Thank you to those who posted their reviews!
Teufel1987 & strangeways: Thank you both for your advice and knowledge, I greatly appreciate it, and will begin to incorporate these immediately.
Teufel1987: In regards to what you said about Tracey, having a younger sister the same age, I know for a fact that seeing any kind of dog turns them all into little girls, and in regards to the thing about how she should be afraid of the Grim, I will be explaining that in further detail later in the story.
floyeddickey: No, this will not be a multi-ship between Harry, Ginny, and Tracey. You'll just have to wait and see what I have planned :P
***Disclaimer*** I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, that privilege goes to JK Rowling.
Chapter 6: The Guard and Number 12 Grimmauld Place
It was the next day, and Harry couldn't be more excited. The previous evening had consisted of permanently transfiguring all of Dudley's old hand-me-downs into clothes and robes that actually fit until he could manage to get to Madam Malkins to get robes, and a muggle shop to get some clothes. That evening, Harry and Merlin were going over everything that Harry had learned over the summer, and at the end Merlin had something to tell Harry.
"Harry, I regret to inform you, but we will need to put our little training sessions on hold until next summer. I have a few things I need to get doing. But before we say fair well for now, I would like to tell you how proud of all you've learned this summer. I don't believe I've ever had a better student under my tutelage. Your abilities are astounding, and your mastery of magic is almost complete. Although, please be careful with who you show your abilities to, especially your wandless magic. Not many people can even do wandless magic, and those that can cannot do nearly as much as you do…"
Harry, having been half expecting something like this to happen, he just accepted it with a sad smile. "I promise to be careful." He said. The two bid each other fair well, and with that Harry awoke for the day.
At the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, Mrs. Weasley was trying to do as Dumbledore had asked her to, which was make sure Hermione and Ron just made Harry feel comfortable and welcome, and find out how he was coping with the events of the third task.
"I need you guys to make sure Harry is alright after all that's happened over the last little while. Particularly with what happened during the third task." She instructed. They both nodded quietly, and waited for Ron's mum to leave.
"What do you think is going on?" Ron asked Hermione as soon as he heard his mother's footsteps fade.
"Well, it's obvious, don't you think?" Hermione stated, "Dumbledore thinks that there might be something up with Harry, and he's unsure about what it might be. I mean, didn't you here Tonks at dinner the other day? She said that it looked like the muggles were actually treating Harry better, other then making him work outside all summer long. She said that we'd all be in for the shock of our lives once he gets here…"
Harry had just finished putting all of his belongings into his new trunk when Vernon barged into his room.
(A/N: The following little bit in bold italics is a few exerts from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. More specifically from Chapter 3: The Advance Guard)
Harry looked slowly around at him. Uncle Vernon was wearing his best suit and an expression of enormous smugness.
"We're going out," he said.
"Sorry?"
"We – that is to say, your aunt, Dudley and I – are going out."…
"Okay. I promise to keep to my room." Harry stated simply.
"I am going to lock your door"
"You do that."
Uncle Vernon glared at Harry, clearly suspicious of this lack of argument, then stomped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Harry heard the key turn in the lock and Uncle Vernon's footsteps walking heavily down the stairs A few minutes later he heard the slamming of car doors, the rumble of an engine, and the unmistakable sound of the car sweeping out of the drive.
As soon as Harry was sure that they were gone, he lazily flicked his wrist to unlock the door to his room. He decided that he would go down and wait for who ever was picking him up in the sitting room. Before he left the room, he decided to let Hedwig fly to where ever he'd be going.
"Go to Ginny, Hedwig. I'll be there later tonight." Harry said. Hedwig gave him an affectionate nip on the finger to show she understood, and flew out the open window. Harry watched her go until she was just a speck in the sky. Closing the window, he shrunk his trunk and summoned it wordlessly, putting it into his pocket quickly while walking out the bedroom door. He closed, and locked it behind him, heading down the stairs. As soon as he got there, he could here shuffling at the front door, which slowly began to unlock. He quickly hid behind the corner into the sitting room, and drew his wand.
"Search the house for him, he should be expecting us." Came the gruff voice of Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. As soon as he finished speaking, Harry stepped out from around the corner, wand still drawn.
"Prove to me who you are. Where were you found Moody?" Harry said in a deep, threatening voice.
"Now that's what I call CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody stated loudly, "and to answer your question, in the bottom compartment in a multi-compartment trunk in my office at Hogwarts."
Turning his wand on the only other person he could immediately recognize, "What did my father call your lycanthropy?" Harry asked Remus Lupin.
"Well, he called it my 'furry little problem'. Now, just to make sure it's you, what form does your Patronus take?" Lupin questioned.
