Chapter Eight: Something Wicked This Way Comes…
Ginny's graduation had finally come and the Weasley family held a big party in her honor.
Harry arranged for it to take place at his home, Number 12 Grimmuald Place, with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Not only did the Weasley family show, but also so did their friends from Hogwarts, the Minster of Magic, Andromeda and baby Teddy, and Hagrid.
Winky arrived and offered her services to Kreacher to help with the occasion, to which he grumbled.
The place was packed. Banners were slung in every direction and there was no where, where you could utter a whisper.
Harry, Ron, and Hermoine found themselves huddled in a corner, the only available space, and talked amongst themselves while Ginny talked with Luna and several others from her Griffindor Quidditch Team.
"Nice party, eh?" Ron asked, taking a drink from his cup.
Harry nodded. He was particularly happy to see Ginny enjoying herself rather than looking agitated from their engagement being so secretive.
Ironically, the topic wasn't avoided.
"Harry, when will you and Ginny let everyone else know about you two being engaged?" Hermoine asked.
Ron scowled at her, but due to the noise and the preoccupied chatter around them, no one but the two heard Hermoine.
Harry knew that both he and Ginny hadn't set a time, but he also knew that it would be disastrous to come out with it now.
"I don't know. Maybe once Ginny's started with the Harpies. I guess."
Harry looked over to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who were having a long talk with Kingsley and Percy.
"Maybe then it'll be better." Harry finished.
"The longer you two hold out, the harder it'll be to tell everyone." Hermoine added.
Harry nodded.
Lavender, who was wiggling her way through the dense crowd of people, spotted Harry and came up to him.
Holding a hand to the side of her face, to block Ron's view, she said, "Harry. Robards wants you to come to the Auror's office right away."
Harry looked surprise, "Is it Death Eaters?"
Lavender shrugged, "I dunno. He just said to come straight away."
Harry nodded and said good-bye to Ron and Hermoine then went and kissed Ginny good-bye.
"You're leaving?" She asked, annoyed.
Harry smiled, "I'll try to make it back here, quickly. I promise."
She gave an unconvinced look and sighed and resumed her conversation with George and Alicia.
Being as late as it was, there was hardly anyone at the Ministry when Harry arrived. Several witches made their way out of the lift, on their way home from a long day.
Harry rode all the way up to the floor and proceeded through the doors to the Auror's office.
When he went inside, to his surprise, he found Savage, Proudfoot, and Lorna there.
"Hey Harry." Said Lorna, her face was oddly saddened.
"Hi." Harry replied.
"Robards is in the office, Harry. Go right on in." Savage said.
All their faces, to Harry, looked as though they've just come from a funeral; he could swear that Proudfoot looked as though as if she had been crying prior to Harry's arrival.
Upon entering the room, Harry heard the jostling of papers and the closings of books. Robards was waving his wand as all the contents of the room came floating in the air and landing in several boxes.
He turned as Harry closed the door.
"Aw, Harry, there you are." He then waived his wand again and sent the remaining items into the last box.
"What's going on, sir? Why are you packing?" Harry asked, astonished by how empty the room was now.
"Well Harry, to be to the point, I've been sacked."
"What!" Harry's eyes grew wide.
Robards nodded. "It seems that those comments that have been coming up in the Daily Prophet have finally reached the ears of the board of directors. They have me forced into early retirement."
Harry walked forward, "But, but sir! They can't do that! Kingsley-"
"The Minister has done for a lot for me, Harry. He can't do anything about this, unfortunately. It seems after word got out that Dweezil was hospitalized, that owls from all over the countryside made their way to the Ministry. Bad luck, eh?"
Harry sat down in the chair in front of the desk. "What are you going to do now?"
Robards smiled, "Don't you fret, now, Mr. Potter. I have a dear older brother in Ireland who keeps on nagging me to go fishing with him, I think now, rest assured, I can do just that."
A thought came to Harry's mind. "Sir, what if I make a statement to the Daily Prophet? You know, make them see that you're doing a great job and should stay."
