That day was also filled with cleaning, like the day before. Harry had started sneaking away books and heirlooms last night and storing them in his room, which he planned on continuing today. He may not enjoy the topics of some of the books, but they could come in handy fighting Voldemort. He spent the day joking around with the twins and Sirius. He was civil to Ron and Hermione, but he did not actively search them out (or antagonize them for that matter). The day was mildly uneventful until the Order meeting that night. The members of the household ate dinner together first until Molly shooed her kids out of the room when people began arriving.
"Alright children, up you get!" she said. They all moaned about not being included but were eventually pushed out of the kitchen. When Mrs. Weasley turned to face Harry he just stared back, daring her to try to kick him out. She huffed and turned back to cleaning the dishes and setting out tea for the meeting.
Tonks stumbled into the kitchen, her shoulder catching the doorframe on the way in. "Wotcher, Harry!" she said, smiling at him, hair bright pink.
"Hey, Tonks, you pass on that letter for me?" Harry asked.
"Yep. Madame Bones was right confused about it, but she took it!"
"Thanks, Tonks," Harry said with a genuine smile. Tonks gave him a jaunty salute and took a seat across from Harry. Harry had decided to sit near the end of the table this time, again between Padfoot and Moony. When Snape swept into the room, he sneered at Harry being near his usual dark corner but went to take his place anyway.
Once the Headmaster was sat at the other end of the table, he called the meeting to order with a magical gavel bang on the wood table. All of the members stopped talking and turned to face the Headmaster.
"Good evening, everyone," Dumbledore said with a pleasant little smile, "I'd like to go through everyone's updates first. Would you like to start Kingsley?"
Shacklebolt nodded, "I derailed a few Aurors on their search for Sirius today. Told them I got a tip he was seen in Tibet and Fudge was all too happy to send a few men that way. Amelia Bones isn't happy right now; Fudge pushed another bill through the Wizengamot yesterday to decrease our budget. We can't hire any new Aurors now and we're going to be really bare-bones when You-Know-Who comes out in the open."
There was a grim silence after Kingsley finished speaking, and Tonks cut in, "I'm still close to a bunch of the trainees that are in the academy right now. They said the incoming class of Aurors is one of the smallest there's been in centuries."
Dumbledore looked grave at this news but nodded his head for the updates to continue.
Bill Weasley spoke next, "The goblins definitely know that Voldemort is back but the most we can hope for with them is explicit neutrality. They don't care who comes to get the money, as long as they don't steal from them. I've started working with Fleur Delacour and I believe we could count on her help if we extended an invitation to join the Order. It could be useful to have contacts on the continent besides Charlie."
"How likely is it that she would join? We cannot risk inviting someone who will expose us," Dumbledore said, looking concerned.
Harry decided to pipe in, "Fleur is loyal to me since I saved her sister last year. I think if you mentioned my name she would join."
Snape snorted from his dark corner, muttering something about his arrogance. Harry just stared back at him blankly.
"Well. Anyone else have anything to add tonight?" said the Headmaster.
"I have an…odd thing to mention," Professor Snape said, removing himself slightly from his corner and standing with his hands clasped behind him.
"Yes, Severus?"
"A few days ago, apparently…when Potter was attacked by Dementors…the Dark Lord developed...a nose," he drawled.
Oh my god did my Horcrux go back to his body and give him a nose?! Oh god, what if he's saner now?! Oh Merlin, alright, Harry, calm down. But why didn't this happen before?! Okay, this is not the place to freak out we can think about this later. Harry reined in his mind's floundering and unclenched his hands from where his nails had bitten half-moons into his palms. He took a deep breath and refocused on the meeting.
A few people snorted, but most just looked bewildered at this development. Dumbledore especially looked like he wasn't sure what to make of it. At least that's what Harry assumed he thought from the raised fluffy eyebrows.
"Do you know why Severus?" he asked.
Snape shook his head slightly, "No, I have no idea Headmaster. None of the other Death Eaters know either."
"Hm, well that is most intriguing…"
A few more people gave updates during the meeting after this revelation. When the Headmaster dismissed them, Harry noticed that a few people stayed behind. Dumbledore must have contacted the people he wanted for his task force – Harry was left feeling mildly impressed that the Headmaster had actually listened to his ideas. When the other members walked out, they were left with just a few people sitting at the table (Dumbledore had to personally ask Molly Weasley to vacate the premises). In addition to Harry and the Headmaster, the table held Snape, Bill, Sirius, Remus, and Moody.