"A stag, like my father's animagus." Harry answered shortly. "And how do I know that I can trust all of these other people?"
"You're just going to have to take my word for it Harry." Lupin stated, "Let me introduce you to the rest of the Guard, this is Nymphadora Tonks," pointing at a young looking witch with a pale, heart-shaped face and short, spiky hair that was a vivid shade of violet, which suddenly turned into an alarming shade of red, while she responded, "Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus."
Responding, and also keeping the introductions going "Nymphadora prefers to be called by her surname only. This is Kingsley Shacklebolt," indicating a taller dark skinned bald man, "Elphias Doge," a wheezy looking wizard nodded, "Dedalus Diggle," pointing to a man Harry vaguely remembered from his first trip to Diagon Alley wearing a violet top hat.
"Emmeline Vance," while a witch wearing a green shawl inclined her head.
"Sturgis Podmore," pointing to a square jawed wizard with straw-coloured hair.
"And Hestia Jones," concluded Lupin, while a black haired witch waved at him.
"Tonks, would you happen to be a Metamorphmagus?" Harry inquired to the now bubblegum pink haired witch.
"I'm surprised you know what that is, Harry." Remus responded.
"Well, I've been doing a lot of studying over the summer." Harry responded.
"Looks like you've been working out too," came the cheeky reply from the werewolf.
"Well, living with these muggles can do that to you," Harry joked. "Now that I think about it, have I seen you around during the summer here, Tonks?" Harry questioned.
"Yeah, you have. It's one of my assignments from the Order." Tonks answered, to, which Moody growled, "Not here Tonks."
Changing the subject, Remus asked "Where's all your stuff Harry? I would have thought you would have it all down here already?"
"It's right here, in my pocket." Harry said, while pulling the small trunk from his pocket.
Moody scowled, suddenly suspicious. "How did you do that, Potter? You're not supposed to use magic outside of school."
"Well, I happen to be emancipated. I can do as I please now." Harry said with a sly grin.
"Emancipated? Why didn't Dumbledore tell us?" Remus wondered.
"Well, while I'm sure Dumbledore's intentions are good, he does tend to manipulate people to his advantage," Harry responded in a dark tone.
"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Hestia said, speaking for the first time since entering the house.
"I could go on for days on how he's manipulated me." Harry responded shortly.
"Well, Potter, you'd best get your broom out. That's how we will be traveling tonight. Only means of transportation that can't be tracked." Moody said gruffly, not taking kindly to the insult about Dumbledore.
Harry got his broom out of his trunk, and they all headed out into the Dursley's back yard. Moments later, there was a shower of green sparks, "Quickly mount and take off!" Moody barked to them all.
As they took off, Harry found that he had Remus, Hestia, Tonks, and Kingsley all very close to him. "Care to explain your stance on Dumbledore?" Hestia asked, and it was clear to Harry that the other three were all just as interested as she.
"Well, he manipulates everyone that he can. I mean if you were to look at my first two years at Hogwarts, you'd see that that is true. Firstly, during my first year, the protections around Philosopher's Stone were practically designed around Ron, Hermione, and myself. There was Fluffy, Hagrid's three-headed dog, Devil's Snare, the room of flying keys, a mountain troll, a giant chess game, a potion's riddle, and the Mirror of Erised." Harry said.
"Okay, I don't quite understand how that could be tailored to you and your friends." Came Kingsley's response.
"Well, Hagrid has always had a problem with spilling curtain things if prodded properly, hence why we would be able to get passed. Then there's the fact that we were learning about Devil's Snare in first year. I mean, really?" Harry responded, "Not to mention, I'm the youngest Seeker in a century, so catching a flying key wasn't going to be a problem."
" That doesn't answer why there would be a mountain troll as a part of something tailored to you." Tonks said.
"Well, earlier that year, on Halloween, Ron and I had already knocked out a troll to save Hermione. The chess set was designed for Ron. He hasn't lost a single game in his life. The potion's puzzle was for Hermione, being the cleverest witch of our year. And the Mirror of Erised was only by chance I was able to get it. You see, I was with Hagrid when he took the Stone from Gringotts. He had said that nowhere was safer, except perhaps Hogwarts. Then, by chance, Hermione, Ron and I stumbled upon Fluffy while trying to hide from Filch. It was only a matter of time before we realized that whatever Fluffy was guarding was what was taken from Gringotts." came Harry's response.
"Okay, I can see where you're coming from for that," stated Hestia, "but what about your second year, you said something about that earlier."
"I'm sure you've all heard that the Chamber of Secrets was opened a few years back?" Harry asked. Remus, Tonks, and Kingsley all nodded solemnly, while Hestia looked confused.