Robards smiled, "That's very admirable of you, Harry. But, no, I wouldn't wish for it. Besides, they'd be upset that you turned down the job."
Harry looked at him quizzically. "What "job", sir?"
As Robards fitted the lid on to the next box, he smiled. "You're the new Head Auror, Mr. Potter."
Harry pinched himself to see if he wasn't dreaming, or, in this case, having a nightmare.
"What?"
Robards nodded, "The board of directors demanded it, actually. You're to be my successor, Harry Potter."
"No. No, no way! Mr. Robards, they must be joking! Surely they mean for Savage, or Lorna, or Proudfoot to be Head Auror, not me!"
Robards shook his head, "No, harry, they mean for it to be you. Savage is getting up there and so is Proudfoot. Miss Williamson wouldn't want it. They chose you. You, who single-handedly defeated the Dark Lord."
Harry was getting tired of everybody thinking he did that all by himself.
Robards waived his wand again and the boxed items vanished. He then moved to the corner of the room and picked up the only remaining items left: his jacket and bowler's hat.
"Harry, relax. You'll be great. You've got the support of those three out there, and I'm sure everyone who works in this office. There's no doubt in my mind that you're going to accomplish a great deal."
He then put his hat on and jacket. Harry looked flabbergasted and disoriented at the floor.
Gawain Robards patted Harry on the back.
"Take care, Mr. Potter, and good luck."
Harry arrived back to Number 12 Grimmuald Place with his mind in a torrent.
He could not hear those who welcomed him back, nor could he hear the voices of Ron, Hermoine, and Ginny inquiring as to what had happened.
Harry, instead, lumbered off up to his bedroom and closed the door.
He sat at the edge of his bed, looking down at his feet.
The door to the bedroom opened and in walked the three.
"Harry? What happened, mate? What did Robards want?"
Harry didn't answer Ron. His focus still on his feet.
He found a flowery scent and a soft hand touch his forehead.
"Harry? Are you alright?"
Harry sighed. The world coming back to him at last.
"Robards got sacked." He said quietly.
"I had a feeling he might." Said Hermoine.
Harry looked at her, "Why do you say that?"
"Well, Harry, after what happened to Dweezil and the lack of arrests made by the Auror's office, can you blame them?" Ron said.
Harry looked back to the floor again. "There's more. They've made me Head Auror in his stead."
Ginny smiled, "Harry, that's wonderful!"
"Yeah, Harry, that's actually a good thing." Hermoine remarked.
"We should celebrate!" Ron exclaimed joyfully.
Harry still looked depressed over the issue.
Ginny gave him a hug. "You deserve this, Harry. You really do."
Over the next couple days, Harry's mood over being promoted hadn't changed, despite every person thinking Harry deserved to be Head Auror.
So stressed by the thought, Harry failed to bring anything into "his" office.
"You really need to get settled in, Harry." Lorna told him one afternoon as he reluctantly sat in the unused Head Auror's office. "A lot's going to expected of you, now. You need to make sure you're prepared."
Harry sighed, "That's the thing. I don't want to have more things expected of me. I was happy just being an Auror, nothing more than that."
Lorna smiled at him, "It seems you never fail to amaze me, Harry. While most would relish to have this kind of position, you reject it."
Harry looked up at her, "It shouldn't be mine in the first place. Robards should still be here. He's a great Auror, They shouldn't have sacked him."
Lorna nodded, "But that's neither here nor now, Harry. What's done is done and he's not coming back."
Harry put his hands to his face and groaned.
The rest of the day had been tiring. Kingsley made the same assessment to Harry that Harry did earn the position that he was in and that he should follow through on it.
Even Mr. Weasley pointed out to Harry that this was his success rather than something pushed to him.
"You're the first Head Auror to be so young, Harry. A lot of people, including the students and faculty at Hogwarts are going to be looking up to you. They'll seek you for guidance, just like they did when we were fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts. This is your chance to be helping a lot of people."
