Wormtail was as mousy and jumpy as he had ever been. He possessed a unique ability to make one feel guilty, as though his heinous actions were not his own fault. He didn't meet harry gaze, but spent his time staring at his feet. Hopefully he would be able to provide some valuable information to the ministry and the Order. It would be nice if something good could be taken from the attack here.

Harry recalled that the fact Wormtail was an Animagus was little known to the Ministry.

"Don't forget to tell them that he can transform into a rat. Make sure he doesn't escape." He instructed, as Moody oversaw the man being taken away. With Moody on the case one could rest easy. He was capable of taking even the most elusive of criminals. He could arrest lightning if he wanted to.

With a small amount of hope it occurred to Harry that perhaps now Sirius will have his innocence proven, and even though he wouldn't be around to see it, people would be able to start honouring his memory, and not thinking ill of him. Harry glanced over his shoulder when he heard the voice of Cho's mother. Ginny and Cho had reappeared and Cho was hugging her mother; apparently she found the whole thing quite frightening.

Mr. Chang, who was not one for heartfelt embraces made his way over to Harry.

"I wanted to say thank you Harry, for protecting my daughter from those Death Eaters. It was very brave of you to do what you did. You are a decent kid."

"Through and through." Remus added. Harry never felt very comfortable with people thanking him. Especially not when the whole thing was his fault in the first place.

"I didn't really do anything. Most of the time I was just hiding in the bushes."

"But you didn't run, and you could have. I respect a man who looks out for others."

"Well thank you then, sir."

"Call me William." He said as he took the opportunity to shake Harry's hand, as though they were finally only not meeting. "Tell you what, why don't you come round for dinner tonight? It's the least we can do." Harry was about to reply, when Remus, who had apparently been listening, decided to pitch in.

"I'm afraid Harry has a prior engagement tonight that can't be avoided." This was news to him. In the holidays he rarely planned further ahead than ten minutes.

"Or tomorrow night would be fine. In fact why not make it the whole of tomorrow. We are going out and Cho gets lonely by herself." William glanced at his daughter before he steered Harry a small distance away. "If I'm honest I think it would be a big help. Cho feels guilty that she didn't stay and help you. Perhaps if she gets a chance to see there wasn't any lasting harm then she will calm down? You are alright aren't you?" He asked hastily as he realised he hadn't actually enquired as to Harry's state of well being.

"I will be fine yes. You know how these things are." He replied, before realising that William probably didn't. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. "But yes I would love to come round tomorrow, if you are sure I can. Remus, will I be able to?"

"Yes, I think that should be alright." Came the reply, along with the unspoken understanding that certain safety measures would have to be taken.

"Would you like me to drop him off tomorrow?" Remus enquired.

"There won't be a need for that, you can just use the floo network, we are connected.

"I'm afraid that probably wouldn't be possible. With Harry we are trying to avoid using the floo network at the moment. It isn't particularly safe, and as you have seen today, we do need to consider these things."

"Very well we can stop by to pick him up then." Said William with a nod of his head. "What's the address again?"

Remus wrote the address down on a spare piece of parchment.

"Harry is staying with Tonks and I, so it is the same address as when Cho was round. Harry noted with interest the way Remus said "Tonks and I". Clearly in this cover story there was something going on.

"Ok then I will see you tomorrow about ten o'clock." Cho, who up to this point had not been involved in the conversation, gave Harry a parting smile as she left with her parents.

As Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry made then made their way back down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron, and where they had parked, Harry turned to Remus.

"So, what am I doing tonight then?"

"A meeting with the Order of course." Remus explained. "They will of course be summoned. Harry didn't press the conversation further, but mulled over it on the journey home. Was Harry going to become a member of the Order? Or were they just going to ask him some questions about things and then shoo him upstairs whilst they talked there "grown up" talk.

Harry was only sixteen and he remembered being told you needed to be seventeen, but didn't it seem stupid that he wouldn't be included since he was so central to Voldemort's defeat? As Harry sat back in the seat of the car deep in thought, Ron turned to him.

"That was pretty brave today buddy, It's a good job no one died, it could have been much worse. I can't believe the Snape would torture you like that though."

"Can't you? I think that's Snape all over." He wondered if Snape would be at the order. How would it feel to sit and stare at Snape who had been using the cruciatus curse on him only an hour before? He knew Snape was an arse, but this was a whole new level.

