Disclaimer: Harry Potter and other characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 30: Order 04: Rescue
Ever since their successful abduction mission, Harry had barely enough time to rest before he was again called to yet another order meeting. In fact, it was only about 36 hours before his 'normal' life at Hogwarts was interrupted again.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cho were sitting at dinner that evening when Professor McGonagall came to round them up for the meeting.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Miss Chang, please follow me," Professor McGonagall called as she approached the Gryffindor table.
"How come you three always have to go somewhere?" Ron questioned.
"Mr. Weasley, I trust you have your duties to attend to?" McGonagall said in response. "It's nearly time for your evening rounds. I apologise that Miss Granger will not be able to accompany you but I have something else for her to do which requires a student of her calibre."
"What about Harry and Cho?" Ron followed up.
"My patience is short Mr. Weasley," McGonagall threatened. "Do not force me to take off points from my own house."
"Ron, it's useless to argue," Harry heard Hermione whisper next to him. "Just take care of it. I'll see you later anyway. This is your chance to show me that you're able to be a prefect which the students can look up to."
Ron basically jumped out of his seat and headed out of the Great Hall at Hermione's challenge, enthusiastic to prove himself to Hermione.
"Good job," Harry whispered to Hermione.
Hermione gave him a smile. "I don't think that Ron could resist any chance to prove me wrong."
"Enough dallying you three; get moving," McGonagall said, ushering the three students towards the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Upon entering Dumbledore's office, Harry found that it was arranged like normal and that all the seats were already filled with the exception of the students. However that was soon remedied as the rest of the students entered the room followed by Hagrid.
"Harry!" Hagrid exclaimed and soon Harry found himself buried in the giant's thick overcoat. "How are yeh?"
"I'm just fine Hagrid," came Harry's muffled reply. "But I can't breathe in here."
Hagrid quickly let go of Harry. "Oh, sorry 'bout that."
"May I call this meeting to order," Walter's voice echoed throughout the room.
Hagrid sat down and everyone immediately gave Walter their full attention. Walter then conjured an image in the middle of the room which looked somewhat like an old castle.
"This castle is where the ministry of magic is located," Walter explained. "and this will be our next target."
McGonagall gave Walter a questioning look, "Why are we targeting our own ministry of magic when we know the headmaster is in Malfoy's mansion?"
"My dear headmistress," Walter said. "The answer to that is simple. He is there under Fudge's orders and therefore he will not be released without a counter-order. Therefore it is necessary that we go there first and forget a release note."
"I take it we're going to be apparating?" Percy asked.
"Yes, but this time we'll also do floo powder for those who can't apparate," said Walter. "Our objective will be to capture Fudge and get him to forge the orders."
"Can't we just fake his signature on some official looking parchment?" Hermione piped in.
"That would work only until they test it with magic," Walter said. "It works a lot like your anti-cheating quills. Only a particular quill can sign the document otherwise the guards will know."
"Oh..."
"So the operation will go as follows." Walter began as the map began to zoom in; creating a 3D rendering of what was the top floor of the castle.
"Fudge's office is located on the top floor of the castle - here." Walter said pointing to a large, double-doored room in the North end of the castle across from the staircase which was in the middle of the floor. There were only four other rooms, each in a corner, on the top floor but from the size of them, they were only guard towers for when the castle was under attack. "Tomorrow evening is a work day, students will not be in class but that will be the perfect opportunity for all of us to get Fudge."
"You make it sound as if everyone is going, Walter" Arthur Weasley stated. "Why is that? Wouldn't it be easier to just send a small team in and get him to sign the papers and get out?"
"Because, Arthur, there will indubitably be guards and if we were sending in a small team, our chances of actually getting past them will be less as opposed to disposing of all of the guards," Walter responded without hesitation.
"So how should we proceed?" McGonagall asked.
"We'll be going in two teams of eight each," Walter announced. "The Professors will be teaching so that leaves Minerva, Severus, Filius, Rubeus, and Lord Sepet out."
Hermione gave Harry a questioning look and leaned over to whisper something in his ear, "That's funny. why is Sepet staying behind?"
"I don't know," Harry whispered back. "One of us should probably stay behind then."
"I'll do it," Hermione said. "This way Ron will be less suspicious."
Hermione then raised her hand and Walter called on her. "Is there something wrong Miss Granger?"
"Yes, I was wondering if I could stay behind so that Ron wouldn't be so suspicious if Harry and I were gone."
Walter considered it for a moment and with a smile, he nodded his head. "That is logical indeed. Very well, you may stay behind Miss Granger. However that means that all of the other students will come along."
"How do you plan to divide the teams?" Snape then questioned.
"I think that we should have an equal amount of students and adults in each group. "I'll lead the first team and Arthur will lead the second," Walter said. "So that means Arthur, Molly, Percy, Bill, Remus, both Hufflepuffs, and Mr. Boot will be on the second team. Mundungus, Arabella, Moody, Sirius, Mr. Potter, Miss Chang, Miss Zabini, and myself will be on the first team."
Walter started to pace the room as he continued his briefing. "I think that it won't matter which team does what but what matters is the position that each team ends up in."
"One team will need to be on the floor right below to get rid of any possible threats and the other will need to be on the top floor as a second line of defence," Walter stated. "Since Arthur is leading, I'll let him choose the position he wants."
"I think that the third floor will be the best for me," Arthur said. "I'm known in the ministry so people will not find it so suspicious if I turn them away."
"Good point Arthur," Walter said. "I think that's it then. We'll start the mission in exactly 18 hours from now so we'll meet here and take the floo powder directly to the ministry."
