M. Scott Eiland wrote:PART TWO



"Professor McGonagall-may we have a few moments of your time?"

McGonagall turned and saw her three most prized students standing there, 
watching her with solemn expressions. Harry was the one who had spoken, 
but Hermione and Ron were standing by his side, clearly following 
Harry's lead. McGonagall took a moment to keep her expression calm, to 
keep them from knowing just how proud she was of them, before nodding 
sternly and replying, "Of course-shall we go up to my office?"

"Actually, Professor-we have an alternate scenario in mind, if you'd 
indulge us." McGonagall blinked in surprise as Hermione spoke, but she 
nodded again without hesitation and followed the trio as they walked 
through a number of corridors before stopping at a now familiar door: 
the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Harry stepped away from the 
others and paced before the door for a few moments before opening the 
door and gesturing for the others to enter.

McGonagall stared openly at the environment within the Room of 
Requirement: the whole place was lit in a silvery light that seemed to 
come from everywhere, causing the simple furniture inside to shimmer 
fitfully. Harry gestured to a comfortable looking armchair and invited, 
"Have a seat, Professor."

McGonagall sat down-and the three students followed her example. The new 
Headmistress of Hogwarts allowed herself a moment to take in her 
surroundings, before curiosity and a certain degree of urgency caused 
her to speak up: "All right-this is an interesting look for the Room of 
Requirement, but I still don't know what I'm doing here."

Harry coughed self-consciously, then began: "You asked me after the 
funeral to tell you what Professor Dumbledore and I had been doing 
before. . .before it happened." Harry paused and swallowed hard, then 
went on after Hermione reached out to squeeze his shoulder: "I didn't 
refuse you because I wanted to-I refused because. . .it's about the 
whole thing, Professor. Professor Dumbledore told me about the prophecy 
that Voldemort was after at the Ministry, and about how it ties into how 
we can finally get rid of that bastard once and for all. I really want 
to tell you: you've been there for us all along-nasty little incidents 
involving lots of points lost and Hagrid hatching a dragon egg in our 
first year aside." Harry saw Professor McGonagall's mouth twitch in 
involuntary amusement, and smiled himself before continuing: "I want you 
to know. . .but I can't let you stop us or get in the way, no matter 
what. I needed time to think of a way we could bring you in on this-but 
keep you from remembering if you decided that you needed to interfere."

McGonagall had to use all of her willpower to avoid staring at Harry: 
Albus refused to give me the details of that prophecy for seventeen 
years, and Harry's willing to let me know about it now, as long as I 
won't interfere? How can I refuse?  She took a deep breath, then 
replied, "I see your dilemma, Harry-what does it have to do with our 
presence here?"

"Have you ever considered what the properties of this room are, 
Professor?" Hermione spoke quietly, her eyes shining with the joy of 
discovery. McGonagall raised an eyebrow-inviting her best student to 
continue-and Hermione gestured to the room and continued, "The room will 
create virtually any environment that the person setting it up can 
envision-which was a great help when we first set up the D.A., and 
unfortunately was also a help to Malfoy when he was concocting his own 
scheme." McGonagall winced, and Harry and Ron scowled. Hermione sighed 
and said, "Something occurred to me while we were discussing the problem 
of how to bring you in while keeping the option of. . .salvaging the 
situation if your reaction was unfortunate." This time it was McGonagall 
who scowled, though she was secretly proud of how Hermione ignored the 
negative reaction as she added, "If the Room could create physical 
objects, shouldn't it be able to reproduce magical effects as specified 
by the person setting things up? We decided to test the proposition-and 
we found that the Room was able to create a wide variety of magical 
effects, including specifically targeted and conditioned Obliviate spells."

McGonagall blinked, stood up, and bellowed: "YOU'VE BEEN EXPERIMENTING 
WITH OBLIVIATE SPELLS ON EACH OTHER? HAVE WE TAUGHT YOU NOTHING ABOUT 
COMMON--"

"Professor-if we don't stop Voldemort, possible memory damage is going 
to be the least of our problems." McGonagall was startled that it was 
Ron who spoke this time-the tall redhead was watching her with a calm 
expression and a look of determination in his eyes that reminded her why 
she found him to be a fit companion for Harry and Hermione. She set her 
jaw and sat down again, and Ron added, "We tried little things at 
first-silly conditions and information that we had just given each 
other-and found that they worked perfectly. The Room is designed to give 
the person setting it up the environment they want-and that includes 
security spells. If we had known that, Hermione wouldn't have had to 
bother with that parchment that gave Marietta Edgecombe that lovely skin 
condition."