Eventually the car pulled up to the drive. Whilst it was only turning to late afternoon it still felt like a long day. Harry imagined that he could sleep for a long time, and was grateful that he didn't need to be up too early in the morning. He turned his attention back to what remained of the day, He felt a building anticipation as he thought about the Order and what he might hear. To know the full details would be novel to him. He was so used to grasping in the dark for information as Dumbledore only gave him to smallest of clues.

As they stepped in to the house and closed the door behind them the aroma of fresh baking assaulted them. The smell seemed to catch Ron's attention as well, because the next thing Harry knew, they were both in the kitchen staring at several cakes and pies. Mrs Weasley was just putting an apple pie down when she spotted the two boys.

"Don't get your hopes up because they're not all for you." Harry had noticed over the past few days that Mrs Weasley spent most of her time in a perpetual state of cooking, as though she were feeding a small army. In some ways she was.

Remus stepped into the kitchen with a grave look on his face which removed the initial need for an explanation. As Molly stared at him she knew with a mother's instinct that something was wrong.

"There were Death Eaters at Diagon Alley today." He said gravely. A shattering sound followed this announcement as Mrs Weasley dropped the freshly baked apple pie she had been holding. The dish hit the floor and glass cascaded in all directions. Mrs Weasley comprehended the sentence before looking round and observing only two out of the four expected children.

Panic rose in her face as she quickly bustled past them and in to the hallway where Ginny and Hermione were in the process of removing their shoes, whilst Tonks was currently applying a fake moustache for her own amusement. Molly let out a sigh of relief as she counted the number of people who left and the number who returned and concluded that there were no fatalities.

"Don't tell me bad new like that Remus, wait till I can see all the children first, otherwise I will assume the worst." She scolded as she threw an oven glove at him.

"The members of the Order have been contacted by Alastor. They will be here shortly." Mrs Weasley considered this for a moment.

"It's a good job I baked lots then." She remarked. "What happened?" Harry was surprised this was not the first thing that was asked but thought about how in times of worry peoples minds don't always work properly. Maybe that is why Neville always failed at potions.

"The Death Eaters staged an attack on Ollivander's. We aren't quite sure what they were after yet, I think hopefully when Alastor returns he will have more information, but it is a bit of a mystery to us.

"Honestly, those Death Eaters are despicable, attacking such a lovely old man." Molly tutted, as though harassing an old man were a much graver crime than the mass murders they were normally associated with. Remus proceeded to relay the events to her.

Harry felt a little awkward sitting at the kitchen table whilst he was being discussed so he got up and made his way for the living room. As he plonked down on one of the many squashy sofas facing the window he contemplated the last twenty four hours. He sat staring out at the long garden and the swimming pool to one side. Things had seemed much less complicated this time yesterday when he was just playing with friends out on a sunny afternoon. Today was a stark reminder of what was going on in the real world.

The wizarding world was at war, and he was in the middle of it, unable to defend himself, and reliant on others. Was he meant to stay within the confinements of the house for the remainder of the summer holidays? He had hardly been back fifteen minutes and already he was feeling like a prisoner in his own home. This must have been how Sirius felt, stuck here for months at a time, not being able to see things for him self.

As he sat in silence Tonks walked into the room. She spotted Harry, contemplated leaving before finally sitting down next to him. She didn't say anything; she just sat there, staring at the carpet.

"I think this is the bit where you talk?" Harry suggested. She gave an uncomfortable laugh. Harry didn't know what to do. He had never had anyone just start crying in front of him, "I'm sorry Harry, when we went out today I was meant to be protecting you. I was meant to make sure nothing bad happened, and I failed. Because I let you down you ended up getting tortured half to death. Please forgive me Harry."

He understood now why she seemed uncomfortable. She had been blaming herself for what happened.

"There is nothing to forgive Tonks. It wasn't your fault the Death Eaters turned up. You didn't invite them. It was me who chose to get involved. I could have just stayed hidden, so it was all my choice. You didn't do anything wrong. You did however get help when I needed it, so I don't accept your apology, but I hope you will accept my thanks."

Tonks gave a small laugh and wiped away a tear which Harry hadn't seen form.

"You are older than your years you know Harry." She said as she gave him a hug, but thumped him on the back at the same time in much the same way that Ron or one of his other guy friends might.

"And you are younger than your years." He said as returned her hug, and gently rubbed her back in much the same way that Molly or one of her other girl friends might.

"I do try." She said as she returned to her bouncier self. "No point missing the fun stuff." Any further discussion was cut short by a loud commotion going on in the corridor. Harry and Tonks both exchanged a glance before making there way to find out what was going on.

