This is the last chapter of Resistance, although there will be an epilogue after this chapter.
Once again, I haven't managed to reply to everyone's reviews. I'm so sorry, but please know that I read and love every single one! I'll try and do better this time :-)
Ardchoile, thank you for the beta as always. You're a star!
xxx
'Welcome. Thank you all for coming. There are so many of you, it is truly overwhelming… My name is Gabriel Harper and I'll be speaking on behalf of the board members of The Bald Eagle Society today'.
Harry looked around nervously from his hiding spot behind the stage. So many people, he marvelled. But that's good, he reminded himself. They wanted as many people here as possible after all, lots of friends, a large number of reporters, and of course all the current members of the Bald Eagle Society. Or at least all the ones in key places, the ones that knew what the Society was all about.
Harry spotted many of the members in the audience, all only recognisable by the tiny emblem of the stylized eagle pinned to their clothing. He'd expected Walker to make the speech, but he should have known it would be Harper instead. He was the one that dealt with the public side of things after all. Walker liked to lead from behind the scenes, perhaps hoping to escape any suspicion and consequent prosecution. No change, Harry thought with vehemence, searching for and finding her face in the sea of people.
She was easy to spot, her and Chubb. Both were sitting in the plush seats of the V.I.P. section right in front of the stage. So not that much in the background. Good.
'She's in one of the Wizengamot boxes. You know, the ones Hermione suggested so that the esteemed members of the Wizengamot could come to the press conference without having to associate with the little people'.
Harry turned to see Luc slipping in through the side curtains.
'What are you talking about?' he asked his friend.
'The Alden woman. I didn't see her in the crowd, nor with her friends from the board. I just wanted to make sure she was here, so I went out exploring,' Luc explained.
Harry smiled at his friend, feeling somewhat relieved.
'Good. I didn't spot her either. I guess she's trying to keep a low profile. Not so smart though if she's planning on keeping her connections to the Minister of Magic a secret,' he said.
'Not really, no,' Luc agreed with a wicked smirk. 'Don't worry, I'll keep my eye on her today'.
'… and that's why we'd like you all to welcome our soon to be newest and most illustrious member, Mister Harry Potter!'
'Oh Merlin, that'll be my cue,' Harry groaned, wiping his sweaty palms on his tailored black Muggle trousers before stepping out on the stage with a fake, confident smile firmly in place.
'Bon chance mon ami!' Luc called after him.
'Mister Potter, we are delighted to welcome you into our little circle,' Harper announced, shaking Harry's hand with enthusiasm.
'Yes… well…'
Harry cleared his throat and activated the Sonorus charm. This was the part he was least looking forward to. He absolutely hated public speaking of any kind. Again he was grateful for Luc's miracle potion, that at least helped him to stifle his nerves somewhat and hopefully not sound like a complete idiot.
'Right,' he tried again. 'Thank you all for coming on this important day'.
Harry winced slightly at the sheer loudness of his voice. Before continuing, he swept his eyes over the crowd one more time, letting his eyes rest on several people he recognised. There was Hermione, conveniently near the stage for later, with Ron beside her. He looked at Walker and Chubb again only briefly, as if assuring himself that they were still there. He tried to spot Alden, but the Wizengamot boxes had a privacy ward on them that was impenetrable to the naked eye. Never mind, he thought vehemently, I know you're there… He saw several Weasleys, Ginny, George, Arthur, Molly… He recognised some of the members and employees of the Bald Eagle Society, mostly from the tapes he'd been reviewing over the last 48 hours. He saw several witches and wizards that must be members of the press, judging by their notepads and quills or cameras at the ready. And… yes, there was Skeeter as well. Of course she'd managed to get herself into prime position. Harry smiled wryly. It was sort of a relief to see that not everything had changed after all.
He took a deep breath and continued his speech.
'As Mr Harper has just told you, we're here today to establish my involvement with the Bald Eagle Society. But before I go further into that, I would like you all to know a little bit more about what the Bald Eagle Society and its members stand for, their views and the programs they're involved in. George, if you will?' Harry finished, turning in George Weasley's direction.