"That should be perfect," said Arthur Weasley. "There's a fireplace connected to the floo network on the 6th floor which is right below the floor you'll be on. My team will be able to get into position quickly then."
"All right, that concludes this briefing, you're all dismissed."
As everyone in the room began to get up and leave, Harry turned to face Hermione and he felt Cho put a hand on his shoulder. Hermione was sitting there with a very thoughtful look on her face and Harry felt the urge to ask what was wrong.
"What's wrong Hermione? You look deep in thought," Harry said.
"I'll explain later," Hermione said, getting up from her seat. "You two should follow me."
Harry and Cho nodded and followed Hermione out of the room but Harry threw one final glance in Dumbledore's office before the door closed behind him. He noted that Sepet had gotten up from his seat and was in deep discussion with McGonagall and Walter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry and Cho followed Hermione for a while until they got to an empty classroom.
"So what's on your mind Hermione?" Cho asked before Hermione even closed the door.
"I just thought that it sounds a little strange that Walter should get everyone to go on a mission all at once and he seems to be throwing caution to the wind this time."
"He hasn't misled us yet and he always makes sure that we get out in one piece," Harry tried to reassure her.
"Well, even if that's the case, what about Sepet?" Hermione pointed out. "Why isn't he going on the mission?"
"I'm not entirely sure but do you think it's a setup?" said Cho.
"You mean Sepet gets his bodyguard to go on a mission while he goes around killing everyone in the castle?"
"That doesn't seem likely," Hermione said. "There are too many people and one vampire can't kill everyone at once."
"What about that shield of his?" Harry added in. "A Death Eater couldn't break through it so why would a student's spell break through?"
"We did it," Hermione countered. "We broke through his shield."
"You did?" Cho asked in amazement. "I didn't think that his shield was penetrable."
"Yeah, sometime in early December. No one is completely invincible and I'm sure that he's probably vulnerable a wooden stake or garlic."
"Leave it to you to know all the details."
Hermione threw him a look of irritation but continued on nevertheless. "It would look too suspicious if you two went missing on the mission so I think I'll have to deal with it. I'll try to get Ron to help keep an eye on Sepet too but tonight, I'll have to go find a wooden stake."
"To kill Sepet with?"
"Yes, to kill Sepet with."
"Isn't that dangerous? What if you get hurt? What about Parvati's life?" Harry protested.
"Really Harry. you're starting to sound a little like Ron," Hermione said with a slight smile. "Not that I don't mind your concern but you know that once I've set my mind to something, I'm not going to give it up. Not without a fight anyway."
Harry nodded slowly. "All right, be careful Hermione. Don't be afraid to contact me if you're in trouble using your amulet."
"I think that settles everything," Cho said, quickly ending the conversation. "We should get some sleep because we still have classes tomorrow."
"I agree with that," Hermione said.
With that, the three of them exited the classroom and headed towards the towers. However as luck would have it, they ran into Snape along the way.
"Well. well." Snape said quietly but with enough force to make them stop in their tracks. "Three students out at this hour? Shouldn't you be getting back to your rooms? We need you fully rested tomorrow, especially you Potter. We wouldn't want anything happening to you now, do we?"
"We were heading back just now, Professor," Hermione said, grabbing Cho and Harry by the arm and pulling them in the direction of the dorms.
"Not too fast Miss Granger - not before you let me take off 10 points from both of your houses, now run along," Snape said as he watched them walk quickly back to their towers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After dropping Cho off at the Ravenclaw tower and giving her a goodnight hug, Harry went back with Hermione to the Gryffindor tower and entered the common room to find Ron.
"You two certainly have been gone for a long time," Ron said as they came walking into the common room.
"We were held up by Snape," Hermione explained. "He made us clean his office."
Ron looked very frustrated. "Really? That's funny because I saw Snape on the way back from my rounds."
"It's the truth Ron, why won't you believe me?" Hermione protested.
"Maybe because this isn't the first time that you two have been gone for long periods of time," Ron said with jealousy in his voice.
Harry looked at his two friends. "Ron, calm down. Hermione is telling the truth. Snape did make us clean his office. Cho can back us up. She was there."
That statement seemed to make Ron calm down a little but Harry could still see a tinge of jealousy in Ron's eyes. "I'm sorry Hermione."
"Hmph," Hermione grunted in annoyance. "Well I'm off to bed, good night you two."
The two boys watched Hermione walk up to her room and Harry threw Ron a look of irritation. "I'm off to bed as well. Good night Ron."
"Was it something I said?" Ron said with a dumbfounded expression on his face as Harry walked up the stairs to his room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Harry awoke to someone tugging at his sleeve. He slowly opened his eyes to find that Ron was already dressed and that had a look of urgency written upon his face.
"Common Harry, wake up," Ron urged, continuing to tug on his sleeve. "It's almost time for class and we're going to be late for our Dark Arts class. Hurry up and get dressed."
Harry shot out of his bed and ran to his trunk to change out of his pyjamas. "What time is it?"
"We have 5 minutes to get to class," Ron said hurriedly. "Hurry mate."
"Thanks for waking me up," Harry said as he slipped on his pants.
"No problem, just hurry."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It took another minute or so for Harry to finish getting dressed and get his books and sword. The two boys then ran down the staircase to the common room where Hermione was waiting for them.
"It's about time you got up Harry," Hermione scolded him. "We're going to be late."
"All right, all right," Harry said huffily as the trio ran out of the door. "It's my fault for oversleeping. No need to rub it in."
"Yeah Hermione," Ron agreed as they ran towards the dungeons. "I think Walter will be lenient when we get there."
