There was a strange sense of peace as I tiptoed my way into the Gryffindors' male dormitory under a common enough invisibility cloak. It was bought at Hogsmeade, and while it did cost a pretty penny, it also came with a brooch and some fancy rope to close it in the front and keep it from opening up. Harry's invisibility cloak didn't have a brooch any longer, but as I made the swap and removed the tell-tale signs of difference from the Hogsmeade-bought one, I reckoned he wouldn't notice the difference.
I stepped out under the Deathly Hallow known as the Cloak of Invisibility, avoided the passage of fellow students, and then made my way down into the Hall of Shadows for the final preparations.
A large crystal ball rested comfortably in a corner of one of the hidden rooms, the ones I hadn't told my usual visitors about. The protean charm cast on it would reflect the sight of the small, snake-like Draghuls I had left in the Slytherin common room, and while they hadn't shown anything interesting, with time and patience I had moved them in different rooms in the dungeons to acquire a clearer view of the actions of the Slytherin house.
There was silence on that front, though I had one of the Snake Draghuls quietly slithered into Draco's holiday trunk. It wasn't that I didn't trust the boy. It was that I didn't trust the principle of things to work out flawlessly and without problems. There wasn't silence on the front of Dumbledore's office.
"Mister Malfoy," I could hear the headmaster's voice speak through the pipes in the wall, a tiny hole and a Draghul with a good hearing charm all that was needed. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Yeah," I could hear Draco's voice too, "I'm-I'm just going to get things ready to leave, sir. I'll-I'll be expecting your visit later, then?"
"It is imperative that you do not give reason to the curse holding on to your mother to suspect about your intentions," the headmaster replied, "Do not act any differently, but attempt to avoid eye-contact whenever possible. As soon as you are able to, open the gates of the Malfoy manor and we will step inside."
"Will-Will my mother be hurt?" Draco asked, worry in his voice as clear as the midday sun.
"You have my word, Draco," Dumbledore spoke gently, "By tomorrow, your mother will be freed from the curse that ails her."
If there was a death flag, then this was it. The train would depart in the late morning, and I had little less than an hour to complete preparations. Ironically, being a famous pureblood line meant that the location of your manor was pretty much on the Wizarding equivalent of a guide to historical monuments. It was in Wiltshire, and its location was known to any wizard worth its salt, or time.
Though I wouldn't be needing a specific address, not if I followed Dumbledore.
"First comes the padding," I muttered. "Imbued in curse-resistant potions," I glanced at the armors, and the weapons. "Then comes the chainmail, interwoven with links of Protego," and as I kept piling stuff up, finishing with the interlocked plates of Blast-Ended Skrewt armor, I dimly realized the bulky result made it a bit hard to hide under the Invisibility Cloak itself. "Course, it's not like you can enlarge to suit your owner's size now, can you?" I grumbled at it. My feet stuck out. With the armor adding a few more inches to my height, and size, there was nothing I could do to hide my boots if not crouch.
Crouching in armor, even though it was charmed to be lightweight, made for a considerably embarrassing proposition.
"There's also the matter of the Thestral to consider," I grumbled. "If I get aboard one, they might not see it or they might see it, but if they don't see it and look up, they'll see my legs."
No choice then, I had to use the invisibility cloak like a picnic blanket, and sit upon it while on the Thestral's back. "Ready to roll," I muttered. I stared at the Draghuls, who seemed to sense a shift in the air of the Hall of Shadows as I walked back into the more common area of my secret hideout. Underneath my armpit rested the helmet. After all, safety had to come first, both in horse-riding and in fighting.
I hummed, and then shook my head. "You're great, but this time I'm going to be using a faster mean of travel," which I had to catch, all things considered.
It was as I was just about to walk out of the Hall of Shadows that a Phoenix, glittering with the silvery colors of the Patronus, flew right into the hall from the chimney. It fluttered its wings and neared me, flying in circles as it relayed a message with the voice of Albus Dumbledore.
"Do come to the Headmaster office as soon as possible, Mister Umbrus; there is something we must discuss." The patronus phoenix dispersed, and I groaned.
"Removing the armor isn't the easiest thing in the world!" I snapped as I hastily got to work unbuckling and removing everything else that wasn't needed, haphazardly throwing the Invisibility Cloak aside together with the rest of the stuff. "Hide it until my return!" I said towards Shadowdrake, who silently brought down one of its claws to keep everything beneath it, and out of prying, curious hands.
I rushed my way upstairs, grumbling to myself about the poor timing of everything. By the time the Gargoyle swung aside and I stepped inside, I was breathing harder than I ever should have. It wasn't easy climbing up some flight of stairs in a hurry, especially when the stairs conspired to make you arrive late. "Sorry, stairway number four sent me back down two floors before a kind door opened on the sixth floor hallway to cut me some slack."
"That is quite all right," the headmaster said, amiably standing up from his desk.
"Is something the matter, sir?" I asked next, warily catching my breath.
"I'll be heading off to deal with young mister Malfoy's problem, son," he said in a soft-spoken, gentle voice as he came to a halt a short distance from me. "While I am away, I would like it if you held the fort here at Hogwarts in my absence."
I blinked. "Father?"
"Son," Dumbledore acquiesced, "I trust you to protect Hogwarts, and its students from any potential harm."
I blinked once more. "You told Harry a false date to keep him from worrying," I pointed out, accusingly.
Dumbledore quietly nodded. "That I did, for I suspected you were planning your own way of rendering aid to Draco, and if I had given you an earlier date, you might have anticipated before the end of term lessons, and education is an important aspect never to be underestimated."