"What do you think you were doing?" Remus shouted as he shoved Snape up against the wall. It seemed Snape had finally turned up, and understandably things had turned quite tense. "How dare you hurt Harry like that!"

"Unhand me you mongrel." Snape spat as he raised his wand. Whilst Remus had him pressed against the wall, Snape had his wand pointed at the formers chest. There was a sort of stalemate, though the two did not stop shouting.

"Not until you explain yourself. You had better have a dam good explanation because last time I checked using the Crucio curse on other members of the order was not one of your missions."

"If you stopped being such am imbecile for long enough perhaps you would see fit to thank me, for I surely saved the boys life, as much as it may have pained me to do so."

"Gentlemen." Spoke a voice from the doorway that caused the sworn enemies to fall silent. "As anxious as we are for information, may we please conduct ourselves with a little more restraint?" Dumbledore had arrived.

"But he…"

"Indeed, I'm sure Severus will see fit to explain, but I don't believe being restrained against a wall is quite the way in which our meetings normally take place." Remus very reluctantly let go of Snape, who for the sole purpose of irritating Remus further, permitted a smirk to arrive upon his face.

"As I was saying, it is my actions alone that saved Harry Potter. It was unfortunate that the boy so recklessly involved himself in the matter." As he said this he scowled in Harry's direction. "Lacking protection as he did, it would have been the simplest of matters to either kill Harry, or take him alive, as was being proposed. By torturing him as I did, it permitted me to stall for time without raising suspicion and revealing my allegiances. If Remus hadn't been off in Diagon Alley buying dog food, he would have observed that three minutes had passed, whilst Harry remained…" And here he hesitated. "Unharmed."

There was a few seconds silence that passed as everyone absorbed what was being said. "Now if anyone would care to propose a better way I may have prevented Potter from being killed or kidnapped, without blowing my cover then I would be more than welcome to hear it." Whilst Remus didn't like the method he struggled to meet Snape's challenge.

"Very well, that sounds like acceptable reasoning." Albus concluded. "However if you could please refrain from using any further unforgivable curses on members of the Order, this would be appreciated."

"I make no promises." Snape replied in a manner which left Harry suspecting this might not be the last time he felt pain at Snape's hand.

As the argument was settled the remaining members of the Order began to arrive. Professor McGonagall and Moody arrived, followed by Arthur Weasley, Bill and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Molly seemed to have a worried expression on her face as she approached Dumbledore.

"Albus you wouldn't believe what Remus has been suggesting. He thinks Harry should be initiated in to the Order." She said as though she had been overwhelmed by the incredulity of it all. She then turned to Harry and said in the voice she only used when trying to sound kind. "Its nothing- personal dear, but it is very dangerous."

Something happened on Moody's face, which Harry assumed was a grin.

"From what I hear, Potter here laughs in the face of danger."

"Actually it was more like screaming in pain in the face of danger." Harry corrected.

"Screaming in pain, laughing. It's a damn thin line. Damn thin."

Dumbledore turned his attentions to Remus.

"Yes I thought you might think so. It is of course not our decision at all but rather entirely Harry's." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes as though he were the only one who knew the inside joke. Harry was confused by this. What did he mean it was Harry's decision? Yes, he could say he wanted to join but it was up to them whether they agreed. "Sorry sir, but what do you mean it is up to me?" Harry asked as he furrowed his brow.

Dumbledore smiled as offered the answer.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out. This is now your house as you remember me telling you yesterday. Now tell me if I am wrong," Dumbledore then lowered his voice and leaned closer to Harry and said "which I rarely am!" He then returned to his normal volume. "But the dining room is also part of this house, and if Harry was so inclined, and I think he is, he may choose to sit in the dining room while we are in there discussing Order related matters. He may choose to add comments or opinions to what was being said, if the fancy took him. After all it is his house and he is free to be present at any given time."

Harry now caught on to what Dumbledore meant. He supposed that when Dumbledore asked yesterday, if they may continue to hold the Order meetings here, he was entirely away such a situation as this would arise. Ron, Ginny and Hermione who were now on the stairs and being ushered up by Arthur Weasley looked to Dumbledore.

"So that would also mean that if Harry wanted his friends to sit with him then that would have to be accepted as well would it?" Ron asked hopefully.

"They catch on fast don't they?" Tonks laughed.

Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

"If it is Harry's wish that you accompany him in the dining room at a time which may or may not be now, then that is how it shall be. Do you want them to stay Harry?" He thought about what Mrs Weasley had said, about the dangers involved in being a member of the Order. Harry didn't want to lose Hermione or any of his friends. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if any harm were to come to them

"No." Harry said finally. Ginny looked surprised. Ron looked Flabbergasted and outraged. Hermione offered a curious expression, as if calculating Harry's decision. She tugged Ron by his sleeve and the three teenagers reluctantly made their way upstairs.

"A wise decision." Said Kingsley, whom Harry had seldom heard speak before. "You would not want to have friends or loved ones get involved in dangerous matters." Bill turned to Kingsley and said,

"So then, shall we commence?" Harry was confused. This wasn't all of the members of the Order. What about Mundungus Fletcher and Arabella Figg? What about Fred and George? "What about others? Isn't Mundungus Fletcher? Isn't he coming?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, He isn't invited to the meetings. You know what he is like Harry. We thought it best not to tell him anything important in case he accidentally lets it slip into the wrong hands." Molly explained.

Remus seemed to answer Harry's follow up question before he even asked it. "Arabella was invited but she seemed not to want to. It was a bit inconvenient anyway. She would have had trouble getting here anyway. It takes a long time on muggle transport"

"Any more questions before we start, young Potter?" Questioned Moody.

"Yes actually. What about Fred and George? Why aren't they here?" The members of the Order seemed slightly confused with this one. Harry decided to help them out. "At my party they said they had become members." This didn't seem to help them, until Tonks cottoned on.

"Yes." She said as she clicked her fingers. "Fred and George were just lying about that to get you to go away while we prepared."

Harry felt a little silly for having believed them. Fred and George were nothing if not liars. (Technically one may refer to them as jokesters, but the jokes or pranks they played did have a common theme of someone being lied to). Dumbledore smiled as they walked towards the dining room.

"Good. Now that all outstanding questions have been answered, let us commence with the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix."

They all took a seat at the table, except for Molly, who made a few trips back to the kitchen to bring in the cakes and pies she had spent the day baking. They all helped themselves to something, as the meeting started. It seemed that the fruit slice was very popular because the three remaining slices went very quickly leaving Dumbledore looking somewhat disappointed.

"Alas, the last fruit slice has once again been snatched away by fates cruel hand."

"My hand isn't cruel!" Said Tonks indignantly.

Surely this couldn't all they did in the meetings, just sit around and eat cake? "Still," Harry thought to himself, "It won't be bad if it is."

"Very well." Dumbledore began. "The first matter to attend to should be the initialisation. This however may take a long time, and I understand that since you have been called on such short notice some of you have matters you will wish to get back to. For this reason if no one has any objections, I felt that perhaps we may complete the initialisation at the end."

Harry wondered exactly what the initiation test involved. "Hopefully not some sort of written exam." He felt like he should have prepared for whatever it would be. No one objected to it being delayed until afterwards, and so Dumbledore continued.

"Anyway let's get down to business. A little over an hour ago the Death Eaters made an appearance in Diagon Alley. Whilst they appear to have some unknown business with the wand maker, Ollivander, and we managed to capture Peter Pettigrew, It would seem that this may have been merely a diversion."

"Those tricky bastards." Moody exclaimed as he punched his fist down on the table.

"Yes" Dumbledore continued. "It would appear that Lord Voldemort sent some Death Eaters to interrogate Ollivander whilst the remainder of his forces made a full-scale attack on the prison of Azkaban." Harry glanced at his watch. Less than a minute in and already things were going to pot. At this rate the world would burn to the ground by dinner time.

"Unfortunately, although the ministry had acknowledged the return of Voldemort the prison was not properly guarded."

"Why wasn't it guarded?" Asked Mrs Weasley as she glanced around the table, to see if this had been common knowledge, or if everyone was as surprised as she was.

"Well with the return of Voldemort now public knowledge, the Ministry is having trouble finding any alternate guard to the Dementors." Explained Kingsley.

"No one wants to be near the prison." Added Moody. "The place has loads of Voldemort's followers in there. People would rather give Voldemort his followers back than risk a job where they think they are certain to be killed."

"Yes, it is as they say Molly." Dumbledore said gravely. "No one would risk the job. The Ministry just couldn't find enough people to provide the level of security needed. The prison was attacked, and with the capture of twenty followers from the prison today, in addition to the ten that escaped last year, we now estimate Voldemort's forces to be about one hundred and growing. It would seem we will be hard pushed to stop him regaining the power he had the last time. The alliance with the giants has also not progressed from the last meeting, so things are not looking promising there." Dumbledore finished off as he began to eat some of his pecan pie.

