Disclaimer: Anything familiar to JKR's books probably comes from there and is hers not mine. Also, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, the Wizarding World, and anything else that has to do with it belongs to the lovely JK Rowling, not me. I'm just playing in her sandbox and building my own Hogwarts in it.

Chapter Fifty-Three

By breakfast the next morning, news of Harry's stag Patronus was known by the entire school. He just grinned and told people about Umbridge's face when she saw it.

That Friday was Ancient Runes in the morning and Muggle Studies in the afternoon before the fifth years had the entire weekend to revise for the second week.

About a month before OWLs had started, Professor McGonagall had asked in each fifth year Transfiguration class if there was anyone who wanted to take an OWL in a subject they weren't actually in the class in. Theo and Blaise had added Ancient Runes to their list while the others added Arithmancy, though Harry and Tracey had agreed that having an OWL in Muggle Studies might come in handy and added it as well, mainly because they knew they didn't have to revise for it.

Now it was time to see if their tutoring of Blaise and Theo had worked. If they didn't know too much of the exam, then it hadn't done as well as they had hoped, but everyone in Ancient Runes had helped with the revising. Harry thought they would do well enough to get at least an Acceptable, if not an Exceeds Expectation, but it all depended on the two boys now.

Luckily, in most people's opinion, the Ancient Runes exam was only theory as there was no practical side to it until NEWTs, and even then there wouldn't be a practical part to the exam as it was mostly just writing runes on different surfaces.

The first week of exams was finally almost over, leaving only one more to go.

"There were a few questions I had to leave blank," Theo admitted, "but I understood and could answer most of the exam. The revision really did help." Blaise was nodding in agreement.

"I'm glad you felt so comfortable with the exam," Tracey said, wrapping her arm around Theo's waist as they walked towards the lake.

"It gives me hope that the Daphne, Draco, Trace, and I will do well on Arithmancy next Wednesday," Harry added with a grin. "Now, Trace, you ready for Muggle Studies after lunch?"

As Tracey nodded, Daphne said, "I still don't know why you two are taking that one. You have no need for it."

Harry and Tracey shared a look, shrugging as they silently agreed to explain it to their friends after the exam.

"That was probably the easiest exam I've taken so far, and it was the only one I didn't study for!" Harry exclaimed happily.

"Was it really that simple?" Theo asked, and Tracey nodded.

"Of course," Harry said. "They were asking things like what are a television and a computer, who takes care of Muggle criminals, and how do Muggles put out fires. That's all really basic knowledge if you know anything about the Muggle world."

"Why did you take that exam, again?" Daphne asked, and this time Tracey answered.

"Because you never know when having proof from OWLs that you know about the Muggle world might be in handy in the future. Plus, because we didn't have to study, all it did was take away three hours of our afternoon. It's not like we wasted revision time preparing for it."

"True," Daphne admitted, shaking her head. "I still say it's ridiculous for you two to have taken it, but it's done, so I'll leave it alone."

Harry and Tracey just caught the other's eye and rolled their eyes.

"We're done!" Theo exclaimed as he escaped the dungeon classroom they had been taking their Potions practical in, cheering in relief. "I don't have to revise for that evil course anymore!"

Behind him, the others were laughing at his antics, though Neville looked just as relieved, Potions always having been a weakness for him.

"I finally don't have to force him to revise the one subject he hates even thinking about," Harry cheered quietly as he laughed, a relieved and pleased look on his face.

"How did your potion look?" Tracey asked, and he just raised an eyebrow at her. "Exactly how you expected it, eh? Mine was enough to pass, but I don't think I'll be taking NEWT Potions next year either, even if I do get the high enough grade."

Harry shrugged. "At least you're better about not liking a class than your boyfriend," he said, gesturing to the teen who was still punching the air in happiness, causing the pair to snicker again.

"You did really well with the creatures, Harry," Justin commented, one of the few in the group to truly enjoy Care of Magical Creatures as he enjoyed learning about the various magical creatures in the world, even if it meant learning on his own. "If you did well on the written portion this morning, you might get an O on the OWL."

"Good," Harry sighed in relief. "I need at least an E in Care of Magical Creatures to become a Defense professor, Snape said," Harry explained as the others looked at him in surprise at his relief. "It was the one OWL I was worried about for that profession. Potions, Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration I'm good at, but this Care of Magical Creatures can be a challenge at times."

