A/N: Another chapter up and running, enjoy and please leave reviews. I give all credit for everything Potter related in this chapter to JK Rowling, i also give credit for any real life objects or landmarks to their respective parties. What do you think so far, does it meet your expectations?
Chapter 6
Rain was falling heavily outside the manor and the occasional sound of thunder could be heard as Harry waited next to the floo, within the hour the Order of the Phoenix would be convened to consider a variety of issues, Harry knew that some of these issues would be crucial to how the members of the light that supported the order could defeat the dark lord's forces, tonight would also be where Harry could make his voice heard as well, not only did he have to give the speech to be allowed into the order but he also was thinking of bringing up ideas that the Wizengamot could bring up in future meetings, it was quite the coincidence that Dumbledore was the head of that organization and so Harry would probably find favor with what he desired to bring up.
It was only a few moments before the floo turned green and the first guest of the evening entered the kitchen, it was Professor Zardhassen and he looked a little better in stature than he did earlier that day, he was covered head to foot in ash and shook himself to rid him of that annoying stuff that always caught on his clothing while being transported by fireplace.
"Good evening Potter, Mrs. Weasley, I do hope that your day has gone well am I correct in my thinking?"
They both nodded at him politely simply because it appeared he was not a man to be disrespected.
"Would you like tea Lars? I am sure on a night like this with all the storms about, it would be a great reliever after all that travel."
Lars nodded at Mrs. Weasley "that would be quite acceptable madam, thank you."
Mrs. Weasley bounced over to the nearest counter and began waving her want to set the teapot on the stove to boil.
"Potter, I do hope your birthday went as well as can be expected" Lars was now sitting at the far end of the kitchen table that faced the sitting room. The sitting room was too small to handle the expected attendance of wizards and witches that would be at the meeting this evening, as such the kitchen would be the most ideal meeting place for the meeting to take its course.
"Yes professor," said Harry "I believe it was quite the day, but I am glad that you are the new Defense professor, still though of all people I never expected the headmaster to select someone such as you."
"Oh Potter, I assure you this choice of joining your school was not by accident, in fact Albus believes that I probably could rival your earlier professor who taught this subject, Lupin I believe, Albus said that he really involved the students well in your classes your third year."
Harry didn't really believe that anyone could replace what Remus taught all those years ago, he might have been a werewolf but he still had the wits to teach a competent class that made the students feel they were valued every class session.
"Well, I look forward to whatever you have in mind professor but the honest assessment of all this is that Remus will always be my favorite teacher," said Harry.
Lars gave a small sigh; understandably it would take many class sessions to try to impress on Harry's mind that he had something to offer that could make things better in this war.
The floo roared to life once again and several witches and wizards arrived next.
Kingsley, Remus, Tonks, Mad Eye Moody and Professor McGonagall all said their greetings to Mrs. Weasley who was now pouring sugar into a line of goblets that stood on the counter.
"Potter, what is your reason for being here tonight? I must say Albus never told me you would be invited."
Harry looked at his transfiguration teacher and gave a sigh, obviously it appeared that several of the order members would no doubt question why he was in attendance so he decided to make a general basic response that would hopefully appease his teacher and make her seem less anxious about his presence.
"Its simple Professor, Professor Dumbledore has invited me to attend the entire meeting tonight; I believe he will explain to you his reasons, that's how it's all going to be."
While the Professor had a look of curiosity and sternness on her face she simply chose to accept Harry's explanation "I suppose that's the most I'll get out of you Potter, well I might as well have some tea Molly if you have it" the deputy headmistress spoke in Mrs. Weasley's direction.
"Right away Minerva, I have them lined up here" Mrs. Weasley pointed at the cups in question and she placed the steaming cups on a tray and placed it in the middle of the table "please enjoy a little refreshment while we wait for the others to arrive."
The others heeded her call for refreshment and soon the order members currently in the manor were sipping the hot liquid and talking amongst themselves.
