Chapter 11
Disclaimer: Harry Potter in no way belongs to me, no matter how much I wish it did.
The room was dark, yet surprisingly comfortable. A couple dozen or so people stood within, waiting for the one who had called them there to arrive. They had been walking to the room in groups of one or two, not wanting to arouse suspicion, and now that they were all finally there, there was nothing to do but wait.
The door suddenly opened and shut in quick succession, and the room was flooded in light from Harry's spell. He had come last so that the aurors wouldn't be around for everyone else's arrival, and now finally the meeting could begin.
Harry scanned the room, putting faces to names as he did so. Pansy and Millicent sat opposite Flora and Hestia Carrow, apparently murmuring quietly amongst themselves. The five Slytherin boys in Harry's year were nearest them, staring expectantly at Harry, much like the rest of the Slytherins in the room – about 7 students from different years, if Harry was correct.
Finally, the eight remaining students sprinkled throughout the room looked vaguely nervous as the observed their leader. There were five from Ravenclaw, two from Hufflepuff, and one seventh year Gryffindor.
Harry finished his scan and spoke softly, but with great authority, "You are all here because of your or your family's allegiance to the dark. You were deemed trustworthy and useful to my cause here, and I expect each of you to fulfill your duties without fault.
"I, of course, am not naïve enough to simply take you at your word for your loyalty, and so I have prepared an… insurance measure, if you will." Everyone in the room looked up at those words, wondering what that could be.
Harry responded by pulling the vials from his pocket, and laying them out on the table before him, "Each of you will take this loyalty potion, which will ensure that you cannot betray me or my cause, under threat of being stripped of your magic.
"If you refuse to take it, you will be obliviated of this interaction, and be permanently labeled as an enemy of the cause.
"Now, who's first?" Harry held up a vial and smiled.
One by one, every student in the room went up to take the potion, then swear an oath to seal the effects. The Hufflepuffs went last, and once the final girl had downed the shimmering liquid, Harry stowed the remaining two vials back into his pocket.
"Now," He said, once again addressing the room, "You have been determined to be the most loyal in the school to the cause. There are, of course, others who will be aiding us, but you are to be the most vital. You all have unique and important roles to play in this mission. We need to find out all we can on the most secret and inner workings of the Order of the Phoenix.
"In order to do this, we must not only spy on Dumbledore and other Order members, but also get into their offices to gather physical information and find a way to observe meetings. And, of course, we must never get caught. One slipup will mean not only the demise of the mission, but also that of the person responsible.
"Are we clear?" Harry made eye contact with each person in the room one by one, internally smirking as some of the more skittish shied away a bit.
Everyone nodded, putting on a determined face, ready to serve the cause they had now firmly committed themselves to.
"Excellent. Theo?" Harry gestured to his Slytherin counterpart.
The hazel-haired boy immediately began magically projecting their maps and plans onto the far wall. The whole room turned their attention to the first document – an outline emblazoned with the title Mission 1: Weaken Auror Surveillance.
"He's been down there for ages."
"It's only been half an hour, calm yourself," Moody said gruffly to his younger companion, "And stay quiet. We can't miss any thing suspicious, including noises. Constant vigilance."
Tonks rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else. Tension among Harry's guards had been rising lately with the suspicions of some nefarious plan taking place.
Flashback
"I'm telling you, the boy's up to something! Disappearing into the dungeons a couple times a week, talking to that Nott kid," Moody was close to shouting at the other people present in the room.
"We all have our suspicions, Alastor, but the fact of the matter is we have no proof," Remus said, placatingly.
"My suspicion is proof enough," The grizzled auror slammed his hand upon the table.
"That's not how the headmaster will see it," Kingsley responded.
Tonks ran her hands through her dark purple hair in agitation, "We have to keep an especially close eye on him. If he starts doing anything which could be proof, we have to tell Dumbledore."
"Knew letting him go to Slytherin was a mistake," Moody muttered darkly, "Slimy snakes."
No one in the room contradicted him.
End of flashback
Tonks rolled her shoulders and refocused her mind on her task. She stared down the dark corridor which Harry had disappeared down earlier.