"Still." Hermione insisted, breathing heavily as the load of books weighed down on her. "We'll get points taken off."
"Don't worry Miss Prefect, you'll probably gain those points back by answering a couple questions in class."
"Oh I see, leave it to me to get you out of the mess that you've both created."
"Enough, let's keep running," Harry interrupted before the argument continued further.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When they got to the dungeons for their Dark Arts class, the trio quickly burst through the door but stopped dead in their tracks as soon as they realised who the professor was.
"Good morning, how nice of you three to join us," Sepet's cold voice was heard from beneath his hood covering his face. "Now which one of you three overslept?"
"I did," Harry said, noticing that Malfoy was smirking in the background.
"That will be 15 points for oversleeping and 10 points each for being late - now find your seats and let us continue the lesson."
"What happened to Professor Laikov?" Hermione dared to ask as they found their seats in the back of the room.
"That is none of your concern Miss Granger," Sepet replied. "Now open your books to page 428."
They did as they were told and the lesson continued. Sepet's lecture was regarding minotaurs and demon spawns and how to best defeat one. However, unlike Walter, Sepet told stories in vivid detail about each type of creature. To Harry it was almost as if Sepet was there in person but knowing that vampires could live forever, it didn't come as much of a surprise.
Hermione was taking careful notes but at the same time, Harry noted that she was also writing on a spare piece of parchment and passing it back and forth between herself and Ron. Harry felt a slight pang of jealously but quickly killed it off and looked on in interest.
"Mr. Potter," Sepet called, snapping him out of his trance. "Why don't you enlighten us with your knowledge and tell us why you cannot allow a demon spawn to look you in the eyes."
Harry stared at him dumbfounded. He hadn't read the book ahead of time and so he didn't know what the answer was. "I don't know sir."
Sepet seemed to smirk under the hood but Harry couldn't really tell since it was so dark under it and not even the torches in the room seemed to penetrate the darkness. "I didn't think so. What about you Miss Granger?"
"Because it will send images so horrifying into your mind that it will shred your mind," Hermione answered resolutely.
"Good." Sepet said almost to himself, "That will be ten points from Gryffindor since Mr. Potter did not know the answer and five points to Gryffindor for Miss Granger being able to answer it."
The rest of the lesson continued on in silence but the students, both Slytherins and Gryffindors alike, seemed to enjoy the stories that Sepet told regarding his experiences with these creatures.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the students were leaving and gathering their books, Harry noticed that Malfoy and his two goons were coming over to where he was but fortunately, Sepet called Harry aside for a moment.
"Mr, Potter, could I have a word?"
Harry gave Ron and Hermione an uneasy look but walked over to see what Sepet wanted. Malfoy, seeing that his chance to taunt Harry again was taken away, quickly walked out of the room.
"Yes sir?"
"Next time you decide to be late, save yourself the embarrassment and just don't show up to class," Sepet said without a hint of emotion. "However come, I want to teach you something."
"Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger - go ahead without Mr. Potter," Sepet told them.
"I'll wait for him if you don't mind Professor," Ron said after consulting with Hermione.
"Suit yourself but if you do so, take a seat. This will take a while - follow me Mr. Potter," Sepet replied as he led Harry to the centre of the room as Ron took a seat. Hermione, however, left the room; probably to get to Transfiguration which he would be missing since Sepet was delaying him.
"I have already asked Professor McGonagall to detain you here so that I could teach you how to handle your sword better. Now let's get started, draw your sword," Sepet said as he drew his sword from beneath his robe.
Harry did as he was told but when he made to draw his wand as well, Sepet stopped him.
"You won't need your wand this time; I will only concentrate on your sword handing. You will probably need it later," Sepet told him.
Harry gave Sepet a look of confusion but complied nevertheless and gripped his sword with two hands.
"Defend yourself," was all Sepet said before he lunged at Harry with his sword.
Harry deflected the sword and swung low for Sepet's legs but was easily blocked.
"You're swinging too wide, I can see them coming," Sepet instructed and he attacked once again, this time coming from the top left.
Harry made to block it but at the last moment, Sepet changed directions and made a cut low. Harry tried to follow but Sepet was quicker and his sword made a slight cut into Harry's robe.
"Don't try to look, feel," Sepet told him.
Harry tried to do as he was told and made better attempts to try to predict where Sepet's next move was coming from.
"How about we take this up a bit?"
Harry nodded and Sepet's inhuman speed came into play. Sepet charged at Harry and launched a fury of attacks from different directions, all of which Harry managed to block.
However this took a high toll on Harry and eventually Sepet won by dropping to the ground and sweeping Harry's legs out from under him and knocking the sword out of his hands as Harry was falling to the ground.
"Not bad Mr. Potter but you may want to try to use your legs on occasion as well. Now let's try again."
Harry tiredly got up from the ground and picked up his sword and faced Sepet again but he barely had time to bring up his sword to ready position before he found his sword locked with Sepet's.
Harry tried to get them unlocked by swinging down and around but Sepet followed and with his sword on top, Sepet sung downward, forcing Harry to jump backwards.
As he did, Harry brought his sword to ready position and jumped forward, thrusting his sword in Sepet's direction as he did. Sepet easily deflected it to the right and attacked from the right.
Harry did something a little different this time though and as Sepet's sword was coming back, Harry followed it and with his sword still connected to Sepet's, brought his blade around the other side of Sepet's sword while taking a step back to get out of the way.
Sepet's sword hit nothing but air but the force caused Sepet to lose his balance and Harry brought the blade of his sword back and around Sepet's. He then thrust forward but Sepet sensed this and did a similar manoeuvre, bringing his sword around as Harry did earlier to push it out of the way.