Mad Eye tapped Harry on the shoulder "Good evening eh Potter?"
Harry looked up at the real Mad Eye Moody for the first time in many months, he remembered Snape's words on the fact that this was the real man and not the death eater that had taken over and polyjuiced himself to look like the professor that taught them fourth year. Last year during Harry's fifth year the veteran auror had been part of the guard that took him from his relatives when things had got very out of hand and Harry still thought that Moody was the Professor that he had always been and would stay on through his fifth year, but alas Umbridge had taken over instead and very nearly had derailed the work of the order, this was the first time that Mad Eye really wanted to engage Harry in a conversation and so he decided to see where it would lead.
"I am well enough thank you"
The old auror clapped Harry on the back a few times "I am deeply sorry for the loss of your Godfather. Black was a good man and he focused on doing what was best for you and for all the order, still I did not realize until after the ministry battle that he was innocent, I believed Sirius to be a flawed arrogant menace who had deceived the order, now I know better, but you must have CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
Those words that Harry was familiar with ringed through his ears and they were quite welcome even if they were forceful.
"Thank you" said Harry "I just wish he had lived longer but I have all of you to rally around now, please make yourself at home" He pointed to the table and also to the tea on the counter which the auror readily accepted.
The floo came to life a few more times in the next several minutes and several wizards and witches that Harry did not recognize were soon having their share of the tea that Mrs. Weasley had prepared, in fact she was still boiling tea on the stove as everyone remained in a talkative mood.
Remus and Mr. Weasley arrived next and Harry quickly stood up and hugged the next closest friend that he had to family.
"Harry" said Remus rubbing the ash off his clothing from the floo "I've only been gone a few hours and yet you still find enthusiastic ways to greet me, quite the idea I must say."
Harry laughed, "That's only because other than the Weasley's here you are next in line as the closest family I have."
"Blimey" said Remus with a soft chuckle "I must be the special one tonight then is that not true Harry?"
"All of you mean something whether I know you or not we are on the same side."
Several responses of yes and indeed came up from the crowd of members and Harry had a small bit of fun thinking that they had all been trained automatically to say that response simply to appease Harry and support him.
At that moment all went quiet as the floo revealed Albus Dumbledore, the man who was leading the order forward in the fight against the dark forces that comprised Tom Riddle.
The headmaster was covered in a cloak that he mostly used for traveling and he was totally wrapped up in it with water from the rainstorms outside covering him from head to toe.
It was a few moments before Dumbledore revealed himself.
"Ah Harry, I must say this manor sure is immaculate compared to the weather outside."
Dumbledore's beard reached almost all the way to the floor and was severely in need of a major trimming, in fact some of the order members turned away from his arrival based on his appearance.
"Please excuse my appearance, I have not had the luxury of trimming my beard all day."
Suddenly there went the floo again and the snarky potions master entered the room.
"My apologies for the late arrival Albus, I was held up by some preparations for the new school year."
"It is entirely no problem at all Severus, please find a seat."
Giving the headmaster the quickest of sneers, Snape sat down in one of the few vacant seats that was left facing the table, little did he know that the headmaster would choose the seat next to him and when that became the case Snape sighed deeply but didn't sneer that time.
"Welcome, all of you, it is great to see you back from your training in the order, even if only for a few hours, we have a busy agenda this evening and I believe that what we discuss here tonight will provide much seriousness of thought and perhaps some enjoyable moments as well."
The order members nodded briskly as the headmaster spoke.
"The first item concerns the presence of Mr. Potter this evening, as all of you know we are in the midst of a war that tests whether or not we can stay strong in the force of darkness that is currently within our borders and the world as a whole, we have much to do if we are to control the spiteful and horrible actions that Lord Voldemort has placed upon several individuals in the wizarding and muggle worlds. Harry here apparently received a vision through his connection with Voldemort that might be a key to determining what Tom may be up to next, now Harry if you might say a few words about the experience?"