George gave him a thumbs up and with one wand movement made several large screens appear as if from nowhere. A few people gasped in shock or admiration and Harry quickly glanced back and forth between Harper, Chubb and Walker. They looked a bit puzzled, but not really all that worried. Not yet, Harry thought.
The appearance of the screens had caused a ripple of sound to wash through the crowd, people wondering aloud what this was about and where the screens were coming from. Since they were Muggle screens, a lot of wizards had never seen anything like it. The ones that had, were busy explaining to the ones that hadn't. But when the screens flickered to life and sound erupted from the massive speakers at the front, a hush descended on the crowd.
The first scene was one of the outside of the homeless shelter founded by the Bald Eagle Society. They had decided against a voice over, letting the images speak for themselves. The only comments were the large white letters that proclaimed the name and credentials of every single Bald Eagle Society member and employee that was featured.
It started innocently enough, with footage of grateful homeless witches and wizards, thanking the caretakers for the provided food, hot drinks and warm beds. But then the images became more grainy, like they'd been shot from a large distance. The sound was clear as a bell though as the witch to the left of screen, bold white letters proclaiming her to be Abbey Harris, junior member, spoke:
'I'm ever so sorry Sir. But you see, the poor Muggleborns just don't feel safe in an environment where there are also purebloods'.
She was speaking to a dignified looking wizard of about fifty years old. His robes were of good quality, but worn almost through, clumsily patched up in some places. The man made an effort to look calm, but Harry recognised the quiet desperation in the dark and intelligent eyes.
'I see,' the man said with what looked like an enormous effort. 'And where do you suggest my wife and I go?'
Harris smiled blandly and answered: 'I fear I cannot help you with that. I have however always been told that pureblood families take care of their own. I'm sure you'll manage. Purebloods always survive, now don't they…'
The scene was cut just after Harris all but shoved the poor man back onto the streets. Harry looked back at Walker. Oh yes… She knew she was in trouble now… Her own vanity in claiming her seat in the V.I.P. section stopped her from making a discreet escape. Besides, if she or any of the other key members tried, they were ready for them. Harry's eyes searched and found Neville, Dean, Parkinson, Zabini, the Phillpots, the Baddocks, the Shaws and many more of their allies. All with their wands at the ready, only waiting for one of the Society members to make a move. So far, none of them had. Too stunned, Harry suspected. Wait and see what else we got, he thought viciously, turning back to the screen.
The scene it was showing now was a mixture of an interview with Nurse Jenkins and footage obviously shot in the pureblood wing of St Mungo's.
'It broke my heart to see what they did to those poor patients,' she said with a sad voice, her usual stern expression softened into one of regret. 'I didn't know what to do. I talked to my supervisors, of course I did, but they said I wasn't a Healer or a Mediwitch and I should just do as I was told. I thought about leaving my job, but then what would have happened to my patients?'
The screens were showing some more of the residents of the pureblood wing. Harry winced, remembering that Draco's Mother was one of them not so long ago. That proud, witty woman, staring into nothingness, isolated, unloved, uncared for… Not any more, Harry swore to himself. Whatever happens after today, we'll put a stop to this. To all of this. I'll make sure of that…
'So what exactly did they do to all these poor wizards and witches?' came Rita Skeeter's voice from somewhere behind the camera. It had been Hermione's idea to include Skeeter in this little project. Clever Hermione.
Nurse Jenkins explained all about the Muggle drugs, the disregard for both the maximum daily doses and the required diet. Harry could hear the indignant comments and sharp intake of breath from those wizards and witches in the audience that had Muggle relatives. More and more people were throwing hostile glances in the direction of anyone wearing the Bald Eagle Society emblem.
