Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix.

Authors Note: I'm pretty much making up some stuff in this chapter based on logic and (hopefully) some creativity. I'm not too sure if it bodes too well but like I said in the story description I'm only trying a weak emulation of Miss Rowling's work. Thanks a lot for the comments. Appreciate it.

Chapter 5

Later that night, Harry found himself in the midst of what seemed like a gathering of the members of the Order of the Phoenix. The kitchen table at Grimmauld place seemed very much fuller than he could ever remember it. The entire Weasley clan (minus Percy) were present for dinner, so were several figures that he recognised from his last visit to the place. Among these figures were Nymphadora Tonks, a metamorphmagus who was pursuing her usual habit of changing her appearance at the dinner table. On this particular day, Tonks seemed to have decided that she would try out a long, bushy brown haired look, same as Hermione's. Harry could swear that this was a girl-thing, as the previous year Tonks had changed her hair colour to tomato red once, making her look a lot like Ginny's elder sister. Further down the kitchen table, Harry could see the intimidating figure of Kingsley Shacklbolt, an Auror, who was in a discussion with Charlie and Bill Weasley which Harry could not quite make out but had distinctly managed to make out a few words which involved foreign wizards. On the other side of the table, Mundugus Fletcher was entertaining Fred, George and Ron yet again with some finer aspects of his past "business dealings", much to Mrs.Weasley's disgust but Harry had a feeling that Mrs.Weasley was no longer as critical or strict with the twins, seeing as how they were now qualified wizards. Harry still felt though that the twins were not in favour of incurring their mother's wrath although they were already adult wizards. Remus Lupin and Mr.Weasley were on the far end of the table, seemingly talking about the werewolf population, and where their support would lie with the return of Voldemort.

"I don't know Arthur, it seems that things might not look good in getting the support of the werewolf population. Voldemort could offer them a lot more than what they already have now. The past laws enacted by the ministry have affected them greatly, and many of them may not have much to lose by joining forces with Voldemort," said Lupin with a slightly bitter tone.

"I see your point Remus, but not all people who are werewolves are likely to join forces with …..You-Know-Who, I'm sure there are individuals like you within the werewolf population," said Mr.Weasley.

"Well I'm not entirely sure Arthur, it may be difficult for us to find those that will support us, after all, werewolves are not exactly in the habit of admitting their…..condition to the outside world, too much prejudice. With Voldemort back, I'm not sure the ministry is doing a good job in trying to keep their support, and I can say there aren't many in favour of the current ministry and their laws regarding werewolves. I should know," he replied.

Dinner seemed to pass quickly enough and the dinner table was cleared and Mrs.Weasley had brought out some tea for the members at the table. Slowly, other members of the Order started appearing. Some of them had apparated into Grimmauld Place, others deciding to come through the front door. Before long, Harry could see faces that he had seen before appearing within the ranks of the order, among them were some wizards that were his guard when he left Pivet Drive the previous summer. Dedalus Diggle, an excitable little wizard squeaked when he saw Harry and shook his hand profusely when he met him. Hestia Jones smiled and waved at Harry when she appeared at Headquarters, and Mad-eye Moody, the grizzled old ex-Auror who had been impersonated by a Death Eater and became Harry's professor at school during his fourth year appeared in his usual manner, looking on his guard at all times, his magical eye swirling around. Soon, the kitchen seemed to be bustling with Order members all over the place and they decided to move out into the hall so that they could all get enough space. Harry had never really seen a more curiously mixed group of witches and wizards before. Some of the Order members looked like they were formidable fighters, a small group of them that Harry thought were most probably Aurors were talking to Kingsley Shacklebolt and Tonks. Others looked very much like some of his professors at Hogwarts and quite a few of them, Harry had sworn he had seen at the Three Broomsticks a few times when he visited Hogsmeade. Ron, Hermione and even Ginny had been allowed by Mrs.Weasley to attend the meeting after much protest and arguing. Mr.Weasley had successfully convinced his wife that the three of them were already involved with the Order whether they liked it or not. Mrs.Weasley had been very reluctant to let Ginny stay for the meeting but Mr.Weasley (as well as Bill, Charlie and even Harry) had mentioned that Ginny was old enough and had matured enough to understand and accept what was going on in the Order, after the previous year's events. Suddenly, something occurred to Harry that he decided to ask Lupin about.

"Er…Remus," Harry said as politely as he could, interrupting Lupin's conversation with Bill Weasley. Lupin turned and looked at Harry inquisitively. Harry continued, "I was wondering, is Professor Dumbledore going to be here today?"

Lupin smiled at Harry, "No Harry, I'm afraid Albus has some….."preparations" of his own to make. He has already conveyed his instructions to Minerva," he said gesturing to the figure of Professor McGonogall who was sitting near the window of the living hall in a discussion with Emmeline Vance. Harry nodded and wondered what kind of preparations Lupin was talking about, a few moments later though, Harry's attention was caught when he heard someone else apparating into headquarters. Harry turned around and was very surprised to see who it was that had just entered the room.

