Harry Potter and the Final Journey

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Thanks a ton for your reviews! Slayer3 and hash-hash!

Of, course Voldemort will come and very soon. And I will try and pace the story a bit faster, though whether I will succeed is something you must tell me.

I was able to get this chapter done all right so there you go

Chapter – 11

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"Thanks, all of you for coming here and trusting Professor Dumbledore to give your oaths." Harry cleared his throat once again.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, who is also known as Voldemort is the main reason I have asked all of you to assemble here. Seventeen years ago Sybil Trelawney made a Prophecy to Professor Dumbledore at the Hog's Head, which she doesn't remember to this day. The prophecy concerned Lord Voldemort and a child who would be born at the end of the seventh month."

The one with power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not…And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…

There were many gasps heard in the room as all of them heard the Prophecy they had spent a large portion of their time guarding, for the first time. Harry did not give them the time to make comments as he looked at McGonagall, who made the words of the Prophecy shimmer in the background of the room.

"The first half of the prophecy was heard by Snape who was a Death Eater at the time. He was found by Aberforth Dumbledore who is the barman of the Hog's Head and was thrown out in the middle of the Prophecy. So he never heard the whole Prophecy and he did not know the end, where Voldemort must kill or be killed.

"Dumbledore at once appointed her, for her own safety, so that she could not be captured and killed by Voldemort. The Prophecy was made sometime in 1979. In the summer of 1980, two boys were born at the end of the seventh month, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. Around that time a spy was reporting to Voldemort about the happenings in the Order that made it easy for Voldemort to capture and kill people like the Prewitts, Doracas Meadows and others.

"It was in early 1981 almost a year and a half later, after that Prophecy, that Voldemort made his move. He decided to attack the Potters. He chose the half blood child like himself rather than the pure blood child whom he had always advocated was worthy of living.

"This information was brought to Dumbledore by the same Death Eater, Severus Snape. Lily Potter was his best friend from whom he had no secrets. She even knew he was a Death Eater and it devastated him that it was his information that would bring the death of his friend and her family.

"That was the reason he repented and he initially came to Dumbledore to surrender as he accepted the responsibility for his actions. It was Dumbledore who asked him to spy for the Order and to help them. He took a vow from Severus Snape that he would on his life and Magic help Harry Potter to defeat Voldemort and to work against not only him, but also his Death Eaters.

"Snape took this vow and went to work. He was taught Occlumency and other forms of mind defense by Dumbledore and started working full time as a spy. He also joined as the Potions Master, from September that year, supposedly spying on Dumbledore but in reality working for him.

"Snape had kept in contact with Lily all this while and she also came to know of the oath he had taken to keep her son safe and started working with him to not only protect her son but to defeat the darkest wizard of the time. She was an unspeakable a fact that only her husband and her best friend knew. Not even Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin or any of the others knew.

"She did come up with a way to protect her son using ancient Magic that she was able to perform because of the power she wielded in her Magic and made a lot of provisions to protect her child for the future she knew both his parents would not be alive to see.

"Voldemort came and killed both the Potters but was defeated by the powerful Magic of Lily Potter who died so that her son would live." Here Harry's voice cracked a bit and he was silent for a minute gathering his thoughts before he continued.

"Voldemort was defeated but not dead. Lily Potter had also alerted the Head Master to a very disturbing piece of information. That was the knowledge that Voldemort had created horcruxes.

The gasps were loud and there were horrified screams from the ladies present there. There were loud curses from all the wizards as they realized what they were up against. Horcruxes. For the first time all of them appreciated the reason why the oath had been asked of them.

"A horcrux is a piece of soul that has been created by a supreme act of evil, like murder with intent to kill. An act like that destroys the wholeness of the soul but allows the soul that has already been split to be encased in a different container. So when the killing curse rebounded on him he did not die but was without his body that had been destroyed by the rebounded curse.

