A New Path
AN: Sorry for the delay. This last week hasn't been good for me. I didn't get anything written for anything in the first few days and, to add to why this took me so long, I've been trying to write this chapter without leaning on the book too much, like I have in the last couple of chapters. Hope it's worth the wait.
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CHAPTER 7 - Chaos at the Ministry
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Thanks to the genius of the Weasley twins, Umbridge spent the entirety of her first day as headmistress chasing seemingly sentient fireworks throughout the whole of Hogwarts castle. With the seemingly unintentional help of the professors and students, the days following weren't much better for the witch.
"What did they say?"
Harry frowned as Voldemort's voice appeared in his head.
"About what?" He paused then added. "And who?"
"The Weasley twins, about becoming death eaters. They are still planning to leave Hogwarts, aren't they?"
"From what I know, yes, but no, they don't want to be death eaters. They'll join me though."
"But not me? Why? What's wrong with me?"
"Do you really want me to answer that? No, it's just they don't know if they can trust you yet but they trust me so it's kinda a compromise."
"Cute, brat. I can still curse you from here you know. A little spot of possession and I can even get you to do it for me whenever."
"Ah, but if you do that, what's to stop me from spreading the rumour that you're dating Rita Skeeter because she found out you're a halfblood?"
"Touché. Although I don't know how many would believe I could sink that low."
Harry laughed.
The Easter holidays arrived without further ado, bringing with it the promised planning session between Sirius and the twins. Harry would sit in and, if possible, Voldemort would make an appearance too. But first, Harry would have to break away from Hermione's revision timetable.
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"You should be revising."
Harry practically jumped at hearing the voice so close yet not in his head. He spun around to stare at Voldemort. The dark lord merely smirked.
"Thought you'd be impressed." The twins chorused.
Harry turned to them. "This was you?" He asked in disbelief.
They nodded in synch. "With a little help from our favourite dark lord."
Harry ignored Voldemort laughing behind him in favour of questioning the twins further. "How? What? How? I mean-"
"Harry, breathe." Voldemort said, still laughing.
He did. In. Out. In. Out. And then stepped back so he could glare at the three inhabitants of the room easily.
The twins' grins grew. "It's the room -"
"- of requirements, we thought. -"
"- And you told us -"
"- how it worked. -"
"- D'you remember all -"
"- those questions we -"
"- got you to ask Voldie here? -" A non-existent eyebrow was raised by said man at the name.
"- Well, if you require -"
"- someone from outside -"
"- the castle, -"
"- the castle creates a -"
"- passage to let them in."
Harry blinked in confusion before it registered. "That's amazing."
"We know." The twins answered.
"Do they always talk like that?" Voldemort said into Harry's head.
"Yes. Almost always."
"I'm going to need a headache reliever, I think."
Harry chuckled.
"You know, if you want to say -"
"- something but don't want us -"
"- to hear it. You can always talk -"
"- in parseltongue."
Voldemort looked at the twins questioningly. "True, because only Harry and I speak it."
"For now." Harry stared at the twins with the same expression as Voldemort but neither responded to the twins' words.
"How did you know we were talking?" Harry asked.
"You both stared into space." George answered.
"You more than Voldie though." Fred continued.
"You might want to practice, Harry." Finished George.
"Perhaps," Harry conceded, "where's Sirius?"
"We are just waiting on the passage to him to materialise." Voldemort told him. "If it is to be secret he will have to be alone so therefore the room, I believe, is waiting for the opportune moment."
Harry nodded. "Is that what the snake portrait is?" He asked.
"Yes. It leads to my personally rooms at the manor." Voldemort pinned the twins with a fierce stare. "And no one is to travel the path except me."
"Were you planning on pranking Voldie?" Harry asked the twins in an innocent voice.
"Well a passage directly to his bedroom is a perfect gift for such dreams." They answered together.
"It doesn't lead to my bedroom." Voldemort said through clenched teeth, clearly trying not to curse Harry's friends.
Thankfully for everyone involved, at that moment a second portrait appeared beside the first. Seconds later, Sirius stepped out.
"Hope I'm not too late." He said without looking around. "Kreacher and Molly combined. When I finally got rid of that nasty elf Molly turned up to see how I was doing." He shook his head and looked at everyone present. "I mean, I've been locked- !"
There was a moment of stone statues while Sirius adjusted to seeing Voldemort in the same room, when it was over he sidled to the twins' side of the room.
"He doesn't bite." Harry said as an icebreaker. It worked. All five wizards laughed.
"Sorry." Sirius said to the dark lord. "It's just, well,"
"It is understandable." Voldemort answered coldly.
Harry smacked his arm. "Play nice."
Voldemort glared at him but didn't argue.