"Not bad Mr. Potter - almost had me there but let's stop for now," Sepet said, bringing his sword back into ready position. "I look forward to duelling you again."
The sound of Ron clapping filled the room and both Sepet and Harry sheathed their swords once again.
"Good show mate," Ron called from where he was sitting with a large grin on his face.
"Mr. Weasley," Sepet said now facing Ron. "That will be enough of your comments."
Ron stopped clapping immediately and stopped smiling.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, Harry walked over to where Ron was sitting and grabbed his bag. "Let's go Ron."
~*~*~*~*~
Classes were somewhat tiring that day since Harry was both anxious and worried to go on his mission. Hermione, noticing his worried expression from time to time would ask if he was all right but he would always give her the same positive reply.
Close to the time Harry was to go on the mission, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the library when Cho walked in to get him.
"Let's go Harry," Cho said, taking him by the arm.
Ron sniggered when he saw what he saw. "Don't go snogging for too long."
Cho and Harry blushed but Hermione whacked Ron on the arm to get him to be quiet. Hermione then stood up and gave Harry a tight hug much to Ron's dismay.
"Be careful and good luck," she whispered in his ear. "Ron and I will make sure Sepet doesn't do anything while you're gone."
"Thanks," he whispered back as she pulled out of the hug. "Good luck to you too."
Cho then took Harry by the arm and the two of them walked out of the library.
"She cares a lot for you," Cho commented as they walked out of the library. "I can see why Rita Skeeter thought you two were together."
"She's my best friend," Harry said, glancing back into the library one last time as they walked along. "I can imagine why anyone would make that mistake."
"Yes but the reality is that she's with Ron," Cho said; almost as if to reassure herself.
"Those two argue all day, it's a wonder they don't just get married right now," Harry said aloud but to himself, he thought the notion of Hermione and Ron getting married sounded very strange.
Cho laughed. "I guess they just enjoy showing their affection in that manner."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time Harry and Cho arrived at Dumbledore's office, everyone from his team was already gathered and Sirius greeted Harry enthusiastically.
"Harry! How are you doing?" Sirius said as he entered the room.
"I'm doing great and yourself?"
"Just great too - the other team already went ahead of us - we're just waiting for Walter," Sirius told him.
"I haven't seen him all day," Cho said. "Professor Sepet was teaching the Dark Arts class today which was out of the ordinary."
"Yes it was and he didn't tell us where Walter was either," Harry added.
"Walter should be coming in a bit," said Mundungus Fletcher who was sitting in a purple robe next to the fireplace. "He said that he wanted to grab a few of his skeletons along the way."
Sirius nodded and walked towards the fireplace. He took a large pouch sitting on the mantle and opened it.
"There's enough floo powder for a round trip," Sirius said looking into the pouch.
"For one or two groups?" asked Arabella Figg.
"Looks like one," Sirius replied. "Did Arthur bring another pouch with him?"
"Not that I know of," said Arabella.
"So why did he leave already?" Sirius said with a hint of urgency in his voice. "We need to get another pouch to him otherwise he won't be able to retreat."
"We can't leave without Walter," Mundungus Fletcher protested.
"But what if he's been overrun by the ministry guards?"
"I doubt that," Arabella said in an attempt to calm Sirius' worries. "Arthur is well known in the ministry and they don't know that he's in the Order. Besides, I think he and the Weasley family have the sense not to go attacking people in the ministry. Their objective wasn't to seize their floor but to only watch for any suspicious people."
"I hope that you're right," Sirius said.
At that moment, the door opened and Walter entered the room with four skeletons.
"Sorry I'm late," Walter apologized, "I was trying to find a few skeletons but they were patrolling in odd places."
"I'm surprised you didn't just call them over," Sirius said with a look of confusion.
"I guess I could but I thought it was best if I went to look for the best ones," Walter replied, "At any rate, let's get going."
"Just say Ministry of Magic to get there," Walter said as he walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the bag that Sirius was holding.
"Wait," Sirius told him, holding an arm out to stop Walter, "We need another bag of floo powder for Arthur to get back."
Walter merely smiled and pointed to a pouch attached to his belt. "I always prepare for the worst."
"You would make a good Auror Mr. Laikov," Moody growled as he made his way over to the fireplace. "Pity that you just don't come work for us."
"Alas I have my duties," Walter said and with that, he threw the floo powder into the fireplace.
"MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" Walter yelled and with the skeletons behind him, he disappeared into the fireplace.
"Next will be the students," Moody said. "They will have the best chance. Come, wands out."
Cho, Blaise and Harry drew their wands and walked over to the fireplace. Blaise went first and with a poof of smoke, she disappeared into the fireplace.
Cho grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the pouch that Sirius was holding and stood before the fireplace.
"See you on the other side Harry," Cho said with a smile.
"MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" Cho shouted and she too disappeared into the fireplace.
Finally it was Harry's turn.
"Good luck Harry," said Sirius as Harry took a pinch of floo powder from the pouch.
Harry nodded and grinned. "Thanks Sirius. See you there."
Harry then stood to face the fireplace and threw in the floo powder.
"MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" he yelled and stepped in.
Harry was sucked into the fireplace as if he were in a drain and things around him spun really quickly. Fireplaces whizzed by quickly as Harry travelled through the floo network and he could catch glimpses of what was on the other side. However he eventually came to what he thought was the right one and exited through the fireplace.
He was thrown out of the fireplace and landed with a thud.
"Hi Harry," Cho said as she held out a hand to help him up.