"But, I've always had help, I'm not-" Harry began, only to be cut off by a shake of Mr. Weasley's head.
"No, Harry. You're selling yourself short. You're a remarkable young man whose seen more than his fair share and has done more than any Wizard or Witch could have claimed to do. You really need to see this if you're going to be leading people. Why, when Dolores Umbridge seized control of Hogwarts, you never stopped with your beliefs and you helped a bunch of terrorized students through that terrible time. You ARE a leader, Harry. You and you alone are the only person whose fitted for this job."
Harry decided to give the matter rest. After all, he was stuck. They wouldn't except his resignation and no one accepted his refusal to be qualified for the position.
Leaving the Ministry after receiving a briefing from the Minster, Harry found Ron waiting for him at the entrance, his look looked devastating.
"Ron? Is something the matter?"
Ron looked to Harry, he in a low tone. "Ginny."
Harry's blood froze.
"What? Has something happened? Is she okay?"
Ron looked away, "She got into a fight with Mum. I think Mum knows about you two, Harry."
Harry found his heart in his throat. He went completely numb.
"What?!"
Ron nodded. "The two had a row. Ginny yelling, Mum yelling back, and then, Ginny…She just left with her luggage. She left, Harry. I can't seem to find her."
Harry swallowed and then closed his eyes.
Of all the things to happen, why now? Maybe this "becoming Head Auror" was an omen. He could just now see Tralawney spelling out "doom" all over the place.
Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Don't worry mate. I'll help you go look for her."
Ron nodded glumly.
The two spent the rest of the day looking high and low for Ginny. She wasn't at Bill and Fluer's, she hadn't popped by Luna's, nor Neville's, or any other of their friends or friend's of her's on the Griffindor Quidditch Team.
Ron suggested Hogsmeade and they caught a little break for Madam Rosemertta claimed to have seen her a little while ago, looking distraught.
"How long ago was it?" Harry asked her.
"Not too long." She replied, "She came in for a drink and then took off again."
"Do you reckon she went to Hogwarts?" Ron asked Harry.
Harry shrugged.
They went to the castle only to find out, from McGonagall that Ginny hadn't stopped by.
McGonagall wished them luck on their search for her and asked Harry if he might come by to give a lecture to the DADA class, when he could.
"Yeah, maybe." Harry replied feebly.
Ron was getting tired and agitated, he soon called it a night and asked Harry to contact him should he find her.
Harry told him he would and Ron apparated back home without further discussion.
A thought occurred to Harry as he was about to apparate back to Grimmuald Place.
Could she be there?
When Harry arrived back home, he found Grimmuald Place empty, except for Kreacher who mentioned that Ginny had left her luggage there and then left.
Harry didn't know where to look for Ginny. It was late and most places were closed in this part of London.
Walking down the street, the only place that had remained open was a coffee shop where a sign outside indicated that they were having an amateur poetry night.
Walking inside, Harry found the place to be dark. Tables were scattered in front of a stage where a man had left.
"Now, for you're pleasure we have, Mr. Glenn Horrick." Said a female's voice.
A man got up from the audience and walked onto the stage where a microphone stand lay waiting. Clearing his throat, took out from his pocket a piece of paper, unfolded it and then he spoke:
"…If life were but a dream, should your kiss be what it seems; nay, should I ever dream, of falling into your life?
What a profit could someone gain, if they could only obtain, the richness of your life?
Do I dare then fall and risk all, to expose the loneliness that's in my soul?
And what if you do, dare to do, if the clouds broke from view, to reveal my inner temptations?
Do you stay; do you walk, would you bother to talk, about what you've seen?
I then tell myself, with relief, that the secret that I keep is safest as a dream."
As the man went off the stage, there were very few clappings inside the coffee shop, as Harry saw.
Looking, he soon spotted Ginny amongst them.
Harry sat down in the seat next to her, her gaze still on the stage.
"Ginny?"
Ginny looked at Harry with red, swollen, eyes.
"She's a cow."
Harry sighed and closed his eyes. He moved his hand on to the top of her's.
