Chapter 38 Speculations

Amelia's POV

As the Headmistress was talking to Albus, unknown alarms were going off at the Ministry. It had been so long since they had sounded that no one knew what they meant. People were running around casting spells to see what place was in trouble. They were having little luck. They were pushing and shoving as each one thought they were doing the right thing — when they were all wrong. The whole room was in chaos, and looked like some sort of Muggle comedy, with people knocking each other over, and getting tangled in a mass of limbs.

When the alarm didn't stop, Amelia stormed in the room. Upon seeing people, she thought were mature adults, having fits over something so simple it made her rub her forehead. The headache she already had was now worse by tenfold. Lifting her wand, knowing it was going to make the pain worse, she fired off some bangs. Everyone stopped at the noise and looked her way as her voice rose over the blaring of the alarm.

"What is wrong with you people?" she demanded, stomping over to a bookshelf, and taking down the directory. "Have you used magic for so long that you've forgotten what a book is?" she questioned as she thumbed through it. When she got to the right page she slammed it on a table and pointed to the correct entry. "It's right bloody here. The alarm we're hearing is for Hogwarts. Get up there, and see why it's going off," she snapped, pointing to three Aurors, who ran from their irate boss. "Stop the blasted thing," she stated loudly, pointing to a few office workers.

They moved to do just that, and soon there was quiet.

"Don't blame them, Amelia," said an older woman, who had just come into the room. "That book is only used by the Head of the Department, which is me." She made her way to her desk, gradually sat, and rested her weary bones. She had heard the alarm but was slow in responding. Perhaps, it was time to retire.

"Sheila, where have you been?" Bones asked, trying not to snarl at the woman. She knew the older woman had held this office for over eighty years, and was pushing 125, so she respected her. Why Ministry employees stayed on for so long was lost on Amelia. She had only been in office a short time, and she was already looking forward to retiring.

"I am allowed to take dinner," Sheila stated softly, yet firmly. She didn't want to say that age had caught up with her.

"You need to tell others about this book. If I hadn't happened along then who knows how long it would have taken to respond to the alarm," the head of the DMLE said much more calmly. The only reason she knew about it was that earlier in her career she studied under Sheila for a week. One day, she had gotten curious and read it. She had no idea that it was such a secret, and to this day couldn't figure out why. The stupid Department wouldn't tell her. They kept claiming it was for national security.

"Yes, perhaps you are right," the old woman sighed, waving the next in line for her position to come to the desk. The man beamed and hurried over. He had been waiting for years to learn from her. "The rest of you leave," she ordered, knowing that the knowledge would be Obliviated from them in short order. It was procedure. She would keep quiet about Amelia, like she had so many years ago. It was always good to have a backup.

"I apologize for snapping, everyone," Bones said with a heavy sigh as they all left the room at the Head's command. They grumbled as they walked past her, causing her to shake her head and leave the room. She made it back to her desk, removed her monocle, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. This blasted headache was going to be the death of her.

It had been a rough two weeks; with the trials, the fallout, and the Minister trying to get her fired. She was bloody exhausted. That and, there had been nothing on Dumbledore's case. Oh, she had lots of rumor, but little fact. The man had done too well in covering his tracks. All his past misdeeds were as if they never happened, and with the main witness to his newest crime having amnesia, well it wasn't going well.

She knew that the DADA professor from Susan's first year disappeared, but they could find no trace of the man. Lockhart had been Obliviated and was useless. Lupin's word would not hold up in court, since he was a werewolf. And nothing Dumbledore had done this year was out of his preview. The wards were the result in Voldemort's tampering, and it would take some creative wording to get the Wizengamot to see that Albus didn't try hard enough to get them back.

The ex-Headmaster's disappearance did put him in a bad light, and all his titles were suspended, pending his trial. They wouldn't pull him complete away from his offices, not on her word. No, she had to get more evidence to prove the man was criminally neglectful.

She got up, made some strong tea. Taking her cup, she sat and looked over all the evidence — again. She about making a trip to Azkaban and picking Snape's mind. The man had been in on most of the old man's plots, perhaps he could shed some light on this.

Soon enough the men came back, stating that Dumbledore had tried to get in the castle, but was denied by the wards. They said that he got away again.

Amelia just rubbed her forehead and sighed. She wondered why he hadn't used his phoenix, maybe Fawkes was realizing that Dumbledore wasn't as Light as he portrayed. Although she hoped that it wasn't so. The last thing she needed was another Dark Lord, and one as formidable as Dumbledore would be bad. It was a no-win situation.

She was damned if Fawkes stayed, because Albus would always be able to escape, and they'd all be damned if he left. Well, she'd just have to find a way to keep the phoenix out of the Ministry, and Azkaban. A problem for later, right now, she needed to get a far more solid case than she had.

After getting nowhere for hours, she got up, donned her outer-cloak, and headed home. It could all wait until tomorrow.

