"Budge up, Ron!"
"Ow, Ginny-stop-"
"Oh honestly, just because-"
"Pass it over, Fred-"
"SHHH! They've started!"
Everyone fell silent. Ron and Ginny, who had been fighting to get closer to the extendable ears, froze. Harry moved in closer to Hermione to give Ginny as much room as he could, cramped together as they were. Fred and George adjusted the fleshy ears, lifting it higher so that the whispers turned into an audible but hushed conversation.
"Is the door locked?"
"Yes, yes I've checked on the kids- all in bed-"
Mrs.Weasley answered the deep voice of Kingsley. She had come to check their bedrooms just moments before. Ginny and Hermione had made a mad dash upstairs while Ron and Harry had dived into their own beds with their shoes still on. Luckily, she had only glanced briefly in before scuttling off, the midnight appearance of Dumbledore and the call for the rest of the Order had made her more careless than usual.
Not that Harry was complaining.
"Professor, what's going on?"
It was a young voice this time that asked, one Harry recognized to be Nymphadora Tonks'. She sounded sluggish, yet alert as if she'd been dragged out of bed.
"Severus has returned - and he's not in good shape."
Dumbledore's voice was quiet and grave.
"He'll live - and Voldemort believes him to be loyal but he will be under strict watch. But he will not be able to do as much as I hoped."
"What about the new recruits - the information-"
"Severus is in a precarious situation, I have personally asked him not to relay information that puts him in danger," There was a rising protest, and then silence as if Dumbledore had made a gesture. There was a rustle of papers, and someone fidgeted causing their seat to give a long, mournful creak. A few seconds passed. Then Dumbledore continued.
"As for new recruits, I believe that-"
The sound became muffled and distorted, before cutting off sharply-
"Crookshanks!"
"Hermione, your damned cat-
"Shoo! Crookshanks no!"
By the time Ginny had sprinted down the stairs and coaxed the ear out of the cats grasp - damaged as it was - the conversation had moved on.
"Dumbledore, I don't know how I feel about this, after last summer-"
"Molly I believe that this is for the best. He will not be alone and Severus cannot risk it."
"They're just children, Dumbledore-"
"Precisely!"
"The Ministry is overstepping themselves, is there nothing that can be done?"
It was Mr Weasley this time and he sounded more worried than Harry had ever known him to be.
"Arthur, it's an opportunity we cannot afford to miss."
There was silence and more hushed whispers that Harry did not catch. Crookshanks had bitten off a large section of the ear, and the sound had become muted and damaged. The sight of the doorknob turning, however, gave them enough of a warning. The order meeting, impromptu as it was, was over. Hurriedly, Fred and George pulled up the fleshy string, tucking away the extendable ears. Faintly, they heard voices move into the main hallway, a clear sign that any important topics had been discussed.
They all glanced at each other.
Finally, Fred spoke up.
"What do you reckon they meant?"
"Snape - spying for the Order?"
Harry snorted. "Wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't."
"Oh, honestly Harry!" Hermione gave him a reproachful look. "Remember first year? You thought he'd tried to kill you and he ended up saving your life!"
"Can't blame Harry, Hermione," Ginny interjected. "Snape doesn't exactly look friendly does he?"
A thought occurred to Harry then.
"Oh- I'd forgotten, Dumbledore said he vouched for Snape in the pensieve!" He remembered. "He must've been a spy then, and now that Voldemort's back, Dumbledore must've sent him back too."
"But what about that whole "new recruits" thing?" Asked George, shaking his head at the idea that Snape worked as a spy.
"They weren't just talking about Snape, " Fred confirmed. "If it wasn't for your damn cat, Hermione-"
Hermione bristled defensively but before she could answer they heard a creak on the stairs.
Fred and George apparated away with a crack, and Ginny and Hermione slipped out to their own room.
Harry held his breath, as the creak sounded again. He and Ron scrambled into the bed, and he quickly turned with his back towards the door so his face wouldn't be seen.