Professor McGonagall now stood up and spoke to the group. She spoke in a calm voice that was meant to be cheery.

"On a brighter note perhaps, the captured Death Eater, Peter Pettigrew, We have managed to obtain a small amount of information, using a powerful Veritaserum draught. It would appear that he was not actually told Voldemort's plans directly. But what we did manage to get out of him was that Voldemort is looking for something, something more to further his power."

"Well that's hardly news is it?" Moody interjected. "That's all these dark lords think about.

"It would appear that Voldemort is looking for not something but someone." Professor McGonagall continued. "This seems to coincide with the actions of the Death Eaters at Diagon Alley who are understood to have been searching for someone. Now how the individual could help Voldemort or further his power even more is a mystery to us." Professor McGonagall gave Harry a quick glance. "But from the information we received from Peter it seems that, the person he wants to aid him in his search for power, is Harry Potter."

Harry experienced the familiar sensation of all eyes in the room turning to look at him. Most people would say you couldn't hear a stare. They would be wrong. He would have believed he hadn't heard correctly, had he not currently been received the aforementioned looks. As a few moments passed Harry's heart sunk as he realised that McGonagall hadn't made a mistake, and that she had indeed intended to say his name.

Voldemort really did want Harry to aid him. Well, it was different if nothing else. As he sat waiting for someone to speak he could feel there gaze burning into him, as if somehow he would know the answer. He risked a brief look up from the table that he had been pretending to find great interest in.

"Why would he want Harry? What is so special about him that he could want?" Tonks spoke up. "He is a good magician but he certainly wouldn't prove an enormous help to Voldemort?" Harry was grateful to note that the attention was not squarely fixed on him anymore.

Dumbledore, who was slicing a large slab of chocolate cake, had perhaps missed the point where he normally imparted his sagely speculations. He caught Harry's gaze and offered him a slice. Harry was happy to accept as it gave him something else to do rather than just sit there being embarrassed. McGonagall answered Tonks' question.

"We don't know. That is all the information we managed to obtain from the Death Eater. It seems even he didn't know." She finished off with a resigned look on her face. So far this meeting hadn't gone how Harry had expected. He walked in expecting answers but all he found so far was more questions.

Remus stood up briskly and turned to him.

"Harry, do you know why Voldemort might want you? Can you ever recollect him saying something to you about it?"

"No." It came out quiet and raspy. Harry needed a drink. Mrs Weasley seemed to read his mind as she stepped out of the room and returned ten seconds later with a tray of drinks. Harry took a glass of pure orange juice and drank it quickly. He put it down on the table, and realised that it didn't really help at all. Several people seemed to take this opportunity to contemplate, and also help themselves to a drink and some more cake.

Harry thought about what was being said. He knew that he had been wanted in connection with the wand he purchased at Ollivander's, but it seemed that even before this Voldemort was for some reason seeking his help. He wasn't able to draw any conclusions before the meeting continued. Kingsley stood up and cleared his throat.

"The reports of attacks coming in are rising exponentially. Last night alone the dark mark was sighted in four different locations. The attacks are getting out of hand. We at the Ministry fear it will only be a matter of time before they stop attacking by the stealth of night and start swarming over towns during daylight, killing any who stand in their way. As a result we are taking action. All the Aurors we can spare are now going to be patrolling the streets of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. With the recent information obtained from Peter Pettigrew, the Ministry feels that Harry's life is now valuable to Voldemort and they have therefore assigned us to protect him."

Harry looked at the three Aurors at the end of the table. Moody seemed mildly interested as his magical eye turned to face him. Tonks however, was positively beaming at the idea. Harry thought about the fact he was going to have personal bodyguards. It was going to be a bit strange. Kingsley finished his report and sat back down. Dumbledore looked round the table and asked.

"Does anyone else have anything to add?" No one spoke." Good then, now that we have discussed the latest problems we shall go about stopping them or minimising the danger caused by them."

"As to the first problem, it seems there is little we can do against Lord Voldemort's followers. Have you had any leads Severus?" Harry looked over across the table at Snape who Harry realised had said nothing at all so far. He got the impression that for the majority of the meeting he had just been wallowing in his hatred of those around him.

"No further leads, I'm afraid to report." Said Snape in his oily voice. "The Dark lord has said very little. It may be that he suspects something of my intentions in the group."

Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement to this statement.

"Yes Severus it is a possibility we must always consider. If you feel you life is in jeopardy I will not ask you to continue."

