised to find that Harry was in Dumbledore’s class. It was therefore the sweeter to watch Harry struggle, and know that by calling on all the guile inherent in his makeup, he could beat Harry’s strength, and watch him sweat.
Parvati hadn’t really known what Occlumency entailed, and although she had been right, Harry was the strongest person in their year, and the best able to give Draco any practice, she had not known the intimacy it forces onto people who break through your defenses.
It had been with a sort of arrogance that both boys had started their session. Each of them had thought themselves the stronger. Now, however, called to compete, they found that they were both giving secrets away “ perhaps more than they wanted to, but neither wanted to be the first to back down. Draco caught glimpses of the Dursleys and Privet Drive, which fascinated him. The famous Harry Potter living in that kind of chilling indifference? Ignored and not tolerated? Sleeping with spiders? Harry in his turn saw daily abuse, a mother who really did not care much, a commanding domineering father, snatches of pain concerning a platinum haired girl and a house that did not look like a home, but rather like a Dark Arts museum. However, the main objects they desired to keep secret remained a secret, so they counted the session successful. Harry did not see Draco’s memory of Parvati in tears after he had shouted at her for mentioning Harry’s name once too often; Draco did not see anything about Harry’s feelings for a certain red-headed Weasley, or his pain at Sirius’s death.
They left to go to their DADA class at least on speaking terms, although Draco was now so revoltingly smug it was strain on Harry’s good nature. The class was being taught this year by Castor Elgin, a reputed Auror as an enormous favor to Dumbledore, and also, Harry suspected so that he was on hand should anything happen. Castor, like Moody, had a false eye that spun around the room, and he was almost as scarred, although perhaps fifteen years younger, with a long head of rather greasy brown hair caught back in a careless ponytail.
Draco went to one side of the room and Harry to the other, but they both caught each other’s eye for a second when Ron and an ecstatic Hermione entered, hand in hand. Draco was forced to admit (to himself, even Occlumency wouldn’t force it from him) that the Mudblood wasn’t that bad looking. She was certainly glowing. It amazed him that holding hands with the ugly indigent Weasel could light her up like that. It only seemed to have made Ron’s ears glow, and his freckles stand out more. Draco had pretty much thought he looked like a moronic sheep before; now he looked even more like a moronic sheep. Harry was grinning all over his face. Draco pulled his books out of his bags, with a disgruntled expression, and his eyebrows in the air. He had meant to torment Ron, and stop Hermione talking in one swift move. He had certainly not meant to be a catalyst to unite them. ‘Just call me ‘Lonely Hearts Draco’’, he murmured, completely disgusted with everybody, but mostly Ron and Hermione.
Professor Elgin was in a very odd mood. He was not focused on the lesson at all, and was very jumpy. He forgot he had already given them homework, and gave them more twice, but considering his odd mood, nobody dared object. In fact, by the time he had swirled around to glare at his foe finder about fifteen times, and dived for his wand a couple of times, the class were as jumpy as he was. Just before the end of the lesson, an owl arrived at his desk with an urgent message, which he grabbed instantly. He read it and stood up. With a minimum of fuss, he told everybody that Quidditch practices had been cancelled, and that everyone was to meet in the Great Hall without fail as soon as possible. There was to be a speech before dinner. He gave out such a sense of foreboding nobody even thought to moan about the cancelled Quidditch. Elgin left with his magical eye rolling even more eccentrically than before, and the class dismissed, buzzing like bees.
*****************************
Parvati was waiting for Draco outside in the hall, looking exactly the way he had always imagined her looking, although he noticed her eyes were still red. She launched herself at him, and kissed him passionately, obviously having decided to forgive him for making her cry earlier. Draco was already starting to get used to Parvati’s exhibitionism, and had already looked around to make sure there were no stray teachers or prefects to see, and so enjoyed the kiss enormously. When he looked up to see a group of fourth years practically slavering, he positively smirked, wrapping his arm around her possessively. He had tended to miss the limelight a bit.
