After accessing the map and writing down all the tunnels, Harry realised there was something missing from the Map. There were no footprints with names.
Frowning, he deactivated it and tried again. And again no names appeared. Somehow, that function within the Map had broken.
He knew it wasn't because he was away from the castle. At times in the past, when he was away - whether that was at the Dursleys or at the Burrow - it had shown the names then. Now, however, it did not.
Giving a sigh of disappointment, he'd ask Sirius about it when he had a chance. It just wasn't that big a deal to him, at the moment.
With the list of all tunnels with relevant passwords now listed out, including the ones he knew had collapsed, he put the Map away again. One feature might have broken, but it was still a family heirloom and a connection to his father.
While cooking a roast dinner for that night - stuffed duck, this time, as he had the time to make sure it was done right - Harry used the time to think through what he wanted to talk with the adult Grangers about concerning returning to Hogwarts.
And, when they arrived home a couple hours later, he and Hermione sat them down in the parlour and went over what they had learned that day.
"So," said Wendell, looking to Hermione who held most of the conversation. "In brief: This new Headmistress, Lady Griselda Marchbanks, is going to be firing Dumbledore from his job soon after 11.00am on Sunday, the third of January; which is the time the Hogwarts Express will leave Kings Cross Station on its trip to Hogsmeade. She claims she already has permission from the School Board to do so, but has held off to keep Dumbledore away from you and us. She has already given her word she will ensure the old man cannot ever return to the castle and its grounds, no matter how much he bleats about it.
"With that in mind you now believe the danger that existed due to Dumbledore's Machiavellian machinations, as you put it, within the castle are now at an end. And the changes to the school rules relating to student and staff behaviour will go a long way towards stamping out the bullying and bigotry that ran rampant during your first three years and the beginning of your fourth."
Hermione replied, "In a nutshell, yes."
Wendell gave a nod and looked to Harry. "And what do you think?"
Harry was slow to respond as he was formulating his thoughts. And the others didn't push as they all were now experienced with his 'thinking' expression and that he took time to formulate a proper response.
"I think that Lady Marchbanks is as good as her word. However, that does not necessarily presuppose she is correct; only that she believes she is," he replied. "For example: Dumbledore had nothing to do with Lucy Malfoy planting that diary on young Ginny Weasley. Yes, the old bastard used the opportunity it presented to him, but it was not caused by him. I also do not believe he engineered my name coming out of the Goblet, which caused my forced entry into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Again, he simply used the opportunity it presented him. I believe his plan was, once my name came out of the Goblet, to leave me out there as bait. As such, both those situations are situations that may still have occurred, even without Dumbledore's machinations. The second may very likely have still occurred, even if I did not attend Hogwarts, so that one is a wash.
"However, according to the information provided to us by Lady Marchbanks, neither of those situations would have occurred if the relevant ward scheme for the castle that had been deactivated and are now up and running again had been active at the time. Further, the reactivation of the anti-bullying wards, together with the added monitoring wards now installed, will mean the castle has now truly become one of the safest places in magical Britain and not just a dream thought real.
"Then there's the other problems that have not yet been addressed. For a start, there is very little to no proper security on Platform nine and three-quarters, on the train itself, on Hogsmeade station or between the station and the gates of the school. As it is very public information as to when the train leaves Kings Cross and arrives at Hogsmeade, that is a huge security issue that - even after everything I've brought to light - has yet to be closed. There is not even an auror presence. That's foolishness!"
Turning to look at Hermione he continued, "That, alone, let alone anything else, has me speaking against returning to the school. I have no doubt, whatsoever, Dumbledore will use the opportunity of us travelling upon the Hogwarts Express to abduct either me, you or the both of us." He sighed and sadly stated, "They're still being daft morons about this issue, at least."
Hermione didn't argue, as she might have done in the past, as she could easily see the truth of his words. She looked sadly away, in tears.
Monica piped up and asked, "What about if they don't use the Express?"
Wendell, curious, asked, "Use those porta-keys, instead?"
"Portkeys," Hermione muttered.
Harry nodded and replied, "Because only the Head can enchant portkeys that go through the wards of Hogwarts, she'd need to make a lot of them. The power requirements would be, I think, too tiring of a witch of her advanced age. She's even older than Dumbledore."
"Floo?" asked Wendell.
Harry frowned and gave it some thought.
Hermione beat him to the answer. "That would work, actually."
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