Professor Dumbledore stood and pulled out the Elder Wand, which he used to cast wards around the room, layering silencing and privacy spells together. Everyone but Sirius and Harry looked surprised at this but kept silent until he sat back down.
"Alright Albus, what is this about?" asked Moody, eye spinning in his socket.
"The task I am about to impart to all of you is not one for the faint of heart. It must be undertaken with the utmost secrecy and discretion. You can tell no one of the task and only discuss it with the other members of this group," Dumbledore said, face serious behind his bushy beard.
"Why is the boy here then, Albus?" sneered Snape while he eyed Harry.
"Harry already knows what this is about. It was his idea to create this task force for this mission. He has earned a place here."
Snape looked annoyed but acquiesced quickly, probably curious about what the Headmaster was going to entrust to them.
Dumbledore pulled out the locket from the pocket of his voluminous robes and set it on the table. Harry leaned away from the object, not wanting to feel the slimy magic that emanated from its core. Next to the locket, Dumbledore set down the destroyed journal from second year.
"Would you mind telling everyone about these objects, my boy?" asked Dumbledore with his eyes on Harry.
Harry was surprised that he was being given this job but nodded his head quickly. "The diary is from my second year. It was possessing Ginny Weasley and contained what was said to be a memory of Voldemort. I destroyed it with a basilisk fang after I killed the snake. The locket I found in the drawing-room here. I gave it to the Professor because it had the same feel of magic that the journal did."
Pretty much every member of the group looked stupefied, except Dumbledore. Moody was the first to break the silence.
"Lad, do you mean to say that you KILLED a basilisk?"
Harry was confused so he looked at the Headmaster, "I thought everyone knew about this?"
"Ah, my boy, everyone knew something happened with you and Slytherin's monster and that you saved Ginny Weasley, but that is all."
Harry just stared at the senile old man blankly for a moment before he bent his neck back to look at the ceiling and prayed for patience, "Yes, I killed the giant basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. But that doesn't really matter right now, what matters is these objects," Harry said with disdain, looking meaningfully at the Headmaster.
"Yes, my boy, quite right. These objects contain or contained pieces of the soul of Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said grimly.
Bill, Remus, and Snape paled quite rapidly at this news, all of them looking vaguely green at this new development. Moody just growled.
"He split his soul twice?" asked Bill faintly.
"I believe he did so more than twice, but I am unsure how many times. I think we cannot afford to underestimate Tom," said the Headmaster.
Moody grunted and poked the diary with his wand, "What do ya need us to do, Albus?"
"I want the six of you to work with me to find and destroy these objects, called Horcruxes. Voldemort cannot die with these tethering him to life. All of you bring unique skills to this group and I hope that you can all work together to do this," he replied, looking over his glasses at all of them.
"Do you have any leads?" asked Remus.
"I do. Remus, I would like for you and Sirius to start researching in the Black Library here. Look for anything you can find on Horcruxes, soul magic, and curses. Bill I'd like you to research as well, using your curse-breaking connections. I am going to gather some information on my leads, and we will meet again after Mr. Potter's trial in a few days to discuss further. I hope I do not need to tell you all how this must be treated with the utmost secrecy. Absolutely no one can know about this. No one."
They all nodded, each trying to grasp the enormity and hopelessness of the task that faced them. Eventually, everyone left the meeting who was not staying at Grimmauld and Harry could make his way upstairs to Regulus's room. He laid down fully clothed on the bed and then let himself panic a bit.
Why did Voldemort gain a nose? Did the Horcrux from him return to Voldemort when he came back to this time? Why didn't this happen before? What if when they destroyed Horcruxes now they made Voldemort saner? Harry didn't think he could defeat a sane Voldemort. Perhaps because Harry's piece was so small it could return to its original being more easily and now the others could as well. It was infuriating that this was all speculation and Harry couldn't know for sure. He had to wait until they destroyed another before he even knew if it would return to Voldemort again. Harry fell asleep with throat clogging anxiety and slept fitfully with dreams of a young Tom Riddle haunting him.