Parvati was already talking nineteen to the dozen, and Draco lent half an ear, while wondering what the meeting was about. Considering the rumors flying around, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was to do with Snape. He hoped it wasn’t worse. Parvati was talking about Ron and Hermione of course. The Potions master missing, war imminent and Parvati was concerned with Ron and Hermione. Draco couldn’t resist. “Well, I thought I should do something about it, so I fixed them up,” he said off-handedly. He said it specifically to make her squeak, and she didn’t disappoint him. He grinned down at her, an expression he kept just for her, and came clean. “Actually, I was just being horrible, but it worked. I would have given them a hard time before now if I had known it would get you all worked up!” He twisted his hand in her hair, enjoying the feel as it flowed through his fingers.
After twittering a while about Ron and Hermione, Parvati interrupted his thoughts once more to ask how his Occlumency session with Harry had gone, and he looked down at her. “Better than I thought. He is sharper, and far stronger than I gave him credit for. Next time I hex him, I must take care to do it from behind. Good call on your part, Dear Heart. He was an excellent protagonist.” He smiled at Parvati’s fluttering indignation that he would think of hexing anybody from behind. He was a bloody Slytherin “ what did she expect?
A little way in front of them, Ron, rather clumsily, put his arm around Hermione, grinning like a house-elf on butterbeer. Draco rolled his eyes. “That Weasel is a little less than suave. I wonder what the, er, um..” he trailed off as he felt Parvati begin to bristle. “I mean, I wonder what Granger sees in him?”
Parvati gave him a speaking look, and he shrugged elegantly. “Hermione,” Parvati informed him primly, “isn’t as flighty as I am. I go for the eye candy, and she goes for solid worth!” But calling Ron “solid worth” did for her, and she collapsed in giggles.
Draco was just grinning reluctantly at her when they reached the Great Hall. The ceiling was foggy. Mist swirled in gray eddies around the candles, which seemed gloomy and dim as a result. As they watched, the Bloody Baron appeared, looking completely at home. It was not going to be a cheerful meal. Even the other ghosts seemed to feel it, and huddled around the tables. It made Nearly Headless Nick’s head wobble disconcertingly on his neck. Draco left Parvati to go to the Slytherin table, which was faintly visible and already crowded. People were arriving in droves, all talking excitedly. The noise would have been terrible, but the mist seemed to envelop it, so that it was dispersed through the fog, and sounded like a deathday celebration in a vault.
Parvati sat down at the Gryffindor table, and was joined by Neville and Ginny, who were both still speaking to her. Shamus and Lavender, who were not, sat further down, but Harry, Hermione and Ron sat down opposite when they entered. Parvati hoped fervently that Draco would not take it amiss that Harry was still speaking to her. He had been a bit manic about her and Harry, and there was nothing for him to worry about. Ron looked as if his feet weren’t touching the ground, and Hermione was shining. Ginny, who had not seen them both since lunch, squealed. ‘You two are together! When did this happen?”
Dean commented “About time too!”
“Everyone keeps saying that!” Ron exclaimed, “I had no idea Hermione was interested “ she never gave me any sign!” He reached over for the rolls that were already on the table, and took a few.
A momentary stunned silence greeted his masterly mis-statement, and then the table exploded with congratulations. They hardly had time to talk however, before Dumbledore clapped for silence. The hall fell silent in record time. Everyone was anxious to hear what the news was. They could tell it was not good from the gravity of Dumbledore’s expression.
“Greetings everyone,” Dumbledore began.
“I have to tell you that the war we have all been dreading has arrived. The Ministry of Magic was attacked just a half an hour ago. It is not yet ascertained how many survivors there are. Those of you who have family members at the ministry will be kept informed as soon as we have any further information”. (Here, Ron and Ginny went an ashy white color.)