Everyone was silent after that admission for a few minutes.

"Just two more OWLs after today, though," Draco finally said to break the silence. "Astronomy and History are all we have left!"

"Ah, yes, just two of the more boring and least needed ones to go," Theo said, nodding importantly with a grin on his face until Harry hit him upside the head.

"Some of us actually need History, Theo," Terry stated. "Even if I don't need it, there are people who need the course. Many jobs require at least an OWL in History."

"Yeah, but none of us need it!" Theo pointed out.

"Harry, please tell me you're going to make him spend the next two days studying for History now," Padma asked Harry, who grinned mischievously and nodded.

"NO!" Theo yelled. "NOT AGAIN!" He took off running towards the castle, and they let him go.

"Nicely done, Padma," Hermione said as they all laughed once they heard the castle doors slam shut.

"Thank you so much, Hermione," Padma replied. "Now, let's go look over out star charts and notes for tomorrow so that we can try to relax a bit tonight if it's possible."

Theo spent almost no time around Harry the next morning until Tracey took pity on her boyfriend and told him that it had been a joke to get him to stop. The group then spent the time between lunch and dinner revising the star charts they would be filling out that evening, their notes for Arithmancy that afternoon, and their notes for their History exam the next afternoon. They were going to all try to sleep in until nine and then meet in The Den by ten the next day to revise one last time, but they had an Astronomy OWL to finish.

It was a pretty uneventful evening as the fifth years got from ten-thirty until twelve-thirty to fill out a star chart using their telescope. Harry looked down at the grounds and felt the normal feeling in his gut when he saw Hagrid's dark hut, unoccupied since Umbridge had forced him and Dumbledore to run.

Everyone was asleep by one in the morning, and after a good night's sleep, they were back to last-minute note reading, as they had been doing the past two weeks.

Harry spent most of the three hours given for the exam just answering questions, but with about half an hour left to go, his scar began to burn, slowly becoming more and more painful as the Great Hall warmed up. Using Occlumency as best he could, Harry pushed the pain aside and finished his final question as best he could.

Turning in his paper so that he could leave, Harry slipped into the Entrance Hall and slid down the stone wall, his hands covering his burning scar as he fought tears of pain. Finally, Harry gave in and let down his barrier just enough to see what Voldemort obvious wanted him to see, though he didn't know that Voldemort knew of the connection between them.

He walked through the familiar sight of the Ministry of Magic Atrium, though it was empty this time. Getting into the lift, Harry was taken down to a level he had only been down to once before. It was a bit of a surprise to be taken down a familiar corridor and through a door he recognized. He was then pulled into the circular room he remembered being in with an Unspeakable and Samuel Davis.

A door opened, and Harry was led through another familiar room until he was in the Hall of Prophecy. Down the paths between shelves he went, dragged until he was at Row Ninety-Seven, just as he had done almost three years before. Before him was a sight he never wanted to see.

Lord Voldemort was standing with his wand pointed at Sirius Black, who had a cut going down his cheek and blood falling onto his robes. Sirius couldn't stand, and Harry could see one arm and one leg obviously broken while his robes were cut up in random places.

"Take it for me… lift it down, now… I cannot touch it… but you can." Sirius didn't move, so Voldemort called out, "Crucio!"

Sirius's screams were all Harry heard until Voldemort lifted the curse. His godfather was panting, his forehead on the ground as he breathed heavily.

"Lord Voldemort is waiting."

"You'll have to kill me," Sirius finally said.

"Undoubtedly I shall in the end," Voldemort hissed. "But you will fetch it for me first, Black… you think you have felt pain thus far? Think again… we have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream…"

Harry forced the images from his mind, his mouth full of blood from where he had bitten his lip to keep from screaming. His breath was coming in short pants through his nose, and he felt the sweat covering him drip down his face.

"Harry!" Tracey's voice called from across the Hall where the others were just exiting at the end of the exam. "Harry, are you okay?" she asked as she reached him, and he shook his head, spitting out the blood onto the stone floor next to him.