At one point, Walker and Chubb actually tried to stand up to make a run for it, no doubt thinking everyone would be too distracted by the footage shown on the screens to see them leaving. No such luck. Wands were drawn within a fraction of a second and both Walker and Chubb seemed to be frozen to their seats. Harry smiled his thanks to both Zabini and Parkinson. He knew they had used a special kind of stunner that Charlie Weasley had taught them. Charlie had developed it himself and it was strong enough to stun a full-grown dragon. Not even a Shield Charm would be able to save them from that one.
'Now I do apologise in advance, because these images might be quite upsetting for some of you. However, we, the Bald Eagle Society, feel that it is imperative that you know the truth'.
Harry looked back to the screen to see a blonde witch (Miss Owen, teacher, the bold letters said) speaking to a group of intimidated looking students of about 10 years old. Some of them wore robes, others Muggle clothing.
'You'll all be going to Hogwarts next year and we want you to be prepared,' the witch continued with a grave face.
She nodded to a sour looking wizard to her right. The man muttered a charm and a scene was projected in front of the children. It was like one of those crappy Muggle tv shows, that use re-enactments to tell a story. Harry had cringed at the bad acting the first time he saw it. He cringed even more as he saw how manipulative the footage was. One scene after another of purebloods behaving badly, Muggle baiting, casting unforgivables…
Hermione had been seething with rage when they had watched it yesterday.
'I would have loved to have some sort of schooling on the wizarding world before going to Hogwarts. But this? This is just indoctrination and quite frankly scaring the hell out of those children!' Hermione had ranted.
None of them had argued with her. And now, Harry saw shocked faces all around him. The scenes that were shown were full of fake blood and anguished screams. The children in the classroom looked slightly green and some of them started to cry softly.
'That's my Jeremy!' a dark haired wizard in row eight called out.
There were many cries of outrage, of confusion, but they were quickly hushed as no one wanted to miss the rest of the film. It was like watching a bad accident, Harry supposed. No matter how horrible it gets, you just can't make yourself look away.
There was more, much much more… There were images from a work experience program that was more like a selection process than anything else. Men and women were drilled with questions, mostly about Muggle and pureblood beliefs of course, and then sorted into groups. It wasn't hard to deduce which answers would make you end up in the groups doing the more menial, sometimes downright disgusting, jobs with little to no prospect.
Cameras were going off every second and quills were scribbling furiously. Harry could feel the mood of the crowd swing from shocked and incredulous to full blown anger. That had Harry worried. The last thing they needed, was for the crowd to turn into some sort of lynch mob. That would make them no better than the Bald Eagle Society.
At the very end of the film came Harry's interview with Walker, Chubb, Harper and Alden. All their names were proclaimed clearly in the by now familiar white bold letters. Harry didn't need to look at them to know. He had been there after all. Some of those words had been haunting him for days now. Harry braced himself as he heard the very last words from the film die out. They were Walker's words about Draco.
'And what about the son? House arrest? Seriously? Lock the spoilt little prince in his castle with all of his pretty things? Oh yes, they took his obedient little house elves away, severe punishment I am sure. The prat might need to make his own breakfast for a change. The horror!'
The last image was a photo of Draco as he had been right after the war. Harry hadn't seen it before and it made his heart ache to see his beautiful, strong Draco look so very pale, so hopeless and so alone.
Harry could sense it. The exact moment the crowd would come out of their collective stupor and start an uproar. He didn't need to look to his left. He knew Draco would be there, because his sense of timing, as everything else about him, was impeccable.
The rustle of an invisibility cloak being pulled off and then a massive gasp, seeming to come from every mouth in the audience as they saw Draco appear. Harry still doesn't look at him. His eyes were glued to Walker now, wanting, needing, to see her reaction.
There wasn't much to see. She was still Stunned after all and sitting several feet away. But Harry saw it anyway. The shock, the hurt, the betrayal… Her eyes flashed those feelings back to him and he smiled with victorious satisfaction. Only then did he look back at the man he loved. The man that woman tried to take away from Harry before he'd even found him.
'My name is Draco Malfoy. I am still alive, despite the best efforts of the people that call themselves the Bald Eagle Society,' Draco started.