With his eyes slammed shut, the light behind them brightened as their own door creaked open and Mrs.Weasley checked in. A pause. The door clicked shut again.
Harry meant to talk to Ron about everything- the startling revelation of Snape being a spy for the Order, the new recruits, and the intersection of the Ministry - but his head wouldn't seem to lift from his pillow and before he had realized he had fallen asleep.
The night remained silent after that, with the only noise the occasional snore from Ron and the soft hooting of the owls.
"Harry - could I have a word?" Mr. Weasley looked nervous. His hands were clasped firmly in front of him and his gaze darted away from Harry's own.
"I - yeah, of course," Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, whose own eyes seemed to be asking the same question. Harry stepped out of the entrance, where everyone had gathered in preparation to leave for the Hogwarts Express. Fred and George, chastised by Mrs. Weasley for attempting to levitate their trunks down the stairs and in doing so knocking Ginny down two flights, were now huddled in a corner, talking under their breath. Ginny herself looked perfectly fine and was sitting on top of her trunk, chatting with Hermione. Ron was leaning against the wall, his eyes not quite awake.
Harry followed Mr. Weasley out into the hall.
They tiptoed past the heavy curtains into the living room which had been mostly cleaned after the summer. While odd bits of dust floated around still, Harry felt quite accomplished with the place. With Mrs.Weasley at the helm, they had cleared out most of the nasty creatures that had infested the place. It was now inhabitable. They stopped at the end of the hall, near the now empty kitchen.
Mr. Weasley turned to him.
"Harry, the others didn't want me to mention anything and they must not know," here he looked strangely fierce. Harry hadn't seen Mr. Weasley look quite as serious in some time. "But Dumbledore agrees and he thinks it would be best for this news to come through me."
"Mr. Weasley, what is it?" Harry broke into the pause.
"There has been a development at the Ministry, we believe Voldemort has more influence than previously assumed." They both paused with Harry looking on at Mr.Weasley in confusion.
"This year many things will be different, Harry." Mr. Weasley's gaze seemed to be attempting to communicate something he could not put into words. "In You-Know-Who's previous rise, everyone was scared and unaware- he was brought to power through his connections and spread hatred and lies into the minds of the youth."
"Alright," said Harry.
"He got his most prized death eaters. Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, Avery, Crabbe, Nott, Goyle - through Hogwarts."
"and Dumbledore thinks he's going to do that again." guessed Harry.
"Precisely." Mr.Weasley looked hesitant now. "And with the ministry's involvement, Dumbledore cannot act too directly with those students, if they were ever unwilling to join You-Know-You."
Harry watched Mr. Weasley fidget with his fingers before clasping them closed.
"With the ministry's influence and the pressure brought on by the board of governors -" he was cut off abruptly.
"Arthur! Arthur, where have you -" Mrs. Weasley bustled in, looking harassed, but stopped at the sight of Harry. She seemed to glare at Arthur reproachingly and bustled around, shepherding Harry out into the dining room where he was swept away in preparation for Kings Cross.
All towards the station, even Sirius' company as a dog could not distract him from the almost pitying looks members of the Order were giving him.
The train ride had been a strange mix of old and new. Perhaps the train itself hadn't changed, but they had. Ron and Hermione, with their new responsibilities as a prefect, had left early for their meetings. It was strange going on the Hogwarts express without Ron, but he had managed to find a compartment with Ginny, Neville and a slightly strange Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood.
Luna Lovegood was a strange mix too - her gaze was at once vacant and focused. In one moment she looked as if she was in her own world, reading her magazine upside down, and then in another, it felt as if she knew exactly who you were.
