Chapter Ten – Thought I'd Keep What Takes Place Hidden (I know that is evil)
Harry awoke early like always on his birthday showing and then going to practice his Occulemency. While he felt confident that he had made sufficient barriers to keep someone out of his mind, he also found his morning meditation to be very calming and it helped him to think about what he was going to do when he returned to Hogwarts.
It was all well and good to try and plan for how he should act at school but really it was all speculation as he didn't know how Ron, Hermione, and the headmaster would act at school. It didn't matter how many different things that he could plan for it would all be up in the air at the time of his return.
However he would be able to control when he would meet them at the least. Avoiding them on the train would be easy enough and probably the wisest thing to do because it would put him in control on the inevitable first meeting.
Another thing that Harry would use his meditation time to think about was the whole situation with four wives. He knew that Narcissa would be fine with this fact but it was getting any other girl that he would have interest in to agree to the idea that could result in problems.
He had just finished his meditation as Hedwig dropped a letter into his lap.
"Good to see you back girl…," said Harry stroking her feathers. "Come on into the kitchen and I'll give you a snack before you go to sleep."
Hedwig gave a soft hoot of agreement before hopping onto his should to be brought towards her snack.
Harry gave her a bit of bacon before turning to open his letter. It was written by Parvati in response to the letter he sent a few days ago just to ask how her summer was going.
Hi Harry,
My summer is going fine, although a little dull. I guess that is a good thing though with what happened before the summer. Glad to see that you finally took time to write me!
I am just wondering if something came up because no letter for almost two weeks after telling me that you would owl me is a little odd.
Sorry if I'm prying but well…I would like to know and finally I get a chance to ask. Guess that is a difference between me and my sister, Padma. While she will keep quite, I want my opinion to be heard and when I get the chance will not allow it to slip by.
I know, I know I rambling here in this letter, but o well it is something to do and it lets me have a chance to talk to someone outside of my family.
So how is you summer going? Are you nervous about you O.W.L.s because I know that I am? Doing anything interesting or have a vacation planned? My family is going away for the whole first week of August to Italy so that we can have some time to relax and not worry about what is taking place here.
O well I guess that I'll end my rambling and hope that you will send me another letter.
Yours,
Parvati
'Well, at least I have a potential girlfriend already even if I don't know enough about her yet,' thought Harry as he tucked away the letter into an inner pocket of his robes.
His robes were just the basic school set but that didn't bother him in the least. It wouldn't do to have clothes that would just need replacing by the end of the summer anyways.
Since the potions that Narcissa had given him at the beginning of his time at his new house he had grown a good two inches or so and she had said that he would probably end up at about five foot ten, which was a reasonable height. It wouldn't be to tall but closer to average, but still they weren't going to buy him his new wardrobe yet because he was still developing and it would be better to be safe then sorry and then there was also the unknown factor of how his frame would actually develop.
As he walked into the kitchen he found Bellatrix alone eating some croissants and fruit. "No sign of my wife this morning?" asked Harry as he took a seat at the table across from her and began piling some food onto his plate and pouring a cup of tea.
Bellatrix shook her and continued eating.
"Good," said Harry before adding "I was wondering if you would like to be able to talk to your other sister again, since I know you must get bored being locked up here and not being able to do anything about the fact."
Slowly Bellatrix raised her head to look at Harry in silent contemplation of what exactly he had just said to her. "Did Cissy put you up to this or what?" she asked cautiously, though not in an accusing tone.
Harry shook his head before saying, "No she did not put me up to this or even mention the idea. I thought of it on my own and I would like Narcissa not to know that I even had the idea. Simply put it is a way of thanking you for helping me learn what spells the death eaters more commonly use and how to stop them if I find myself in the situation. You were not obligated to do this after I forced you to stay in this house, but yet you did and for that I am grateful. Now while you have done other things I find reprehensible I will not deny you the right to see estranged family because otherwise the chance for a change to occur with you is relatively small."
"May I have some time to think this over properly," Bellatrix asked keeping her voice dead even.
Harry watched her for a second before saying, "Take as much time as you need."
Bellatrix gave a silent nod before getting up and leaving to some part of the house. Where she was going Harry had no clue but it didn't really matter as just then Narcissa walked into the kitchen.
(Scene break)
Albus Dumbledore was walking down Privet Drive towards the former home of Harry Potter, which was something that he did not know as of yet.