"Thank you," Harry said as he took her hand and stood up.
This gave Harry the first opportunity he had to look around. The room was somewhat large and the walls appeared to be made out of white marble. The floor had a chequered black and white tile pattern and there were wooden double doors across from the fireplace with a suit of armour on either side of it. It was almost as if Harry was in a ballroom; there was even a piano off to one corner and some comfortable chairs and a tea table surrounding the fireplace.
Walter was standing next to the double doors with his four skeletons on either side of it and Blaise was sitting in one of the chairs fiddling with her wand.
Harry heard several more pops come from the fireplace and Sirius, Mundungus Fletcher, Arabella, and Moody appeared one by one.
"Walter, what floor are we on?" Moody growled as he walked towards the double doors.
"I think we are on the same floor that Arthur is on," Walter replied, opening the double doors up a bit so that he could take a look outside.
"Yeah, we are," Walter confirmed a moment later and pulled on the door handles.
The doors swung open inward and Walter walked outside, signally for everyone to follow. "Come on, the coast is clear. Most people have gone home it seems and are probably on the lower floors."
They all made their way outside and Harry took a good look around. There was a staircase leading up to next floor and another leading down next to each other in the middle of the floor.
"Walter," they heard Arthur call from a darkened corner off to their right.
Walter looked in his direction and nodded. "You have this floor secure, we'll head up."
"All right."
They headed upstairs and Harry saw that the floor arrangement was identical to the floor he was just on except that there wasn't another stair case leading up.
"Fudge's office is straight ahead," Walter said facing Harry as he pointed to the double doors across from the staircase.
The floor had four rooms, each with a double door and four guard towers. However Harry noticed that no one was around.
"Where is everyone?" Cho asked, apparently noticing the same thing.
"I'm not sure," Sirius replied, looking around as well with his wand drawn.
"Doesn't matter," Arabella said, climbing ahead of them and opening the double doors. "The fewer people around, the less likely we'll be caught."
Upon opening the doors, Harry got a glimpse of what was inside. The floor was made of the same black and white tile that he had seen in the room on the floor below and the walls were lined with bookshelves filled with hundreds of books. There seemed to be an absence of furniture for only a desk surrounded by chairs was the only things in view.
A short wizard in a purple striped suit was sitting in the chair behind the desk and a bowler hat was resting on the desk along with a wand. However immediately behind him were two dementors with their hoods up guarding the ministry of magic vigilantly.
Upon seeing the doors open revealing the group of Order members, Fudge immediately stood up in shock.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, looking at each person but his gaze settled on Harry. "Mr. Potter, what are you doing this far away from Hogwarts?"
"Quite simple," Walter said sharply. "You will write an order releasing Headmaster Dumbledore from prison and hand it to us."
Fudge laughed. "Have you lost your mind? Do you really expect to force me to do that? Albus is guilty and you know it. The rest of you will be next, I will personally see to that now."
"You are hopelessly outnumbered," Walter said, trying to reason with him. "Surrender now while you still can."
"I will not," Fudge said stubbornly then he turned to his two dementors. "Deal with them."
The two dementors started walking forward but Sirius and Moody cast patronus charms to drive them away but since the dementors had nowhere to run to, they wailed aloud as if in pain and disintegrated into thin air, leaving only empty cloaks where they were standing.
Walter grinned and approached Fudge. "Everyone but the students please wait outside, this won't take long - make sure no one comes up."
"Are you sure?" Sirius said.
Walter nodded and Arabella, Sirius, Mundungus Fletcher and Moody took their places outside.
"Would you be so kind, Miss Zabini, as to close the door," Walter told Blaise.
She did as she was told and then turned her attention back to Fudge as did Harry and Cho.
Fudge was eyed his wand but was careful not to take one eye off Walter.
"Be careful, Mr. Laikov," Fudge said as he slowly walked around to the front of the desk. "You are treading on dangerous ground. All I need to do is call out and hundreds on ministry guards will be here to defend me."
"It is you who is in danger, minister," Walter said with disdain. "Your ministry guards are non-existent and you have no one to defend you."
From his previous encounters with Fudge, Harry would never expect him to act in any manner but what was in his best interest; however what Fudge did in the next minute would surprise Harry and everyone else in the room.
Fudge suddenly went for the wand on his desk and Walter immediately ran towards him.
"GET DOWN!" Walter yelled as he ran towards Fudge.
Fudge turned around and fired a stunning spell at Walter but Walter dove to the ground as did Harry and the rest of the students.
"Professor!" Cho exclaimed, pulling out her wand.
Fudge fired several more stunning spells at Walter who was now on the ground but each one missed as Walter rolled along the ground to avoid getting stunned.
Harry also pulled out his wand but by the time that he had it pointed in Fudge's direction, Walter had already reached him and had stood up again.
Fudge pointed the wand at Walter but Walter brushed it aside with his hand and it fired, sending a stray shot into the bookshelf. Walter then punched Fudge in the stomach and twisted Fudge's wrist around and pulled the wand from his grasp.
Fudge screamed in rage as the wand was taken from him. Walter spun around, out of range so that the wand was now pointed at Fudge.
"Harry," Walter ordered, "Tie the minister up until he wishes to cooperate. That should give him time to cool down."
Harry nodded and with his wand still drawn, walked over to Fudge.
"Potter," Fudge said with rage still in his eyes. "You've betrayed us all."
Harry merely shook his head and conjured ropes, binding the minister tightly.
Cho came up behind Harry and looked at Fudge. "He doesn't know what he's doing."