"Really" said Harry "there was not much too it, I was simply in my bedroom when my scar just burned and I saw Draco's demented father give a report on a group of death eaters who Voldemort was training up for something big and he said that a new type of wand had been created that in effect could never be summoned by a spell to the person that requested it."
Muttering ensued at this news, how was Voldemort going about doing this, there must have been some kind of reason.
"Harry, you are saying that the wands that Lucius mentioned might be non moving or stay in place when the caster of Expelliarmus pronounces the spell upon a user who is engaging in wand waving?"
"Its to that effect Headmaster, so I suppose that's a possibility." Harry stated.
"You say also that Voldemort and his forces are massing up, did he even mention something major that causes us to look further?"
"No not that I know of" Harry placed a finger on his cheekbone as he thought about this "but from what I can tell Voldemort is probably going to do a major battle at some point during my upcoming 6th year at Hogwarts, I don't know anything other than that."
The others in the kitchen muttered even louder as they heard these words.
"I believe that it would be quite appropriate for everyone to hold your tongue until Harry has completed his statements."
The others felt a bit ashamed after that and calmed down enough at the headmaster's request.
"Well like I said that's all I really know" said Harry "Maybe the rest of the order could send out their members and see what they could find out."
"Harry, that is a genuine idea to consider but it is very likely that there are only two wizards in this room who can find out very quickly what Lord Voldemort is up to, Professor Snape and Remus, of course Severus has his job at Hogwarts and Remus would probably be the ideal better choice for all involved." The headmaster turned to the wizard in question "Remus, would it be possible for you to go among the werewolves and figure out if they know anything about this possible battle?"
"Last time I tried that they nearly trampled me when I came near them, I'm not sure if Fenrir would even disclose what Voldemort has given them to do, plus just imagine for a moment if the wolves interrogated me to find out about the location of the safehouses and Harry's estates that he now owns, our positions in the order could be found out and we would more than likely not have any way of containing the dark lord's movements."
At the mention of the werewolf Greyback, there were plenty of mutterings since he was the wolf that much of the good side of the wizarding world feared.
"Remus I realize that this may put you and us at risk but its for the best if we can gain even a small sliver of the location and date at which this possible battle may take place, are you willing or shall I go myself, I have many ways of making it possible."
The headmaster's words caused the order members to shuffle around in thought as they sipped on the tea that Mrs. Weasley had so generously provided earlier.
"Albus, do you realize that you are much more valuable to Hogwarts then you are to a bunch of werewolves, what will the students think when you aren't present at the staff table during the school term, they might worry" said Remus in clear tones.
"I actually had the intention of being sure to complete this mission before the term began, but I must make sure that if I go forward with this that I am prepared adequately, it may cause me to miss at least the first week of term, but I find that to be highly unlikely, so since my mind appears to be set on making this a reality, I must ask you Minerva to be prepared to open the term if I am not there the evening of September 1st."
The deputy headmistress nodded solemnly next to Dumbledore as she took this information in but she still had reservations about the plan "be that as it may Albus that is a perilous thing to do, you risk exposing the order and he who must not be named certainly is planning ahead for any contingencies based on what this so called battle entails."
"You are correct Minerva," stated a silky voice for the first time since this conversation began as the potions master chimed in "I have been given no intelligence of any kind by the Dark Lord that he was planning any large battle but if Potter is to be believed perhaps something is on the horizon but then again maybe Potter made the story up, how could this vision have even been legit in nature, perhaps the Dark Lord tried to confuse his mind and catch him off guard, thus he will no doubt have contingency planning which I may not be aware of."
"You are absolutely incorrect Professor" Harry's raised voice filled the room "I saw what I saw and I believe this vision wasn't some made up phony lie, it had the force of a huge shock to me when I observed it, not like the vision of my Godfather which Bellatrix took away from me."
Snape turned red in the face "Regardless, these visions need verification, not some voice based statement."