The summer so far had been an extremely busy one and he had been thankful that Harry had not been trying to ask him a bunch of questions about what was taking place in the wizarding world. Although this was a good thing he was slightly worried about the boy, as it seemed that he wasn't talking with his friends and had even gone so far as to request to be left at Privet Drive for the remainder of the summer holidays.
This was something odd because Harry had never wanted to stay at Privet Drive before in all his recollections of Harry from Hogwarts. Although Harry was in different circumstances this year it still was strange and for that reason Albus had decided to check up on Harry to see if everything was fine.
He arrived at number four Privet Drive at 9:30 am and knocked on the door.
A woman with a horse like neck answered the door and asked, "May I help you?"
"Hello Mrs. Dursley, my name is Albus Dumbledore and I am looking to speak with your nephew Harry," he said calmly.
"He hasn't been here for a few weeks," replied Petunia in as civil of a tone as she could keep before adding "now I would like you to leave as I have no clue where he is or will be."
Albus Dumbledore just stood there shocked as the door shut in his face. Harry wasn't at Privet Drive according to his aunt and Mrs. Figg hadn't reported that she had seen the boy leave. In fact he had several reports that Harry had been seen at his home as recently as yesterday.
Knowing that if he kept standing there it would look suspicious he quickly apparated to his house. He had to move quickly to try and find out where Harry was and if any of the order members knew what happened.
'How was it possible for Harry to escape and yet some of the people guarding Harry said that Harry was at his home the whole time,' thought Albus clearly confused. 'There is no way to fool Alastor's eye and I have his report that he saw Harry at his home yesterday and yet according to his aunt Harry has been away for several weeks.'
Moving deliberately the headmaster headed for the fireplace located in his study, so that he could contact his old friend.
A minute later Mad-Eye's head appeared in the fireplace and said, "What is it Albus? An attack or information about a possible attack?"
"No, neither of those my friend, just a couple of questions that I wanted to ask you about young Harry?" he stated calmly. "I just came from his house and according to his aunt, Harry left there several weeks ago and she has no clue where he is apparently, and yet I am in the disposition of several members of the Order saying that they have seen him at his home during this period. You are among the people that have said that they have seen Harry there so I decided to call you. As recently as yesterday even you said you saw him there, which would be a direct contradiction of Mrs. Dursley's statement. Now I know that your eye cannot be fooled Alastor so what exactly is going on here?"
Moody just snorted at what was just said to him. "Why were you at his house in the first place Albus? As far as I knew he didn't want to talk to anyone until he said so, let alone have anybody visit, so what reason would you have for even going to his house?"
"You are avoiding my question Alastor," stated Dumbledore calmly.
"Of course I am," said Moody "because I want my question answered first and until you answer it I will continue to avoid your question."
"It is very simple… I was checking on Harry to make sure that everything is all right," replied the headmaster.
"Don't give me that cock and bull story Albus, I'm not one of your students," growled Mad-Eye. "What was the real reason for the visit?"
"Besides wanting to make sure that Harry is fine, which was an actual reason Alastor, I was wondering if he would come with me to help recruit a certain person to teach at Hogwarts," he stated calmly.
"I highly doubt that he would want to Albus so why don't you just give the job to Snape and hire that Delacour girl as potions professor. She would be more then adequate as she specialized in dealing with potion based things for the goblins and the fact that she actually wants to teach at Hogwarts," state Moody.
"I will keep that under consideration but you still have to answer my question, Alastor."
"He is at house Albus and that is all I will tell you," growled Moody "because unlike some people I respect others privacy as long as they aren't death eaters."
"How am I not respecting his privacy Alastor? What have I done that doesn't give him his privacy and life?" asked Albus in a slightly challenging tone.
Alastor just snorted at this statement as well as the tone. "Don't give me that load of shit about having respected his privacy as well as his life for that matter. Just by going to try and visit him today you failed to respect his privacy. As for his life… don't get me started on what you have done that doesn't respect that in the first place."
Albus just sat there a little shocked that he would be the one on this side of the proverbial fence with one of his oldest friends. Usually the two of them agreed on most of his policies… well except whether or not Severus could be completely trusted.
After giving his head a little shake from that small outburst from the ex-auror he asked, "Then why did his aunt say that Harry has not been there for several weeks?"
Moody just snorted at the pretentiousness that the man before him showed. He just wouldn't let things go well maybe he could turn the tables here and get some answers out him for once. "Why is Mr. Potter so important that you have to check up on him anyways Albus? It is not like you would do this for any other kid at your school, which I know for a fact."
"It is simply because I care…," started Albus.
