Harry Potter and the Secret of the Prophecy

Chapter 2

The Order Interferes

"Severus…"

Dumbledore was pleading for his life. Snape was standing in front of him one the tower, an evil smirk on his pale face, wand raised. Harry was frozen in place under his invisibility cloak, only able to look on as Dumbledore was cornered by a gloating Snape.

"Severus… please…"

Snape let a small laugh escape his lips, then leveled his wand at Dumbledore.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The spell hit Dumbledore with a residual bang, jolting Harry to the ground.

Harry woke with a start, drenched in sweat, on the floor after apparently falling out of bed. The bang from his dream had knocked him out of bed. From the hallway, Harry could see a light.

"Must be someone going to the bathroom." thought Harry, even thought he swore it looked like a wand light.

Harry stood up and started to put the pillows and blankets back on his bed that had been pulled off when he fell out of bed. I just stopped having these dreams! Thought Harry, Why did they come back? It must be because of the house yesterday, and my birthday.

Suddenly, Harry heard a creaking by his door, and the next moment the door had been kicked open and people were coming in. Harry grabbed his wand off the nightstand, and pointed it at the shadowy figures, wondering if Voldemort had sent his Death Eaters already.

"Harry? Harry Potter? Put down your wand immediately. This is the Order of the Phoenix! We're here to take you to headquarters." said an unfamiliar voice.

"Harldo, don't say it like that. Harry knows who we are. If you hadn't insisted on breaking through the door in the dark, he wouldn't have been so alarmed!" Harry recognized this voice. Nymphadora Tonks had come with the Order two years ago to help take him to headquarters, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

At that moment the lights flicked on, flooding the room with light. Harry winced as his pupils got used to the brightness. After his eyes had adjusted, Harry looked around at all the wizards and witches- presumably aurors- had been sent by the Order to bring him to headquarters. Tonks was the only one he recognized; the Order must have expanded considerably since his last visit to Grimmauld Place. Her hair now was short and blue, slicked back against her neck with a light fringe of bangs around her temples. There had to be at least thirty new aurors, all looking at Harry with a slightly quizzical look in their eyes. Most had probably never seen him, and were peering around their co-Aurors, trying to get a glimpse of the boy who was rumored to be 'the Chosen One', the one to stop Voldemort.

Just then there was a soft pop behind Harry. Each auror raised their wand, anticipating the worst. Two reached forward and grabbed Harry's arms, unceremoniously dragging him behind several members of the group to safety from whoever was apparating into Harry's bedroom now.

"Who are you, and what are you doing at Number Four Privet Drive?" asked the wizard called Harldo, the one who had first spoken to Harry.

"Um, I-I'm Ronald W-Weasley, Harry's friend. He sent me a post; I was just coming to see if he was alright."

"Ron?" asked Harry. Pushing forward, "You came! I didn't think that you would come so soon. Didn't you just get the post?"

Once he reached it Ron, he saw that he appeared extremely pale. Looking around, Harry understood why. Every auror in the room had their wand pointed directly at Ron, all looking extremely dangerous.

"Stop! He's my friend, put your wands down!" said Harry.

"Put your wands down everybody! This is Weasley's son. I know him, he wouldn't do anything to harm Harry." ordered Tonks. On her command, the Order relaxed. "Sorry Ron! We're just a little nervous right now, what with the house not being protected anymore. Come on Harry, let's go get some tea. I'll explain to you and Ron why half the Order just appeared in your bedroom."

Tonks ushered Ron and Harry out of Harry's room and escorted them to the kitchen, followed by Harldo and two other wizards. The rest of the wizards and witches set up a guard system around the house.

"So, when did you get the post, I didn't expect a reply until morning, let alone expect that you would come here yourself. Does your mum know?" inquired Harry as they walked down the hallway towards the stairs.

"I didn't get it, Ginny did. She woke me up and told me 'bout it. So, I decided, since I was up I'd come and bring you back to the Burrow, just in case." replied Ron, attempting to look happy about apparating in the middle of the night.