They discussed the plans for the end of term. After Harry had joined him, Voldemort explained that there was a prophecy regarding the two of them. He decided that he would try to discover the true prophecy so that he could check there would be was no problem ignoring it, despite Harry's claim that he should just ignore it altogether and that by trying to hear it he was being 'a little bit insane again'.
Voldemort's attempt to get hold of the prophecy had failed early but a new possibility had shown itself. By the end, it was decided that Sirius would fake his death while Harry retrieved the prophecy, keeping Voldemort's involvement to a minimum.
"After, Harry will be required to talk to Dumbledore. It is unavoidable. The old fool loves to play with his toys and Harry is one of his current favourites."
Harry nodded but remained quiet.
"We will try to take this opportunity to take him out of the game."
"Kill him?" Sirius asked, shocked.
Voldemort smirked. "Ah, yes. I temporarily forgot. You are a fan of his aren't you?"
Sirius bridled. "I followed him, if that's what you mean. I just think killing him is a bit far."
"How about keeping that as plan B." Harry said, breaking his silence. "Plan A being anything which won't kill him but will stop him going against us."
"We're with Harry." The twins chorused.
Both Sirius and Voldemort took in a deep breath before agreeing.
"So, Plan A?"
"Gossip? -"
"- Pranks? -"
"- Both?"
Voldemort shook his head. "That will not deter the man. Do you think I have not tried that? When I was younger and trying to get control through more," he looked at Harry with a smirk, "Slytherin ways, I outed his and Grindelwald's, shall we say, less than reported relationship and other juicy secrets Dumbledore kept hidden. As I'm sure I don't need to tell you, they went back to being hidden very quickly."
"Less than reported relationship?" Sirius asked, curious.
"They were lovers." Voldemort answered. "Before, and possibly but probably not, after."
"Oo, after's news to me." Harry said suddenly. "Spill."
At Sirius and the twins' questioning glances, Harry pointed at Voldemort.
"It is only suspicion. After all, Dumbledore had the man imprisoned despite the numerous calls for other punishments. The most popular being a death sentence."
"So... what do you suggest?"
"If I cannot kill him?" Voldemort paused in thought for a moment. "Get him locked away somewhere. Legally would probably be more effective than any kind of trick or trap."
"And we all know there's plenty he could get sent down for." Harry added quietly.
"There is?" The twins asked.
Sirius nodded sadly. "There is."
"So that's Plan A. Plan B?"
"We will discuss it when Plan A is in motion."
/You and I will discuss it later tonight. How is you Occulmency training coming along?\ Voldemort asked in parseltongue once the twins and Sirius started up on potential pranks for Umbridge and the ministry.
/I managed to block Snape yesterday. Well, I have before but this time I did it with my mind.\
/Well done. We are doing well. And your revision?\
Harry sighed. /Hermione has me studying like crazy so relax.\
Voldemort smiled happily.
/Is that why you've been quieter recently.\ Harry asked with a small frown.
/Have you been missing me?\ The dark lord teased.
/Yes.\ That caused the man to freeze momentarily.
/Yes. I thought you would want some peace.\
/Maybe you could help me study? When you're not busy with crazy death eaters.\
/Not all my death eaters are crazy. Granted, Bella and the other Azkaban escapees are a little unhinged but that is to be expected.\
/Unhinged does not describe Bella. I've seen her in your head. She's nuts.\
/She's not nuts, as you put it. She's... okay maybe she's a little nuts.\
/Aw, but you love her anyway.\ Voldemort raised his eyebrow again just as Harry pulled a face. /Do I have to treat her like a sister, when I come back to the manor, or does it not matter?\
Voldemort looked at Harry for a moment. /I suppose I do treat her like a daughter, don't I?\
/Er, yes.\ Harry said as if it were obvious.
/You just have to get along. That's all.\
Harry nodded.
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Voldemort was impressed by the Weasley twins' portable swamp. On the first day of term after the holidays, the twins had made their exit in style, causing Umbridge as much chaos as possible in the process. For the first time either Harry or the dark lord had known, Peeves had taken an order from a student, the result of which was a continuous shower of poltergeist pranks for Umbridge and Filch.
"They will make great death eaters." The dark lord said wistfully.
"Wishful thinking. They said they won't be death eaters, remember?" Harry replied to a growl from the man. "Now lords of chaos perhaps, chaos masters? I dunno, something chaos."
"No."
"Why not?"
"It sounds childish."
"So? Death eaters sounds worse."
There was a low growl. "Maybe, they weren't that bad. Lords of chaos sounds better than chaos masters."
"Lords of chaos it is. I'll pass it on."