"Yes, it's a pity that he strongly believes that You-Know-Who hasn't come back," Harry agreed.
Some yelling and a few thuds were heard from the floor below, causing Harry and Cho to jump.
"What's going on?" Blaise asked in alarm, drawing her wand.
"I don't know - everyone to the door," Walter instructed them, heading over as well, forming a bone spear in his hands as he went along. "Check outside."
They ran towards the door and were about to open it but Sirius burst through. The other Order members were near the stairway and firing downward but from Harry's vantage point, he could not see what was going on.
"WALTER!" Sirius yelled in anger, pointing his wand at him. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!? YOU BETRAYED US ALL!"
Walter didn't respond but ran at Sirius and with the point of his spear, cut into Sirius' hand before he could fire anything. Sirius' wand dropped to the ground and Walter brought the blunt end of the spear around, knocking Sirius out with one swift motion.
Harry, Cho, and Blaise stood there dumbfounded.
"W - why?" Cho asked.
"It's over," Blaise said, pointing to the staircase.
Groups of skeletons armed with swords, spears and shields had emerged from the rooms and surrounded the Order members. Moody, Mundungus, and Arabella were at the staircase firing away at the skeletons but the skeletons were advancing with their shields in front so the spells merely bounced off them and went in different directions.
Skeletons emerged from the floor below as well and charged at the three Order members at the staircase, ramming their shields into them and knocking all three out.
Harry reached for his sword but Walter shook his head.
"Don't," he told him with his spear pointed in his direction.
In an act of bravery, Blaise quickly raised her wand and fired a stunning bolt at Walter. However he spun out of the way and Blaise was immediately overpowered by skeletons.
Harry and Cho were the only ones standing now but now that the other Order members had been captured, they were completely surrounded by Walter and his skeletons.
"Should we try to fight?" Cho whispered to him as she put her back to his.
"We don't have much of a choice," Harry said, getting ready to draw his sword.
"I'm warning you Mr. Potter," Walter said. "Don't - my orders were quite clear to bring you in alive and I do not wish to kill you."
"But why?" Harry asked. "Why betray the Order now?"
Walter's mouth twisted into a smile. "Because I was ordered to. How else did you think you were able to survive?"
"Is that all? You were ordered to? So if Sepet told you to kill yourself, you'd do it?" Harry said defiantly.
"I wouldn't go that far but you'd probably be pretty close," Walter said with a grin. "Now enough talk, it took me 24 hours to get all of these skeletons here so that you could be captured. Now I will carry out my mission and bring you to Voldemort."
Fudge was staring at Walter in fear from where he was tied up.
"You-Know-Who is dead, it's only you who believes that he is back," Fudge said.
Walter laughed as he made his way over to where Fudge was and pulled out his dagger. "Your beliefs will get you into trouble someday but for now, just be happy that you're alive Minister."
With that, Walter cut the ropes binding Fudge and helped him up. "Now the traitors have been rounded up and you're safe."
"You're a death eater," Fudge stated in shock. "Your master is dead but why - "
"Brilliant deduction Minister," Walter said with a hint of sarcasm. "We'll benefit by getting our revenge and you'll get what you want; your traitors removed from society. Now if you don't' mind, I'll be leaving with my prisoners."
Then Walter turned to his skeletons and gave one order. "Take them."
Seeing that they were going to be taken prisoner, Harry and Cho drew their weapons to defend themselves as the skeletons attacked. Harry fired an ice bolt at the nearest skeleton which froze it despite the shield and with one swift stroke, shattered it to pieces. However Cho was not as lucky for she was quickly overpowered and knocked unconscious by the skeletons.
Harry turned around in time to see Cho fall to the ground but when he turned around to see if she was all right but when he did so, something hit him hard in the back of the head.
Harry's vision blurred and he dropped both his sword and wand. He felt both of his legs go out from underneath him and he collapsed to the cold tile floor. The last thing he was able to make out before he went unconscious completely was Walter glancing down at his body and grinning triumphantly.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Well, talk about taking way too long. This chap took way to long to get up so I apologize for the delay. However I would like to thank Quis for getting me out of my writer's block and for discussing random topics with me. Also, Luke-6622427 suggested a mailing list to tell people when my updates are up. If you want to be on the mailing list, post a review with your e-mail address. Ok, now on to the replies:
Sew2100: Thank you for the review. I'm glad that people appreciate my work.
MaxLoneWolf: Hehe, you might be right in the long run or you might not be. As for contacting me, feel free to do so anytime you wish.
Katy999: Eh, yeah. it was because you read the story the day before. this one took too long. Then again, in between school work and writer's block I guess it's not that bad.
Phoenix of Light: Hope you found this chapter as exciting as the previous ones.
Anir: Your thinking is similar to MaxLoneWolf's. Of course, whether or not you're right or not. you'll have to keep reading to find out.
steviej1026: Unfortunately, I don't know if NAPPA will update his fic or not anytime soon.
Erunantala: I apologize for taking so long. However, I hope that the wait was worth it. I'm not exactly sure what people think of the missions but I've been trying to come up with unique ideas each time. As for my writing style. I didn't think it was quite unorthodox... In fact, I think it still needs a bit of work.
wiske-ir: Wow, that makes it about 10 people who've said that. Is the style of writing/plot that close to Rowling's? I didn't think it was. As for the book of elements. since you gave me a signed review. Go ahead and use it, I don't mind because I can't say it's entirely original for me to use the elements book. I only came up with the incantations.