"Ginny got the letter? Oh, how- how is Ginny? She ok, isn't she?" asked Harry, endeavoring to appear nonchalant.

Ron looked apologetically at Harry. "Sorry for brining her up, mate. She's fine, a little depressed at times, but fine." After a pause, he added, "I'm not upset about what you did. Don't worry… I just wish she would understand that you did what's best for her."

"I wish that I understood that too." whispered Harry, too quietly for Ron to hear.

Once in the kitchen, Tonks sat Harry and Ron down at the table and put the kettle on the stove.

"Ok, Harry. You're probably wondering why we're here." said Tonks as she searched for teabags.

"Not really." replied Harry. "You came because today is my birthday, and the protection that I received from Dumbledore is gone, so Voldemort can come get me any time he wants. They're in the left cupboard, right side, near the back."

"Thanks. Yup, that's one reason. Also since your neighbour's house was blown up yesterday," (Harry was amazed they'd heard so soon.) "We decided that we needed to get you to safety as soon as possible. So, here we are. The minister sent all of us to retrieve you; he didn't want any accidents. This is Dunabe Harldo, Head Auror. He organized the group and is heading the mission."

The man named Dunabe Harldo stood. Shorter than Harry, Harldo could not be over about five foot. Although short in stature, Dunabe seemed to command a certain respect from the room, with strong features and a certain authoritative darkness in his eyes. "Sorry for scaring the both of you back there, I was just trying to avoid disaster." said Harldo, looking truly sorry. "You know how things get at times like these…"

"I'm sure they're fine Harldo." laughed Tonks. She stopped when she saw Harry and Ron were not laughing with her. "Hem. Sorry. These two are Milo Wilkes and Fringe Rundle. They are trained bodyguards, so they'll be sticking close to you two on our way over."

Tonks pointed to the two largest men that Harry thought he had ever seen. They weren't large like Uncle Vernon or Dudley, who where merely fat; these two were, in opposition to Harldo, probably nearly sever feet tall, with giant muscles covering their arms and legs. They both looked as tough as they were tall, and as smart as they were muscular. Harry doubted if anyone would even dare giving him a passing smile or nod with these two mountainous bodyguards marching beside him.

"As for that matter, sorry Harry, but we won't be flying on broomsticks this time." said Harldo. Harry noticed that standing, he was not much taller than the dresser he stood beside. "That is too dangerous. Last time there weren't hundreds of Death Eaters set on killing you. We will have to apparate this time. I know you don't have your license yet, but the Ministry has granted you permission to apparate without it tonight. I trust that young Mr. Weasley has already gotten his license, am I correct?" (Ron nodded, looking both mortified at the contemplation of apperating to Number 12 Grimmauld Place, and pleased that he had somehow done something right.) "Good. Now, get your things packed Harry, and then we'll leave."

Harry started to get up. As he did so, his elbow knocked against a picture frame, sending a picture of a potato-like blob that was Dudley at age three crashing to the floor. Three aurors ran in, wands raised.

"It's ok, Harry, I'll fix it." said Tonks, bending over the broken frame. "I'm pretty skilled at putting things back together, considering my record." Harry understood. Tonks had always been clumsy, ever since he'd met her at least. She seemed to have moved past that phase however, as she had yet to knock into anything or trip over anyone. Tonks muttered something and stood up, the frame following, coming back together and floating to its original place.

Something struck Harry at that moment. "Tonks?" he asked, "Where are the Dursleys? They would have heard you come in wouldn't they? And Aunt Petunia definitely would have heard a picture frame brake."

"Oh, don' worry 'bout the muggles." rasped Wilkes, speaking for the first time since he's been in Privet Drive. "They're magic'd so they won' wake up 'till after we leave. We left 'em a nice note too, so as they don' have t' worry 'bout you."

"Oh, they won't be worried." frowned Harry. "If anything they'll be upset that I didn't fall out the window and get carried away by wild dogs."