“I have been asked to keep students at Hogwarts for the foreseeable future. It is one of the safest places, as you all know. We may also be accepting injured personnel in the infirmary. I would ask you to give Madam Pomfrey all the assistance she requires, and request that no noise be made in the west wing.
Necessarily your studies will have to be curtailed to some extent. My apologies. We will be running a skeleton staff, as many of the staff are reservist members of the Magical Peacekeeping Coalition, so please see the notice boards for rescheduled classes. I am requisitioning some of the N.E.W.T. pupils as assistant teachers to the lower levels. Their names have also been placed on the notice boards. I expect the lower forms to realize that this is a privilege and not to exploit the students’ lack of experience as teachers. All those whose names are on the notice boards, please see your Head of House for further instructions.
As some of you already seem to know, Professor Snape has been marked down as missing in action. After this announcement, we will have a three-minute silence, and wish him well, wherever he is. At the present time, however, Professor Sinistra has kindly agreed to act as Head of Slytherin.” As he spoke, the House flags lowered.
“Tomorrow morning, prior to his departure for a more active position in the military action that will be necessary, Professor Elgin is going to address the whole school in the Great Hall. He and the Prefects will also be practicing emergency drills and evacuation procedures with you. There is little anticipation that we will be evacuating Hogwarts, but should the procedures ever be needed I want you all ready. I require you all to give Professor Elgin and the prefects your fullest attention. Professor Elgin will see all the Prefects in the Room of Requirement at eight this evening. Please take your wands.
I request that nobody sends owls out tonight to ask questions “ we will make sure that the appropriate messages coming in are quickly handed out, and any general information will be made public as soon as possible. We do not want to attract Muggle attention to ourselves, and we do not wish to overload the owl system. All your parents will be receiving a message from Hogwarts assuring them of your safety at this time.
Please let us observe some minutes of silence.”
The room was as still as if nobody was there. Even breathing was so quiet as to not be heard. Rain fell quietly through the mist and petered out before putting out the candles above the tables. Draco could see Pansy, whose father worked at the Ministry, rocking backwards and forwards quietly, head bowed. Even though her father was on Voldemort’s side, there would be no knowing who had been hit or hurt in the fighting. Ron sat in shock, Hermione’s hand on his, their heads together. Ginny had her head in her hands, and Draco saw Parvati and Neville both slip an arm around her from opposite sides.
Finally Dumbledore raised his head. “After our meal, I would like to see the following students. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Padma Patil and Draco Malfoy. Let us eat.”
The buzzing noise grew louder, and people started to cry, talk, eat or comfort. Draco sat frozen. He knew what Dumbledore hoped from him, and he was not sure he was ready. Yes, in his spare time he had been practicing hexes and jinxes and Occlumency, but he still had a lot to learn. He did not know if he was brave enough for this. So far he had failed any test of courage, he had ever had. His bravery had never been called into question, but he knew himself he had run from Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest, whereas Harry had stayed. He had slunk away from Hermione when she slapped him and he had never stood up for Lilah. He had never even stood up to his father for himself. Whining to get what you want does not count as standing up for something you believe in. Sweat ran between his shoulder blades, cold and fearful. Eventually he ate, but he could not have later told anybody what he ate.
Draco saw the others whose names had been called gather together, and he went over to join the group, as they started towards Dumbledore’s office. He looked over at Padma, who was obviously not going anywhere without Parvati, whose hand she was holding with a vice-like grip. He slipped his hand gratefully into Parvati’s as she held hers out to him. She felt his icy fingers, and closed her warm hand over them, concerned. She looked up, worried, but he could not meet her eyes.
They arrived at the entrance to Dumbledore’s office, a place that only Harry and Ron had seen, and Padma, who had been given the password, said “Sherbet Shenanigans.” They trooped into Dumbledore’s office and found him sitting at his desk, with chairs set out in front of him. They all took a seat, except Parvati, who stood behind Draco and Padma, feeling a little out of place. Firenze stood beside the desk, occasionally stamping a foot, or swishing a tail.
