Chapter 49: Tidings of War

When Harry envisioned his seventh year at Hogwarts when he was younger, it was nothing like it turned out to be. The twists and turns throughout his years at this magnificent school served to change him profoundly. Sitting in Dumbledore's office alone for the third time this day, Harry couldn't help but reminisce on a time long ago when things were more simple.

The constant ticking of Dumbledore's never-ending trinkets and bobbles soothed him, it was relaxing. Harry casually palmed his wand and with a subtle flick, he cast his illusion detection charm.

His study into illusion magics had proven difficult. Little records of this magic remained in the world and the most reliable resources were from old texts in foreign languages. Even the English books seemed like a different language to him. Hermione had been a great help though, she was able to translate many of the older texts for him and she had a knack for finding books that he hadn't known of.

Harry took a good look around Dumbledore's office. The old Headmaster himself knew a little of illusion magic, that much was clear to Harry as he was able to see the telltale glimmer of illusion magic which was only enhanced thanks to the detection charm. The ring once owned by Marvolo Gaunt still lay on the table in the back of the room, covered by a handful of illusioned books. There was another glimmer behind Dumbledore's desk, perhaps Harry would investigate that someday.

And then of course, Harry could see the rest of the castle practically alight with bright glimmering.

The founders had clearly known and worked with illusion magic. Harry's detection charm only had a fairly short radius, extending only just beyond the Headmaster's office. Still, the walls of the castle lit up brilliantly, a clear sign that multiple illusion spells had been placed upon them. Considering the fact that Hogwarts was embedded with magic, Harry didn't find it odd that there was illusion magic in the walls, he was mostly curious as to what the spells did.

With a sigh, Harry flicked his wand upward and the charm was ended. He slipped his wand back into his wrist holster and slouched down in his seat. Dumbledore was supposed to be here over thirty minutes ago, Harry had never known the man to be late. Just as Harry was ready to leave, Dumbledore walked through the office doors, head downcast. He looked weary, Harry noted as Dumbledore sat himself behind his desk without speaking to Harry.

"Harry, I need to ask you this and I need the truth," Dumbledore said gravely. "Did Alvar go after any Horcruxes?"

It took only a single look at the Headmaster's damp clothes for Harry to know that he had gone to the cave. But why not bring him along? Clearly the headmaster was still upset over Harry's interview on the radio a month ago. Dumbledore had been eerily calm when he returned to his office moments after the interview had ended but Harry knew that the man was clearly upset and disappointed with him.

Harry still remembered his adventure to get the Horcrux like it was yesterday. When they returned back to Hogwarts, Alvar had discovered that the locket was a fake, a simple replacement with a note from one R.A.B.

"We did," Harry answered truthfully. "The locket was a fake."

Dumbledore didn't question how Harry knew where he had been. "A fake?"

"A note came along with it, from R.A.B." Harry watched for a reaction from the Headmaster but he found none. Either Dumbledore didn't know who R.A.B was or he was hiding his emotions perfectly.

The old Headmaster put his hands together atop his desk. "Do you still have this note? I would like to go over it myself."

Harry shook his head. "Alvar has it."

A frown came over Dumbledore and Harry forced himself to remain calm. All of the confrontations between Harry and Dumbledore seemed to revolve around Alvar. Harry knew that Alvar was not in the wrong in this whole situation, Dumbledore was in the wrong. However, Dumbledore was doing what he felt was right and so Harry couldn't help but question his own judgement. Perhaps he was wrong and Dumbledore was right.

Alvar had been an excellent teacher but he seemed to lack a… moral compass when it comes to Death Eaters or other enemies. He kills them freely and without hesitation, although that seemed to be a part of war. Alvar never seemed to second-guess himself or spend much time pondering on what to do, he always seemed to have a plan. Dumbledore used these as reasons as to why Alvar was dark.

Alvar had taught Harry that there were no real differences between light and dark. At first, Harry had thought that Voldemort likely had the same line of thinking and so he rejected that idea. The more he thought on it though, the more it made sense to Harry. There really was no difference between light or dark magic. Since he had made that revelation, Harry had been more free in his usage of 'dark' magic. However, Dumbledore didn't fancy the idea of Harry using such magic.