After a quick cup of tea, Harry and Ron ran up to Harry's room and packed his things into his trunk. They untidily threw everything into the trunk, not bothering to fold or organize any of it, just wanting to get done as quickly as possible. The pair quickly emptying the small room of all Harry's possessions, checking and double checking that they had not left any small item of Harry's behind. When they were finished, not even a poster or an old sock was left to remind the Dursleys that they had once housed their young nephew in that room, nor to reflect that that very same nephew had owned a wand, a broom, and an owl named Hedwig.

"Ginerva Weasley, where in the name of the Wizengammot did you say your brother went?" shouted Mrs. Weasley, her chin quivering as she glared at her daughter. That morning she had woken up to find Ron had disappeared the night before, leaving no note as to where he had gone to. "How could you let him do such a rash and, and stupid thing? He could be killed! For all we know he is dueling you-know-who right now!" Mrs. Weasley's voice grew louder with each sentence, until by the final "right now", she was screaming at the top of her lungs, looking close to tears. Turning away she walked over to the fireplace, shouting at Ginny all the while, "I'm going to flew your father, maybe he knows something about Harry and Ron."

As her mother threw flew powder on the fire, Ginny slowly walked back up to her room, where she had been spending most of her summer holiday, laying on her bed thinking. Sometimes she cried, thinking about Dumbledore, about Hogwarts, about Bill, but mostly about Harry. Most of the time she just sat in her room thinking; about nothing in particular, just whatever came to mind at the time. For the past few days, however, Hermione had been sharing the room with her, forcing her to pretend to be out of her funk, to be her usual self. But she never would be the same again, not after last year. Ginny sat down on her bed, glad to have a few minutes alone while Hermione was off taking a shower. Just then Hermione walked in.

"Ginny, where's Ron? I thought we were going to practice Quiddich this morning." Hermione walked into the room, toweling her hair dry. Even wet, Hermione's brown, fluffy hair still poofed out to her shoulders.

"Ron's gone; he left last night to bring Harry here. He hasn't come back yet…" Ginny sat with her back against her headboard. "I thought they'd both be here by now to spend the rest of the holiday with us..."

Ginny looked apologetically at Hermione, then grabbed a book from her bookshelf and lay down on her bed, ending the conversation.

Hermione sat on her bed. She knew that Ron could be in serious trouble. It scared her so much that he and Harry were off, possibly dead at that moment. Even more it troubled her that Ron had not at least told her before he had left, not even left her a note. Now she had no way of knowing where he was or what was happening, she felt totally cut off from everything. All she could do now was wait and hope that he was alright and came back soon.

"Ginny, Hermione, come down here now, Ron's in the fire!" Mrs. Weasley shouted up the stairs. All morning she had sat around, waiting for some news from or at least about Ron. Just a minute ago, he had appeared in the fire via the flew network.

Seconds later, Ginny and Hermione, flushed with excitement, raced down the stairs, Hermione taking them two at a time.

"He's in the fire, really?" squealed Hermione, rushing passed Mrs. Weasley and kneeling inches from the green blaze shaped like Ron's head. "Ron! Thank goodness you're alright! I was so worried!" then, after a pause, "Don't you ever do that to me again, Ronald! You could have been killed! Your mother and I and Ginny were so worried!"

Ginny ran forward, pushing Hermione out of the way. She needed to know if Harry was alright, she didn't need to hear all this trivial chatter from Hermione.

"Ron! Where's Harry? Tell me he's ok! If you didn't get there in time because of your lethargy this morning, I swear…" Ginny left the sentence hanging, knowing that Ron would appreciate the unsaid threat. She glared at Ron, inches from the green blaze that was their fireplace, hoping that the more she glared, the better the outcome would be.

"It's ok, Ginny! I got there right as the Order did. He would have been safe anyway. Hermione, mum, I'm at the Order's headquarters with Harry now, they want you lot to come down here for the rest of the summer because Harry has to stay here. I've gotta go though, the Flew network is really quite popular around here…" and with that, Ron's head swirled and disappeared into the shrinking green flames.

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