Dumbledore waited until they were seated, and then raised his head to look at them all. “For you five I have special tasks,” Dumbledore began. “First Padma. Come here please. Firenze tells me great things about you. He tells me that you have the gift of sight, and that you have the potential to be a true Seer. I want to know something about Professor Snape. If you can tell me anything, I will be grateful.”
Padma got up and went over to him. “I asked Parvati to come too,” she said, her voice nervous. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Dumbledore looked from Padma to Parvati, and shook his head, a gleam in his eye. “I am actually very glad to see Parvati.” He took Padma’s hands. “You are shaking! Don’t worry. There is no pressure. If you can’t see anything, we will at least have tried. I have a glove belonging to Professor Snape here. I want you to hold it, and tell me what you see.” He patted a seat next to him, in an almost avuncular fashion, and Padma sat down, looking a little reassured, but still frightened.
Dumbledore gave Padma the glove, and she sat breathing silent a moment, with her eyes closed. Then her eyes opened, seemed to become unfocused, and her voice, although it sounded like her speaking, sounded in a monotone. “He is in a chamber. Alive, but only just. He has been tortured. I can see the marks. There is bread near him and water, but he cannot reach it. He is tied. No wand.” her voice became more guttural “no wand and pain. Oh so much -!” She ended in a cry of pure agony. She was not faking, Draco saw. Firenze quickly put a hand on her shoulder. “Padma, you are not Snape. You observe him, you do not feel his pain.” Padma was shaking and pale, yet his touch seemed to calm her, though her eyes stayed unfocused.
Dumbledore leaned forward. “Padma. Can you see where he is?”
Padma continued in her own voice again, though it seemed disembodied from her. It sent shivers down Draco’s spine. “He is in what appears to be a prison room or dungeon. There is one small window, but it does not let in much light. There is a crest on the door, which is open. Two serpents entwined on a red shield. The door lets in some light. Snape is on straw, and he is “ Oh! What have they done to him? One hand is chained in irons, with blood running down from his wrist. He can’t breathe properly, because the restraint is too high, so he is hanging from his arm. He is bruised and…” She twisted out of the scene, herself once more. Tears streamed from her eyes. “They are monsters! He can’t think. He is in pain, and he wanted the water, but it hurts him to move! He can’t move! He is hurt! He is in the House of Vandalls.” Her eyes were blind with tears, and for an instant all that could be heard was her sobs. Parvati ran to her sister, wrapping her arms around her. Padma made an effort to control herself, then buried her head in her sister’s shoulder.
Dumbledore looked grave, and Firenze held some sweet smelling herbs and cinnamon near Padma’s nose. She began to calm down, and look more like herself, but still clung to Parvati.
Dumbledore offered her some cinnamon sticks from his desk, which she crunched obediently. Once Padma was quieter, Dumbledore turned to Harry.
“Padma has told me all I need to know. Harry. I need you to start the DA again. Professor Elgin will have to leave Hogwarts immediately after the drills tomorrow. We knew this may happen, and did have a teacher ready to replace him, but unfortunately he was with the Ministry during the attack, and I fear he will be unable to join us. We had expected any attack to center on Hogwarts, or Azkaban. We foiled an attack earlier on in the week, on Professor Snape’s information, but Snape was overpowered before he could find out the details of this attack. I very much fear that it was the earlier information he gave us that led to his discovery.
You are the most skilled in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry, even among those who are a year above you. Professor Flitwick will be able to accommodate you with any charms you may need. I ask you to keep the upper students in training, and to teach the lower levels DADA classes. You will be very busy as I will have to leave it all to you. Professor McGonagall and I will be unavailable for the next week. You may choose an assistant, or many of them “ perhaps members of the DA. If you want to appoint an administrative assistant to help you with scheduling, I hear great things of Hannah Abbot’s organizational skills. And Ginny Weasley, or Ernie Macmillan would make a fine assistant teacher and demonstrator.” Ron opened his mouth, obviously to offer to help, but shut it again without speaking. Harry was pale, but gave a nod.