Harry's POV

Just after the Aurors left, and after getting the students to calm down, McGonagall went to the Gryffindor table to relay the message. "Mr. Potter," she started, making the boy turn in her direction, "the Headm… I mean Professor Dumbledore has asked me to ask you, if you would meet with him. I believe he has something very important to tell you. It would be in your best interest if you comply." She looked down her nose and pursed her lips, knowing that the teen wasn't going to just take her word for it. However, she had promised Albus.

"I wouldn't willing go within a hundred feet of that man," came the snarky answer, complete with a look of derision. He couldn't believe that she would ask that, knowing how he felt. "Don't you know that just by talking to him you broke the law. You should've tried to capture him and turn him over to the bobbies. But you didn't, did you? No, I'll bet you played the perfect minion, and tried to let him in the castle. Tut, tut, McGonagall. What kind of example are you setting for impressionable minds?" he asked, shaking a finger in her direction. "After all, the wards must have kept him out for a reason."

The current Headmistress all but snarled at the teen but couldn't deny the accusation. "You would do well in listening to those older and wiser than you," she tried to reason through gritted teeth. In her mind, there had to be valid reasons for everything her friend had done.

"That man mind-raped me, kidnapped me, and threw me in front of a giant fire-breathing lizard. Why the bloody hell should I even give him the time of day?" Harry said with a tight voice, standing, and getting in the woman's face. He had little love for this person, and had no problem letting her know. That, and this was over the top. That she would even suggest that Dumbledore had his best interest at heart made him angry. He was holding on to his temper with both hands.

"You will not speak about the Headmaster so. Everything he did, he did to protect you, you stupid child," she said, glaring at the angry green eyes in front of her. She wasn't going to let this boy win; she was made of sterner stuff. Oh, how she wanted him gone. His disruptive behavior had other children looking at her as if she was wrong in her treatment of the boy hero. To her reasoning, the boy needed a good caning, but those times had passed, and she was left with verbal reprimands. Which didn't seem to faze him one bit.

Taking a deep breath, and looking her straight in the eye, Harry decided to drop it, for now. In his opinion she had no control over him. He knew she tried to boot him out, but right now everyone wanted him in sight. Sure, they used stupid and lame excuses, but they kept spouting off things to make sure he was a… well, not prisoner, but hostage?... no, that wasn't right either. Well, whatever they labeled him, they wanted him at Hogwarts where they could keep their eyes on him. He could leave whenever he wanted, but he was safer here behind the wards, now that he controlled them. That and, his friends and godfather were here, so he stuck around.

"Right, you keep your delusions about the old man, and I'll stick with the facts. If you hear from him, you tell him that it will be a cold day in hell that I meet up with him on purpose. I will do my level best to never set eyes on his crooked face again," he stated, and then turned to dismiss her.

She snarled at his back, and then looked around at all the students who were watching the latest confrontation with jaded eyes. She patted her bun, and then calmly made her way back to her seat. She wasn't going to show the students that Harry Potter once more defeated her in verbal combat.

"Can you believe her?" the dark-haired wizard asked his friends as he picked up his fork and ate some potatoes.

"I can't believe that Dumbledore came here," Hermione stated, pushing her noodles around her plate, "or that McGonagall didn't detain him. All my thoughts on her doing the right thing have shattered," she said with a heavy sigh. It had taken a lot, but after the first task, she had little respect for the teachers at Hogwarts. The higher up ones, anyway. With what just happened, the last wisp of reverence disappeared.

"I know, right? How could she ask me to meet with a man who has done me so much wrong?" Harry asked, looking at all his friends, and seeing understanding in all their eyes. He was thankful that he didn't have to fight them on this topic anymore.

"Don't worry, Harry, we won't let you go anywhere outside the castle unescorted. I, for one, think you should stick close Hogwarts, or the Shack. That way you're not an open target," Neville said, pouring himself some more pumpkin juice.

"You should also avoid pictures of knights," Luna foretold, looking over his shoulder, and seeing nothing.

"That might be harder that is seems," Harry stated, remembering all the portraits of knights he had seen in his wanderings. Nevertheless, he'd do his best to steer clear of them. Luna hadn't been wrong yet, though some predictions were different than she saw, they did all come true in the end. Even her musings about the new Potions Professor leaving for a new job had come to pass, much to Hermione's, and many of other girls', frustration.

At that bit of foreboding news, the group fell quiet and finished their dinner. They followed their nightly routine and walked Luna to her stopping point. Everyone said goodnight to the quirky girl, in their own way and then continued to the Gryffindor tower.

These days the common room was a nice place to be. The youngest male Weasley had left Harry and his friends alone. He had taken up playing chess with whoever fell victim to his whining, leaving the group to ignore him. As long as they stayed apart, peace was had.