Before a retort could be given Dumbledore stepped in "Gentlemen, I must ask you to think closely for a moment, have you not understood the fact that Voldemort can easily use this scar?" the scar in question was pointed at "it is a wonder that Harry received it all those years ago in Godric's Hollow, although I believe last year Harry, you noticed what occurred when Voldemort decided to lure you to the ministry, that is of course what caused the unfortunate loss of your Godfather, you believed it was real but of course it turns out it was simply a ploy to make you retrieve that orb and then Sirius was so worried he took flight to the ministry and could not be stopped."
Harry nodded at Dumbledore as these words were spoken, this meeting tonight would no doubt go over memories that Harry did not want to relive.
"The connection from that scar can be used in good ways and in bad ways, I have said that the connection in general is a bad idea and I still do but I believe it is probably more valuable then we all realize, thus you probably notice the second thoughts coming out of my mouth."
Some of the order members rolled their eyes at this including McGonagall, the headmaster was the wise one in the room of wizards and witches and yet anyone at anytime could choose to simply reverse a decision or requirement that they had made earlier, in this case the headmaster was doing just the thing.
"I may not only be looking just to eavesdrop on what the werewolves might be saying about any upcoming battle or attack but also what their true numbers really are, this includes anyone that is allied with Voldemort himself, Harry mentioned that recruitment of several death eaters was observed in this vision as well, perhaps I can fully realize what the members of the light are up against."
Several members nodded their heads slightly at this but Harry spoke up one question that was probably on his mind and the others.
"Professor, what if you find out nothing?"
"Ah Harry, then most likely I will have failed but after failure the energy can come to turn failure into something successful, if it becomes apparent that it will be impossible for me to find out what Voldemort is up to or my safety becomes an issue, then I will report back to all of you at once and from there I suppose our course would be to simply fan out our forces to areas that Voldemort may attack if this battle occurs, again the order will need to be prepared."
Mad Eye spoke up for the first time "Albus, do you realize that we are completely understaffed, it would be totally mad to go up against Voldemort unless we have a real partner next to us that has great amounts of experience in tactical planning for what the death eaters will be able to do."
"As Chief Warlock, I will make inquiries as to what assistance we can obtain but I believe that others will only help us if we are in such a dire situation that we have to flee, as the Order of the Phoenix our mission dictates that we will never flee or disappear while we still have a chance to defeat Voldemort, our work is not done, it is not complete, it is not to be abandoned."
"I believe that our new minister for magic will also have the most say as to what can be done about this situation as well, tonight one of the items on the agenda is to nominate a new minister, we will get to that item shortly."
Dumbledore took another long sip of the tea in front of him but it had gone cold, with just a flick of his wand hot steam came billowing out of the cup as the tea was warmed once more.
"Now we will proceed to the second item on the agenda for this evening" he said, "how many of you remember the first time that you joined the order?"
It was a question and instead of the order members raising their hands or saying something to the effect of yes, most of them just nodded their heads or raised a hand just off the table.
"Well then, I 'm sure you remember how you all had the courage to join and help our cause to defeat the dark forces?"
Again nods were noticed around the room at Dumbledore's words.
"The second item of tonight's meeting involves allowing another person into the order who will bring some needed balance to our circle of wizards and witches, I would like you to welcome this wizard with a respectful mindset and keep your outburst of surprise to a minimum."
Some of the members of the order chuckled at this statement, why would an outburst be needed if the new person was actually good and Dumbledore felt it was a great thing for another great colleague to join the ranks.
The members in the room turned to Professor Zardhassen since it appeared he was here on the meetings observing what was going on, but something wasn't quite right, first, the Professor had not even got one look from Dumbledore as of yet the entire meeting, Dumbledore made it a point to focus on the others in the room, secondly, the Professor did not have a parchment in his hand that would have meant a speech of why he should be inducted into the order, the next words out of Dumbledore's mouth solved the puzzle.
"Harry if you would give your speech I am sure all of us would be enlightened to hear it."