"No, I shall continue with my line of work. Even if my allegiances have been made, whilst the Dark Lord does not kill me, he will seek to have me feed you false information. We may use this for our advantage." Dumbledore did not reply to this, but merely smiled.

"As I was saying, it therefore seems that we are at a dead end with what to do against the new followers. After consulting with Minerva it has been decided we will be educating the students in extra Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. One might suppose this is too little too late, but I believe for those willing to learn, there is no such thing as too late."

Harry was excited by the prospect of extra lessons. It was definitely his best subject. He only hoped the new teacher wouldn't turn out to be Snape. Having extra lessons with a greasy git every week certainly would certainly not be something to celebrate. "Now as for the attacks on the wizarding world." We can try and do something about it. It will be very dangerous and very illegal. Still, I don't imagine that should bother any of you."

"What I propose we do is stand back and let the attacks happen." A silence followed this as the table considered that perhaps they had misheard him. What was Dumbledore talking about? His suggestions could only be considered a terrible idea. If this idea was described as poor, then it was even poorer than the Weasley's. However it became apparent that there was more to the plan than they had initially supposed, when a moment later he picked up a picnic basket and sat it on the table. It had a white and red handkerchief sitting on the top, covering up the contents within.

Everyone now leaned over towards the basket (everyone except Snape who sat in back in his chair, staring at the basket with a look of great distain. That could however have just been his normal face). Dumbledore pulled the cover off revealing a dozen or so time turners. Several people gasped as the plan now made sense. They were to find out about Death Eater attacks and then travel back a few hours to prevent it.

Harry also now understood why this was thoroughly illegal. It was against wizarding laws to use time turners and alter the events of time. To abuse a time turner was a great crime, which could have some serious consequences.

"What I intend we do, is travel back a few hours every time there is an attack. That way we may prevent it from happening and possibly capture some Death Eaters. I do not make this suggestion lightly for I know of the dangers too much time distortion can have, but I believe the potential risk in this case is outweighed by the benefits."

"The ministry does not know about these Time turners as they have been in my possession for a long time. We will use these only for Order business and nothing else. To make sure that everyone abides by this rule I shall be holding on to these until we need them. And after they are used they shall be returned back to me for safekeeping. Does everyone understand?" There was a round of concurrences. "In that case I believe that is all." Dumbledore turned to professor McGonagall and asked, "Have I forgotten anything?" McGonagall thought for a minute before replying.

"No, not that I can think of."

"Ok then in that case this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix is now over. You can go home or to wherever you would usually be at this time."

Everyone got up from the table except Dumbledore. Harry watched carefully as Snape left. Harry would have sworn a hand shot out from under his cape because one minute there was a large chocolate cake sitting on the table and a moment later the cake and dish were gone, leaving Snape with a slightly lumpier looking cloak than before. Harry was just about to get up when Dumbledore turned to him.

"If you don't mind waiting Harry, there are still a few things I still wish to discuss." Harry sat back down as the other members made their way out of the room.

Tonks stayed in the room and sat down on the sofa facing the window. Harry looked at her questioningly. She noticed and gave a laugh.

"Oh I'm meant to be at work protecting you at the moment. I don't really need to do it while we are here, but I want to get in the practice so I don't let you down like I did today" She explained, showing that she still felt at least partially guilty, despite what Harry had said to her.

Just as Dumbledore was about to start speaking Mrs Weasley walked back in.

"Will you be staying for dinner Albus?" She asked. Dumbledore seemed to think about this carefully for several moments before he finally replied.

"No thank you Molly. I think I should probably be getting back to school. Whilst there are no students, we still have timetables to draw up."

"I am making some more fruit slice?" she volunteered. At the mention of some fruit slice Dumbledore's eyes seemed to widen just the smallest of amounts.

"I suppose one evening won't do any harm.""

Once Molly had left Dumbledore turned his attentions back to Harry.

"Well Harry, We have about an hour or so before dinner time. Would you like to do the initiation test?" Harry had completely forgotten the initiation test that had been mentioned at the start of the meeting. He felt his nervousness come back to him. This sense of foreboding increased as Tonks stopped staring out of the window and came over to where Harry was sat.

"I'm going to watch." She stated eagerly.

Dumbledore reached into his cloak and pulled out a small grey plastic container with a screw on lid.

"What's that?" Harry asked with trepidation.

"It's really exciting." Tonks volunteered enthusiastically. Dumbledore looked at her through his glasses.

"I suppose one may find it exciting, thought I personally find it to be quite dull." He returned his attentions to Harry.

