Return From The Veil
Chapter 3 – The Rising
Lord Voldemort briefly examined himself much like he had done after emerging from the cauldron; he was no longer the snake-like skeleton but had regained his more human appearance Harry had seen in the diary's memory although he was much older. Thankfully with the piece of the Dark Lord's soul no longer in him, the pain Harry would have experienced did not come and he sprang to his feet, wand drawn, Ron, Hermione, and for some reason Sirius followed suit. The others did not possess wands and grouped behind the armed ones while the Death Eaters huddled around Voldemort creating a stand-off in the middle of the office. "Tom," Harry greeted coldly.
"Harry," Voldemort smirked.
"Four wands against none," Harry narrowed his eyes. "I don't really see any reason for you to smile."
"Are you going to kill me? Again? Or will be Dumbledore's good little boy and arrest me?" Voldemort challenged. "As you can see, nothing you do can subdue Lord Voldemort. I am true symbol of power and now all my followers will know it."
"Not this time," it was Harry's turn to smirk. "If you want to know how you came back, you might to look at the woman beside me. Hermione Granger, a muggleborn, was the one who constructed the veil. Go and tell your followers a mudblood brought you back. No offence Hermione."
"None taken," Hermione shrugged without taking her eyes off Bellatrix. "If fact I'd love to be there when he makes the announcement."
Voldemort's face immediately contorted with displeasure, "It's doesn't how I came back or by whose hand, I am here Potter and you won't be able to stop me this time!" Voldemort swung his arm and all the scattered papers rose up like a loose tidal wave. Unfortunately the door was closer to the Death Eaters' side of the room and they were able to escape. Harry and rest gave chase, firing spells but the Death Eaters were able to the Department of Mysteries personal Floo area and escaped.
"DAMMIT!" Ron punched the wall.
"Come on we have to tell Kingsley," Hermione panted but nonetheless started towards the elevators. "He's the minister now."
"And the Aurors," James added. "We've got to talk to Head Auror, don't know how we're going explain this."
"Dad its okay," Harry smiled weakly. "I am the Head Auror."
"Well that makes things simpler," Fred chuckled. "Well done mate."
"Come on we have to get to Kingsley's office," Ron urged and they took off. Not really in the right mindset for pretense, they ran most of the way and burst into the reception area of the Minister's office looking like they had participated in a marathon.
Kingsley's secretary Deidra, a petite brunette, was taken aback. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger and…company, what can I do for you?"
"We have to see the Minister urgently," Harry pled.
"I'm afraid he's in a meeting right now," Deidra shook her head but Harry didn't have time for this.
"Fine then take him a message right now, tell him I am calling a code phoenix, GO NOW!"
Deidra jumped from her seat and hurried over to the office door. She gently tapped on it and opened it enough to poke her face in first and the rest of her body. They could hear her say, "Sorry for the interruption Minister but Auror Potter is here and said to tell you…" The door shut behind her and less than five seconds later, the doors swung open and a line of officials filed out grumbling amongst themselves.
"Most abrupt!"
"And rude, not very becoming of Minister!"
"How dare he?! I've been in government longer than he's been alive!"
Kingsley came to door, not all concerned with the men that were leaving. He pointed to the group, "You. Inside. Now." He went to turn back only to double-take and realise to whom he was speaking.
"We'll explain inside," Hermione muttered tersely while passing him. They trouped into the office and Kingsley shut the door firmly behind them.
"Alright explain," Kingsley invited leaning against his desk. Hermione did most of the talking but the others occasionally jumped in, describing where the veil came from, what happened, and specifically who was back. Kingsley listened in contemplative silence and when they finished he said, "Well this is a mess but first things first, we call the Order." He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a thick, rigid, golden bracelet and tapped it with his wand. It floated in the air right in front of his face so he could speak through it like an old-fashioned microphone.
Attention Order, Code Phoenix, he's back, Meeting tonight at the Potter House at 7…
The recently returned were somewhat confused by this until they looked around and noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione all had similar bands that were shining.
*RTFV*
Elsewhere, Molly Weasley was hanging up her laundry when she caught sight of her own bracelet reacting and automatically called, "ARTHUR!"
*RFTV*
Ginny was at home looking after young Teddy and baby James Sirius when she saw it and muttered, "This can't be good."
*RFTV*
George was ringing up a customer when he noticed but had to pretend like everything was fine but on the inside, his stomach was twisting.
*RFTV*
Everywhere the Order was being alerted including its most unexpected member who sat by the fire in his home.
"Everything okay sweetheart?" his wife asked.
"Fine."
*RFTV*
Back at the Ministry, Kingsley finished speaking and put his bracelet back on. "We have some work to do, we must stay ahead of him."
"I'm sorry Kingsley, this was all my fault," Hermione apologized. "I'm the reason he's back."
"Hermione that's not true," Ron said quickly. "You didn't know what would happen."
"It doesn't matter Ron," Hermione turned away from the rest. "If anyone gets hurt, it will be on my head."
"Everything will be okay, they don't even have wands," Remus comforted.
"About that, Harry I want you to send an Auror or two to the different wandmakers, especially Ollivander's, we don't want to lose him again. Hermione do you know how to close the veil?"
"Not yet."
"Then I want some Aurors stationed outside your office, in case anymore come through."
"What about us?" James gestured to himself, Lily, Remus, Tonks, and Fred. "What are we going to do for wands?"
"We'll think of something," Kingsley sighed. "But I think it would be best if you lay low. We ought to be careful who we tell."
"More importantly," Hermione added. "If the veil is malfunctioning somehow, we can't trust it's magic."
"Does this mean we can't see Teddy?" Tonk clutched Remus's arm.
"You can see him but it might be best not to say anything about being his parents until we're sure," Harry reasoned. "He's only six, it'll be too much for him."
"He's right," Remus admitted. "By the way, when's the full moon?"
"Next week I think," Harry rubbed his chin. "Ted gets kind of fussy around that time."