JoshWhitt: Haha, tons and tons of bloodshed? Yeah, I think this fic is a little bloody for a HP fanfic. I dunno if I overdid it or not. Hopefully now that Draco is out of the order, you'll feel a little happier. As for Harry teaching Cho the elemental spells.. That's not a bad idea but only if the plot allows for it, in this book anyway.
The-Dude: Thanks for the review. Once spring break starts next week, I hope to update quicker than this time.
Sunny: I hope that your opinion of Walter doesn't drop but he is still a cool character even though he betrayed everyone. The book of elements was something that I thought would be a little interesting, however I think that it sorta turned Harry into a James Bond because there seems to be a spell for each trouble spot he gets into just as James Bond has a gadget for each problem that arises. Oh well, that has all changed with this chapter.
luke-6622427: No need to kill yourself by losing sleep over my fic. It'll always be here as long as the site is up and even if the site went down, I can always post it elsewhere. As for a mailing list, that's not a bad idea, I probably should create one.
Sailor Miaka: Thank you for reviewing. Hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the previous ones.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 30: Order 04: Rescue
Ever since their successful abduction mission, Harry had barely enough time to rest before he was again called to yet another order meeting. In fact, it was only about 36 hours before his 'normal' life at Hogwarts was interrupted again.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cho were sitting at dinner that evening when Professor McGonagall came to round them up for the meeting.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and Miss Chang, please follow me," Professor McGonagall called as she approached the Gryffindor table.
"How come you three always have to go somewhere?" Ron questioned.
"Mr. Weasley, I trust you have your duties to attend to?" McGonagall said in response. "It's nearly time for your evening rounds. I apologise that Miss Granger will not be able to accompany you but I have something else for her to do which requires a student of her calibre."
"What about Harry and Cho?" Ron followed up.
"My patience is short Mr. Weasley," McGonagall threatened. "Do not force me to take off points from my own house."
"Ron, it's useless to argue," Harry heard Hermione whisper next to him. "Just take care of it. I'll see you later anyway. This is your chance to show me that you're able to be a prefect which the students can look up to."
Ron basically jumped out of his seat and headed out of the Great Hall at Hermione's challenge, enthusiastic to prove himself to Hermione.
"Good job," Harry whispered to Hermione.
Hermione gave him a smile. "I don't think that Ron could resist any chance to prove me wrong."
"Enough dallying you three; get moving," McGonagall said, ushering the three students towards the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Upon entering Dumbledore's office, Harry found that it was arranged like normal and that all the seats were already filled with the exception of the students. However that was soon remedied as the rest of the students entered the room followed by Hagrid.
"Harry!" Hagrid exclaimed and soon Harry found himself buried in the giant's thick overcoat. "How are yeh?"
"I'm just fine Hagrid," came Harry's muffled reply. "But I can't breathe in here."
Hagrid quickly let go of Harry. "Oh, sorry 'bout that."
"May I call this meeting to order," Walter's voice echoed throughout the room.
Hagrid sat down and everyone immediately gave Walter their full attention. Walter then conjured an image in the middle of the room which looked somewhat like an old castle.
"This castle is where the ministry of magic is located," Walter explained. "and this will be our next target."
McGonagall gave Walter a questioning look, "Why are we targeting our own ministry of magic when we know the headmaster is in Malfoy's mansion?"
"My dear headmistress," Walter said. "The answer to that is simple. He is there under Fudge's orders and therefore he will not be released without a counter-order. Therefore it is necessary that we go there first and forget a release note."
"I take it we're going to be apparating?" Percy asked.
"Yes, but this time we'll also do floo powder for those who can't apparate," said Walter. "Our objective will be to capture Fudge and get him to forge the orders."
"Can't we just fake his signature on some official looking parchment?" Hermione piped in.
"That would work only until they test it with magic," Walter said. "It works a lot like your anti-cheating quills. Only a particular quill can sign the document otherwise the guards will know."
"Oh..."
"So the operation will go as follows." Walter began as the map began to zoom in; creating a 3D rendering of what was the top floor of the castle.
"Fudge's office is located on the top floor of the castle - here." Walter said pointing to a large, double-doored room in the North end of the castle across from the staircase which was in the middle of the floor. There were only four other rooms, each in a corner, on the top floor but from the size of them, they were only guard towers for when the castle was under attack. "Tomorrow evening is a work day, students will not be in class but that will be the perfect opportunity for all of us to get Fudge."
"You make it sound as if everyone is going, Walter" Arthur Weasley stated. "Why is that? Wouldn't it be easier to just send a small team in and get him to sign the papers and get out?"
"Because, Arthur, there will indubitably be guards and if we were sending in a small team, our chances of actually getting past them will be less as opposed to disposing of all of the guards," Walter responded without hesitation.
"So how should we proceed?" McGonagall asked.
"We'll be going in two teams of eight each," Walter announced. "The Professors will be teaching so that leaves Minerva, Severus, Filius, Rubeus, and Lord Sepet out."
Hermione gave Harry a questioning look and leaned over to whisper something in his ear, "That's funny. why is Sepet staying behind?"
"I don't know," Harry whispered back. "One of us should probably stay behind then."
"I'll do it," Hermione said. "This way Ron will be less suspicious."
Hermione then raised her hand and Walter called on her. "Is there something wrong Miss Granger?"
"Yes, I was wondering if I could stay behind so that Ron wouldn't be so suspicious if Harry and I were gone."
Walter considered it for a moment and with a smile, he nodded his head. "That is logical indeed. Very well, you may stay behind Miss Granger. However that means that all of the other students will come along."
"How do you plan to divide the teams?" Snape then questioned.