She didn't understand why Dumbledore insisted they not actually follow him into any rooms. Something about offering him trust so he would offer it back in return. Hogwash, in her opinion.
Not that she had anything against Slytherins, after all, her own mother was a Slytherin. But… that boy was raised by the actual Dark Lord. That was nothing to put lightly, even if he was technically a Potter.
The two aurors stood there at the mouth of the corridor for another twenty minutes before the green-eyed boy reappeared, walking past them without so much as a glance in their direction.
They followed behind him, close enough to watch him, but not so much as to be noticeable by any bystanders. Thus, they did not stick around to see the other 24 people leave the corridor a few minutes later.
Harry slithered though the school, keeping to side corridors and shadows as much as possible. This was the first time in ages he had been able to transform into his black snake, and he relished in the sleek feel of it.
He raced along the flagstones, slipping in and out of alcoves and curling into darkened areas when students passed by. His objective was clear: get into the auror meeting room, memorize their schedule, get out. It was simple.
He reached the sturdy wooden door and stared up at it, hissing a long stream of parseltongue. The ancient magic did its work and the locked door creaked open to admit him.
The room was empty, most of the aurors either stationed out to 'check the wards' or keeping watch at his dorm, where he was supposedly working on homework.
In the center of the open room was a wide table, with several chairs surrounding it. Harry made quick work of slithering up onto a chair and from there lunging onto the table. He blessed all the rigorous training he had done, that he was able to perform such physical feats.
The table was laden with papers, everything from rotation charts to newspaper clippings outlining his father's movements. Harry went directly to the center paper, which listed all the designated locations of all the aurors present at the school, as well as scheduled meeting times for the next two weeks.
Harry memorized every word in rapid speed, a product of his endless education. He then slipped from the table, knowing he had precious little time before an auror returned to the room.
The stone floors scraped a little at his scales, but he did not let himself focus on that. Harry darted along the halls, using the little passages and shortcuts he had discovered on his way there.
He sprung quickly into a little alcove as he heard students coming up the corridor. It wasn't long before he identified their voices.
"I know he's your brother, mate, but he gives me the creeps."
"Just because he's in Slytherin doesn't make him creepy," a younger voice responded indignantly.
"Weeeelllllllll," The first voice drew out the word.
"Ronald, it's about time you quit these ridiculous prejudices," Hermione's studious voice resounded in the corridor as the trio walked dangerously near to Harry's hiding place, "But, to be fair, and no offense to you, Leo, Harry is definitely a little stereotypical for a Slytherin."
Leo huffed indignantly, "He'll come around."
In the moment of silence Harry could picture the incredulous looks likely on Granger and Weasley's faces.
Then, just as the voices faded out of earshot, Harry heard, "I'm sure he will, Leo."
Harry internally scoffed before gliding from the shadows and continuing his trek back to the dungeons. It was a challenge getting by the aurors at his dorm room door undetected, and then waiting for another student to come by and open the door, but, finally, Harry was back in the relative safety of the common room.
He transformed in the bathroom and reemerged to write down all the information he had gathered. Harry smiled a little at the success of his first real outing. Let the games begin.
James Potter ran his hand through his hair for what must have been the eighteenth time that hour. He was pacing furiously in front of the window, occasionally letting his eyes drift towards the greenhouses where he knew Harry was having a herbology lesson.
"Prongs, mate, you've gotta stop doing that, it's distracting," Sirius said.
James dropped into his chair and faced his wife and two best friends, "He's been here for three weeks and still hasn't really spoken to us," He stood again, much to Sirius's annoyance, "How are we supposed to gain his loyalty if we never see him?"
"Maybe he's still just settling in," Remus said calmly, "It can be very difficult to get used to Hogwarts if it's not like how you've ever lived."
"You're right, you're right. I just- I need him to at least be a little open to us."
"We'll keep working at it, James. Maybe schedule weekly activities or something," Lily took her husband's hand.
She had a slight bump at her middle where their daughter was, and James relished the sight. He nodded and squeezed her hand.
"Maybe some weekends it would be helpful for all four of us to take him and Leo out on the grounds to go flying or something, y'know, introduce a little fun in his life," Sirius grinned.