McGonagall chuckled involuntarily, and felt a little guilty about it for 
a moment before dismissing the reaction and nodding: "All right, 
then-you've set up the Room with a conditional Obliviate spell that will 
prevent me from revealing what I learn here to anyone else, and which 
will remove the memories if I leave this room without having firmly 
decided not to interfere, yes?" The three students nodded, and 
McGonagall sighed and said, "Since I am not thrilled about the prospect 
of having the Room muck about with my gray matter, I will agree to your 
terms-I hope it doesn't end up leaving me responsible for your demises." 
Harry blinked, then inclined his head with a grateful expression. 
McGonagall returned the gesture and asked, "All right-that explains why 
you wanted to see me in the Room-but what is the reason for the light show?"

Harry shrugged and replied, "As long as we had to bring you here for the 
Obliviate effect, we decided to add another feature-the Room is going to 
act as a Penseive, with us having comfortable seats for the experience." 
Harry placed his wand on his temple, and pulled it slowly away, 
producing a silvery line of memory. "If you're ready, I'll show you the 
important moments over the last year."

McGonagall swallowed hard in anticipation, and nodded once before 
inviting: "By all means, Harry-continue."

@@@@@



The last image faded, and Harry turned to look at Professor 
McGonagall-who was silently staring at him. He smiled gently and asked, 
"Are you all right, Professor?"

 >What does McGonagall really know now that she didn't know before? I 
 >mean, apart from Potter's misconceptions about Snape.


McGonagall shook her head slowly and replied, "No, Harry, I am not. 
However, it is obvious that none of us have time to waste on simple 
shock." She turned to Hermione and commented, "Your judgment was 
impeccable-if you hadn't made it futile, I would be planning to do 
everything in my power to stop you from pursuing this course of action.

 >The psychology of this doesn't work for me.  If McGonagall isn't 
 >actually convinced that it is best for Potter to take the lead she 
 >can't be convinced by coercion.  Knowing her memory of what she's been 
 >shown will be erased if she isn't committed can't take away her 
 >knowledge that as soon as she leaves the room knowing what she knows, 
 >she can change her mind.

It is unthinkable that the fate of the entire wizarding world should be 
left to three Hogwarts students placed up against the wiles and power of 
the most dangerous Dark Wizard ever.

 >Then again, just what what does McGonagall think she will be stopping?
 >It's not like Harry's planning a series of guerilla raids.  All he's 
 >planning is to train for the inevitable day when he'll face
 >Voldermort.  What's the problem with him trying to prepare himself?



However, you have insured that I cannot interfere, and I cannot bring 
myself to stand by and do nothing when you. . .when you are going off to 
do what you must. How can I be of assistance to you?"

"We have a plan, and part of it will involve extensive research-and 
there is no better place to do it than Hogwarts." Harry spoke calmly, 
and only a slight quiver in his voice revealed his tension as he 
continued, "Ron and Hermione are coming to stay with me until I turn 
seventeen at the end of July."

 >This paragraph is confusing to me.  Harry's thoughts don't hang 
 >together.  How does he get from "no better place to do it than 
 >Hogwarts" to Ron and Hermione moving in with the Dursleys?


"Really? Won't your aunt and uncle object rather strenuously to that?" 
McGonagall asked out of reflex, though she was anxious to hear what 
Harry and the others had planned.
"If they don't like it, they can take it up with an adult witch and an 
adult wizard-or I can simply move directly to Grimmauld Place and leave 
them to deal with Voldemort on their own." McGonagall shivered at the 
coldness in Harry's voice, but she could not find the slightest glimmer 
of condemnation within her to direct at Harry for it: her impression of 
the Dursleys from sixteen years before had been proven to be all too 
correct. Harry saw the reaction and shrugged apologetically before 
adding, "Professor Dumbledore explained how the Ministry's Underage 
Magic detection system works-as long as Ron and Hermione are living with 
me with the knowledge of the Ministry, I can practice freely over the 
next month at home without triggering any alerts. While I'm at home 
practicing my skills, Ron and Hermione will be taking advantage of being 
seventeen already to do some important ground work."

"Ground work?" McGonagall sat up straighter, her interest piqued.