Harry pulled the parchment out of his pocket and trying to stave off the outbursts that would come later he began to read it, everything he put by the quill to the parchment had some meaning to him, all he could hope for was that the order members would see that he could offer a fresh face and the will to make Dumbledore count on his work to defeat Voldemort.
Once the speech was completed it was Mad Eye who made the first comments.
"Well done Harry, well done, I say he be allowed in immediately, a boy with such knowledge and courage has what it takes, what do you all think eh?"
The others reaction was immediate.
"No"
"Absolutely not"
"Way too young"
"Not enough experience"
A wave of Dumbledore's wand and a loud pop coming out of it silenced them at once.
"Harry has proven himself my fellow members, whether you like his presence here or not, he is most worthy of joining what we are about here, also because of the ongoing events, having him in our circle will provide him with protection but also the learning that he needs to fight against Voldemort, it is of course Harry who will have to figure out how to defeat Voldemort in the end but this is prime time for him to know we can be behind him."
Members of the order nodded only slightly but the Weasley's and Remus and several other order members had frowns of displeasure on their faces. The only members of the order in the room that really showed support at present were Professor Zardhassen and Mad Eye.
"I can vouch for the fact that Potter has genuine potential" Lars spoke up at this point, "not only have you seen how he has been able to get out of incidents with the dark lord in his past years at Hogwarts school, but you have seen that he has made a great effort not to waver in his focus, yes, he is sometimes too quick and prone to making mistakes but Potter can do well, there is nothing you can really hide from him at this point anyway, some day or time in the future Potter will find a way to get around it, best to be upfront."
"Lars, your observations are quite noteworthy, of course you only barely agreed to join our esteemed and hard working faculty at the school but how have you come to these conclusions so quickly about Harry?"
The headmaster was putting Lars on the spot for what appeared to be a confirmation of how Lars could help Harry and give him the courage to work efficiently in the order.
"Many of my friends from other circles heard of the chosen one, that being Potter, over the years I followed his situation with great progress and as I have said, this wizard before you is completely compatible for the order, let him do his magic and we can be one step closer to defeating the Dark Lord."
Dumbledore clapped his hands for a few moments, it was probably meant to encourage the other members of the order to applaud the words of the new defense professor but most of them just nodded their heads again.
"Let us vote shall we?"
Dumbledore produced a blank piece of parchment and placed it in the center of the table, on it, the names of all those present glistened in the light of the room.
"I believe all of you know this voting spell?"
Nods were exchanged.
"Very well, if you believe Harry is worthy of being part of the order you may make your vote known."
Dumbledore raised his wand and the others stood up and got in a circle around the table, then with a flick of their wands they waved them down in one sweeping arc and spells burst forth from them.
The spells swirled like snakes as they inched closer to the parchment and then flashes as they hit their mark and the votes appeared next to the names.
A spell like this had consequences as everyone was out of breath, several of them asked for water from Mrs. Weasley and she rushed to fulfill the requests, in this case tea probably would not do the trick quickly enough.
Dumbledore slowly took the parchment from the table, it was hot to the touch and he gingerly grasped it as he looked at it closely to see what the results had been, a sliver of a smile came over his weathered face as he appeared to be pleased with what he was seeing.
"All members of the order present have voted yes for Harry to join with two voting present, Lars and Severus."
Harry was engulfed at that point by handshakes and hugs; the hugs came from those who he knew the most such as Remus and the Weasley's.
When all of this had simmered down to a point where Dumbledore could once again speak, he called for attention.
"Let us proceed to the final item of tonight's meeting and that is the nomination for a new minister for magic of Britain, as most of you know, a few short weeks ago a battle in the ministry was waged that cost a life but on a more positive note Voldemort was once again seen by several in the ministry, what does this mean, it means a certain minister is dealing with a Merlin's beard moment like none else. Minister Fudge faces opposition from almost everyone in the ministry at this point; this includes those of you in this room I'm sure. The positive aspect of this is that someone new who believes in Voldemort's threat can actually do something instead of being idle."