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Very quickly, the OWLs were on them and every fifth year student in Hogwarts was head deep in revision. Harry, with the tutoring from Voldemort and pushing from Hermione, was just about staying afloat with his revision between lessons with Snape, albeit lessening as the exams got nearer, and planning with his newly dubbed lords of chaos.
"You must try harder, Harry. I will not have my heir receive anything less than an outstanding in his OWLs."
"Oh, so I'm your heir today, yesterday I was only your apprentice. What about in Divination?"
There was a pause. "Divination doesn't count. Why couldn't you have taken Runes or something else useful?"
"Because I had no idea and no one to correct me when I was picking them. It's your fault, you should have adopted me sooner."
"I haven't adopted you."
"What? No, you know what I meant."
"Did you want me to adopt you? I considered it but I thought it might be a little odd."
"..."
"Harry?"
"You were going to adopt me?"
"Um, end of conversation. Get back to revising."
"Voldemort."
...
"Voldemort?"
...
"Snake-faced albino?"
...
"Seriously? Nothing? Guess it really is back to revision then."
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"Harry? What happened? Are you alright? Are you ill?" Hermione and Ron rushed over to their friend the second the exam had finished.
"I, er -" "fell asleep, History of Magic does that to me. Thanks Binns." "had a vision."
"What are you doing?"
"Be quiet for a moment."
Hermione was looking worried.
"Come on, I've got to tell you something." He pulled them into the first empty classroom he could find. When he was sure no one could hear them he spoke again. "Voldemort's got Sirius."
"Interesting."
"What?"
"How d'you -?"
"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam."
"You're doing it now?"
"Yes."
"Thanks for the warning."
"No need for sarcasm. I'm taking advantage of the moment. Just like you taught me." Harry sent a mental smirk at Voldemort and then focused back on his friends.
"Where?" Hermione was sheet white.
"Department of Mysteries."
It took a lot of persuading but eventually they were on their way to London. Due to Hermione's insistent pleading for proof before action, a trip to Umbridge's office was arranged first with the help of Luna and Ginny who had heard Harry's annoyed yelling. Chaos ensued, leaving the five plus Neville fleeing on thestral-back while Umbridge was left in the forbidden forest to deal with a herd of very angry centaurs and an over-enthusiastic Grawp and her inquisitorial squad all stunned or distracted back in her office. There was an awkward moment when Snape was thrown into the mix, neither Voldemort or Harry had informed him of the plan, but, like the spy he was, he played along for all sides and didn't interfere.
The atrium of the ministry of magic was strangely quiet and empty when they arrived, the only sound coming from the water gushing out of the golden fountain.
Unable to get any of the others to stay behind, the six made their way down into the Department of Mysteries and through many doors until they found the room full of prophecies.
"Uh, which one?"
"Row... ninety-seven."
"Row ninety-seven." Harry whispered, he just felt it right considering the lie he'd told for being here.
When they found the row, Harry rushed quietly down it whispering sureties that Sirius was there and playing confused when he, as expected, wasn't.
"Harry?" It was Ron.
"What?"
"Have you seen this?"
"What?" Ron didn't answer straight away, he was staring at a shelf. "What?"
"It's - it's got your name on?"
"There aren't any negative spells, you should be able to just pick it up safely." Voldemort whispered despite being in Harry's head.
"My name?" Harry moved closer to Ron and looked at the shelf. Sure enough, the prophecy was there. He reached forward to pick it up.
"Harry, I don't think you should touch it." Hermione said sharply as he reached out.
"Why not?" He asked. He should have expected Hermione to argue that. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"
Before she could argue back, Harry picked up the orb. The other five moved in closer around Harry, gazing at the orb as he brushed off the dust and then waited.
It wasn't even a second he had to wait.
"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."
Harry turned to face Malfoy senior, pasting a surprised expression on his face to match those on his friends.
"To me, Potter." Malfoy said, hand held out palm up.
It was meant to be simple. Harry would be captured, the death eaters would take the prophecy and then the order, including Sirius, would rescue him. Sirius would pretend to take a hit and then the order and death eaters would leave their separate ways.
What happened was anything but simple.
Caught unexpected by the number of teenagers, Bella and Lucius were stalling for Harry to make a move. He obliged, leading to several shelves of prophecy to come tumbling down and the six teenagers to flee. Had it just been Harry he would have happily handed the prophecy over but with the others there it would have been too out of character.
As expected, the order arrived not long later and a chaotic fight began. Very quickly, Dumbledore turned up and joined in, many death eaters trying to flee when seeing him. Only one pair were still fighting.
Harry saw the curse fly at Sirius, saw it hit and saw him fall backwards towards the veil. It seemed to take an age for him to fall and it seemed so real. Harry fought back his urge to curse Bella for killing Sirius, knowing full well that the two had planned it and Sirius was safe. Instead, he chased her out of the room with the veil, through several of the other strange rooms and up into the atrium.
