"WHAT!?" Lucifer was raging after what he'd just heard.
It was evening of the following day, and Harry had just informed them what Cornelius Fudge had just done the previous night.
"He's gone fucking insane... he's too worried about protecting his precious position in the Ministry, too afraid to admit the truth of the matter... damn him..." Lucifer's hands were balled into fists.
Hermione had informed Harry that Dumbledore spoke to the school that morning at breakfast.
He had merely requested that they leave Harry alone, that nobody ask him questions or badger him to tell the story of what had happened in the maze, "It's really not that hard to believe... Dumbledore said it wasn't unexpected, but it changed things about how he was going to proceed..." Harry explained to them.
Ron then spoke up, "Mum went to talk to Dumbledore earlier today. She went and asked him if you could come straight to us this summer," he said, "but he wants you to go back to the Dursley's, at least at first."
"Why?" Harry asked, but his tone was one of aggravation.
"She said Dumbledore's got his reasons," Ron said, shaking his head darkly, "I suppose we've got to trust him, haven't we?"
"There's only one person I trust without any shadow of doubt, and it's not Dumbledore..." Lucifer said, but didn't elaborate.
The next Thursday afternoon, during when they would normally have Defense Against the Dark Arts, they went down to see Hagrid.
Seeing as they had no teacher for the class, everyone had a free period when they would normally have it.
It was a bright and sunny day when they went down to Hagrid's Cabin.
Fang bounded out of the open door as they approached, barking and wagging his tail madly as he came up to Lucifer.
"Who's that?" Hagrid called, coming to the door, "Harry!" He strode out to meet them, pulled Harry into a one-armed hug, ruffled his hair, and said, "Good ter see yeh, mate. Good ter see yeh."
They all saw two-bucket-size cups and saucers on the wooden table in front of the fireplace when they entered Hagrid's cabin.
"Bin havin' a cuppa with Olympe," Hagrid said, smiling, "She's jus' left."
"Who?" Ron asked curiously.
"Madame Maxime, Weasely," Lucifer answered.
"You two made up, have you?" Ron asked.
"Dunno what yeh're talkin' about," Hagrid said airily, fetching more cups from the dresser.
When he had made tea and offered around a plate of doughy cookies, he leaned back in his chair and surveyed Harry closely through his beetle-black eyes, "You alrigh'?" Hagrid asked gruffly.
"Yeah," Harry said in a quiet voice.
"No, yeh're not," Hagrid said in an equally as quiet voice, or as close to as quiet as Hagrid could get, " 'Course yeh're not... but yeh will be." Harry said nothing, "Knew he was goin' ter come back," Hagrid said, causing the four of them to look up at him, "Known it fer years, Harry. Knew he was out there, bidin' his time. It had ter happen. Well, now it has, an' we'll jus' have ter get on with it. We'll fight. Migh' be able ter stop him before he gets a good hold. That's Dumbledore's plan, anyway. Great man, Dumbledore. 'S long as we've got him, I'm not too worried."
Hermione didn't say it, but as long as Lucifer was around, she had no reason to be afraid of Voldemort.
She looked at him and felt her cheeks burn slightly.
"No good sittin' worryin' abou' it," Hagrid said after looking at their faces, "what's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does. Dumbledore told me wha' you did, Harry." Hagrid's chest swelled as he looked at Harry, "Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than that."
Harry smiled back at him.
Lucifer figured it was the first time Harry had smiled a genuine smile in days.
"What's Dumbledore asked you to do, Hagrid?" Harry asked, "he sent Professor McGonagall to ask you and Madame Maxime to meet him - that night."
"Got a little job fer me over the summer," Hagrid said, "Top Secret, though. I'm not s'pposed ter talk abou' it, no, not even ter you lot. Olympe - Madame Maxime ter yeh - might be comin' with me. I think she will. Think I got her persuaded."
"Is it to do with Voldemort?" Harry asked him.
Hagrid flinched at the use of the name, "Migh' be," he said evasively, "Now... who'd like ter come an' visit the las' skrewt with me? I was jokin' - jokin'!" He added hastily, seeing the looks on their faces.
It was a little while later when they left Hagrid's cabin, "Lucifer, can I talk to you for a moment?" Harry asked him.
"Yeah," he said and looked at Hermione and Ron, "we won't be long," he smiled at them.
He turned back to Harry, "What's up?"
Harry looked nervous, and for a second, Lucifer wasn't sure if Harry was going to go through with it or not, but Harry pressed on, "That night... i-in the Graveyard... Voldemort he-" Harry stopped, took a deep breath, and then continued.
"I have to say this... he said he wanted you to be in the Tournament as well... that he wanted you at the Graveyard so he could kill you too... but after he heard about what you did at the World Cup, he realized just how powerful you were... he probably told Crouch Junior to not put your name in the Goblet like he had originally intended... he said this, thinking I wouldn't live to escape the Graveyard... but he couldn't have you be at the Graveyard... you would've prevented his return," Harry looked at Lucifer, "Voldemort is afraid of Merlin's power... Voldemort is afraid of you, Lucifer. He said he wasn't afraid of Dumbledore anymore, but that he was afraid of you... I wanted to tell you sooner... but you're the only one I've told, I didn't even tell Dumbledore when I relived that night..."
Lucifer had a revelation, 'He's afraid of me... my experiment succeeding is more important than ever now...'
"Thank you, Harry," he looked at his friend with a thankful expression, "it means quite a lot to me that you told me." He pulled Harry into a hug, "Whatever you need, I'm here for ya."
xxxxxx
Lucifer packed up his things on the final day with an odd feeling of moroseness.
Tomorrow morning they'd be leaving back to King's Cross.
As for today, the Leaving Feast was supposed to be a cause for celebration, where the winner of the Inter-House Championship would be announced.
The events that happened a few days ago prevented this feeling from entering him, or anyone for that matter.
Not even getting perfect scores on all of his exams could make his day better.
When he, Hermione, Ron, and Harry entered the Hall, they saw at once that the usual decorations were missing.
The Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colors for the Leaving Feast.
Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teacher's table.
Lucifer knew instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Cedric
The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now, his wooden leg and his magical eye back in their proper places.
He was extremely twitchy, and Lucifer didn't blame him one bit; Moody's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk. Karkaroff's chair was empty.
Lucifer wondered briefly, as he sat down with the other Gryffindors, where Karkaroff had run off to, and whether Voldemort had caught up with him or not, but he quickly decided he didn't care.
Madame Maxime was still there.
She was sitting next to Hagrid, whispering with him about something.
Further along the table, next to McGonagall, Lucifer saw Snape.
He knew that the greasy-haired Professor was staring right at Harry for a moment before his eyes wandered elsewhere.
Dumbledore suddenly stood up at the staff table.
The Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became more quiet than a morgue.
"The end," Dumbledore said, looking around at them all, "of another year."
He paused and Lucifer saw him look at the Hufflepuff table, Theirs had been the most subdued table even before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall, "There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," Dumbledore continued, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured towards the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with is. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."
They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."
"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff House," Dumbledore said, "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."
Lucifer saw Dumbledore pause for a moment, before he addressed the entire Hall.
"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."
A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror.
He looked perfectly calm as he watched most of them mutter themselves into silence.
"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore got their attention again, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so - either because they will not believe that he has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."
Stunned and frightened was the look of almost every face that looked up at Dumbledore.
The Slytherins, from what Lucifer noticed, were busy muttering amongst themselves, and he could make out a sinister grin on Malfoy's face as he whispered something to Crabbe and Goyle.
He felt a burning hatred, but he returned his gaze toward Dumbledore.
"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on, "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."
xxxxxx
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