CH9

When Harry woke once again he knew time had to have significantly passed, as it was now definitely night. And the two moons had moved further across the sky. Setting the unbelievable sight of two moons in the sky aside, he then looked to the heavens to see if he could recognise any of the constellations. He might have been an average student, but he'd studied hard for his OWL... fifth year... exams; and the Astronomy exam was one of them.

Again, he couldn't recognise any of them. He couldn't even see the North Star, the first star he'd been taught to find in his first first year Astronomy class. A further search of the heavens and he couldn't recognise any of it.

'I am sooo screwed!' he thought.

With nothing else to do under the quite bright light of the twin moons, he sat on 'his' hilltop and thought about what he could do to get himself out of this mess.

"I need shelter, I need food, I need water and I need to make sure I don't go too far from that big ring thing," he muttered. When his stomach then rumbled he thought, 'I need food and water first, though.'

It took him about half an hour before he felt like face-palming himself for being an idiot.

Looking around on the ground he found a rock and quickly transfigured it into a large goblet. He almost knocked himself over onto his back when the magic seemed to almost explode out of his wand and transfigured the rock into a goblet almost double the size he expected.

Shaking that off he then aimed his wand at it and cast the Aguamenti, water, charm. What came out of his wand, again, was far more powerful than he expected. Instead of fresh water pouring out of his wand under low pressure, it poured out as if a garden hose was on full blast.

He managed to get water into his transfigured goblet and fill it, alright. However, about twenty times as much ended up on the ground around him, also drenching him in the process. That woke him up.

Again shaking off the surprise, he drank deeply of the water in the goblet and sat it beside himself as he continued to think.

'That's water taken care of,' he thought. 'Now food and shelter.'

He wasn't bothered about the wet clothes as it was still a warm night and he knew he'd dry soon enough.

Of the six students in the Hogwarts Infirmary only the young witch, Hermione Granger, and the young wizard, Ron Weasley, were of severe enough cases as to warrant being placed into stasis and be shipped to the Casualty (Emergency) ward at Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Dumbledore was summoned by messenger Patronus and ordered, lest he be arrested for Child Abuse for the young wizard and witch, to open the Infirmary floo for immediate transportation of the two. He, reluctantly, complied. However, even while doing it he tried to bluster his way out of it by saying he had complete faith in Madam Pomfrey to handle any issues.

Periwinkle drew his wand and aimed it right at Dumbledore's wand arm. "How about I blow your naffing wand arm off and we'll see if you're willing for only a medi-witch to see to your injuries. Hmm?"

Dumbledore scowled back, but complied with the ordered command. He had the floo open and active in short order.

However, surprising him, instead of the two healers immediately taking the two students through to Mungo's, the younger witch Healer activated the floo and only stuck her head within. A few moments later she quickly withdrew and four orderlies, a medi-witch and a medi-wizard stepped out. Indicating Hermione and Ron, Periwinkle said, "Those two. Have the witch seen to by Alderton, if she's available; and the young wizard is to be seen to by both Sweeney and, once he's awake, Mind-Healer Justinian."

"Yes, Sir," said the clearly lead medi-witch.

All six then quickly had Hermione and Ron on portable stretchers and back out through the floo. Dumbledore continued to scowl at them and what they were doing, but kept his mouth shut with both Bones and Periwinkle glaring at him, daring him to say anything.

Once the six with their patients were gone, Dumbledore subtly flicked his wand at the fireplace and silently deactivated the floo again.

"Right!" said Bones, turning to the Master Auror who'd been with Dumbledore. "Hammer! You and Petersen can take Dumbledore, here, back to his office and sit on him again." "Now, Amelia," he spluttered. "As in loco parentis for these stu―"

"You are not!" she snapped back. "Their ILPs are their Heads of Houses. I'll be summoning them to be with them while I talk with them. You... will be sitting in your office, waiting for me to come and talk to you. You will be waiting qui―"

"Amelia!" he shot back, cutting her off. "As Headmaster of this establishment it is―"

He saw the flash of red of the stunner she snap point-cast at him, but had no chance to block or avoid it at the short distance they were standing from one another. He crumpled to the floor.

"Put him on a bed and manacle him to it," she said to Hammer. "And, if necessary, stun his arse again."

"Yes, Ma'am!" replied a clearly amused Hammer, as she raised her own wand to levitate the old man. Other than the capture of eleven Death Eaters, five of which were Azkaban prison escapees, the only successful outcomes of the night of the 18th of June 1996, the night that came to be known as the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the 'Light' kept a prophecy out of Voldemort's hands; and Ministry personnel, including the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, saw for themselves that Voldemort had indeed 'returned' from believed death. Even then Fudge could not accept for more than two hours what his own eyes had witnessed, believing it to have been a trick. However, the admission from the captured Death Eaters, as well as the thirty plus other witnesses, put paid to that.

For almost exactly a full year since the night Voldemort had been 'revivified' in a graveyard in the township of Little Hangleton in June 1995, no one on the supposed 'light' side except a small few had believed the Dark Lord was back. The only ones who did were Dumbledore, those members of his (illegal) vigilante organisation known as the Order of the Phoenix and who five of quickly came together and formed the rescue party who turned up late; and Harry Potter and his small group of friends, five of whom accompanied him that night to rescue who they thought was being held there and tortured, Sirius Black.

Another 'captured' on the night was Sirius Black himself, an escapee of Azkaban three years earlier and believed 'right-hand man' of Voldemort. He, however, was no such person he was an innocent man who had been tossed into the wizarding prison without even the by-your-leave of a trial, where he would have been able to prove his innocence.