Nods met his statement and frowns of disgust over the reckless minister.
"Our side of the ministry, at least the ones who support a ministry that can represent magical Britain needs someone who has seen the ministry through several years of his or her life and knows what we all face. The other side who are outright pure blood will no doubt make a choice of their own, being chief warlock has its advantages, but this will be a debate of interest that the entire Wizengamot will have a say in, I intend to let it play out, all voices must be heard in fairness."
"Professor, why didn't Fudge resign the minute this all played down, that bloke is the scum he is, he would just try to rile the Daily Prophet further."
"Harry, a valid point indeed" said the Headmaster "but Fudge can only be removed by a vote of the entire Wizengamot, his clout is still highly noted in the ministry and now that he knows that Voldemort is back, he is doing everything to save face and yet he believes that resigning will cause him to be a severe disgrace to wizarding and muggle society in general, he doesn't want to believe that he has to leave, he feels staying and saving his credibility can make ends meet the right way, sadly he is sorely mistaken."
It was at that moment that the stove gave off a shrill whistle.
Mrs. Weasley jumped up in haste and quickly took out the large steaming hot tray of Roast Chicken and Soup complete with a large variety of Vegetables.
"Sorry, it's a bit late when the meeting is almost over but I needed to heat it up a bit longer, please eat as much as you like."
The others dug in to the fine meal as Dumbledore continued the discussion.
"This evening I am pleased to nominate a good friend and a mentor to all of us, he has graciously agreed to take on the position if confirmed, Alastor, the floor is yours."
There were gasps of surprise all around the table as the old auror stood up and began to pace around the kitchen slowly while also acknowledging the gasps of surprise.
"Well then what do you think, am I good enough for the lot of you, do I meet your expectations?"
Cheers rang out in the room as the full extent of what had just been announced passed around the roomful of witches and wizards. Mad Eye continued to pace as he waved his hands so that he could gain their attention once more.
"Was only yesterday our esteemed leader confided in me that he wished for me to run for Minister of Magic, up until now you all know I have been happily retired as I wished to never again have to face the hard life of being an auror, it was too much work for me to have to face death eaters whose only goal is to wreck havoc on our society, too many of my friends have died trying to defeat the dark wizards that roam this country. I fought left and right to bring justice to those I lost and it was all well and good, but until now I never thought I would come back."
Mad Eye's magical eye scanned the room spinning like a top and Harry got all dizzy just looking at it while eating another bite of the delicious chicken.
Mad Eye continued "after looking at the available people out there among us and perhaps other wizards in good graces with the ministry, it occurred to me that very few of them have the experience of diplomacy or long term experience in running high level organizations, thus I considered it a given I would be nominated when Albus pulled me aside yesterday evening and told me to run. I agree to take on this responsibility and come out of retirement to serve all of you and the wizarding world, how's that for a speech eh?"
More cheers met his speech as Mad Eye sat down in his seat again.
"A wonderful speech Alastor," said Dumbledore "I believe that completes our work for this evening. I will set up a vote for removal of Fudge as soon as possible, until then we will have to deal with what he dishes out upon us, it may not be possible to restrict his powers as he is still the rightful minister, a very good evening to all of you."
Everyone got up as the empty plates popped away courtesy of the elves, Mrs. Weasley had wanted to clean them herself but the head elf had insisted that it was the elves responsibility anyway.
Harry ran over to Dumbledore who was lining up to leave by the floo "Sir, when are you really coming back, you shouldn't do this, it will just compromise all that we've done so far."
Dumbledore turned to look Harry in the eyes with his soft ones "I am doing this for the best Harry, do not worry about me, it is rather likely I will not have any luck but better now to find out what we can than waiting until the last second, as it is I believe your friends are waiting for you, go, they need you I am sure."
Harry nodded as Dumbledore gave him one last wink and a small smile and departed.
