HARRY POTTER AND THE STAFF OF MERLIN

PART 6


A/N Hey, look at how quick this one is up. Thanks to all of you people out there who have been reviewing, and please continue!


"And who the Bloody Hell are you!" Hermione and Harry held their breath and didn't move, waiting to see what happened.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You can't go in there! Are you blond or something?" Harry got up and raced through the house until he got to the hallway that connected the door to the living room. When he got there, he saw the three people that he least expected to see at this moment.

Walking down the hall towards him was Professor Dumbledore, flanked on both sides by Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. All three were wearing the blackest robes Harry had ever seen with a small orange insignia on the left shoulder, and had looks of extreme concentration on their faces. Sirius broke ranks and ran ahead to grab Harry into a huge hug.


"Oh, thank God Harry. We thought for a minute there that those bastards had gotten you."


"As much as I appreciate that Sirius, I would like to breathe if you don't mind."


"Oh, right." Sirius released him. "Where are Hermione and her parents?" Just then, Hermione walked into view and spoke up.


"My parents are at a conference in Brussels. They won't be home for three days, so they left us with him," Hermione pointed at a very confused looking Sean.


"Ah, Midget, would you mind telling who the hell all these people are? Your parents are going to be rip shit if they find out about this."


Hermione continued. "You'll have to excuse him, he was dropped on the head as a child." Sean shot her a death glare then looked back at Dumbledore, Remus, and Sirius.


"Now, if you wouldn't mind telling me who the hell you are, we could get this little party started. You'll have to excuse my Midget here, it's that time of the month, if you catch my drift." He nudged Remus with his elbow.


"Shut UP! You can be SO annoying!"


"Uh oh, Midget's getting pissed!"


"I swear to God Sean, I'm gonna rip your balls off and shove them-" She was cut off by Dumbledore who gave an impatient grunt.


"If you don't mind, we must interrupt this beautiful family chat," he started. "Voldemort has just attack the village to the east of us, and we have to get you out of here. We have a portkey waiting outside. Lets go."


"Wait a minute, what about me? You got a crazy dude coming and your going to leave me here?" Sean asked. Dumbledore took a minute to consider this, then gave his decision.


"I guess you will have to come with us. However, tomorrow morning you will have to be returned to your family." Turning to Harry and Hermione, he said, "As for you two, we will send an owl to Hermione's parents as soon as possible to tell them where you are."


"NO Professor, you do not want to do that! Trust me on this one."


"Shut up Midget!"


"You shut up, Muff!"


"When you two are ready," said a Professor Dumbledore who was nearing the end of his patience. With that, he turned and strode out the door, with the rest trailing him as quickly as possible.


When they got outside, Professor Dumbledore had them all gather around an old shoe. They got in a circle with Hermione pulling Sean in, whom was looking at them like they were a bunch of ten-ton gorillas.


"Um, I don't mean to be a damper to this happy little party of yours, but why are we gathering around an old shoe. I mean, even twelve drunken Micks at a birthday party could come up with something better to do."


"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP MUFF!"


"Okay, okay, you don't have to get pissy about it!"


"You're the one getting pissy!"


"Am not!"


"Are to!"


"Not likely!"


"Likely!" By this time Remus and Sirius were doubled over in laughter, Harry was trying not to laugh, and Dumbledore was portraying the scene with mild amusement.


"WHEN YOU ARE READY!" Professor Dumbledore had to yell. Just then, down past the grove of Maples at the gate to the mansion, a mob of people in black cloaks was running towards them carrying torches. "We must go NOW!" Grab it on my mark! Three, Two, One, NOW!"


They all grabbed the old shoe, and Harry got the same sickening feeling that he was being pulled straight up into the air. About a minute later they landed on grass outside a large castle. The silence was only broken once by Sean.


"Holy shit!"




The party walked quickly through the grounds and up to the gate, following the blistering pace of Professor Dumbledore. When they got inside, Sirius transformed into a dog in front of the stunned eyes of Sean, then Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape walked up to the group. Professor McGonagall spoke up first.


"We are all assembled and ready, Albus. We can convene anytime you are ready. Oh, hello Hermione."


"Hello Professor," Hermione replied. Professor Dumbledore nodded to McGonagall then turned to Harry, Hermione, and Sean.


"You may go up to your common room now. I have a meeting I must attend, and then we will be with you shortly. You are free to roam the castle, but please do not leave Hogwarts." He finished with them, then turned to Sirius and Remus and all went up to his office.


"I understand now. You must think I'm pretty fricken' stupid! What did you put in my drink? Or was it in my food. Go on, I've figured out your little game. You cheap bastards, I come here to look after you like a responsible cousin and you go off drugging me." Sean started towards the door. "I swear, sometimes you little kids…"


Hermione walked over and grabbed him. "First, the only reason you came was so you could have a kegger, and second, NOBODY DRUGGED YOU!"