Professor Dumbledore turned to Hermione.
“I will need you to work closely with Madam Pomfrey and to make potions from Professor Snape’s recipes for those injured in battle. Severus said you were his best pupil, and with him gone, we have nobody else who is good with potions. I am myself a terrible Potions Master. I burn almost everything. I owled St. Mungo’s and there are two Healers but no Potion Masters that can be spared us. You will have complete access to Professor Snape’s stores and supplies. Mr. Filch can help you with any reordering of ingredients you may need, although I ask you be careful with them “ with the Ministry in disarray, it will not be easy to replenish the stock. You can use Professor Snape’s recipes. He has them all written down in this book.” He handed her a well-used black book. Hermione nodded, impressed by the gravity of the situation, nervous of the responsibility and incredulous to find that Snape had thought well of her after all. Ron gave her an encouraging grin, and looked very proud.
Dumbledore turned to Draco next, but Draco was ready for him, and spoke before Dumbledore could open his mouth, in a voice that was crisp and hard. “And you need me to get the information Professor Snape was to gather for you, and perhaps try to release Professor Snape?”
Dumbledore nodded slowly, his eyes on Draco’s face. Harry and Ron both looked shocked. It would be a shock to Harry, Draco thought cynically. He always assumed that if anybody were to play the hero’s part it would be him. Parvati gave a stifled cry. Draco could see her out of the corner of his eye, but he kept looking at Dumbledore, knowing his face was strained, but keeping his eyes steady. Now that he had to go through with it, it seemed he had found the courage from somewhere deep inside himself.
“My father was a Death Eater, and I was trained to be one. Voldemort will not find it surprising if I leave Hogwarts once the battle is joined, to fight with him. I was under house arrest in the summer, we have had increased security at Hogwarts and you have been watching me closely since the term started. It is conceivable that I have always supported him, but was unable to join him until now.” He was proud that his voice did not falter when he said ‘Voldemort’. If Harry could say it, so would he, cost him though it did. He was further buoyed by the fact that Ron winced.
Dumbledore nodded slowly. “It will take two weeks to train you and find a way for you to join him. We cannot take less time, and we cannot afford even that.”
Draco kept his eyes on Dumbledore’s face. “How do you know that I will do what you need to be done?” he drawled. “I am the son of a Death Eater, and I have supported him in all that I have said and done. I am not fully trained in Magical Ability. If I were to apply as an Auror, I would be turned down because of my past. Even if I were accepted, I would have to complete three years of intensive training before I was ready to face Death Eaters. Am I not more of a liability than an asset to you?”
Dumbledore returned his almost scornful gaze calmly. “You have a unique situation that we could easily exploit,” he said at last. “I would be willing to take a risk on your loyalty, for the gain it may bring if you succeed. I am not asking you to go. I will accept with gratitude if you offer. If you offer to go, I will not doubt you.”
Draco turned the words over in his mind. If he offered to go, he would be trusted to do what he had to, even though it would be difficult and dangerous. He would have support whenever possible, and a place to come back to. If he had become a Death Eater, he would have been frightened into doing whatever was needed, and punished severely if he failed, but he would still have been given difficult and dangerous tasks, and there would be nothing to come back to. Even those high in the Dark Lord’s esteem paid in fear and trembling. Praise from him was a double edged sword, that could turn and cut you. And if he worked for Dumbledore he would be a hero. After his months of obscurity and being shunned, he very much fancied being a hero.
Draco looked at Dumbledore another long minute and then smiled frankly, the first time anybody besides Parvati had seen the expression on his face. “Then I offer to go.”