Through all of this discussion one person really wasn't paying attention, in fact he had something more important to do tonight then just sit and listen to the headmaster praise Harry and announce a nominee for minister. Severus had looked at times at his employer and played along with the others whenever something good was said but otherwise Snape was not really focused on the moment, seeing Mrs. Weasley cleaning up around the kitchen he decided to make his move.
"Molly, may I have a word."
She turned around to face Snape with a small look of surprise but answered him respectfully.
"Of course Severus, how I can help you?"
"It involves one of Potter's esteemed friends, I require her presence if you can summon her for me or bring her here, I simply have something to give her and perhaps a little more as well."
"Of course, I will be back with her in a moment."
Mrs. Weasley headed upstairs to get Granger and that made Snape relax just a bit; at least she had not questioned his motives, he had thought about going and getting her himself but found it rather disrespectful to go up there when this was Potter's house after all, Harry's Godfather had given Potter such luxury and it made Snape boil with rage when he couldn't have the same with Spinners End, he did have his vacation homes all over the world but he had not visited them in some time, he had one home in America and one in the Caribbean near North America, one along the western coast of Italy and finally one along the east coast of Australia. Each of them was considered a refuge for him if he needed it.
It was only a few moments later when Mrs. Weasley returned with the young witch next to her, she had a look of confusion on her face.
"Professor, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Good evening Miss Granger" Snape held out his hand to shake hers, only because it showed he was trying to be respectful and this surprised Hermione at why he did it. The handshake was returned.
"Molly, you are welcome to stay here but I would like for this to be between the two of us, it is something related to the upcoming school year nothing less, so stay or go somewhere out of sight that is what I would ask."
Mrs. Weasley nodded and simply went into the room next to where they were; the sitting room was quiet as the last of the order members left.
"If you don't already realize your beloved Potter has been inducted into the order, what have you to say about that?"
Trying to make sure that she could keep her temper in check Hermione stated that it was a good thing for him but she also questioned why she couldn't be in the meeting in the first place.
"The headmaster has the belief that Potter is an asset to the order, I believe that he thinks your presence would not have helped much, perhaps for some well needed encouragement you could have attended but its also the fact that the information discussed is very confidential and should it get into the wrong hands it could be a large blunder on all of them. I don't care either way, that boy meddles too much with trouble; his father always was a bloke who interfered for no good.
"Can we get to the point why you wanted me here?" Hermione asked.
"Indeed, seeing that this is a good time as ever."
Snape reached into his frock coat and pulled out a small shrunk cauldron and a few pieces of parchment.
He handed the items to her carefully. The ingredients needed were already inside the cauldron in bags securely wrapped so that nothing would go missing.
"This is a potion that I want you to make and have on my desk the first day of class in September am I clear?"
She nodded.
"Since it has entered that knowledgeable mind of yours, this is a potion that I have been researching over the last several years, its designed to be used in the medical field and will be especially useful for those who have series burns inflicted by certain dark curses.
"This is of my own doing and I expect that you may have some trouble at first figuring out how to properly mix and cut the ingredients because I have only provided a certain amount of step-by-step instructions. I figured you might be able to do some research of your own and come up with a quality potion that no doubt Potter can't even make properly. The lazy buffoon constantly melts his cauldrons because he doesn't follow instructions."
Snape wanted to spat somewhere because he was so disgusted at Potter and his rancid skills at potions making, all these years the lack of good judgment and decorum while sitting at a desk with a cauldron and scales in front him had taught him very little, most of the work he did would need to be improved if Potter wanted to stay in his class this year.
"So you're just going to give me about a month to do all this, what if it takes me longer?" asked Hermione.
"I believe you will have it all worked out and completed by the time you walk into my classroom. I would not have trusted you with this work if I did not believe you were capable. Trust me Miss Granger you are highly intelligent unlike Potter. You can make a living being a teacher with all the skills you have."
Swells of pride rose up in Hermione's chest. She wished that her professor was like this all the time, but she really wondered if it would only be sporadic.