"Oh, it makes sense now! I'm sleeping! I guess I'll just wake up then." He started pinching himself. "God Damn it, it's not working! There's got to be another way. Oh, I got it!"


Sean finished saying this, then ran into the wall head first, knocking himself out cold.




"First of all, I would like to welcome you all back," Professor Dumbledore started. He looked around the room, taking in all he saw. There were about twenty people all dressed identical to him, black robes with an orange insignia on the left shoulder meeting in the teacher's lounge at Hogwarts.


"It's been awhile, almost fourteen years now. I can still remember our first meeting as if it were yesterday…" He was interrupted by a voice from the back of the room.


"Ach, move your bleeding arse' man, I haven't got all day ya know!"


"Of course Angus, I apologize." Dumbledore smiled at the skinny Irish man sitting in the back of the room. "As I was saying, we haven't met in almost fourteen years. We have lost many since that time, almost half our strength. I would like everybody to take a moment of silence for our lost comrades." Everybody was silent for a minute, and then he looked up and continued. "I can remember them all, Lily had her perfect eyes-"


"Ach, quit your bitchin' and get to the point!"


A large black dog that was sitting on the floor next to Dumbledore suddenly sat up and growled dangerously, but it was quieted quickly by Remus Lupin. Professor Dumbledore looked unfazed and continued.


"As most of you are aware, Voldemort has been reborn, with much of his original powers. Just today he has attacked a muggle settlement. Our mission is the same as last time, to prevent the rise and spread of the Dark Arts by any means necessary. However, it will not be as easy as it was the last time. Firstly, we do not have the backing of the ministry. In fact, we are being denounced as a radical group. Secondly, we have lost many members and the ones left are fourteen years older. Thirdly, we no longer have the expansive recruiting network to which we were accustomed. Finally, we can expect no foreign help this time around. He paused here to let the murmurs coming from the group subside. Anyway, since our numbers have faded so dangerously low, we have a need to recruit new members for the task ahead. I will open the floor to any names for nomination."




Harry and Hermione, having left Sean in the infirmary with Madame Pomfrey, headed up to the Gryffindor common room. There was a nice fire going, and they sat down next to each other on a couch right in front of it. They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Harry finally broke the silence.


"Hermione?"


"Yeah?"


"Why do you and Sean fight all the time?"


"What are you talking about Harry? We never fight. Well, he might try to, but it never works with me. I not the confrontational sort."


Harry stifled a laugh then continued. "Okay, but why does Sean always try to fight with you?"


"Because he's a jackass."


"No Hermione, really, why does he try to fight with you?"


Hermione sighed. "I don't know. We're cousins. I guess in some twisted sort of way that's how we show that we care about each other and deep down love each other."


"That's a very strange way to show you love each other."


"You don't under-" Hermione stopped quickly, just catching herself. She had been going to say that Harry didn't understand, but then she remembered why he didn't understand. She hoped Harry didn't notice. There was another minute of silence, and then Harry asked another question.


"Why does he call you Midget?"


"DON'T EVER SAY THAT IN MY PRESENCE AGAIN!" Hermione yelled. "I hate it! When we were really little I was short and he was huge, so he started called me Midget. I really wasn't that short, I was perfect. He was just too tall."


"So why do you call him Muff?"


"When we were little Sean's mom used to call him 'Muffin', and of course I couldn't let that one slip by." Hermione laughed to herself. "Imagine if there were two of him, like Fred and George. The world would not survive. But I guess he's just a typical male."


"And what do you have against that male race?"


"There a bunch of idiots!"


"How?"


"They just are."

"Yeah, right."


"Notice how every war in history was started by men? Notice how every bad thing you see in the news is about a man?"


"What the hell are you talking about?"


"Come on Harry, everybody knows that all the bad people in the world are male." "Bull!"


"Oh, maybe you don't. You haven't figured it out yet? I guess that's okay, women are smarter too."


"You're a, a, a, stupid!"


"See, that's a perfect example of it Harry, I couldn't have done it any better myself." Both of them fell back onto the couch and sat peacefully watching the fire.




Back in the teachers' lounge, the meeting was moving along at a snail's pace. Names were still being thrown out, but in the last half-hour only one had been accepted.


"What about Francis Fredrickson? He just graduated from Durmstrang with high honors, maybe we could use him."


Remus spoke up now. "He got a horrible Defense Against the Dark Arts grade, we can't have him. The only reason he got high honors is because he had such a good potion grade, and we all know how trivial that is, right Severus?" he said, throwing a grin at Snape.


"Oh, I don't know Remus, it can be beneficial. You can make almost anything, wolfsbane potion for example," Snape said, throwing a malevolent sneer at Remus. The big black dog growled again, and Dumbledore had to step in.


"Enough you two, we're not going to go anywhere with you fighting. Now, does anybody have any more names."

The Irish man called Angus stood up quickly. "Why yes, you better believe it. I say we get that Veela girl there, Fleur Delacour. We could use a nice piece of that in here!"

Dumbledore sighed.