Parvati spoke up from behind Padma. “I’m going with you.” Predictably, she was biting her lip. Draco looked over at her with a softer expression than anyone in the room could ever have remembered seeing on him before. It startled most of them. Draco shook his head at her. “You do not know what you are asking,” he told her. “You have no idea.”
Parvati looked back at him, her eyes steady, but addressed Dumbledore. “Headmaster, I know what I am doing as much as Draco knows. And I am terrified.” She looked at Dumbledore at last, and a certain understanding passed between her and the headmaster. Dumbledore sat back in his chair. Draco sat bolt upright, seeing that Dumbledore was about to agree for some reason and said again, sharply “No! Parvati, I am not taking you with me!” His eyes were fiercely bright again, but Parvati did not waste breath answering. She seemed to waver as she shrank. Hermione drew in a breath in surprise, and Ron and Harry stared. Even Draco, who knew she was an Animagus was taken aback as she turned black and grew feathers. In a second, a raven in her place gave a “Caw, caw!” and the bird flapped to sit on his shoulder. Dumbledore tapped his wand to her throat, and she croaked, “I will go as your pet. You can leave your owl here. There will be less danger for me than for you. And this way, there are two of us, if something should happen to one. Besides, if the war has started, it will come to us all, sooner or later. If I can do something useful, I may as well start now.”
“No!” Draco and Padma said, together, almost violently, but Dumbledore acted as if he hadn’t heard them. Parvati fluffed her feathers, and gave Draco’s ear an affectionate nip, which hurt.
Dumbledore turned to Ron. “I need a strategist. I will be working with Draco and Parvati almost continually for the next two weeks on Draco’s Occlumency and various spells that may serve them well. I need a plan devised whereby he can “escape” from us at Hogwarts, and find his way to Voldemort’s secure hold. I need you to organize an outpost and supplies they may need for the return journey, should they make it. I need you and McGonagall to work on this together. I also need you to collaborate with the Order to find out where the stronghold is, to arrange contact for Draco with somebody inside “ perhaps Crabbe or Goyle, and to fill the Order in on anything we may need.”
He noticed Ron’s dropped jaw, and smiled wryly. “I know you have not shone greatly in your previous adventures,” he said. “You are not as strong a wizard as Harry. Nor have you the quick comprehension and photographic memory of Hermione. However, although you yourself underrate your skills, you managed to out-think McGonagall at wizard chess, thus proving yourself a greater strategic thinker than you might believe.” He was silent a moment and then said almost reprovingly, “Many people underestimate the power of strategic games. Your Quidditch plans also show promise.”
Ron sat straighter in his chair, and his expression was dumbfounded but resolute. He was an important member of the team who could be counted on. At that moment his vision from the Mirror of Errised vanished forever, to be replaced with something real, tangible, and more than he could have imagined. He felt he had been given his place in life. Hermione next to him, glowed, and, catching her eyes he felt, for the first time, that maybe he deserved that constant trust and pride she showed in him. She herself thought that he looked no longer a boy, but a man. He became resolved to shoulder his responsibilities for once.
As they left Dumbledore’s office, Firenze stood with him, watching them go. “They are but foals,” Firenze said heavily. “Padma suffered heavily today. She communicated with Professor Snape more fully than I thought she could.”
Dumbledore stood a while longer, and then sighed. “But they are the future. They have the right to defend their future. In times of war, there can be no children. They are young adults, and ready to play their part. I hope their parents see it that way.”
“And what of the Dark boy? Do you trust him then, so absolutely?”
Dumbledore sighed even more heavily. “It is difficult to say. Padma Patel thinks highly of him. So does Parvati, yet she does not trust him alone. I am glad she is going with him. With her to cling to, he will find it easier to remember whom he can be and what he has to lose. And you? What do you think?”
Firenze looked out of the windows. “The stars are hard to read….” he said. Dumbledore sighed. He too, had not been able to read the stars.