"What happened?"
Ginny took her hand away and stirred the coffee she had in front of her.
"Mum came into my room to put away my laundry. I forgot that I had left the ring in my pant's pocket. When she made to fold it, I guess it fell out."
Ginny's eyes looked to Harry's. "She knew what it was, Harry. Knew it was an engagement ring and she demanded to know what I was doing with it."
Tears formed in her sweet blue eyes and she bit down on the bottom of her lip.
"I'm sorry, Harry." She whispered, "I told her the truth. I didn't want to but I couldn't think of anything else to say when she asked. Mum went mental. She started yelling and said that she was going to bring you over and have you break off the engagement before anyone else found out about it."
"That's when I lost it. I told her she had no right to do that sort of thing. That, she should be happy that I'm with you and this is happening for us. She didn't listen. That's when I told her, if she was so upset about me getting engaged to you, maybe I should move in with you and get it over with."
Harry's eyes went wide, "Ginny…why did you…"
Ginny scowled at Harry and then turned back to the stage where a new reader came on, leaving Harry gripping at his thoughts.
Later, Ginny didn't say anything, as she just wanted was to go to Harry's and sleep.
Harry obliged and brought her to Grimmuald place. Taking her to his room he let her curl up on the bed as he quietly took his leave.
In the morning, while Ginny was still sleeping, Harry went to the Burrow, in hopes of calming the storm that had erupted between Ginny and her mother.
Knocking at the door, Harry was met by Mr. Weasley.
"Hello, Harry." He said, his face was stern, a first for Harry to see.
"Hi, Mr. Weasley. Is Mrs. Weasley around?"
Mr. Weasley came out and closed the door behind him and then took Harry's arm and led him to the garden. Harry neither budge or inquire as to why they were going out this far from the house.
Mr. Weasley's face, to Harry, told him everything. He too knew about Harry and Ginny's engagement and he wasn't happy about it.
They stopped a little way past the garden and then Mr. Weasley let go of his grasp on Harry's arm and he spoke.
"So." He said.
Harry nodded.
Mr. Weasley sighed and took off his glasses and placed his thumb and forefinger to his eyes as he rubbed them.
"Help me out here, Harry. I've always known you to be a sensible boy who knew to do the right things."
Harry took a deep breath.
Mr. Weasley continued, "But what you've done, not only upsets me, it has hurt Molly. Why didn't you come to me first, before you decided to propose to my daughter?"
Harry swallowed. "A lot of things happened. I…I don't know why, sir."
Mr. Weasley seemed not to accept that as an official answer. "You haven't answered my question, Harry."
Harry just stood there, unsure how to proceed.
Mr. Weasley put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Maybe it'd be best if you don't come back here until you're able to answer my question."
"What about Ginny, Mr. Weasley? She ran away after fight with Mrs. Weasley and is now at my place. I don't want her and Mrs. Weasley to be like this."
Mr. Weasley nodded, "That's their problem, though, isn't it? That's not your responsibility, Harry. Your responsibility now, if you can do it, is to tell me why we should give you our blessings toward your, already, having proposed to Ginny?"
Harry stood straighter and he looked into Mr. Weasley's small eyes as he spoke. "The truth is, sir, that I don't expect you to, not right away, that is."
Mr. Weasley nodded, waiting for Harry to continue.
"The reason I did it was because Ginny and I have come a long way to be together and now we're going to be continuing to struggle to be together. I love her, sir. I want nothing more than to have her in my life. I realize that I took a premature approach to doing this and I should have went to you or Mrs. Weasley first."
"If you realize that, Harry, why on Merlin's sacred tower, did you keep it a secret from us? You could have told us and we may've been better prepared."
Harry shook his head, "No, sir. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't have; you maybe, but not her."
Mr. Weasley sighed, "Molly does let her feelings get the better of her, I agree."
Silence fell between them and then Mr. Weasley looked at Harry.
"Who else knows, Harry?"
"Ron, Hermoine, George, Bill and Fluer."