Panting heavily now that he could use his mouth to breathe, Harry closed his eyes tightly. His mouth was stinging and his head pounding, but he knew he had to check, to be sure it wasn't a trap.

Reaching a shaking hand down, Harry opened the top of the small case on his belt, pulling the mirror out of it and trying to steady himself enough to use it.

"Sirius," he croaked out. Sirius' face didn't take long to appear in the mirror, and Harry didn't even notice the others keeping everyone away from him.

"Harry! What's wrong?" Sirius exclaimed when he saw his godson.

"Vision from Voldemort," Harry gasped out, his body relaxing at the sight of his godfather. "He wants me to go get him the Prophecy, Padfoot. I just got a fake vision that showed him torturing you down there right by where Samuel took me. Tom was trying to trick me into going there."

Around Harry, everyone had paled at his words, now realizing why he had looked so terrible. In the mirror, Harry saw Sirius pale as well as he sat down, others gasping in the background as they heard his words.

"Stay at school," Sirius ordered. "I'm completely safe at the Manor. All of us are safe. Remus just checked on the Greengrasses, and they're fine. We'll take care of this news from here. Keep your mirror on you. We might ask you to go to Snape and pretend that you just saw this. Let us contact Tonks for a minute. I'll call you back in a few. Get somewhere more private than the Entrance Hall while you wait."

Sirius disappeared from the mirror, leaving Harry to look around at his pale friends. They all knew what this meant, and it wasn't good.

"It's starting," he whispered.

"Enter," the voice of Professor Snape called from his office as Harry stood outside of it, Tracey and Ginny helping him stand, both because he did actually need the help still and also to help the image they were trying to make.

"What happened?" he demanded, standing swiftly to help the two girls sit Harry down in his normal seat.

"Sir, we were out on the grounds after the History OWL, relaxing as we're finally done," Tracey began, "when Harry suddenly yelled out in pain and grasped his scar."

"He bit his lip to keep in his scream as best he could, drawing enough blood that he couldn't breathe through his mouth without it spilling out," Ginny continued. "It went on for at least five minutes, maybe ten, before he finally calmed down."

"After spitting out the blood, he finally gasped out that Lord Voldemort had sent him a vision," Tracey added, gesturing for Harry to continue.

"I was led down a corridor in the Ministry of Magic, through a circular room, and to a room full of glass orbs on shelves. At Row Ninety-Seven, I saw Voldemort with Sirius, torturing him to try and get Sirius to give him something he supposedly couldn't touch. That was when I forced the vision from my mind," Harry said weakly. "Professor, I know you're in the Order. Please, help him!"

"You both take Mr. Potter to his dorm so that he can rest," Professor Snape told the girls. "I'll inform those who need to be informed. None of you are to leave the castle. This will be handled. Thank you for bringing him to me."

"I knew it was what my parents would want me to do," Ginny said, "since you're in the Order with them."

Professor Snape nodded and helped them bring Harry to the door of his office. Once the door closed behind the trio, they could hear Snape moving quickly, obviously sending a message to Professor Dumbledore.

With the girls helping Harry, who was quickly regaining his energy, the trio got to the Slytherin Common Room, where the door was open already with Blaise waiting to help. The four of them joined the rest of the colored Journal group in the fifth year boys' dorm. None of the Slytherins had asked any questions as group meetings like this had happened once or twice before.

"It was a success," Harry said as he finally sat down on his bed, Draco holding his mirror so that Sirius could hear. "Dumbledore will find out within the hour and the Order will take care of it. We can relax and just wait for Tonks to get back to Marauder Manor to give us the news."

Everyone sighed in relief on both sides of the mirror. Now, they just had to wait.

Lucius Malfoy had been waiting with his fellow Death Eaters for hours for Potter to turn up. This was finally his chance to get revenge on the boy who had turned his son away from him. He had been forced to disown Draco, who had been a wonder son up until his master had returned, and Lucius knew he had but one person to blame: Harry Potter.

It was finally around the time the Dark Lord had predicted Potter would turn up, and the ward they had set up outside the Department of Mysteries had been tripped by a single person not long ago. He was alone.

A boy with messy black hair appeared at Row Ninety-Seven, his wand drawn as he looked around, his green eyes drawn to the orbs that were making his eyes almost glow. He finally stopped at the one with his name on it, and he reached out and grasped it. Finally.

