Too Late

A sense of deja vu overcame me as I sat in the chair opposite of Dumbledore's desk. Except this time was much more serious--much more nerve-wracking than ever before. The Daily Profit skirted around the problem, but we knew, we all knew. Of course, there was some part of me that hoped that it had all been a mistake. That Dumbledore had asked me down to his office to set all the rumors straight.

Dumbledore sighed, and cast a longing glance out the window. "Have you been reading the Profit?" Casual, as always.

"Yeah, they said--they've been saying that--"

"I'm afraid it's true, Harry."

For a second, I was slightly dumbfounded. This couldn't be happening. I didn't even know if this was possible. It couldn't be. "But how?! Are you sure. People can't do that!" I cried out, fear finally flooding my system.

"They have, and they're shutting down the schools. Now listen to me, Voldemort, for the moment, has gone. He wants to see what this group can do. Let them do all the work, and then he'll take over. For that reason, you must go with the others. You read about the schools right?"

If he thought I was going to go hide somewhere in a muggle village, then he was wrong. "Disban Hogwarts?! That's impossible, even if it isn't I want to stay. I want to fight. You're fighting back, right?!"

He stayed silent, his eyes glancing at Fawks over his half-mooned glasses. I tensed in the chair, waiting for him to agree, but the only noise was Phineas Black muttering about how disrespectful I was, and what he would have done if he was headmaster and I had said that to him. "No, Harry. You can't stay. These wizards are almost as strong as I. All the students are leaving. They are going to be sent to different muggle hom-"

"Muggles?! Muggles?! But we can stay here! If we have everyone here fighting against those--those whatever they call themselves! We could win! We could-"

"Please, calm down. The time for action is not now-"

"We don't have time! If you're closing down Hogwarts we obvisously don't--we have to do something now! I don't want to see--not Hogwarts." I stopped, noticing I was breathing heavy and standing up.

I sat down, trying to get a grip. This had to be some dream. A really, really bad dream. How could Hogwarts, the safest place in the wizarding world, be shut down? Everything was happening too fast. It seem only like a second ago Ron and I were discussing who would win the World Cup.

"We have to preserve young witches and wizards. Killing them off in a pointless battle will do nothing. I am closing Hogwarts for now. We have to rally the forces first. Unite everyone. I'm sure we'll have enough to fight them with everyone. They will be reluctant to use magic, since that is the very thing they want to get rid of, that will be our advantage. We must keep Hogwarts students safe, in case of failure on our part."

"But that doesn't--why can't--I just want to stay. To do something. Hogwarts is like...Hogwarts is..." I trailed off, eyes trained on the floor.

"And if you should get killed in the process? Voldemort isn't dead, just gone for the moment."

"Please."

"No. The reason I brought you here was to explain to you about what is happening. You best pack everything now. The only magical item you can keep is your wand. You would do your best not to use it unless under attack. You won't be going back to your uncle and aunt's, you're going with a group of three other students to a small town. There will be a few Order members will check up every once in a while. For the moment, you will have to live a muggle life."

"And go to their schools?!"

"Yes. It would be strange if four teenagers came to a town and didn't go to school. Since this is what the Todessers want, this part is relatively easy. I must give them credit for planning this out this far, and all the charms they placed on the muggle world are quite extraordinary."

"Wait, all the students are going?! They're planning on moving the whole wizarding world to muggle towns?! But why?!"

"To put it simply, they want the youth to keep muggle habits. Stomp the magic out of them. Which is why they are moving everyone to new families. They have given us all instruction, which we shall follow because it fits our plan. Now you have to go pack."

"But why can't I-"

"Harry, go pack, please."

"This isn't fair."

"I'm sorry, but this is what has to be done"

I was standing up now, and Dumbledore had stood up to stand at the window."But Hogwarts can't be shut down!"

"Good night, Harry." He whispered.

My chest was heaving. I swear, at that moment, everything stopped.