A Story of a Short Ending | T.R

Chapter 43 - Plans and Promises

Run On - Jamie Bower, King Sugar

"Come here, love, right here."

A woman led another into the room, handing them a bag of first necessity items. The chaos around them did not die out, as more and more people arrived at the Headquarters for help and shelter. Dumbledore informed them through their secret channels that they could come and seek temporary shelter at the Orders headquarters until they could get back onto their feet.

Many of them accepted his offer and now there was no free space at the townhouse that was 3 floors tall. The first two floors were covered with sleeping places and people who occupied those, there were almost a hundred people all of which had their lives taken away from them. All of them lost everything.

Many came with children, which was the most heartbreaking sight. It was the middle of August. They were supposed to get their children ready for another year at Hogwarts. They were supposed to visit the Alley and buy new books, uniforms, and cauldrons. Yet, here they were while the men and women responsible for the disaster lounged comfortably in a grand Manor, eating lavish feasts and enjoying the comfort of their soft beds.

Dumbledore stood in the doorway, his hands behind his back, watching his people help each other. Those who still had a roof over their heads spent their free time at the Headquarters helping their fellows and tending to them and their children. These people lost everything because they followed him, they believed in him to bring peace and justice to the Wizarding World, to keep it safe from the evil that started showing its sharp fangs. He was supposed to protect them, yet here they were, struggling to keep their emotions intact as life as they knew it was taken away.

"Professor, we will need to refill our supplies again this week." A curly-haired woman came up to Dumbledore, as he looked down at her.

"Again? We just did it a couple of days ago." He kept his expression stoic and his presence calm; he didn't want to instill more panic than there already was.

"That's right, Professor. We are already running low with the amount of people that came in yesterday." The woman sighed, looking back at the once spacious room that now seemed so small with the people inside.

"Alright, I will send someone tomorrow. We should be good tonight, if they were going to attack they would've done so already." Dumbledore checked his watch and pushed off the doorway, leaving the woman and the people in the room behind.

The woman watched him walk away, her hand clenching around the fabric of her skirt. The Professor was so infuriating sometimes, she could not face him from time to time.

He disappeared upstairs, leaving behind the thundercloud that hung around him. He was not in the best mood and she understood it. Yet, in contrast to him, she didn't have time to walk around being mysterious. She had so many people to feed, even more, to patch up and even more to comfort.

The work in the headquarters continued long in the night until everyone was settled and the lights were turned off to let people sleep. The last two people awake were the woman who gathered her belongings and headed home, and Dumbledore who closed himself off in his office and sat behind the massive wooden desk.

His office was the only room in the house that wasn't occupied by the sleeping people on the floor. He had important documents stashed in the bookshelves and needed a quiet place to think, choosing to keep that space unoccupied.

Just like right now, he was lounging in his chair, flipping a Galleon on the desk with wandless magic he entertained his mind with. He was out of solutions, his first plan didn't work and now he was sure enough that infiltrating the Manor was impossible even for his best spies.