"Hand it over, Potter," Lucius said calmly, stepping out of his hiding place and ignoring the twinge that meant the ward had been tripped again.

"I don't think so," Potter said, except he said it in a girl's voice. Before his very eyes, Lucius saw the boy turn into a grown woman with pink, spiky hair who reminded him greatly of his wife. "Harry's at Hogwarts, safe and sound, and you're all in trouble."

Out of nowhere, the shelves of Prophecies began to crash and fall, almost taking out the Death Eaters before they ran towards the exit, the woman – Nymphadora Tonks, if Lucius wasn't mistaken – ahead of them. Figures joined her at the door and they ran.

"Get them!" Lucius screamed, and they followed the various adults through the Department of Mysteries.

Tonks slipped the fake prophecy into her robes next to the other orb Samuel had given her with his memory of the prophecy in it in case Dumbledore asked for it. Then, she continued leading the Death Eaters to the Death Room, which was the largest room and best place to fight them.

Dumbledore had said that he'd meet the Order there, or in the Atrium if they could get up there.

Once in the room with the Veil of Death, Tonks turned and began throwing Stunners at the Death Eaters, ducking under their Cutting Hexes and Killing Curses. Other spells joined the mix from both sides, Death Eaters falling to Stunners and being revived by their fellows when the chance came.

Growling at the sight, Tonks summoned all of the wands from fallen Death Eaters, snapping them in one motion before wrapping up the Death Eaters in ropes. She was so preoccupied by it that only the sight of a green light heading in her direction allowed her to dodge the Killing Curse sent by the single female Death Eater in the room. Tonks recognized her: Bellatrix Lestrange, her own aunt.

"Hello, Aunt Bella," Tonks called as she ducked another Hex from her aunt and sent a Cutting Curse in return.

"So you're the daughter my blood traitor sister had," Bellatrix sneered, and Tonks just grinned as she continued to fire all the curses she could think of at her aunt.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you, though I wish it could have been under better circumstances, don't you?" Tonks asked sweetly. She was trying to get Bellatrix angry, and it appeared to be working.

"Why you little blood traitor!" Bellatrix yelled, shooting another green Killing Curse at Tonks, who dodged quickly.

Suddenly, above them, a door opened. Screams from Death Eaters caught Bellatrix's attention as her eyes widened and she turned to run.

"Dumbledore!" was heard all around the room as the Death Eaters were suddenly rounded up, only Bellatrix getting away in time as she took off.

"Bellatrix is getting away!" Tonks called as she took off after her aunt, wand held tightly in hand as she rushed to the Atrium.

When she got there, Tonks dodged yet another Killing Curse. They began to duel again, but Tonks could tell she was a bit outmatched and took refuge behind the fountain in the middle of the Atrium.

"Giving up, my little niece?" Bellatrix taunted. "Give me the prophecy and I'll let you live to duel me another day."

"It's been destroyed, Auntie," Tonks replied with a grin, her Occlumency allowing her to feel the probe being used by an unknown force, so she sent a picture of the orb still in her pocket falling to the ground and breaking into pieces as she ran from the Death Eaters to the probe.

"You lie!" Bellatrix yelled in desperation.

"I'm not, and your master knows it, Auntie," Tonks said, still grinning as the probe disappeared. "It's gone, and you failed."

"Master, it wasn't my fault!" Bellatrix called, seemingly to herself.

"I know," a voice hissed, and Tonks knew that Voldemort himself had finally arrived. "Lucius is to blame for this," he continued. "Now, come out, little Auror, and fight your enemy."

Before Tonks could even think of a reply, a blast of water from the fountain above her was sent flying at Voldemort, and Tonks turned her head to see Dumbledore had arrived in the Atrium.

"Dumbledore," Tom Riddle hissed as Dumbledore stepped out into the open.

"Tom," Dumbledore returned, remembering when he had been just an unsettling eleven-year-old boy Sorted into Slytherin just as another unusual boy had been five years before. The differences were startling, though, and Albus Dumbledore knew deep down that he had nothing to worry about from Harry Potter, not when it came to his fear of him turning into the monster that stood before him.