"Harry you know what a Dementor does. It feeds off the happiness in someone. Dementors are not unique in the way they live on emotions." He began unscrewing the lid to the grey contained whilst Harry stared at it intently, waiting to see what it was that was held within. "In this container is another creature. This is a lot less dangerous. Rather than feeding on your happiness it feed on the evil within you". With that he reached in to the container and pulled out something that could only be described as a very small snake.

Dumbledore held up a very thin red creature. It was about four inches in length and was wiggling quite a bit. On one end it had a clear head, with a double jaw, though it seemed to lack any form of eyes. The other end tailed away into nothing. Dumbledore continued to explain while Harry was glaring at the creature which was wriggling slightly.

"This is a Goulad. It is commonly found in the intestines of a Chimera. It feeds and grows on the evil inside. Once removed from the Chimera we are able to sustain its life by storing it in bats blood." He explained.

"Harry, this is the initiation test. You will consume this. If you are of a good heart and have honest intentions. The Goulad will starve and die, causing you no harm whatsoever. If however, you have evil living deep within you and you are the sort of person who thrives on others misfortune, then this will find a home in you and feed upon your anger growing larger…" At this point Tonks interrupted him.

"And it will grow really big until your organs burst and you die!" she said with excitement.

Dumbledore smiled curiously at Tonks

"Thank you Tonks, I see the art of subtlety has once again eluded you." Tonks blushed and quietened down. "Yes Harry, it is true. If you have an evil heart then it will grow and you will die." Dumbledore re-emphasised. Harry gulped. It was certainly easier than a written test he supposed. It's was just a pity it involved eating such a disgusting creature, and of course the danger. He wasn't keen on the danger part.

Dumbledore, upon seeing the look of doubt in Harry's face explained,

"Harry if I believed you would be in any danger I wouldn't have let you sit in the meeting in the first place. But now that you have been in one of the meetings I must ask you to take the test. It is not that I need verification of the results, but rather that it is a test we have all taken, and equality is an important part of the Order. I can hardly ask one person to take the test and let another not."

Harry looked at the wriggling creature clasped between Dumbledore's long white fingers.

"All of the members of the Order have taken the test?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Even Snape!" Replied Dumbledore. This settled the matter. If Snape had taken it and lived then Harry wouldn't have anything to worry about.

But there was still one thought that niggled at Harry's mind, which were the things that had been said when he was standing in Ollivander's.

"Yes that's right Mr. Potter, it seems that perhaps you fate is not as obvious as you thought." They were the words that stuck in Harry's mind. "What did he mean about my fate? Why did a wand good for Dark magic choose me as its owner? What does Voldemort want me for?" Harry's head was swimming in questions. He couldn't be sure about himself. But then if Dumbledore had faith in him who was he to question? After all Snape had been a death eater and he had survived. You couldn't get much more evil than that.

With this in mind Harry reached out tentatively and took the Goulad between his thumb and forefinger. He had to hold it tighter than he expected for it was more slippery than he would have though.

"I would recommend the head end first." Dumbledore said as he guessed what Harry was thinking. He raised it to his mouth, the whole time acutely aware of the fact that Tonks was perched on the edge of her seat staring excitedly. He closed his eyes and with a measurable amount of repulsion, swallowed the creature.

It was an unpleasant sensation that Harry would not hope to repeat any time soon. Perhaps the most uncomfortable part was that whilst he was swallowing he got the distinct impression it was also crawling down his throat, as though it wanted to be inside him. It left a nasty taste in his mouth, though this was probably the bats blood that it had been living in.

"Might I perhaps offer you a beverage?" Dumbledore asked as he proceeded to pour out a glass of water. Harry took the glass gratefully, and made sure to swill the water round his mouth thoroughly before finishing the glass. If possible he would hope to remove all memories of the event from his mind.

Harry could feel it wiggling inside him for a moment before it stopped.

"Is it dead?" He asked hopefully.

"No." Replied Dumbledore shortly. "It will take a while for that to happen. It has just stopped moving because it has found a place that it is willing to stay." Harry hoped it wasn't too willing to stay in whatever crevice of his body it had found, as he didn't enjoy the feeling of a parasite living in his body. "So how long before I know whether I have passed?" Harry asked eagerly.

Dumbledore peered at Harry before replying in a knowing voice.

"If you're still alive for the next meeting then you have passed. But please I would ask you don't give it any further thought, for I feel that the mind can be better engaged than fretting about that which will not happen. Maybe even potions revision might prove useful?" Harry reddened. If Dumbledore felt he should revise his potions before the new school year then it was probably advice that should be heeded.