This went on for two and a half more hours, until everybody had finally run out of candidates. Only thirteen had been accepted, not nearly enough to fill the old ranks of the society. Dumbledore was just starting to move the meeting along when an old wizard near the door interrupted him.


"We have had a great selection tonight, but nobody has said the name that we all really want. Harry Potter!" There was an outbreak of whispers and heated conversations at this remark, and it took Dumbledore a minute to regain control.


"We may want Harry Potter, but he is not old enough to undertake this. He only turns fifteen next week, more than three years too young. His powers have only just begun to bud, and bringing his into this group would endanger him even more than he already is." Remus was looking agitated, and the dog at his feet was up and pacing around. Finally, Remus spoke up.


"Harry is way too young to do this, he just wants to have fun with his friends and do well in school. If this point is not good enough for some of you, then you must take into account that if James and Lily were here then they would not approve of him joining us." The dog let out an approving bark, wagging its tail at Dumbledore and Remus.


"We must now adjourn this meeting," Professor Dumbledore started. "However, before we go, I have one final order of business to attend to. Years ago, Sirius Black was accused but never convicted of blowing up Peter Pettigrew and a street full of muggles. Two summers ago he escaped from the prison of Azkaban, as you all know, and has not been found. I bring you the news that Sirius Black is innocent! It was Peter Pettigrew who betrayed the Potter's, not Black! Because of this fact, Sirius Black will be rejoining our group. Sirius?" He turned to the dog and gave a small nod, and then to the astonishment of most of the crowd, Sirius Black stood where seconds before had been a black dog. He gave a small smile to the group, then turned back to Dumbledore.


"This meeting is adjourned. We will meet again in two weeks. I also need to see Severus, Sirius, and Remus in my office at once. That is all." With that, he walked out the door closely followed by Sirius and Remus, who were shooting death glares at a Professor Snape who was following behind them. They all went up to Dumbledore's office and sat down in three seats in front of his desk, waiting for him to begin.


"Severus, what do you have?"


"Before I begin, sir, I would like to express my concern over the fact that Black is being allowed to join the group. I still suspect that he works for Voldemort."


"And I would like to register my concern," began Sirius, "That Snape is once again pulling the traitor thing and is working for Voldemort." Dumbledore sighed at these, then continued.


"Duly noted. Now, Severus, continue."


"Well, sir, it seems that Pettigrew is indeed working for Voldemort, and has become one of his major officers in the ranks of the Death Eaters. Voldemort is pissed at Karkaroff for abandoning him, and plans to assassinate him at Durmstrang sometime during the year."


"That's not good. Thank you Severus, you may leave now." Giving one final nasty glance to Remus and Sirius, he departed. Dumbledore now turned to Remus and Sirius.


"As you know, Harry is no longer safe outside of Hogwarts in England for the rest of the summer, as is Hermione. They will be kept here under guard for the remainder of the summer. However, there is the matter of the owl we received for Harry from the Russian School of Magic at Murmansk. They want him there for two days, with Hermione for some reason, which they would not disclose. I know their headmaster well, Professor Rostov, and I would trust him with my life. However, if I do send them, I don't want them going alone. Sirius, you couldn't go because of your, um, predicament, so I would like you Remus to accompany them to Murmansk."


"Professor, you can't send two kids to a school in Russia when you have no idea what they want them for, especially with Voldemort after them. He's going to be following their every move! There's no way they could use a portkey all the way to Russia and not have someone notice!"


"Easy, Sirius. I have already thought this through," Dumbledore began. "Remus, you can drive a muggle car, right?" Professor Lupin nodded. "You will take the passage out to Hogsmede, where you will proceed to drive them to the airport in Glasgow. You will fly in a muggle jet to Moscow, where you will get on a smaller plane, which will take you to Murmansk. I will have a contact waiting for you there. You will leave in two days. We should go inform Hermione and Harry of this." With that, the trio got up and started walking towards the Gryfindor common room.




"They look so cute together." That was all Sirius had to say. Professor Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus had just arrived in the Gryffindor common room to the sight of Harry and Hermione asleep together on a couch in front of the fire. Hermione's head was resting on Harry's shoulder, and Harry was resting his head on Hermione's.


"Let's not wake them, we can tell them tomorrow." With that, they left the two young sleepers in peace.




However, at this moment Harry and Hermione were not sleeping peacefully. Harry was having another dream, and, unbeknownst to him, Hermione was having the same dream also.


He was back in the graveyard, dueling Voldemort. Voldemort had just used the Crucio curse on him, and he was lying on his back, unable to get up. Suddenly, he was lying on his Uncle's lawn and Uncle Vernon was standing over him, pulling him up. "What the hell are you doing Boy! What will the neighbors think if they see you!" He pulled Harry inside quickly, then threw him into the wall and started hitting him. Harry was already tired, and he couldn't take much more of it. Finally, Vernon punched him as hard as he could in the stomach, causing him to pass out.


Back in reality, Harry and Hermione both woke up with a start.