67 66. Retaliation

" Umm sir, you won't be able to read my mind.." Hermione said hesitatingly.

" And why is that Hermione? " Dumbledore asked sitting straight.

Just as Hermione was going to use her inheritance as an excuse, a crow Patronus came inside and with it came professor Flitwick's voice, " Albus! Hermione! Are you alright?"

Hermione made a confused face and asked," What kind of animal was that? It even spoke... " Dumbledore went silent for a moment as if contemplating something. Hermione and Harry were also very tense but also ready to take drastic steps any moment.

Finally he sighed and leaned on his seat, " It seems Hermione that I forgot about the outside world talking to you." He waved his hand towards the door and invited those outside to come inside.

Mcgonagall and Flitwick entered the office together with Sprout and Snape.

"Oh thank Merlin, Albus! You are alright. When I wanted to talk to you about something, that Gargoyle refused to let me take a step forward." Mcgonagall said patting her chest.

" It seems like I was so into talking with Hermione here that I forgot to keep track of other activities. Sigh, It seems that old age is finally catching onto me." Dumbledore said with a sigh.

Harry was watching everything coldly, hiding in space. He saw Snape looking at Dumbledore discreetly and Dumbledore shaking his head towards him. This prompted Harry to use his skill: Observe on Snape and what he found really made his angry.

It was Snape who informed Dumbledore that he couldn't read Hermione's mind and that Harry was not with her. Dumbledore decided to find out about the matter because they had wanted to use her as bait to lure out Voldemort. They knew that Voldemort was a sadistic bastard who would not let Harry go and would try his best to make him feel pain and despair.

Harry would have known as he had told Alfred to keep an eye on Dumbledore. But there were many blanks in the surveillance because Alfred also needed to do other things.

Seeing Professor Flitwick escorting Hermione back to the common room, Harry went to his room and waited for her arrival with Daphne and Penelope and Jessica, after informing the three girls that Hermione was alright. Jessica was a new addition to their group in the last month because of her circumstances and preferences.

The moment Hermione came to Harry's room with Alfred, he enveloped her in a tight hug. " I'm so sorry moine, you had to go through that. I was there the whole time, ready to whisk you away but you handled the situation so well.. I'm proud of you." He whispered.

"I'm fine Harry. Thank you, I like the way you said my name. Let's just be like this for some time." Hermione said, snuggling a little more in his embrace.

" I too want to face Dumbledore, if this is the reward." Daphne said enviously from the side, making both Penelope and Jessica laugh.

After sometime when Hermione finally let go of him with a beaming face, Harry took out a paper and Vorn and wrote some instructions on it.

"Alfred, let everyone from my group read it then burn it. After that, keep a close watch on Professor Quirrell for the next 2 days." Harry instructed.

" What did you write in that Harry? " Daphne asked.

" No one is to leave their common room except for classes and meals. Wherever you go, always bring at least 4 friends with you, Dont go anywhere alone. And if someone, anyone asks to talk in private, inform me immediately. Be ready for my further instructions." Harry told the four girls.

" Let me give Dumbledore a little gift this Halloween." his eyes flashed. The girls didn't understand what he was going to do but did not pry for any information.

Then came the Halloween, the whole castle was decorated with pumpkins. Harry attended the classes as usual and even smiled at Dumbledore during lunch in the geart hall. Soon came the time of feast, students were sitting in their house table chatting and laughing. The atmosphere was festive and Harry too was enjoying everything with his friends.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet. Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

The students were escorted back by their prefects, Harry too went back to the Ravenclaw common room with Penny and others, but unlike others he and his friends didn't stop in the common room and directly went to their rooms. From where they all came to Harry's room.

Harry was standing facing a wall on which a huge version of Hogwarts map, which was much more detailed than the previous Marauders map, was hung. On the side there were 10 locked trunks placed.

As Penny, Hermione, Daphne and Jessica came inside, Harry immediately pointed towards one point on the map to Alfred.

"Alfred release one there." Alfred took one trunk and vanished from their sight, appearing directly at the place where Harry had pointed on the map. He Placed the trunk on the floor and opened the lid. A huge mountain troll climbed out of it and started smashing his surroundings. Alfred quietly retrieved the trunk and appeared back in Harry's room.

Following the same pattern, Alfred started releasing Trolls at various places according to Harry's instructions..

"Harry, Weasley twins have separated from the group and are going towards one of the trolls we released." Hermione pointed towards the map and said after they released the 5th troll.

"Penny, you go with Alfred, stun them and hide them inside some safe broom cupboard. Remember to Keep yourself disillusioned all the time and only use wandless magic."