"Krum!" said Harry in a rather louder tone than he had anticipated. It was indeed Viktor Krum who was accompanied by 2 other Wizards whom had distinctly looked Bulgarian. Harry was of course, using the features of the Bulgarian Quidditch players as a basis for this thought. "Harry! It is good to see you avter so long," said surly looking Bulgarian who had very thick eyebrows. Viktor didn't look like he had changed much since Harry had last saw him, he noticed though that Krum's eyes had heavy eye bags, similar to the ones Lupin wore on an almost constant basis.

"It's good to see you too Viktor. I didn't know you were in the Order," replied Harry who was still quite surprised to see his former Tri-Wizard opponent at the secret meeting.

"Vell,.." Viktor started to explain, "I met Charlie Veasley 3 months ago vhen ve vere in Romania for a vew training matches. Ve met quite a number of times over that time and I vos talking about some Dark activities in our homeland and how Durmstrang vos being run after Karkaroff left. Charlie thought I could be trusted avter a vhile and he told me about the Order. These two are my friends, Olahov and Dimitri," he said gesturing to his two companions. "Olahov has some contacts in the Bulgarian Ministry ov Magic and Dimitri is a friend of my family's. He vorks in the Bulgarian Defence Department, very much like your Aurors," he said as he explained about his companions to Harry. Soon though, Viktor caught sight of Hermione and went over to talk to her and Harry was left still feeling rather surprised. He had wanted to ask Charlie Weasley more about Viktor and his companions when Lupin decided to get things going with the meeting.

"Can I have everyone's attention please, we should get this meeting started. Will everyone please be seated," he beckoned as there chairs were summoned by the wizards and witches present and everyone took their seats.

"Thank you. As you all should know there are certain aspects in today's meeting that we will have to cover, mainly in regards to Dark activities in our own country and of course whatever our foreign contacts have to share with us," said Remus. "So far it seems that Vold-…" the room shuddered uncomfortably, "…-emort, has decided to keep his activities low-key since it is well known that he has returned. However, this does not mean that he has not been carrying out any plans or activities. We have reason to believe that he has been rallying his former supporters in secret and we have already received disturbing information that some of his supporters actually hold ranking positions in the ministry itself. Severus, if you care to enlighten the members," he beckoned to Snape as Snape stepped forward to face the members gathered there.

Harry had avoided his Professor as soon as he arrived at headquarters. Harry could tell that Snape was distinctly doing the same. The both of them had avoided eye-contact and had even resorted to staying at opposite ends of the room during that short period of time between Snape's arrival and the start of the meeting. Harry could feel the agitation building up inside as he looked at the Potions master but he fought to keep control of his feelings as he knew that if anyone had a clue as to what Voldemort was up to, Snape would be able to provide information about it. He didn't like having to rely on Snape, but he didn't have much choice. He sat down and listened as attentively as he could as he heard Snape go on about the supporters Voldemort had rallied in the past, and that high ranking officials that were his supporters remained relatively unknown to most of the Death Eaters. Snape had never once gone into the details of how he had obtained the information, and Harry could only guess how Snape had managed to obtain all the information he had.

"The Dark Lord had large numbers of Dark creatures at his disposal in the past. We know that he has already made contact with the Giants and it is safe to say he would, by now, have managed to convince a good number of them to join his side. It is highly likely that he will try to rally foreign forces to support him as well. This does not mean that he is merely looking for foreign witches and wizards to join his cause. It is also likely that he will try to get some of the native creatures in those foreign lands to join him as well. If he is successful, the Dark Lord will have a formidable army at his disposal to try and take over the wizarding world. Currently, it is believed that he is keeping his movements and activities as quiet as possible so as not to give authorities a clue as to his whereabouts or plans. It is also likely that the ministry is facing some "insider" influences that are loyal to the Dark Lord. It is likely however, that he plans to free his Death Eaters that were captured last year at the Ministry of Magic sometime soon. The exact timing of this plan is of yet unknown to us, but it will be revealed soon," he said in his usual oily voice.

Remus thanked Snape for his information and then continued, "We have been able to get the support of a few foreign contacts," gesturing towards Viktor Krum and his companions. "Our foreign allies that are here tonight have informed us that there have been odd sightings of dark creatures moving towards the north. Our other allies have also confirmed this movement and it seems that they area all heading in the same direction, towards the North of Great Britain. However, it would seem that our foreign agents who had been sent to investigate the area have not returned. We can only assume that they were killed or captured by Voldemort and his agents. As of right now, we are trying to work on a way to get a glimpse into the area that the dark creatures seem to be rallying to, is an entire island which lies towards the North of Britain and the area seems to be engulfed in a magical barrier, preventing us from pinpointing where exactly the creatures are heading. The island is not extremely large, however, there are other islands surrounding the area and it is difficult for us to pinpoint the exact location. Like I said, we are still working on a way to pinpoint the exact location. As for Severus's information regarding the attempt to rescue the Death Eaters currently in Azkaban, I am sure Kingsley has his instructions and will know what to do when the time comes. In the meantime, we all have our respective duties that Dumbledore has instructed us to do. One other point of this meeting concerns none other than, Harry Potter," he mentioned as he beckoned to Harry. "Dumbledore has already told the contents of the prophecy to those that do not already know it. It is likely that Voldemort is aware of Harry's importance to the Order, although he might not know it in detail. Dumbledore believes and knows that the time has come to help Harry prepare for the task that he must do," Remus had decided not to go into the details of the task and he continued, "Already, it has come to our attention that Voldemort has intentions towards Harry. We have received information that his agents have been eyeing Harry ever since he returned to his relations. This is one of the reasons why he has been brought out of the protection of his relations and to headquarters, so that we could keep an eye on him."