"Cut the horse shit and give me the real damn reason," Mad-Eye growled.
"I have no clue what you are talking about my friend," said Dumbledore calmly.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about here, so fess up," he growled. "Why is Voldemort so obsessed with killing Mr. Potter and what makes you so worried about making sure that he stays alive to the point of having order members watch his house, and more specifically him."
"That is something I cannot fully answer Alastor," stated Dumbledore kindly. "All you need to know is that Harry is very important and needs to be protected properly."
Moody just looked back stone faced before saying, "Well then all you need to know is that the boy is at his home with family and I'm going to tell him that you tried to visit next time I see the lad."
On that note Moody closed the floo, before muttering, "Shit that was exactly what we didn't need yet."
While over at his home Dumbledore sat down in a chair wondering exactly what was going on here and when exactly he had lost control over what took place, and if he had ever held control since the summer had begun. With a boom in the amount of attacks all over Britain and more posts from the ministry asking for advice he was beginning to think that he was really overstretched at the moment.
(Scene Break)
Harry was just reaching the end of a lesson about proper etiquette and how to deal with politicians and reporters, when Mad-Eye Moody came into the room.
"I wasn't expecting to see you today, especially so early," said Harry carefully, while wondering what exactly would bring Moody here before lunch of all times. "We are done with the lessons for today, right?" This question was directed at Narcissa who gave a nod before curiously looking at Moody wondering what exactly he would have to say.
"Things changed lad," stated Moody without preamble. "Albus went to visit you today to check up on you as well as to try and have you help convince someone he knows to teach at Hogwarts."
"So when he arrived and was informed that I hadn't been there for several weeks naturally he thought that something was up and decided to get in contact with you as you have been one of the people on guard duty, right?" asked Harry even though he was positive that he was right.
"Almost exactly what happened," stated Moody before adding "however I was able to stall him for a while at the least."
"How exactly were you able to stall him," asked Narcissa carefully. "I mean I'm sure that he was pretty determined to find out exactly where Harry was since he was told that he wasn't at his aunt's house."
"Aye… that he was, that he was, but I just gave him vague answers and then rerouted the conversation," stated Moody. "He seems to forget that I have dealt with him for so long that I can adjust things with him as need be so long as the change is well timed."
"Ok…," said Harry slowly trying to figure out exactly why Moody had to bring this to his attention. "Does this mean that we have to move up when I take control of the order away from Dumbledore?"
"That would probably be best lad, and we have enough people for this to occur safely," he replied.
"Do you know if anyone is currently staying at Harry's house, which the order is currently using?" asked Narcissa.
"The Weasley family and that Granger girl just are the only ones living there… why do you want to know," questioned Moody.
"I was thinking about having Harry go to the house but since there will be several people there that don't attend the meetings it would be too much of a problem," she calmly stated.
Mad-Eye just gave a nod of the head before saying to Harry, "Keep a hold of her lad… far better to keep her in your corner then to have her working against you."
There was really nothing Harry could do other then just nod his head at this statement.
"Ok, so when is the next Order meeting?" Harry asked steering the conversation back towards the reason that Mad-Eye had shown up all of the sudden. "I mean the sooner the better, right?"
"Tonight as a matter of fact," said Mad-Eye "and I wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore brought the question up about what your aunt said to him today."
"Well it looks like there will be the change in leadership tonight, right Harry?" said Narcissa, before turning to Mad-Eye. "Can you get the message to the others quick enough to execute this properly though?"
"That shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as you let Shack know today during your session to notify the members that are with us for this control shift," growled Mad-Eye with his head down in thought.
"Then get moving… by the end of tonight I want the Order to be running differently and no more guards to be watching a house where I am not living, but instead doing other jobs," stated Harry quickly. "I'll let Kingsley know and have our session end early to notify the members, while I spend some time studying my old school books."
Mad-Eye just nodded before popping out of the house leaving Harry and Narcissa by themselves.
"Well… it looks like I'm going to be studying my books this afternoon and hoping that all goes well tonight," said Harry quietly.
"I'd recommend your potions books," said Narcissa, which raised an eyebrow from her husband. "If you manage to get into the class it would be helpful to strengthen your background of the material as I know for a fact that Snape isn't a helpful teacher, and that way you will know what you need. Also it will help later with the more advanced potions."
"How do you know that I even want to go into N.E.W.T. level potions?" asked Harry trying to keep his tone indifferent.