Not knowing who was watching they played the game, Harry throwing a crucio Bella's way but without true intent and Bella responding with taunts and teasing.
He heard him before he saw him. "Where is it?" Harry turned to see Voldemort striding towards him. "The prophecy, where is it?"
"It smashed while I was carrying Neville." Harry answered, confused by the man's unexpected appearance.
Voldemort growled. "I will curse him for it."
"Hey! If anyone's cursing Neville it will be me. The reason it happened was partly because some of the death eaters got a little too into the fight, besides it's not like we really need it."
That didn't seem to calm the dark lord much, but before the man could respond Dumbledore turned up.
The headmaster threw Harry, by a spell, out of the way, protected by part of the now animate fountain. Harry tried to get up but the statue-wizard pushed him down.
"Stay down." Voldemort ordered. Harry obeyed.
Voldemort and Dumbledore fought for some time before Harry sensed a pulse of magic. He guessed it was something to do with the missing fountain statues but didn't get the chance to find out. Dumbledore's last spell had caused Voldemort to become encased in water. Just before he vanished, causing the water to splash to the floor, Harry heard a voice in his mind. "I'm sorry. Remain calm. It will be ok." And then everything went black.
When he woke, Harry found himself lying on the floor with Dumbledore looking down at him apologetically. He pushed himself up and glanced around. There were many other witches and wizards filling the hall now. Immediately, Harry identified the minister of magic, still in his pyjamas under his pinstriped cloak.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Whatever the meaning was, Harry didn't get to know because it was then that Dumbledore spoke, causing Fudge to notice Harry in the wreckage. "If you would give me a moment minister, I will explain everything when Harry is back at school."
"Harry - Harry Potter?" Fudge seemed dazed.
While the minister was adjusting, Dumbledore created a portkey and gave it to Harry. "I will be along shortly. We will talk then."
"Just wait a minute, Dumbledore. You don't have authorisation for that portkey-"
The world around Harry dissolved and he felt himself being pulled by his navel. No matter how many times he'd travelled by portkey with the twins and Voldemort, Harry still hated it with a passion.
He landed alone in Dumbledore's office.
It didn't take long for the many portraits to start talking to him. Harry remained silent and simply sat in a chair to wait.
When Dumbledore finally returned, Harry was ready to channel some anger and grief his way. Harry tensed as Dumbledore watched him. As per their agreement, Voldemort was keeping his distance from Harry's mind so that Dumbledore wouldn't suspect anything.
Knowing his godfather had supposedly died, Harry pretended to be furious with spurts of grief fill rage. Quite happily, he destroyed several instruments and other assortments as part of his act. Voldemort had mentioned during their talk that Dumbledore probably had some device somewhere that monitored Harry and Harry was keen to get rid of it. Even if he missed that particular instrument, the mess would still hit Dumbledore's surveillance of something.
They talked for some time, various topics, until eventually the prophecy came up.
Harry watched the memory Trelawney speak in the harsh, hoarse voice he had heard her use only once before, noting every word of the prophecy carefully. After it was done and the memory had sunk back into the pensive, Harry went back to fiddling with the ring on his finger. Dumbledore noticed, his eyes scanned Harry's hand for the briefest second. Harry forced down the grin.
They talked about the prophecy, Harry playing dumb to the implied meaning. Dumbledore explained what he believed and Harry listened, asking questions at intervals. Gently, Harry steered the conversation towards Voldemort, focusing on his first 'death' and on his diary from Harry's second year. While trying to seem like a grieving child that only wanted to know the truth, Harry pushed Dumbledore on Voldemort's supposed immortality using the prophecy as an excuse to question it.
After some time, the talking slowed then ended and Dumbledore sent Harry to be with his friends.
/You did well.\ Harry heard as he descended the stairs. /I apologise for the need to possess you back there, in the ministry.\
"Why are you speaking in parseltongue? We're in my head. No one can hear us." He asked after passing the gargoyle.
/I do not want to take the risk, and neither should you.\
/Fine. But you're paranoid, you know that? Will it be okay? The ring?\
/It will be fine.\ Voldemort answered confidently. /I have replaced it with a cursed fake. Dumbledore will not be able to tell the difference and, with luck, he will curse himself while he tries to destroy it.\
/And there was me thinking we were going to get him arrested first before killing him.\
/I see no reason not being prepared for the worst.\
Harry snorted. /And you had to get me involved?\
/Think of it as life practice. We can still try to get him arrested if it makes you feel better? The twins and Black will be expecting it.\
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AN: Sorry this chapter is so short and took so long to arrive.
I will continue to try to write this story but if anyone is interested in adopting it they are welcome, just please PM me so I can put a link either here or on my profile.