"And you want me to protect the school? Even when there are a lot of professors-" my words trailed off, "Awfully sneaky of you, dad," I huffed. "Since they're bringing back to London the students for Christmas, and it's the day off, I guess a lot of professors are out of the equation?"
Dumbledore nodded, ever so slightly. "You may be surprised in learning that in the past few days a lot of strange visitors have come over to Aberforth's pub," he explained, "I rightfully believe there is a trap waiting to be sprung at Malfoy's manor, perhaps one that young Draco is unaware of, one which I wish you will not hold against him should the worst happen."
"You're going with the Order of the Phoenix, aren't you?" I replied.
To that question, Dumbledore simply shook his head. My heart began to sink. "I will merely be a concerned Headmaster, coming over to wonder what is going on with one of my students' mother. The Order of the Phoenix will have better things to do than follow an old man like myself; they'll be here, protecting Hogwarts."
"There's no amount of eye-twinkling that will make this all right," I muttered back. "You understand that, do you? If you're not going with the Chosen One-if you're not-"
"For a very long time," he spoke calmly. "I regretted. The mistakes I did, the errors I committed-to discover one cold night that a child would be the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord...I felt many things on that cold night. I felt sadness, to condemn an innocent to such a fate. I felt relief, to know that Tom could be defeated. Most importantly, though..." he glanced away, "I felt shame. Shame at being glad that no matter how small, a chance for a brighter future existed."
He grimaced, "In so doing, perhaps, I gave weight to a prophecy that perhaps, regardless of how true it felt, should have been best left ignored. To leave it to a child to face the Dark Lord? Leave it to someone who should be protected, to do the protecting? Mister Potter is a good student, but that is all he is. Thrusting a destiny upon his shoulders, telling him to march, and fight, for something spoken on a cold night in a dingy pub," he looked down, as if ashamed, "How could anyone live with the knowledge that they sent a boy to die without at least, at the very least, taking to the battlefield first?" his voice trailed off.
I looked at the headmaster and felt, for perhaps the first time, powerless. It wasn't that I didn't want to stop him. I wanted to. I wanted to stop him with every fiber of my being. At the same time, I knew it would be pointless.
"Dad, please," I mumbled in the end. "If the Order's here, then...then I can come along. I'm not a child-I'm more than capable of-"
"Son," Dumbledore exhaled very slowly, "The stronger you fight against fate, and death, the harder they will strike back. You should reread the classics," he chuckled, if with a bitter chuckle at that. "I know, perhaps I've always suspected-" he shook his head. "You did great things. Scared and frightened at first, and then bold and courageous-great things, son. Temper that greatness with mercy, and you will become like me...a codgy and barmy fool," his right hand gently came down to squeeze on my shoulder, "But no son is ever like his father. And I am most certainly not like mine, so I speak from experience." He smiled. "For too long I have left the battlefield to others. You have shown me the error of my ways-so it is time I embark on a last, great adventure."
"You speak as if you're certain you're going to die, dad," I mumbled, my voice slightly cracked.
"Nonsense, I'll merely retire, I think," he acquiesced. "You think too little of your old man, and grossly underestimating old men can lead to undue hardships, you will discover with time," he winked. "Mister Umbrus, if that is your real surname... you have done Hogwarts and Mister Potter, a great service...and that is a debt that will hardly ever be repaid."
I held my breath, "Since...since when did you..."
"Since the very first day would be a gentle lie," he answered. "But when it quacks like a duck, moves like a duck, and eats bread like a duck, it might just be an Augurey." He chuckled. "I always had doubts, you see," he continued, "But I thought it was genius, but even genius can only bring someone so far. Little by little, the puzzles completed themselves. You are not whom you appear to be, and that is quite all right," he nodded, gently. "We never are what we appear to be ourselves; that doesn't make us bad, or good. Our appearances matter little; it is our actions that do, and yours were, without a doubt, those of a great man, doing great things," he slowly gave me a hug, and then let it go after a few minutes, "The ways of magic are wondrous and mysterious, to some they give happiness, to others they give grief. That is why..." he held his breath, "I must do this by myself-"
I quietly gave him a bitter smile. "I understand."
The bolt of red light caught him unprepared.
He fell back, unconscious even as Fawkes thrilled angrily in the room, the paintings of the previous headmasters watching the scene with looks of shock, and disbelief.
"Unfortunately," I spoke as I extended my fingers, the Elder Wand rising up to meet my palm, grasped tightly into my fingers, "I disagree."
I clutched it, and turned to look at Fawkes' eyes. The Phoenix looked at me, but did not attack. In the animal's humble opinion, or perhaps in its sixth sense, it knew I wasn't doing this to kill Dumbledore. I was merely saving him from himself. Even if Death Eaters attacked Hogwarts, he'd still be able to fend them off with his other wand; I was sure he still had his original one somewhere in his office, though I didn't know where.
Self-righteous stupid senseless emotion-filled old barmy codgers who thought to ride one last time into the sunset were honestly a horrible kind of parent; they tended to leave, and then never come back after doing something heroically stupid.
"If you'll forgive me later, which I hope you will," I spoke to the Stupefied Dumbledore, "Then I'm sure you'll understand this was the best course of action." I exhaled, and then left the Headmaster's office.
In a matter of minutes, the portraits would have notified the professors of my actions. At the same time, it would be too late.
The train for Hogsmeade was departing. The students were heading home.
I would be ready, Invisibility Cloak and armor, and I would not be halted by trifling troubles.
Malfoy Manor, in Wiltshire, would receive the visit of something they could not hope to stop.
For only three things are certain and unstoppable in life...
...taxes, death, and an Italian on a horse-like thing.