"You just want an excuse to go flying again," Remus rolled his eyes.
"So what if I do? It's not a crime for a man to want to revisit his school days. You're just grumpy cuz you don't like flying. Would rather spend a sunny afternoon in the dusty old library."
"We're getting off topic," James cut in, "We've gotta figure out how to get through to Harry."
"I like the idea of weekly meetings, sometimes just you and Lily, or Leo, and sometimes Sirius and I can come too."
"That way it won't be too monotonous," Lily nodded, "Ok, every Saturday we'll do that then," she raised her chin a fraction, "And we will get through to him. I refuse to let my son be taken away from me again."
"Right you are, Lily. We've got him back now, and we won't ever let him go. We can change him."
No one voiced the doubt that each and every person in the room held in their hearts.
The following Saturday dawned bright and early, and found Harry sitting at his desk, scratching away with a quill. Today he was being forced into an outing with the Potters, and he was going to make the best of it.
Who knew what information could be gathered from the two Order members when their guard was down.
He checked the time and saw that breakfast had finally begun. Harry hated that they didn't start weekend breakfast until 7 here. He was used to being up and eating by 6.
Shaking his head to clear his mind, he pulled on some casual grey robes, annoyingly edged in red. The Potters had bought him a new wardrobe, none of it very fine, and it was disturbingly Gryffindorian, but it would do.
They were at least better than the style-less school robes, so on they went. Harry longed to pull out his silken dueling robes and dragonhide boots, but he didn't want to raise suspicion, and he would need them for his escape.
Adjusting the final clasp of his outer robe, Harry swept from the dorm and went towards the dining hall, his dormmates still sleeping behind them. Apparently at school they had no such discipline as he did.
The great hall was next to empty, and Harry seated himself next to one of the 7th years who had been at his meeting. They exchanged cursory nods, but did not speak, both not to raise suspicion and also because of the obvious nervousness the other boy felt at being seated next to Voldemort's son.
Harry noticed that both the Potters were seated at the head table, eyes directed towards him. For once there were no other aurors present. Apparently, James and Lily were enough for now.
Harry ate deliberately slowly, enjoying the two adults fidgeting at their seats. He had piled his plate high with all types of breakfast fare, and though he had no intention of eating the Dudley-sized portion, he enjoyed watching the adults' discomfort at his slow pace.
Finally the Slytherin heir knew he could stall no more, and, gracefully wiping his mouth with his napkin, he rose and swept to the exit of the great hall.
The Potters, not expecting this, as a mountain of food still lay on Harry's plate, scrambled to the doorway to catch up with him.
They found their son leaning casually against the wall nearest the door, his cloak fastened around his shoulders.
"Hey, Harry," James said cheerfully, if a little out of breath, "Ready to go?"
Harry nodded and pushed the great door open, allowing a gust of cold late November air to breeze past him.
James shivered, "Pretty soon it'll be too cold to do much outside, eh, Harry?"
"Yes, that is how winter usually works," Harry replied monotonously.
Unfortunately, both the adults seemed positively thrilled he had responded. Whatever, if he was going to get information out of them, he would eventually need to talk.
"The grounds are so pretty right before winter, don't you think so," Lily tried to keep the conversation going.
Harry hummed in response. He was not going to participate in small talk.
"Er, so, how do you like your classmates?" James took over the conversation.
"Fine," Harry internally smirked, they were getting closer to what he wanted to discuss, "though it's hard to know everyone, even after being here for so long."
"That's normal, just start with the students in your year, and maybe those in the one below. Everyone else will come later," Lily advised.
"Ah, whomever shall I grace with my presence first?" Harry asked dryly.
Lily hesitated under Harry's tone, but James was seemingly oblivious as he replied, "Well, surely you've already met the Weasleys, and Neville is a real nice boy – I mean, you can't really go wrong in Gryffindor. Nice guys in Hufflepuff, too, as far as I know, maybe some fourth years?"
'Right', Harry thought, 'add fourth year Hufflepuffs to the list of people to avoid.'
Rather than voicing his thoughts, though, Harry simple nodded, as though considering some life-changing advice he had never dreamed of.