But he could always count on Neville for normalcy. His grandmother had given him a new plant for his birthday and in true Neville fashion, it excreted green puss. After which Cho Chang, had entered the compartment and just as quickly left it. The pretty Ravenclaw girl had seemed taken aback and Harry had wondered about her seeking him out. Had she wanted to talk about Cedric? His ears grew hotter at the thought and an uncomfortable sinking sensation in his stomach emerged whenever he entertained the idea.
It was more than an hour into the train journey that Ron and Hermione had re-entered the compartment, but with Neville, Luna and Ginny still there he couldn't let them know about Mr.Weasley attempting to tell him what seemed to be confidential information. Until he had been caught by Mrs. Weasley. Ron and Hermione seemed to agree with him, exchanging meaningful looks every 10 minutes or so. Of course, the news that Malfoy was a prefect and his concerning hint about Sirius had chased all thought of Mr. Weasley's cryptic message from his mind. And then leaving the train station he had been distracted even further by the giant form of Hagrid being replaced by the distinct haircut of Professor Grubbly-Plank. It wasn't until they neared the carriages that Harry got the opportunity to break slightly away from Ginny, Neville, and Luna and fill them in about Mr.Weasley.
"Oh Harry, we wanted to talk to you too," Hermione started her eyebrows furrowed. "There was a note to be passed on to you- McGonagall wants to see you after the feast."
Ron looked at Harry and shook his head slightly.
"You can't have gotten into trouble before you've even reached Hogwarts - I hope it's not Quidditch related -"
"Ron, it's quite unlikely to be, McGonagall's part of the order too, you know and -"
"Yeah.." Harry muttered as they reached the carriages, his attention distracted by the skeletal horses at the front of them. Hermione and Ron didn't seem to have noticed.
"Don't worry," chimed a high voice from inside the carriages. "I see them too. You're just as sane as I am."
Looking at Luna who had gone back to reading 'The Quibbler' upside down, Harry wasn't too reassured.
The Great Hall was like a warm hug from an old friend. The warmth of the fire, scattered around the hall, the floating lights and the great big tables were all viewed with a familiar sort of fondness by Harry. But, just as the train, they had an edge of darkness - of new found knowledge and the loss of innocence. The students didn't chatter as loudly. There were empty spaces in every house table, from students who had not returned to a single space on the Hufflepuff table that would forever be empty.
Harry noticed with slight bitterness, the way that students glanced at him and away quickly, putting their heads together and chatting, their eyes returning to the back of his heads like magnets.
Harry tore his gaze away and followed Ron and Hermione to his own table. Luna had drifted away to the Ravenclaw table, and Ginny was called off by some fellow fourth years. Harry's gaze drifted away from Nearly Headless Nick and Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, to the staff table. Hagrid was still not there. McGonagall's place was empty too and -
"Who's that?" Hermione asked sharply, her eyes honing in on the toad-like face of that woman from the ministry. Her mouth was pinched into an expression Aunt Petunia would've found hard to replicate.
"She works for Fudge!" Harry frowned.
"We're going to have that pink monstrosity as our defence professor?" Ron looked revolted
"Ron - what she wears isn't the problem. " Hermione muttered, as Professor McGonagall entered the Hall with the newest set of first years. As she lead them up to the sorting hat, Harry felt as if she was avoiding his gaze - the entire Gryffindor table it seemed like. Why had she wanted to speak to him?
The hall quieted down as the sorting hat sang its normal welcoming song.
Only, it wasn't normal at all.
Rather than describing each trait of the house, it instead strung together a story of house unity and an almost grim warning.
"Cheerful, isn't it?" Ron mumbled to him. Harry held back a snort.
"The hat feels it necessary to give warning whenever it feels- "started Nearly Headless Nick in what was sure to be a rather long lecture on the history of the sorting hat when McGonagall interrupted with the line of first years waiting to be sorted.
After the last first year had stumbled off to their new house, Dumbledore stood and gave his short but zany start of term speech.
This was the first time Harry had seen Dumbledore since his hearing, and whatever bitterness he had previously felt about being ignored was tamed slightly at the sight of him. At least one thing would never change.