"He had made a total of six horcruxes having the seventh bit of soul in his body. It was with this he was able to rise again three years back. What we have to do now is to destroy the horcruxes first and then go after him. Out of the six horcruxes, I destroyed one unknowingly, in my second year. That was a Diary of Tom Riddle and most likely one of the earlier ones.

"The second horcrux was destroyed by Dumbledore last year. Unfortunately as he was destroying the horcruxes, one of the enchantments burst without warning and latched on to his wand hand. The curse was an extremely Dark and it would have meant the death of Dumbledore by eating his insides and killing him within a week in a very painful manner. The horcrux was destroyed, though.

"The third horcrux is a cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff and the fourth one Dumbledore suspects it to be Nagini, Voldemort's snake. The fifth one is a locket that belonged to Slytherin, is presently in my care that Narcissa Malfoy helped to retrieve. It is not destroyed as yet, though. The last horcrux is something none of us has any clue about. We have to find out about it. Dumbledore thinks it could be one of the things belonging to either Ravenclaw or Griffindor.

"At about that time Voldemort gave a job to Draco Malfoy to kill Dumbledore in a years time. That would be his punishment for his father's inability to retrieve the Prophecy from the Department of Mysteries. Draco had no choice, as he knew not completing the task would mean painful deaths for his entire family.

"Suddenly being a Death Eater was not so spectacular, but at that point he had no choice. To save her son by any means just as mine had done for me, Narcissa Malfoy went to see the only Death Eater who could and would help her. Unfortunately she was accompanied by Bellatrix Lestrange. Both of them went to meet Snape and Narcissa pleaded with him and made him perform an unbreakable vow with her as Bellatrix as their bonder.

"When Snape went to Dumbledore, he at once ordered Snape to kill him if the opportunity arises as it would help us with two main things. One is intelligence from their inner circle to which Snape will become a very important part and to destroy Nagini. That particular horcrux would be the most difficult as she would always be with Voldemort.

"The poison that had burst from the horcrux had no antidote and that would mean the Head Master would most likely die within a year or a maximum of a year and a half with regular medication. That was another point that Dumbledore used to persuade Snape. But ultimately Dumbledore was forced to bring in the oath Snape had taken almost seventeen years in the past to protect one Harry Potter and help him against Voldemort at all costs that forced Snape to kill the Head Master.

"Draco was pardoned this time by Voldemort because Dumbledore had died and he had let the other Death Eaters in to the castle. But Draco did not want to be Death Eater any more. He pleaded with Snape to help him.

"Snape rescued Lucius Malfoy from Azkaban, with the help of Fawkes, yes Fawkes, and all of them met with me. All four of them gave me the same oaths as you did and want to play a part in bringing down Voldemort once and for all. All of them are with me, living with me in Potter castle where I have been for the last few days."

He glanced at the four of them and nodded. They took off their hooded cloaks and stood uncomfortably in front of all of them. Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and Snape.

By the end of Harry's narration most of them had guessed about the identities of the hooded people. Still there were a few shrieks especially from Mrs. Weasley, and gasps from Hermione and Ginny.

But it was not Mrs.Weasley or Moody who had their doubts; it was Ron who disappointed Harry the most. "How could you? Harry, he is a Slytherin and a slimy git. He almost killed me and because of him Bill was hurt. And what of Ginny? The git's father was responsible for so much. He was the one who gave the Diary to Ginny for heaven's sake. And you want us to fight along with them and with the man who killed Dumbledore. I won't. I just won't." he yelled at the top of his voice.

"Ron, how can you talk like that? Harry trusts them and so does Professor Dumbledore. Harry just explained everything about all that we didn't know. How can you say all that?" Hermione exclaimed sounding distressed that Ron would not believe Harry.

"Shut up, Hermione, you don't know anything. All Slytherins are Death Eaters." Shouted Ron.

"How dare you? I was the one who was affected by the Diary and even I realize the importance of working together with them to destroy the bigger and greater evil. And all you have to say is Slytherins are evil?" snarled Ginny looking daggers at Ron.