"What about the kids of the people who were at Black's house in the summer?" Harry asked in his most innocent voice, not wanting to raise any suspicion about his questioning.
James looked thrilled at Harry's continuing the conversation, and replied, "Well, mostly that was the Weasleys, but there are a few families in the Order you didn't meet, like-"
James was abruptly cut off by Moody's voice who was rushing towards them at an alarmingly fast pace, "What are you doing?! You thought you could just take him this far into the grounds without any auror supervision?! The boy could do anything out here! He's a dangerous wizard, and must be kept under constant security, not just babysat by his own parents! You wouldn't raise a finger to stop him if he tried anything!"
Harry missed the rest of the diatribe as fury overtook his senses. Moody had ruined his getting information on the Order again. The man was singlehandedly constantly ruining his attempts - he needed to go. And soon.
Harry turned abruptly and started back towards the castle. If they were so concerned with keeping an eye on him they could find him again themselves.
Of course, he wasn't more then 30 feet away from the group when he heard the obvious racket of three grown adults racing after him. He didn't slow his pace or acknowledge any of them when they caught up to him, merely continued the trek back to the castle, and, by extension, his privacy in the dorm.
Sweeping through the castle halls with his parents rushing to keep up with him certainly earned him a few odd looks, but he was none too concerned. He just wanted to get back to his dorm and get rid of Moody.
Finally Harry reached the rough stretch of wall where the entrance to the Slytherin common room was located, and turned to the couple standing next to him. Moody had apparently stopped at the end of the hall.
"This is the part where you leave," he spat irritably.
Lily looked crestfallen and James stared down at his toes.
"Listen, Harry, we're really sorry about today, Moody – he wasn't supposed to show up like that."
"I figured. Now…" Harry looked exasperatedly towards the exit of the hall.
Lily nodded and reached out as if to touch his hair, but he stepped back, and she withdrew her hand before she could reach him.
"We'll see you at lunch, ok, Harry?" She looked hopefully at him, "Maybe we can do something this afternoon with Leo."
Harry grunted a noncommittal and turned to face the entrance. The two Potters took this as their cue to leave, and as they did so, Harry murmured the password and slipped into the comfortingly familiar room.
Moody stalked back and forth in the deserted fifth floor hallway. He had received a note from Dumbledore that a secret passage was located behind one of the tapestries here and had come to ward it off to prevent Potter's escape.
Finding the little passage had been no problem, but warding it was proving to be a real challenge. It seemed that at some point someone had warded it against the very thing he was trying to do, and he simply could not get past the enchantments. What kind of wizard even bothered with this stuff? He sighed frustratedly and turned again to the narrow passage.
He reached out with his magic and began again to carefully unravel the tight web of spells which was deterring him. Honestly, was this damn thing warded yesterday? The enchantments were as strong and tightly woven as the ones the aurors had put up just that week.
Moody was so absorbed in his work that even his magical eye was affixed to the now-visible network of strands, and he neglected to watch the hall for just as second.
And that second was all it took.
The silent, wandless petrifying spell came out of nowhere, and Moody barely had time to throw out a shield when another, and another, and another came from seemingly every angle.
His magical eye was spinning madly, and it took several minutes before he finally caught a glimpse of one of his attackers. A flash of dark robes and hair was all he saw before the figure ducked back around the corner, staying hidden despite the disillusionment charms cast over them.
He leveled his wand at the figure's hiding place but was forced to pivot as another spell came from the opposite direction. This time a flash of blond hair ducked behind the suit of armor.
Moody was casting protective spells left and right, keeping one eye on each of his attackers, and so failed to notice what was right behind him. Until the sharp, deadly pain pierced his ankle.
The grizzled auror swiveled to stare directly into the eyes of a long, black snake. One which currently had his blood dripping from its fangs.
Moody's world went fuzzy, and he heard a bizarre hissing noise that sounded oddly approving. Suddenly he couldn't quite seem to remember who or where he was. Then all was black.
AN: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it's later than usual – I've been having trouble finding time/motivation to write. Anyway, please leave me a review and let me know what you think! Thank you all for reading, you're amazing :)