"I wonder why the old man is so desperate to talk to me," Harry said in a questioning voice. While he didn't want to talk to the old guy, he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he may need to know what the man had to say. What if it was truly important?

"Well, let's go over the facts as we know them," Hermione suggested as she took a chair across from the couch that sat the two fourth year boys. The twins were off doing something with a book that Padfoot had directed them too. They were very secretive about it but promised to share when they were ready.

"That's the problem, we don't know any facts only rumors, and speculations," the teen whined. Yeah, he was upset that his memory was still out of reach. He trusted his crew to get it back, but it seemed to be taking forever.

"Oh honestly, Harry, we know your history," the bushy-haired girl stated, exasperated at his tone.

"Right, so what can you tell me?" he said, sitting straighter, ready to hear more about his past.

"Well, first we know that your parents went into hiding during the last war with Tom. So, we know something must have spooked them," she ticked off.

"My parents did the same, around the same time. So, I wonder if they got the same news," Neville said thoughtfully. His gran never knew why they went into hiding. They just up and moved out one day, saying that they needed to hide.

"Oh, I didn't know that," Hermione said, looking sadly at both boys. They had both lost so much in the first war, and now to have to brought up just to figure out what one old man was playing. That had to be hard.

"It's alright, I don't talk about it much."

"So, both couples, with toddlers around the same age, suddenly gave up the good fight, and hid. What could make them do that?" Harry asked, wracking his brain for the answer. His crew scrambling around to look at data. Unfortunately, they had little to use.

"Well," Hermione said, tapping her chin, "someone must have told them all the same thing. But, what?"

"Gran told me that after the Potters fell, sorry Harry, the Death Eaters said that my parents would know where their leader was. They mentioned something about me being the wrong kid, but since they didn't know where Harry was, they'd get the information out of my parents," he stated, a little morosely, but very proud that his parents didn't fold. At least that's what Gran told him.

"The wrong child," Harry hummed, after patting his mate on the shoulder to show that he was sympathetic to the other boy's memory.

"How would they know? What did it mean? And what does Dumbledore know?" were Hermione's questions as she too tried to work it out.

"It could be the prophecy," was Neville's conclusion. It would make sense, after what Harry had told him. He just wondered who told the parents. "Harry told me there was one that could have been either of us. Remember, Harry? So, it makes sense that they probably went into hiding to protect us."

"Oh, don't be silly," dismissed Hermione, waving it away.

"You don't seem to understand something," the sandy-haired boy snapped, tired of her just dismissing important things, "in the Wizarding World, prophecies are taken very seriously. How can they not be, when so many come true? You can't just go around telling wizards that their beliefs are foolish. You will never be respected here if you continue doing that," he warned.

She opened her mouth to rebut, but Harry stopped her. "He's right, you know. If you step on other's values, and beliefs, then you will be the one cast out. I'm not saying that Divination is always true, but having hung out with Luna this past month, I don't know how you can say that it is all wrong," he said with a curious tilt of his head.

That got her to keep quiet, even she could not deny that Luna's predictions never came true. The evidence was there for her to see. Yeah, they didn't all work out like the dreamy girl saw, but they did all come to pass in one way or another. "Fine," she said, deflated. "We'll consider that it could be the prophecy that Harry told you about."

"Can we think of anything else?" Harry asked, veering the topic on track.

"Well, Snape was supposed to be a spy. It's possible that he brought news about pending attacks on our parents," was Neville's next theory.

"Or he said something to Voldemort that led him to us," Harry turned it around. He never trusted that man, and after the whole trial, he never would.

"That's possible too," the other boy conceded.

They fell silent, each thinking of what could've happened. However, Harry was correct, they had few facts. After a few minutes, they split up, and went to bed.

Inside Harry's mind Harry was called to the Enterprise. He appeared and looked around. "What do you have for me, Captain?" he asked, and sat in the chair he left on the bridge just for him.

"The science team has finished their studies. There is nothing of use in the soul piece. We feel that it would be best to remove it and put it in a containment pod. Then you can give it to someone who would know what to do with it," Picard said, going over the report.

"Why not just destroy it?" the teen asked, taking the handheld computer, and reading over the information.

"They feel that it might try to merge with your own soul, and with the darkness coming off it, that would lead to a catastrophe," the captain explained. Not wanting to make his… creator a Dark person. And with the overwhelming negative emotions that soul piece gave out, it could happen. That would be bad.

"Right, I'm already a bit of an arse, don't want to add to that. Okay, put the piece in a pod, but make it a magical one, so I can give it to… Padfoot? Remus? Waters? Well someone," he said, debating who would be best at taking care of the… object.

Picard tapped his chest and relayed the order. "It will be done by tomorrow," he said, when he was done talking to the team.

"Well, I'm off to dreamland," the teen said with a smirk, and in a wink he was back into his bed. All in all, it was good news. So, with a lighter heart, he drifted to sleep.