"Finally!" he heard Ron groan as the tables in the great hall filled to the brim with dishes of Roast, vegetables and flagons of pumpkin juice.
To his right, he heard Hermione ask Nearly Headless Nick about the sorting hat, but his brain swimming with worries of Hagrid, Dumbledore and the notion that Malfoy may know about Sirius, focused on his dinner. When - inevitable- Ron and Hermione bickered (Ron had made some insensitive comment about Nearly Headless Nick's status as a ghost) Harry made a half-hearted attempt to reconcile them before giving it up as a lost cause.
His gaze kept trying to catch that of McGonagall's but Harry found that - like Dumbledore - she seemed to be studiously ignoring him. He had never seen anyone so focused on their plate before. The pink woman, Umbridge, on the other hand, seemed to be staring at him. Whenever he glanced over she smiled slightly in painful mocking sort of way, and then turn.
When finally the plates of now empty food vanished and Dumbledore stood, Harry 's otherwise feeling of pleasant drowsiness had given way to a watched paranoia. With his focus on McGonagall and attempting to catch her eye and his concern over Hagrid's missing form, Harry completely missed the majority of Dumbledore's Welcome SPeech. He only tuned back in when a high pitched "Hem, Hem!" broke the otherwise silent hall.
Umbridge seemed to have stood and even Dumbledore looked quite taken aback.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Her voice was a grating, simpering noise. "For those kind words of welcome."
Ron, Harry and Hermione exchanged a wary look.
"What's she doing?" Harry hissed.
"Nothing good," Ron muttered back. Hermione turned her gaze away from Umbridge to give them a reproachful stare.
Harry stared back at her, bewildered.
"...The treasure trove of magical knowledge, amassed by our ancestors must be guarded…"
Harry found his attention wandering, and saw some students had turned their back on Umbridge completely and were whispering and chatting quietly to themselves. Yet the teachers - and Hermione - seemed to be listening attentively, although by the expression on their faces they didn't quite agree.
"...practices that ought to be prohibited." She simpered to a close. Harry wouldn't have even realized that she had come to the end of her speech had Dumbledore not stood and start clapping. The teacher seemed to follow his example, albeit reluctantly, and the students who had tuned out her speech as Harry had, responded sluggishly.
"Thank you for that enlightening speech! Now, Quidditch-"
"Yes, it was, " Hermione muttered, glaring up at the table.
"Was it? I didn't understand a word," Ron exchanged a bewildered glance with Harry.
"Well yes - it means that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts."
There was a great clattering around the hall, Dumbledore had obviously finished his speech and dismissed them.
"Oh! We have to show the first years up," Hermione stood out from the bench, giving Ron a contemptuous look when he called out to them as "midgets!".
"Well, I'd better go find McGonagall then, hadn't I?" Harry searched around for her as discretely as he could, breaking away from the large crowd of students now pouring out from the main hall.
"Mr. Potter," called Professor McGonagall from a few places behind him. "Follow me, Mr. Potter - I am sure Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger passed on my message?"
"Yes - uh, yes," Harry picked up his pace to match her swift one. They heading up the Great hall in the opposite direction the students were going into the side room Harry had only entered once before when his name had been called out the previous year from the Goblet of fire.
"Professor, what's this about?" He asked when they entered the room. McGonagall spared him a glance and then went about closing the door, and muttering some incantations.
"Privacy charms," she explained at his questioning look. "Take a seat."
Harry sat.
McGonagall took the seat across from him and started preparing a cup of tea. Harry was sure she could've used magic, but she seemed to take great care in setting it all up.
"Sugar?"
"Wha-? Yes, please."
The metal spoon clinked briefly, before being put aside systematically. A splash of milk was soon added.
"Take a biscuit, Potter."
Harry, bewildered, took one.
It was nice, a custard cream.
Why was he here? Eating biscuits with Professor McGonagall on the first night of term?