"I will get to work on it right away sir but I have no idea if Harry even has a laboratory in this place, it's so huge."
"The house of Black roamed this house in the old days so I would assume that some of the members of that family perhaps have a laboratory in here, if not, than I find that extremely dunderheaded Sirius very lacking."
Once again Snape gave a long sneer at Hermione as he thought about Sirius.
"I'll ask him as soon as I can about it sir thank you."
Snape nodded at her "if by chance I do not see you before the start of term, enjoy the rest of the summer holidays, it will be quite busy work when you come back to school, so you better be prepared, no slacking!"
Hermione nodded and Snape left through a floo a short time later.
She hurried back upstairs because she didn't want to miss what Harry had to say about the meeting.
When Harry, Ron and Ginny saw Hermione return upstairs they grew interested in what she was carrying.
"What's that Mione?" asked Ron taking a good look at the cauldron tucked under one of her arms.
"Never you mind Ron, it's just something Professor Snape gave me."
Ron looked like his stomach was going to go to his mouth.
"Our potions master gave you an assignment during summer?"
"Yes Ron does that surprise you?"
"Yes Hermione it does, why should you have to work when you can be watching Harry and I play chess and cheering us on?"
It was a random idea of what Hermione could be doing instead of helping Snape with this important project but just the fact that Ron was telling her what she should be doing instead made her angry.
"Playing chess isn't my idea of getting something done Ron, I like doing it sometimes but I have a project to do, I don't want to let Snape down."
Ron and Harry burst out laughing and ended up on the floor in short order trying to get the laughter out of their systems.
Tears filled Hermione's eyes and before she could say any retorts she ran out of the room and rushed to the top of the manor where the covered balcony was located, it was a part that Harry had shown her when they first entered the place.
"Hermione wait!" said a voice.
Hermione kept going and finally made it to the balcony, she ran out on the deck with the balcony itself, it was surrounded by walls made out of a very sturdy wood and glass windows, a few of them were propped open letting the mild air in. A few chairs sat against one of the walls and Hermione just sat down for a time trying to get the tears out of her system.
"Hermione are you ok?"
It was Ginny and mercifully Harry and Ron were not with her.
"I could be better if it wasn't for those two dunce's treating me like dung."
"I'll try to talk some sense into them, it's not often they do that to you."
"They hate Snape Ginny, they will never learn that he can be reasonable sometimes."
"I'll talk to them" Ginny sat down next to her.
"A lot of good that might do" said Hermione "I can still picture them laughing at me and saying something crazy about Snape."
"Snape is rough to all of us it doesn't really matter who, but I think he values you a lot more for the know it all in you."
"He was a little snippy at first when he gave me this to do, I'm going to work on it but I can't concentrate if Harry and Ron laugh at me every time that see me working."
"I'll cover you, don't get all weary over it."
"Thanks Ginny" Hermione smiled a bit at her friend and then she headed back to her room.
Ginny decided however, that she would stay behind; she expected that Harry would show up in the balcony sometime soon.
She was quite correct when just before midnight Harry stumbled onto the deck.
"I was looking all over for you," said Harry "figured you might be here since this is the place a lot of us go when we have problems."
"Of course I wanted us to talk here, I can't believe you would humiliate Hermione like that, why Harry, why do you feel that's what she deserves?"
"Its Snape Gin, I don't want her getting hurt, he could be setting her up so he can make a pawn of her. You know how he likes to make fun of every one of us, its not fair."
"From what I can tell it appears she looks forward to it, it can't hurt."
"I know, but Snape will have me to talk to if he trashes what she is doing,"
"Give her space Harry, let her do her magic."
Harry nodded at Ginny glumly; try as he might it was obvious that Hermione could not be swayed.
Meanwhile mister, I haven't been able to do this all day" and before Harry could react she wrapped her hands around him and kissed him on the forehead.
Deep down Harry was thinking why is she doing this to me, Dean won't be happy.