"If we're going to do this, we're going to need to be quiet about it, 
and we're going to need the best knowledge possible about the places 
we'll be looking. Hermione's jobs are spell research-to help us hide and 
move about without notice-and historical research-looking for clues to 
where Voldemort might have hidden his Horcruxes, and anything else that 
might suggest how he will move and some of his secondary motivations and 
targets. Ron's emphasis will be the political scene-Mr. Weasley can give 
him access to the Ministry and advise him as to the best way to deal 
with people quietly, and his presence there will not raise any eyebrows, 
even among any spies at the Ministry. I would like you to quietly give 
Hermione full access to the library here during the summer, but to keep 
it quiet so that no one is suspicious at her presence. If she needs to 
go to other libraries, we will be sending her out in disguise. If all 
goes well, by the time my birthday comes we will be much better trained 
and prepared to hunt for what we are looking for, either as a group or 
separately as the situation requires." Harry took a deep breath-he had 
unconsciously related his last few sentences without breathing much, and 
it made him rather light-headed for a moment. He chuckled in a moment of 
self-deprecation, then asked, "Can you do that for us, Professor?"

"Easily-and with no reservations, Harry. If things had gone according to 
plan this year, Hermione would have had full access to the Restricted 
Section in any event when she got her school letter next month." 
Hermione's eyes widened, and McGonagall snorted. "Really, Hermione-who 
in the world did you think was going to be Head Girl: Lavender Brown?" 
Ron winced, and Harry chuckled again at the annoyed glance that Hermione 
directed at the redhead before McGonagall added, "I know it is cold 
comfort, given the difficult times that undoubtedly await you-but you 
fully earned that honor, even if circumstances dictate that you will not 
be able to accept it." McGonagall smiled at Hermione, and turned back to 
Harry: "Hedwig knows the way to Hogwarts quite well by now, Harry-I 
expect to hear from you if you require any further assistance. I have 
agreed not to interfere, but I will be most displeased if I find you are 
not seeking needed help in this endeavor-the fate of the entire 
wizarding world is at stake, and I expect you to use good sense in doing 
what needs to be done."

Harry shivered for a moment-even after all of this time, McGonagall had 
the knack for making him feel like a nervous eleven-year-old at times. 
"Of course, Professor. Now, we had better get to the Closing Feast-I 
have a feeling that it would be noticed if you did not put in an 
appearance, even with most of the students having left after the funeral."

McGonagall quirked a smile at Harry, nodded to Hermione and Ron, and 
walked to the door. The others followed, leaving the Room of Requirement 
in silent darkness.

@ @ @ @ @



There were only a handful of students waiting for the Hogwarts Express 
when it arrived at noon the next day-most of them were Gryffindors from 
Harry's circle of friends and acquaintances. Luna Lovegood stood 
quietly, reading the Quibbler in silence while Harry spoke quietly to 
Neville, and Ron and Hermione stood nearby, looking vaguely uneasy and 
saying nothing. Tonks and Lupin had come to escort Harry and his friends 
back to Privet Drive, but their attention was on each other for the moment.

Harry nodded to Neville and saw a paper sitting on a nearby bench. 
Restless and anxious for the train to arrive, he decided to read a bit 
to distract himself. He opened the paper and looked at page 5 more or 
less randomly. A picture of a monstrously large snake attacking a crowd 
of people in robes almost leapt out at him, and the picture next to 
it-of a large building exploding in a ball of fire-was almost as 
riveting. Harry glanced up at the article heading: "Demon Snake Attacks 
Hellmouth High School; Day Saved By The Slayer." He read for a few 
moments-noting that the dateline was from "Sunnydale, California, USA"-- 
then turned to Luna and said, "This is a very stimulating article, 
Luna-where did your dad find it?"

Harry heard a muffled chuckle next to him, and he turned to see Lupin 
looking at him with an amused expression. He raised an eyebrow and 
asked, "What's the joke?"

"That's not The Quibbler, Harry-it's The Daily Prophet." Lupin's tone 
was dry and amused, and Harry quickly closed the paper and looked at the 
front page: it was dominated by a picture of Dumbledore's tomb and-to 
his intense annoyance-a picture of him with his eyes closed and his 
expression distorted by grief. He turned back to Lupin and saw his 
former professor shrug and add, "Even in sad times like this, Harry, 
there is other news in our world."