"It was? But I thought that the Heir of Slytherin could only open it? And isn't that Voldemort?" came her confused reply.
"While that is true, he still managed to open it by possessing someone, who's name will be left out for confidentiality." Harry responded, "Now tell me what you know about the beast that lies in the Chamber?"
"Only that it can only be controlled by the Heir of Slytherin." was Hestia's response.
"And you know for a fact that Salazar was a Parselmouth, correct?" Harry asked, while looking at Hestia, to which, she nodded. "Well, it just so happens that when Voldemort gave me this scar, he also gave me some of his abilities, including Parseltounge. So, whenever there were these attacks in which a Muggleborn student would end up petrified, I would here this voice saying that it wanted to kill. I was confused as to why only I could here this voice that was saying it wanted to kill people. Finally, near the end of the year, the person that Voldemort was possessing was brought down to the chamber to await their death, so that Voldemort could return. I went and rescued this person, and killed the basilisk that had been terrorizing the school, of course, I had the help of Fawkes at the time. He brought me the Sorting hat, which ended up giving me the Sword of Gryffindor, which I used to fight it with, after Fawkes had clawed out it's deadly eyes.
"Now, if you were as smart as Dumbledore, would you not have guessed automatically that the beast that was in the chamber was at least a snake of some sorts? And then you factor in the fact that, apparently the snake had lived for thousands of years. I can only think of one kind of snake that has the ability to live that long, don't you?" Harry asked.
"I can see your logic there, but that still doesn't explain how you think Dumbledore manipulated you." Cut in Kingsley.
"Well, firstly, I believe that Dumbledore was counting on my reckless Gryffindor side to take over and find the Chamber to begin with. Dumbledore has been in Hogwarts for a very long time, has he not?" Harry inquired.
"But of course, he said he was a teacher there when Voldemort was a student." Tonks said.
"Exactly. Now, the first time the Chamber was opened, a Muggleborn girl died in a bathroom. Now tell me. Do you know of Moaning Myrtle?"
"Of course, she's the reason no one goes into that one girls bathroom on the second floor… Oh…" was Hestia's response, it finally clicking.
"Okay, so being as brilliant as Dumbledore is, would you not question the ghost of the only one to die because the Chamber of Secrets was opened?" Harry asked.
"Yeah… I see what you're getting at now." Hestia said, while all the others nodded sadly.
Moody suddenly spoke from the front of the group, "We're going to start our decent, prepare for landing!"
They landed in a little park that was located just off a street called Grimmauld Place. As they walked to the edge of the park, Moody thrust a piece of parchment into Harry's hand, "Read it, and memorize it." He said gruffly. Looking down, Harry could see the address "Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London, England" written in a neat scroll that he recognized as Dumbledore's. As soon as Harry looked up from it, it burst into flames. As he looked around for the indicated address, he noticed that it seemed to be missing. But as soon as he thought this, it began to appear in between numbers 11 and 13. They walked up the steps, then Moody tapped a few different points on the door, which were all followed by a series of clicks and jangles of chains un raveling.
Once they were all inside, and the door shut and locked behind them, Remus said, "Welcome, Harry, to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix." To which Harry laughed heartily. "For the headquarters of such an organization, it seems to be pretty dark and dreary." It was true; it seemed to just have bad feeling about the entire thing. Harry continued, "Well, it looks like I'll get to work right now, so I don't have to think of a dark and dreary place as this organization of light's meeting house." Drawing his wand, he whispered a few things, and the result was immediate, at least in the parts of the house from the door to where he was standing. The house was slowly starting to become a clean, bright place, decorated in mostly Gryffindor colours, but a few Ravenclaw and Huffelpuff here and there.
Smiling, Harry continued down the hall, the results of his work following his every step. "Now, where is this Order of the Phoenix meeting?" he asked, turning towards the others, who were nothing short of shocked at what he had done.
"Umm… It's in the kitchen in the basement, but Dumbledore doesn't want you to be in the meeting…" Remus said, a little scared at what Harry might do in response to what he just said.
The result was immediate. Harry's face darkened, and he started stalking towards what he assumed was the entrance to the kitchen. Just then, Mrs. Weasley came out of the door he was heading to, and paid no head to the dark look that was on Harry's face, "Oh, Harry dear, how nice to see you! Why don't you go upstairs and into yours and Ron's room, we're about to have a meeting, and you kids shouldn't be in the kitchen."
Harry turned to her and smiled briefly, before saying "There's a few things I need to discuss with Professor Dumbledore before you guys start." He stated simply, his face darkening once again.
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