"They have given Harry their oath for Merlin's sake, and in what house did you think Wormtail was in?" asked Hermione in a shaky voice. Why couldn't Ron understand?

"I knew it, you always side with him. Wormtail was an exception Hermione. But all Slytherins are not." Ron snarled right back.

"You are confused, little bro. While I don't like the Malfoys,"

"Or Snape, I believe in what Harry says."

"You – know – who is a bigger threat right now especially with the horcruxes." All this from the Twins.

Ron looked betrayed. "I knew it. You would support him. After all he gave you two the money to start out didn't he?"

The Twins looked ready to hit Ron. They took out their wands in a flash, when, none, other than Bill Weasley, stopped them. "You tell them off, Bill, and also tell Harry to stop trusting them. They are traitors. Maybe you could check Harry for any Dark curses."

Smack.

Hermione's hand flew and made contact with Ron's face. He reeled back with the impact of the slap. His face took an ugly look as his hand caressed his cheek. "So it is Harry all the time, isn't it? Ginny I think you don't have a chance." He sneered.

Smack.

This time it was his sister. "Don't say another word. Harry, please obliviate him and send him home. He obviously has issues more important than what we have been discussing here."

"That's enough, Ginny. There was no need to hit him for expressing an opinion," said Mrs. Weasley looking annoyed, distressed and angry at the same time.

As the arguments went back and forth Harry wondered how things had deteriorated in under a second. What was wrong with his first and best friend? Was it jealously or was it an intolerance of anything Slytherin or what, he did not know, but it hurt. Very badly. And if it went on like this their friendship would come under fire, if it hadn't already. And Mrs. Weasley did not understand. Mr. Weasley was standing to one side watching everything with Charlie who had yet to interfere.

If even the core group could not agree with each other, how could they present a united front against Voldemort? How would they win? Harry felt totally down and he could not help feeling let down. A hand came up to his shoulder and pressed it firmly. He turned to see Snape. "Its not your fault that Weasley is stupid. He will come to his senses." "You think so, Ron can be incredibly stubborn about issues, you know," Harry said doubtfully.

"No, I do not know and nor do I want to know what Ron is all about," Snape sneered, "And I hope you will desist from reading his inner mind to ascertain all about Ron." The sneer grew more pronounced. Against his will Harry grinned reluctantly. Snape's expression grew satisfied as saw Harry ease up a little. "He has to grow up Potter and realize that no one will fit in to his predetermined slot of good, bad and evil." Finished Snape seriously.

Harry nodded once before his attention was diverted. There was a full fight raging between all members of the Weasley family with Moody, Minerva, Tonks and Kingsley Shaklebolt thrown in. Hermione was crying covering her face with her hands. Ginny's face was streaming with tears as she was shouting at her mother who was yelling right back at her. The Malfoys were all huddled in a corner near Dumbledore's portrait with wands at the ready. Snape was standing near him with a sneer on his face.

Harry looked at the scene that had unfolded in a moment, it seemed. Ron's pigheadedness had once again come to the forefront and had totally destroyed the already fragile understanding that he had strived so hard to achieve. He felt despondent and alternated between banging his head and banging Ron's head in.

He couldn't stand it anymore. Just when he felt he would just hex all of them, "Harry?" a soft voice that he almost did not hear, called to him. He turned slightly and saw Lupin standing there with a most peculiar expression on his face, not minding Snape who had come to stand at his side. Just when had Snape started covering his back, he wondered as he answered, "Yes, professor?" hoping he would not do privately what the others were doing at the top of their voices.

"Did you really say Potter castle? Have you been there all along?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then, you must have seen the portraits, have all of them woken up?" for the first time he saw Lupin expressing something other than a polite smile and infinite patience. He looked anxious, hopeful and sad all together. Snape was sneering at him and before he could say anything, Harry butted in, "yes, sir," he said eagerly even the confusion could not make him stop smiling as he thought of his parents. He also relayed what his father and mother had to say of him.