"We're doing better these days, but we certainly can't afford to keep a 
photographer or a reporter in Sunnydale, Harry-the hazard pay is too 
expensive." Luna looked carefully at Harry, her protuberant eyes lively 
with interest. "Why did you think it was a Quibbler story, Harry?"

Harry flushed crimson. "It just looked like a story I might have read in 
The Quibbler, that's all." Luna looked at him for a moment, then nodded 
solemnly and went back to reading. Harry sighed in relief, grabbed Lupin 
by the arm-leaving Tonks snickering in their wake-and dragged him out of 
hearing range of the others waiting for the train and whispered 
fiercely, "Since when does The Daily Prophet print rubbish like this?"

"As opposed to the rubbish it always printed before about you and your 
friends, Harry?" Lupin's expression was more warm and animated than 
Harry had seen it in some time-were it not for the puzzling situation 
facing him at the moment, Harry would be experiencing genuine gladness 
for the change in his friend's mood since Tonks had confronted him about 
their feelings for each other. As it was, though, he was mostly confused 
as Lupin sighed and continued, "Harry-you were listening during the 
lessons I gave you in Defense Against the Dark Arts about magical 
creatures, right?"

"Of course I was!" Harry replied in mild outrage-the written DADA OWL 
had several questions that came from third year material, and he had 
answered the questions with little expense in time or effort. "What does 
that have to do with some crazy story about demon snakes and a school 
blowing up?"

Lupin looked at Harry with a tolerant expression for a moment before 
replying, "Harry-Sunnydale, California is where the Slayer is stationed: 
it's a major source of demonic evil. Buffy Summers just defeated a 
former muggle sorcerer who had used a ritual to become a true demon-it 
would have killed thousands of people if she hadn't succeeded."

Harry stared at Lupin. He remembered Lupin's mention of the Slayer: a 
powerful warrior for the forces of light who was Chosen at the moment of 
the death of her predecessor, and who faced a short and dangerous life 
fighting against demonic evil. He hadn't given that lesson much thought 
since then, and Lupin's simple statement filled him with a sense of awe, 
discovery and-He looked directly at Lupin, raised an eyebrow, and asked, 
"The Slayer is named 'Buffy'?"

Lupin shrugged. "You've seen your share of sadistic parents in your 
time, Harry."

 >Or alternatively he could just point out that it's a perfectly normal 
 >name in California.

Harry nodded, and decided to broach a more serious concern: "This place 
sounds like it could be dangerous-is it something that Voldemort could 
exploit and use against us?"

Lupin frowned at the question, then shook his head. "The source of 
demonic evil in Sunnydale is known as the Hellmouth-its energy is of a 
type that our arts cannot harness safely. Some muggles have been able to 
do so, along with other sources of power, but Voldemort would not do 
so-the Hellmouth is far more useful to those who would destroy the world 
given the chance than to those who wish to rule it."

Harry nodded, then asked, "Should we contact the Slayer? Voldemort will 
want to conquer Wizarding America, too-perhaps she can help us in the 
final battle."

Lupin shook his head again. "Given the danger posed by demonic evil-and 
by the Hellmouth in particular-it is crucial that the Slayer be 
stationed at the source of the utmost danger. A Slayer possesses 
superhuman strength, speed, toughness, and regenerative abilities along 
with remarkable innate skill with all weapons and the gift of prophetic 
dreams, but she can be slain by a Killing Curse as readily as one of us 
can, Harry. We would warn her if we could if we were to learn, say, that 
Voldemort wished to abduct her and use the Imperius Curse on her to make 
her a slave, but she must be left free to do her job." Lupin smiled 
sadly at the disappointed expression on Harry's face, and suggested, 
"When this is all over, perhaps the Slayer will have you to thank for 
saving the world for a change."

Harry didn't reply-he had dismissed the whole matter from his mind as he 
saw the Hogwarts Express approach. The Slayer was merely a trivial note 
of interest now-he had a plan to stop Voldemort to finish crafting, and 
nothing else mattered.

@

Author's Note: A slight tweaking of canon here-HBP had the Hogwarts 
Express leaving for the last time one hour after Albus Dumbledore's 
funeral, but I decided that Harry, Hermione, and Ron could use a little 
more time to plan, so I pushed things back a day or two after the 
fadeout at the end of HBP, on the theory that a few parents might well 
decide that Hogwarts wasn't any more dangerous than the rest of the 
wizarding world at that moment, and that the Dursleys weren't exactly 
anxious to have Harry back in any event. . .

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