"Now Harry there is still the matter of how we contact each other. We use a system which is rather like that of the Death Eaters. I however don't feel that you should be given the mark of the Order of the Phoenix, due to the fact that you live in the house of the Order and also when Hogwarts starts we do often host the meetings there." Harry didn't know this. He always thought it was held here. He supposed though that if a few members of the order were already at Hogwarts it might make sense.

"From September until the summer they meetings will mostly be held in Hogwarts. My office to be precise. It seems there is little point having the meeting outside when several of the members are there already; the only exception to this rule is when we need to contact a few of the more exceptional members, such as Arabella. She has quite the difficulty making it all the way to Hogwarts."

"Now, I think that just about covers everything and by the smell it would seem dinner is nearly ready. I wouldn't want to keep you, as I'm sure you may wish to convey some of what you have learned to your friends." Dumbledore spoke slowly, so that no part of what he was saying would be missed. "But Harry, I will ask you please not to repeat what you hear in the meetings, outside this house. You may be familiar with the phrase "The walls have ears"? In the wizarding world this is often literally true. Especially since those extendable ears have proved so popular."

Now that business was concluded the three of them left the room, whilst Harry made his way upstairs to find everyone sitting around Ron's room playing a Quidditch board game. As he walked in they looked up. Even before he could sit down they immediately began asking him questions about it. Ron still seemed slightly offended that Harry hadn't invited him to be a member, though this didn't stop him asking questions.

"What happened?" Ron asked. Harry told them all about it, or at least as much as he could without mentioning the revelation that Voldemort somehow felt Harry could further his powers. Ron replied with a series of well timed, "Wicked" and "Bloody hell's." Hermione meanwhile started talking about Goulad's and anything one could want to know about them, or not know. It seemed she was as knowledgeable as ever.

Just as Dumbledore predicted, about ten minutes later Mrs Weasley called then down for Dinner. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny went and sat down at the table. Dumbledore was sitting at the opposite side of the table, next to Arthur Weasley who had just returned home from work. Tonks and Remus came and sat next to Mr. Weasley. Molly came in levitating behind her several large dishes of Food.

"Arthur, I hope you will be able to help." Dumbledore began as he rummaged in his pockets. "I had this article confiscated from a student during one of their lessons, but he never saw to collect it at the end of term. Anyway as you are an authority on muggle devices, I felt perhaps you may be able to impart your knowledge as to what exactly it is." He finished as he pulled out a hand held gaming device.

"Oh my, that truly is a fantastic specimen." Arthur said as he picked it up with glee. He proceeded to tell anyone with an ear exactly what it was, and even completed the first level. Harry had a suspicion that Dumbledore knew exactly what he had been holding.

The meal went by uneventfully, followed by dessert, which as promised, was fruit slice, though there were a few other items of cake the order hadn't eaten. After they had finished they had some butter beer, and spoke of fond memories or extraordinary adventured. Dumbledore recalled a particularly long and exciting story about a friend he had, called Marcus Pennywhistle, who lived in another realm, and the trouble they used to get in some one hundred years ago.

By the time they had finishing telling tales and adventures, it was nearly ten o'clock. The children excused themselves upstairs whilst the adults talked about the "disastrous effects of foot path erosion" and other similarly boring subjects. Ron, Hermione and Ginny all sat round in Harry's room, which was the largest, telling them the remainder of what happened in the Order meeting, including that it was going to be held in Hogwarts.

"Does that mean you won't be able to go then since it isn't your dining room?" asked Ron.

"No I think Dumbledore just wanted an excuse to let me in." Said Harry, who knew the headmaster well enough to have his suspicions.

Half an hour later they heard Albus being shown to the door.

Now that it was half past ten they decided to return to their bedrooms. Harry sat for a moment wondering what he should do next. In the end he decided that he would sort out the things he had purchased today. He took his new gloves and books and put them in his case. Then he picked the wand from his pocket. As he touched it he felt the same cold shudder he had felt when he held it in the shop. He put that in his trunk as well before tidying his potion ingredients.

Once this was completed the clock on the wall read that it was just gone eleven o'clock. As he rose from the floor where he had been kneeling over his things his knees clicked. After finishing in the bathroom he collapsed into his bed, feeling exhausted and aching. He would go round the Chang's tomorrow, which would be nice. He briefly wondered if the rest of his days would continue to be so eventful. He hoped not, otherwise it would be a hundred chapters before he even made it back to Hogwarts.