Lupin was overwhelmed. "Your father had me keyed into the wards. Now however it would have become void. Perhaps you could key me in even temporarily once, I would like to meet with them."

"Sir, the reason I told all of this was to have a separate place for all of us to meet and discuss freely without danger of being overheard or any such thing,"

"Oh! And you thought of keying all of us to the castle. That's a brilliant idea, Harry!"

"Then why, Lupin don't you go and bang all of their heads together and make them see reason?" Lupin turned to Snape with an amused smile.

"I am not afraid of admitting I am scared of Molly, Severus. I won't even go anywhere near her. Perhaps," and he gestured his hand towards the melee still going on in front of them. "Very smart." Said Snape sarcastically, and he looked as if he would continue, when,

BANG, BANG!!!

It was professor McGonagall. She had her wand in her hand and looked furious. "Sit down, all of you," she shouted her face white with fury. "How dare all of you come here and treat this type of information with so little care, I am hard put to believe. Now sit down in your places or leave this room and this place in the Order forever."

Harry walked over to Hermione and put an arm around her a, bit awkwardly and patted Ginny with another hand, slightly flushing. He led them both to their seats and then walked to his place, where he had been standing. Snape looked at him raising an eyebrow and sneering just a little bit. Harry glared at him and dared him to say anything. Snape just looked amused.

"Now, I want all of you to contemplate your course of action for the duration of the war, for that is what we will be doing from now on as our secondary and sometimes our primary activity. Potter has offered us the Potter castle for an indefinite period of time where we can not only meet together as the Order but also live together, if we feel unsafe, where we are now. The Potter castle is said to be almost impregnable as only Potter can key us in and key us out.

"Grimmauld Place is also under a new fidelus and extra wards. That will also be used as both Order headquarters as well as a shelter for those members and their families who think they are unsafe. Harry has revealed all that he knows to all of you so that there is no confusion or distrust between us. The whole Order will not be privy to information about Severus and the Malfoys for the present, till we take care of a spy in the Order, yes, Molly another spy who could do us a lot of damage."

"Who is it, Good Lord what to do now?"

"Molly before I reveal to all of you about the other spy, I need to know what we are going to do. All of you who agree that Severus and the Malfoys are to be accepted please sit still and the others please raise your hand.

Two hands were raised. Molly and Ron. "I am sorry Minerva, but I cannot trust a man who can kill for the greater good or the man who did not mind letting a basilisk to purge the school of whom he thought were not worthy. I will be a member of the Order of course but I will remain with the others in Grimmauld Place, and attend meetings there."

McGonagall looked at Ron. He was looking at Harry. "I will be with my Mum," was all he said. Harry felt wretched and he opened his mouth, but before he could say any thing, "Good." Said McGonagall crisply, "That is taken care of. Thank you Molly and Ron. I will tell you about the next Order meeting as soon as we decide. Now please give me your permission to place a couple of spells so that you will not be able to talk about what you heard in here even among yourselves." McGonagall flicked her wand and along with Moody who had been strangely silent for him placed the spells and wards on both of them and allowed them to leave.

Molly was shocked at the dismissal. "But the spy?" she spluttered. "Sorry, Molly, what we discuss here from now on is confidential. I am sorry." She added gently. The tears shone in her eyes as she looked at her family that had chosen to align with Harry than to stand together and she felt a tiny bit of self doubt. But before she could say anything Ron was dragging her away to the fireplace. They left without another word.

Arthur sighed. He too would have agreed with his wife, but this was war and there were bigger issues and she forgot that Harry had taken an oath from them before he agreed to befriend them and he would never allow anyone to insult their family. He wondered why Molly and Ron did not think so. He turned his attention to the meeting with a small smile as both his elder sons placed an arm around him from either side, comforting him silently.

The council as they had named themselves was to go right then to Potter castle to get keyed in into the wards and then leave for home. They would meet the next day to discuss about the spy and the future course of action. Lupin was invited to stay over and he accepted joyfully. He would meet two of his friends after almost seventeen years and another after two years.

End of Chapter – 11

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