Instead of talking, Tom waved his wand to create a snake made of fire, launching it at Dumbledore, who used the water to put it out before shooting the water at Tom again. Tom froze the water and shot it back at Dumbledore in pieces that would have impaled the Light wizard had he not melted the water before it got even close to him.

As Dumbledore animated the statues from the fountain, he saw Tonks Stun Bellatrix Lestrange out of the corner of his eye. Tom screamed in anger, sending a Killing Curse at Tonks, which Dumbledore intercepted with the golden statue of a house-elf.

Furious, Tom conjured a snake and hissed at it, sending it towards Dumbledore, who banished it into the glass around the security booth, destroying the window and the snake. Dumbledore then made a fire whip from his wand, waving it towards Tom to wrap him up.

Tom just barely put out the fire in time before summoning the glass shards to banish them towards Dumbledore, the points all aimed at the Headmaster. A wave of his wand allowed Dumbledore to turn the glass into sand, its original form.

Before either could attack again, voices were suddenly heard from all around the dueling pair, unconscious Death Eater, and hiding Auror. The Ministry workers had arrived, the Minister at the forefront of the group.

Growling, Tom summoned Bellatrix to him before Portkeying out of the Ministry. The Atrium was in ruins and Tonks had just stood up to look around. Ministry workers were gaping at the sight in front of them while Minister Fudge appeared to be speechless.

"He – he's back," Fudge finally managed to stammer out.

"I have been saying this for the past year," Dumbledore declared. "If you go down to the Department of Mysteries, you will find my people with Death Eaters ready for arrest, among them Lucius Malfoy, just as Mr. Potter claimed last June. Now, I will join you in your office for half an hour, Cornelius, but no more as I have a school to return to and run."

Cornelius Fudge could do nothing more than nod in agreement and lead the way to his office.

"Voldemort appeared at the Ministry," Tonks said as she stepped out of the Floo in Marauder Manor at about five in the morning. "He and Dumbledore dueled until the Ministry workers we alerted arrived, Fudge among them. Fudge was finally forced to admit that Voldemort is back."

Amelia smiled from where her head sat in the fire, listening from her office to a full account of events. Around the living room, Sirius, Remus, Samuel, and Daniella were smiling.

"He won't be in office for more than a week," Amelia declared. "At the most the Ministry and Wizengamot will wait until after the school year ends so that those who work at Hogwarts or with schedules similar to that of the school can be at the meeting. That's when I'll present our evidence against Umbridge and get her kicked out of not only Hogwarts but the Ministry as well."

"Dumbledore is Headmaster again," Tonks added. "He didn't even wait to ask for it, just declared it. He'll be back at Hogwarts sometime soon, I believe. By the time the students wake up, they'll have Dumbledore in his normal seat in the Great Hall, smiling down at them."

"We'd best let you go, Amelia, while we get Harry on the mirror and let him know what happened," Remus decided. "This will both make him worry and allow him to relax now that his exams are done."

"I'll talk to you all soon," Amelia agreed. "And Tonks, Samuel, you both should know I'm keeping the second Auror training area a secret, saying that the Aurors had been sent to other countries to be trained in time. We'll try to recruit from the new offers and the seventh years. I hope to see you both in the office today, though, to help keep it calm."

"We'll be there by nine," Samuel promised.

With that, Amelia disappeared from the fire and the people left in the living room collapsed in relief.


This is my Christmas gift to all Christians out there (If you are Catholic, Protestant, etc., you still count as Christian as they are all part of Christianity – I have this debate with my friends, and my opinion never changes). Six hours earlier than normal for my posting. A Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. Happy Chanukah to all who are still celebrating that. Happy Holidays to anyone else I may be missing at this point in the year. I celebrate both of the former, so neither is an insult to me.

My Beta Arnel (Amazing job on my stories – Thanks again, Arnel!) pointed out that the battle is similar to the movie. Yes, that is true, mostly because it's the one I visualized while writing it. My question to you: What would have changed the battle? No Harry being there? Oh well, the battle still happened. I kept the battle. Otherwise, this is my opinion of how it happened in my story. Hope you liked my choice, even if Harry didn't go kick Death Eater butt in it.

Have a very good holiday, and I'll see you on Wednesday for the final chapter of Return of an Alpha to wrap things up.

Posted: 12/24/11