Mr. Weasley nodded and the silence broke out again, yet Mr. Weasley's eyes never left Harry as time passed between them.
"What happens now, sir?" Harry asked, hoping that their talk had Mr. Weasley understanding and forgiving.
Mr. Weasley shrugged, "I don't know, Harry. It's going to take sometime to get used to. Molly and I are going to need time, maybe a lot of time, before we can be sure. You've done a very abrupt and foolish thing. I know you didn't do it to hurt us intentionally, but it has left its wounds, Harry."
Harry nodded and looked to the ground, ashamedly.
Sitting inside the cave amongst the other two, Yaxley read through the pages of one of the grime-covered books, as he added ingredients to a large cauldron in front of him.
While Rowley looked at Yaxley with contempt, Rookwood looked curiously at the contents.
"What's all this for?" He asked.
Yaxley smiled, "you'll see, shortly. Just as soon as McNair comes with the last component."
Yaxley brought out a bag.
"What's that?" Asked Rookwood.
Yaxley smiled, "I'm glad you asked, Rook'. These are the bone-shavings of our dear, departed, Lord."
Rowley bared his teeth, "You dare-"
"Yes I dare! And for good reason!" Yaxley growled, menacingly. He then poured the contents in with the other contents.
Holding out the one of the books, he addressed the other two.
"A long time ago, when I was but a mere boy. My Defense against the Dark arts teacher told our class about the Telamus. The Telamus, a forbidden practice that used to be common ages ago by the darkest of wizards and witches; The Telamus, creates life, life bent on destroying anything good around it."
Rookwood looked impressed while Rowley rolled his eyes.
"I've heard the same old wives tale. It doesn't work, Yaxley. Many greater Wizards and Witches before you have tried and failed at doing it."
Yaxley sneered at Rowley, "Oh, but I have something they didn't!"
"And what would that be?" Rowley sneered back.
Yaxley smiled, "Why two extracts from the most powerful, of course. Potter and the Dark Lord's substances."
Rowley looked unimpressed.
McNair appeared at the cave's entrance.
"You're late." Yaxley said over his shoulder.
McNair didn't say anything. Instead carried the heavy sack that was slung over his shoulder over to the group. He opened it and dumped out a body that was stirring.
Yaxley smiled, "Put him inside."
All three looked at Yaxley in confusion, surprise, and, in Rowley's case, annoyance.
McNair, however, obeyed. Taking the body, he tossed it right into the strange mixture, causing a sickening splash.
Yaxley then took the dagger, still fresh with Harry's blood; due to the spell conjured. Yaxley put the base of the blade to the inside lip of the giant cauldron. Bringing the hilt to him, the blood on the blade was wiped and trickled down into the mixture, as well.
The Cauldron's fumes became scarlet.
Yaxley took out his wand and lay the tip of it on the lip of the cauldron.
"Kreshish… Dallow… Harrnuk… Drebba… Fook!"
The Cauldron began to boil, the scarlet color now filling the entire cave, the other three men watching with wide eyes as the cauldron began to froth.
"Klega… haspoos… jikeel… daslow… keruuk!"
A rushed mixture of both green and red light came swirling out at a violent rate and then an explosion occurred.
As the light decanted and the darkness of the cave resumed, Yaxley held his wand up and said, "Lumos!"
The others did as well and they all gathered around the cauldron, all peering into its depths.
Inside, the liquid was gone but the body remained.
The body, which previously had been dead, was now reanimated and was breathing, its eyes closed.
Stirring in its slumber, this man was bald, had thin eyebrows, and a lightning-shaped scar was visible on its forehead.
"Gentlemen," Yaxley said to his fellow Death Eaters, who were starring in disbelief at the creation, including Rowley; "I give you OUR solution to Harry Potter; and his name is Vox."
To be continued…
A/N: Again, I'm going to have to give credit for Tsarluxia for helping me with this, particularly, difficult story. Thanks man. Also, thanks to all of you who have reviewed! It's going to get darker for here on in, and I hope you continue to enjoy it.