It wasn't until he took his first sip that McGonagall started speaking as if she had been waiting for his mouth to be preoccupied.
"I'm sure you noticed that our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor is part of the Ministry," she barely paused for his confirming nod. "The Ministry is doing everything in their power to discredit both you and the Headmaster."
"Well, yes. I've seen the newspapers," Harry managed, swallowing his bite of custard cream.
"With the active campaign by the Ministry, the Board of Governors gained enough support to call an emergency meeting, "McGonagall's knuckles whitened on her own teaspoon "They pushed through a - a suggestion."
She grimaced.
"professor?"
"Potter, they want to move you into the supervision of another house less influenced by Dumbledore."
Harry's stomach dropped
"Of course it shall not be permanent," McGonagall said, her lips thinned. "Within the year, you shall be returned back to Gryffindor. But, Potter - this is an opportunity for the Order if you are up for it."
She looked reluctant to say so.
Harry's head was spinning.
"Professor Dumbledore believes that many students within Slytherin would remain neutral if given the chance." She continued. "He would like you to present that option to them, and at the very least collect information of death eater activity."
"What - spy on Slytherin?" His tea felt cold in his hands. "Leave Gryffindor?"
"You are a Gryffindor wherever you may sleep, Mr. Potter." There was a warm fierceness in her eyes. "And we would not condone this if there were a better option. But, as it stands, your placement in Slytherin may save lives. You will meet with me every Friday afternoon under the guise of Transfiguration Tutoring."
"But -" Harry had a horrifying thought. "What about Quidditch? Can I still play for Gryffindor?"
Harry could tell how much McGonagall wanted to say yes. The negative response seemed like poison in her mouth. Harry felt as if in the last half hour, his entire world had been ripped to shreds.
"Can I tell Ron and Hermione?"
"I will send them a message to not concern themselves. You may speak with them in the morning, however, your time in Slytherin starts tonight."
She stood then, vanishing the tea and the small crumbs.
Harry followed her out the door and down a moving staircase. It seemed to obey McGonagall without question, moving to join with another staircase that lead straight into the dungeons.
"The Slytherin common room is in the dungeons," McGonagall said as they walked down the corridors. Harry glanced away, finding the floor to be particularly interesting. Students weren't meant to know the entrance to the other houses common rooms, but Harry and Ron had snuck into Slytherin in their second year.
"The password is, 'Callidus' - it changes every fortnight, so check the noticeboard. Try not to pick any fights, Mr. Potter."
Harry could have sworn a flicker of a smile passed McGonagall's lips.
They stopped ahead of the blank stone wall.
McGonagall gave him a nod.
"Good luck. Callidus."
The stone wall opened, the stones reassembling to form a low archway.
Harry walked in.
The Slytherin common room was as gloomy as Harry remembered it to be, if not more. The darkness of the night against the dark glow of green lanterns cast sweeping shadows across the floor. Thankfully, the layout to the dorms seemed to mimic that of Gryffindor.
The dorms were the same size as well, with the inky real difference the lack of window and the heavy green curtains around the four-poster beds, rather than the normal Gryffindor maroon. The rest of the Slytherin boys - Merlin, he'd have to share with Malfoy - had already gone to bed and the empty one closest to the door had his trunk on it. Harry didn't bother with anything fancy, just closed his curtains and cast several impervious charms on them. He wouldn't trust the Slytherins with his eyes open, nevermind closed.
It was a long while before he was able to fall asleep. When he did, it was short-lived - flashes of green light and high, cold voice - "Bow to death, Harry-"
He was awake with the sun, dressed and out of bed before his roommates had even opened an eye. Some older years sat in the common room, but bleary-eyed said nothing as he slipped out and made his way with his Firebolt to the Quidditch Pitch. Perhaps a bit of flying would clear his mind.
He soared in the clouds long after the sun had risen and the inhabitants of the castle started trickling out.