"Don't start on it," Harry muttered when he saw that the Headmaster was about to speak. Dumbledore paused for a moment before reclining back in his chair as he thought on how to proceed.

Harry avoided looking at Dumbledore, in fact, he found himself looking anywhere but at the Headmaster. His eyes rested upon Fawkes, watching the red phoenix clean his feathers. "I understand how you feel Harry-" Dumbledore began.

"Do you?" Harry snapped quietly. "Stop this, I don't particularly want to fight with you right now," Harry said slowly.

Dumbledore tipped his head and popped a lemon drop in his mouth. "I thought that it would be best if for tonight we went over the changes within the Ministry."

He stood up from behind his desk and walked over to the side of his office. Dumbledore pulled a large old book from it's place on his shelf and walked back over to his seat. He placed the book before Harry and flipped it open. Harry noticed that the inside cover had a short note written inside.

Professor Dumbledore,

Congratulations on obtaining the position of Professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts; I'm sure that my niece Caitlin will be pleased with your skills and knowledge in the subject. She does love transfiguration and after everything she's heard about you, I know that she is ecstatic to have you as her NEWTS Professor.

I wish to thank you for visiting me in my office earlier this week. I too agree that the threat that Grindelwald poses is too great to be ignored and I fully understand your desire to end this conflict quickly with as little bloodshed as possible. Unfortunately, my predecessor, Hector Fawley, did little to prepare us for this war. I would like to keep the invitation open for you to come assist with a few operation for us; however I do understand that you have quite a busy schedule as the new Transfiguration Professor.

My friends in the Ministry noted that this book is a very useful tool for learning in-depth knowledge of all departments of the Ministry. I found it to be an enjoyable read and I learned much from it, hopefully you will find it equally useful in understanding a bit more about our Ministry.

Regards,

Leonard Spencer-Moon

Minister for Magic

"The Minister during the first Wizarding War gifted this to me," Dumbledore explained. "Back then I was beginning to become popular with the public, it was the first time that I was nominated for Minister. Not that I garnered many votes during the election mind you. I made it clear from the beginning that I wanted nothing to do with becoming the Minister for Magic. Still, many thought that I would take it up when I was older, Leonard likely expected me to succeed him or at least eventually become the Minister."

"As he said though, this book is a great source of information about the Ministry. Even as the years go on the Ministry remains rather stagnant. Little has changed from that time other than the number of staff. I suggest that you read it over in your spare time."

"I will, thank you Albus," Harry said, pulling the book closer to him. He quickly glanced over the Table of Contents which simply listed the different divisions of the Ministry.

Dumbledore took another Sherbet Lemon from his jar and put it in his mouth. "Voldemort has changed much since coming to power, least of all the privileged nature of the purebloods. Many departments have been reworked to focus on a more top-down style. As you know, many members of the Ministry now reside at Hogwarts, primarily the muggle-born wizards and witches. If you take note of how Voldemort restructured the Ministry, you will see that he has kept to his core tenants by advancing the purebloods into higher positions."

"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has been completely reworked. It retains the same name however it is now split into three divisions. There are the regular Aurors who are now headed by Death Eaters. They act in the same way as the old Auror department did. The next second is the Snatchers, have you heard of them?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry nodded. The snatchers were a sort of not-so-secret police which went after muggleborns and half-bloods. They made sure that the Ministry was kept 'pure.' "I'm sure that the rumors around Hogwarts are enough to keep everyone wary of them."

"Indeed," Dumbledore replied with a grim expression on his face. "The final group however is the most worrisome. It is made up the elite Death Eaters in his ranks. They act out on missions for Voldemort himself and they are completely protected from any repercussions from anyone in the public or government."