Narcissa just stared into his eyes before saying, "You just told me with your voice, although that was a good try hiding the fact. Don't worry about me reading you though I have years of experience at recognizing tones from being forced to live with my former husband."
Harry just shook his head realizing that it would still be a while before he would be able to inflect the tone that he chose into his words.
"Alright now come on I want to give you the gift I picked up for your birthday," said Narcissa excitedly as she grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the study.
(Scene break)
It was late evening when the Order of the Phoenix convened for its meeting.
With all the members that were supposed to be present in the room Dumbledore rose from his seat and said, "I now call this meeting to order, and as such we shall begin with our first bit of business. Today I visited Harry Potter's house and his aunt informed me that he has not been there for several weeks. I have already spoken to Alastor, who has told me that he is at his house, but none the less I want to ask if anyone knows why Harry's aunt might say this as well as who exactly has seen the boy."
Kingsley just shook his head hearing these words from the supposed greatest wizard in the world. This was not the way he was hoping the meeting would start; instead everything would be forced to take place now before any information that didn't need to be leaked.
So he stood up and said in a calm tone, "I'm sorry Albus but it is time for new leadership of the Order. Speaking for a majority of the members it has been decided that you shall no longer be in charge and allowed to hold all the information. From now on this group will be run by a small group of people so that decisions are regulated. Most of the members are concerned with you taking such an interest in young Mr. Potter when you are not forth coming with details."
Taking a breath he continued, "After consulting with young Mr. Potter himself several of us found that you have been in fact controlling things in his life that you should never have been in charge of in the first place. This shows that you are willing to do things without consulting others when you feel necessary and this is not something that is taken lightly when we are at war dealing with lives of so many individuals."
There were mumblings from those that didn't know about his plan that supported Dumbledore. Most notable were Snape and Molly Weasley, while her husband remained indifferent.
"How dare any of you question the headmaster," Molly shrieked. "He is the most powerful wizard in the world as well as the wisest and you are questioning him. Who do you think you are to believe that you know better? All of you should be ashamed."
At this point this point Moody stood up and gave the redheaded Weasley matron a stare that would have frozen Attila the Hun for a moment, before saying in a dangerous voice, "Shut your trap you blasted woman. Don't you even think to lecture us here as if we are your children! You know nothing about fighting and even less about war. If you ever try to tell me what is in my best interests again you will find yourself hanging from a sealing for the rest of the week, you got that."
Molly just gulped and looked back at the ex-auror with a wide eyed expression.
"I have lost too many comrades in arms, and seen more terrors then most ever should and the only person that comes close besides Albus is the young Potter. Now as to what you just said, shut up and listen because then you might actually learn a thing or two. Everyone is fallible and that is why we do not want Albus holding all the cards anymore and why the Order will be run by a council from now on woman."
Moody then turned to Snape before adding, "Now Snape get out of here unless you want to be changed into a blasted snake. No one other then the headmaster trusts you and we will not let someone that we don't trust here things that we want to make sure shall be kept secret. Now get out of this house and do not return unless you get permission from the rightful owner of this place."
Snape gave a low snarl but was stopped from saying anything as several members leveled their wands at him.
"Was all of this really necessary?" asked Albus looking distinctly tired.
"Yes it is," stated Moody clearly.
"Now Albus," said Kingsley taking over for Moody, "we will not be talking about young Mr. Potter again at these meetings unless he is attacked, understood?"
The headmaster just nodded his head slowly wondering what was going on here. "Also the only people that will be on guard duty for him shall be Mad-Eye, Tonks, and I, all people he has approved of personally. The reason is that only the three of us can find Mr. Potter, which guarantees that nobody can harm him. We do not feel that his location should be revealed and therefore we will not tell you where his home is… ever."
A look of comprehension appeared on the wised mages face as he realized that Alastor had not lied to him and that Harry's aunt had told him the truth. He was beginning to realize that he was no longer the one in control of the war against Voldemort and that for the first time in a long time for him, he would no longer have all the information.
Author's Note: Well I am done with all the projects that I had to work on for college and now that the semester finals are done I can work on my fics again. I apologize for the wait for the new chapter and hope that it meets approval. Now for the girls for those of you who don't know or have forgotten besides Narcissa the females that will be romantically linked with Harry are Parvati, Fleur, and the girl that I have chosen. You can guess and if you are right I will send a reply to you. For a hint I will let you know that it shall not be a Gryffindor girl, which means no Ginny or Hermione. Also there will be no Luna because I feel that I can write her character properly and I just can't see her with Harry in a romantic relationship.