He wore elegant black robes and looked every inch the pureblood. Harry glowed with pride, just being able to stand next to him.
'I know you remember my family name,' Draco continued. 'We made a lot of mistakes during the war. Father paid for them with his life. Mother paid for his mistakes and hers, first in Azkaban and then in that so-called pureblood wing of St Mungo's'.
Draco swallowed. Harry knew how difficult this was for him. The Malfoys, like most pureblood families, were essentially private people. It was hard for Draco to tell his story to such a large audience. But Hermione had assured them that that very need to keep their suffering private, was probably what had made it possible for The Bald Eagle Society's more clandestine operations to go undetected and unchallenged for so long. Harry suspected she was right. Draco must have felt the same, or he would never have agreed to expose himself like this.
Draco told his story in neat, almost clean words. Somehow, that made the impact that much greater. The crowd stayed quiet, hungrily absorbing every word.
'The biggest mistake they made was handing me over to Harry Potter. I will never understand how they could think that someone so kind, so warm, so compassionate, could ever agree with what they did. What they stand for. Harry knows, as I do, that this is not about the purity of one's blood. Voldemort was wrong. I knew that then and I know it now. But the Bald Eagle Society is wrong as well. Yes, Voldemort and his Death Eaters have caused so much harm to both the wizarding and the Muggle world. But so has The Bald Eagle Society,' Draco finished.
He stepped back a bit, positioning himself next to Harry while Hermione took over the stage. Harry grabbed hold of Draco's hand and squeezed tightly.
'You were wonderful,' he whispered.
'I always am,' came Draco's dry reply. But Harry felt the soft squeeze in response to his and smiled.
'You've seen today what the Bald Eagle Society is capable of. You've seen their real goals, instead of the ones they proclaim out loud,' Hermione said in a clear, powerful voice.
'This has been going on under all our noses. The Bald Eagle Society has been allowed an almost unlimited freedom. How has this happened? As most of you know, I am a Muggle born witch. According to The Bald Eagle Society, I should renounce all purebloods and welcome their punishment. I do not. What I see, is a powerful dark wizard, calling himself The Dark Lord, being allowed to grow more powerful still, because of the fear and indecision of our own Ministry. And now, when another evil force has stood up, they look away once again. Still afraid. Still indecisive'.
She turned her face toward the cameras to make her final statement loud and clear.
'I call upon the Minister to take responsibility. I call upon the esteemed members of the Wizengamot to investigate the Bald Eagle Society and its activities fully. And I call upon all of you present here today, to open your eyes, right now. No more deception. No more acting out of fear or revenge. Find out the truth. We have given you as much as we can. The rest is up to you. All of you'.
Tumultuous applause broke out as soon as she finished. Harry saw several Aurors move toward members of the Bald Eagle Society and take them in. Kingsley Shacklebolt, head Auror now, moved in to arrest both Walker and Chubb. Harper was already being hauled off by a curly haired Auror Harry didn't recognise.
'That was some speech Granger. Hermione. Yes, I can see you as our next Minister of Magic. It'll be good to finally have someone sensible in that position, instead of just some puppet of the Wizengamot,' Draco said, shaking Hermione's hand.
Hermione flushed and smiled a little pleased smile.
'Thanks Draco,' she said.
She looked around the crowded field with a concerned look.
'Do you think they have everything under control?' she asked them.
Harry nodded.
'Yes,' he said. 'Don't worry. Ron warned the rest of the Aurors in advance, so they were ready to take charge. You know Shacklebolt has been sceptical about the Bald Eagle Society from the beginning. Ron said it didn't take much to convince him. And you know the Aurors will listen to Kingsley before anyone else, and that includes the Minister'.
Hermione nodded distractedly.
'Where is Ron anyway?' she asked, sweeping her eyes over the crowd.
'Over there,' Draco said, indicating the left Wizengamot box with a nod. 'He's taking Alden in'.
'Good,' Harry said. 'Well, I think that means our work here is done for today. Come on. Let's go home'.
xxx
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