"Soon I shall be mobilizing our forces to fight against the Death Eaters. Many of the men and women that fled here have agreed to fight with us and I have sent a few Order members out to hunt for new recruits in other countries. Voldemort has done the same, his foothold in France is especially strong now that he has the backing of the Melott and Modisette families. However, I shall not bore you with all of these details-"

"What about Sirius, Remus, and Tonks?" Harry blurted out. He hadn't heard from them in a while, not since just after the Hogwarts Express had been attacked.

Dumbledore stroked his beard in thought. "Remus is visiting a Werewolf colony in Bulgaria, Nymphadora is with him as protection. Sirius is in France on a mission by himself."

"Didn't you say that Voldemort had a strong foothold in France? What is Sirius doing there?" Harry asked with a confused expression on his face. Why would Sirius be alone on a mission in France where the Death Eaters were growing in numbers?

After a moment's hesitation, Dumbledore answered. "Sirius volunteered to go as a representative of the Order. He is trying to rally some wizards and witches to our sides. As he is a member of the Black family, he has the status to be invited to prestigious pureblood events. He will prove invaluable to our cause, I can assure you of that, Harry."

"He… he'll be alright, won't he?" Harry asked, worried about the response.

"As long as he follows our plan and doesn't do anything reckless then everything should be fine," Dumbledore told him with a blank face.


Harry rolled his shoulders as he walked away from the Headmaster's office. Sitting hunched over books and letters was definitely not Harry's favourite nighttime activity but it was something which he had to do. He had the thick book that Dumbledore had given him to study; he would go over it later with Hermione.

More and more, his girlfriend was proving useful to him. She was there to help him when he needed it, to support it. She listened when he complained about anything. Harry loved her, everything about her just made him happy. Her smile, the way she looked when she was reading a particularly complex work, even when she was annoyed he couldn't help but find her adorable.

As if on cue, Hermione turned the corner and nearly walked right into Harry. She paused and stepped back with a laugh but Harry swept forward and wrapped an arm around her. "You have a new book," she pointed out.

Harry couldn't help but laugh, she was always so interested in whatever anyone was reading. "Dumbledore gave it to me."

Hermione frowned and pulled back to look up at Harry's face. "You better be careful. Neville, Hannah, and Tracy are all a little on edge about Dumbledore right now. Things were a little tense in the common room, they were talking about Astoria again."

They still had no idea where the young Greengrass was. They didn't find out that she had disappeared until a couple days since they'd last seen her. It appeared as though she had fled with Kate but no one was too sure as to what truly happened. Considering the fact that all of Astoria's things were missing seemed to lead credence to the fact that she had left of her own volition.

Still though, they couldn't help but worry about the younger girl. She lost her parents and sister, Alvar was still missing months after the attack on the Hogwarts Express, and all that she had was Kate now. Harry knew first hand just how dangerous the girl could be but Harry didn't know if she could take care of a baby all by herself.

Just as he began to grow worried again, Hermione leaned into him and rubbed his back soothingly. She was always able to calm him down.

"Dumbledore is having me learn about the Ministry, this book is all about it," Harry explained after a moment of peace.

"That's nice," Hermione muttered against his chest. "Looks like we have a few more late night study sessions ahead."

Thank god Hermione was the studious and clever girl she was, otherwise Harry didn't know if he could stick to studying during these study sessions.

Slowly, the two of them began walking aimlessly through the halls. If Neville was upset like Hermione said he was, it would just be best for Harry to avoid their common room for a while. It would save him from being dragged into another argument. "How long do you think it'll take for them to cool down?" Harry asked.

"Too long." Hermione abruptly changed direction and pulled Harry toward an old, empty classroom. Harry was confused for a moment until Hermione pushed him back against the door, closing it. Her lips found his and Harry couldn't help but lean into the kiss.

Hermione gently tugged at his robe and he shrugged it off. "I love you," Harry whispered as he kissed her neck.

"I love you too," Hermione replied as she pulled back and threw off her outer robes. She sauntered further into the classroom, slowly taking off her top as she went. Harry absentmindedly threw up a silencing charm before following after his girlfriend.

AN: The next chapter might be my favourite one that I've ever written. Hopefully the next few chapters should be coming out much sooner than it took for me to write this one.