Professor McGonogall then stood up and said, "Harry, Albus feels that you will have to be prepared to face the task ahead of you and thus, when you return to school, you will be trained in combat. Yes, I know that you have performed most impressively in the past, but Albus feels that we at Hogwarts will try our best to help you harness your true potential so that you might be ready for the task that is to come."

"Harry, Dumbledore knew that it would come to this at one point of time or rather. He said that he should have prepared you for this a long time ago but most of us, if not all of us agree that you were too young to have known what you were meant to do, and even now, you are still too young. But you have proven yourself time and again over the years and it is time for you to be all you can be," said Remus who was looking at him with a look that Harry had never seen before. It seemed mixed between respect and sadness.

Harry was rather stunned by this new information although he did not feel surprised or anxious by the news that he was to be trained in combat. He was curious though about his true potential. He had always thought that his abilities were as good as he had, he wasn't sure if he had anything beyond what he had now. He wondered whether or not those present at the Order viewed him as a saviour, or someone that could deliver them from these dark times. He wasn't too sure that he was able to live with all this expectation and was about to voice out what he thought, but looked around the room to see that everyone was looking at him expectantly. He decided to back down from voicing his opinion and he simply said, "I will do what I must, but how am I supposed to be trained in combat?"

"You will be informed when you return to school, as per the request of the headmaster," answered Professor McGonogall.

"Right, I think that concludes today's meeting thank you for coming," said Remus as the members around the room started to stir and leave one by one.

Harry was about to go back to his room and perhaps talk with Ron and Hermione about the meeting when he saw Hermione talking animatedly to Viktor. It suddenly occurred to him that he forgot to ask about their Patronus training. He hurriedly went to Remus and stated his intentions for his friends. Remus did not seem surprised that Harry would ask him about using magic outside of school.

"Ah yes Harry, I was wondering if you were going to use the boggart upstairs, let me introduce you to someone before she leaves," as he beckoned Harry to follow him as they went towards an old but sturdy looking witch who was standing at the end of the Hall, ready to leave but was talking to Sturgis Podmore who had been freed from Azkaban following the announcement of Voldemort's return and Dumbledore's backing that he had been working on his instructions.

"Harry, I'd like you to meet Mafalda Hopkirk," Remus said with a smile. Harry felt that he should remember this old witch's name but he couldn't quite place it. Seeing the confusion on Harry's face Remus continued, "Mafalda works at the Improper use of Magic office." It suddenly hit Harry. This was the witch that signed his warning letter the previous year when he had conjured the Patronus. "Er..nice to meet you madam," he went. Remus then went on to explain Harry's request to Mafalda Hopkirk who looked at Harry inquisitively before replying with a surprisingly firm and strong voice for someone her age, "Well Harry, circumstances have changed since last year I suppose. I guess I could cover up for you if you and your friends decide to conduct abit of training over the summer. Just leave their names with Arthur and ask him to pass them to me when I see him at work, but remember, I am only giving you lenience to use magic at headquarters, no where else until you get back to school. Am I making myself perfectly clear?"

Harry nodded in agreement as the old witch bade him and Remus a warm goodbye. Harry looked at Remus who said, "Mafalda has great respect for Dumbledore and you after last year's events. I think it changed her perspective about the ministry and she offered her services to Dumbledore a few months back. I think you've had quite a day Harry it's best you be off to bed. We'll see tomorrow about helping Ron, Hermione and Ginny with the Patronus. Although I trust your abilities I'd still feel better if a fully qualified wizard was around when you trained with a boggart." Harry could feel himself feeling like he was going to yawn and didn't argue with Remus about going to be. He bade his former Professor goodnight and went up to his room. When he got to the room he good see Ron was sitting on his bed, looking rather furious. He asked Ron what was wrong but Ron simply replied, "Nothing," and went to get changed so that he could get to bed. Harry himself felt fatigue taking over him and decided he would go to bed as well. He turned the lights off and settled down to bed and thought he distinctly heard Ron muttering something like, "What's with her and that damned Vicky."

Author's note: I'm not too good with the Bulgarian accent and my geography isn't all that good either. Haven't done it since High school, so please forgive the mistakes I may have made in explaining the movement of the creatures and all. Thank you.