"I think that we should have an equal amount of students and adults in each group. "I'll lead the first team and Arthur will lead the second," Walter said. "So that means Arthur, Molly, Percy, Bill, Remus, both Hufflepuffs, and Mr. Boot will be on the second team. Mundungus, Arabella, Moody, Sirius, Mr. Potter, Miss Chang, Miss Zabini, and myself will be on the first team."
Walter started to pace the room as he continued his briefing. "I think that it won't matter which team does what but what matters is the position that each team ends up in."
"One team will need to be on the floor right below to get rid of any possible threats and the other will need to be on the top floor as a second line of defence," Walter stated. "Since Arthur is leading, I'll let him choose the position he wants."
"I think that the third floor will be the best for me," Arthur said. "I'm known in the ministry so people will not find it so suspicious if I turn them away."
"Good point Arthur," Walter said. "I think that's it then. We'll start the mission in exactly 18 hours from now so we'll meet here and take the floo powder directly to the ministry."
"That should be perfect," said Arthur Weasley. "There's a fireplace connected to the floo network on the 6th floor which is right below the floor you'll be on. My team will be able to get into position quickly then."
"All right, that concludes this briefing, you're all dismissed."
As everyone in the room began to get up and leave, Harry turned to face Hermione and he felt Cho put a hand on his shoulder. Hermione was sitting there with a very thoughtful look on her face and Harry felt the urge to ask what was wrong.
"What's wrong Hermione? You look deep in thought," Harry said.
"I'll explain later," Hermione said, getting up from her seat. "You two should follow me."
Harry and Cho nodded and followed Hermione out of the room but Harry threw one final glance in Dumbledore's office before the door closed behind him. He noted that Sepet had gotten up from his seat and was in deep discussion with McGonagall and Walter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry and Cho followed Hermione for a while until they got to an empty classroom.
"So what's on your mind Hermione?" Cho asked before Hermione even closed the door.
"I just thought that it sounds a little strange that Walter should get everyone to go on a mission all at once and he seems to be throwing caution to the wind this time."
"He hasn't misled us yet and he always makes sure that we get out in one piece," Harry tried to reassure her.
"Well, even if that's the case, what about Sepet?" Hermione pointed out. "Why isn't he going on the mission?"
"I'm not entirely sure but do you think it's a setup?" said Cho.
"You mean Sepet gets his bodyguard to go on a mission while he goes around killing everyone in the castle?"
"That doesn't seem likely," Hermione said. "There are too many people and one vampire can't kill everyone at once."
"What about that shield of his?" Harry added in. "A Death Eater couldn't break through it so why would a student's spell break through?"
"We did it," Hermione countered. "We broke through his shield."
"You did?" Cho asked in amazement. "I didn't think that his shield was penetrable."
"Yeah, sometime in early December. No one is completely invincible and I'm sure that he's probably vulnerable a wooden stake or garlic."
"Leave it to you to know all the details."
Hermione threw him a look of irritation but continued on nevertheless. "It would look too suspicious if you two went missing on the mission so I think I'll have to deal with it. I'll try to get Ron to help keep an eye on Sepet too but tonight, I'll have to go find a wooden stake."
"To kill Sepet with?"
"Yes, to kill Sepet with."
"Isn't that dangerous? What if you get hurt? What about Parvati's life?" Harry protested.
"Really Harry. you're starting to sound a little like Ron," Hermione said with a slight smile. "Not that I don't mind your concern but you know that once I've set my mind to something, I'm not going to give it up. Not without a fight anyway."
Harry nodded slowly. "All right, be careful Hermione. Don't be afraid to contact me if you're in trouble using your amulet."
"I think that settles everything," Cho said, quickly ending the conversation. "We should get some sleep because we still have classes tomorrow."
"I agree with that," Hermione said.
With that, the three of them exited the classroom and headed towards the towers. However as luck would have it, they ran into Snape along the way.
"Well. well." Snape said quietly but with enough force to make them stop in their tracks. "Three students out at this hour? Shouldn't you be getting back to your rooms? We need you fully rested tomorrow, especially you Potter. We wouldn't want anything happening to you now, do we?"
"We were heading back just now, Professor," Hermione said, grabbing Cho and Harry by the arm and pulling them in the direction of the dorms.
"Not too fast Miss Granger - not before you let me take off 10 points from both of your houses, now run along," Snape said as he watched them walk quickly back to their towers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After dropping Cho off at the Ravenclaw tower and giving her a goodnight hug, Harry went back with Hermione to the Gryffindor tower and entered the common room to find Ron.
"You two certainly have been gone for a long time," Ron said as they came walking into the common room.
"We were held up by Snape," Hermione explained. "He made us clean his office."
Ron looked very frustrated. "Really? That's funny because I saw Snape on the way back from my rounds."
"It's the truth Ron, why won't you believe me?" Hermione protested.
"Maybe because this isn't the first time that you two have been gone for long periods of time," Ron said with jealousy in his voice.
Harry looked at his two friends. "Ron, calm down. Hermione is telling the truth. Snape did make us clean his office. Cho can back us up. She was there."
That statement seemed to make Ron calm down a little but Harry could still see a tinge of jealousy in Ron's eyes. "I'm sorry Hermione."
"Hmph," Hermione grunted in annoyance. "Well I'm off to bed, good night you two."
The two boys watched Hermione walk up to her room and Harry threw Ron a look of irritation. "I'm off to bed as well. Good night Ron."
"Was it something I said?" Ron said with a dumbfounded expression on his face as Harry walked up the stairs to his room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Harry awoke to someone tugging at his sleeve. He slowly opened his eyes to find that Ron was already dressed and that had a look of urgency written upon his face.
"Common Harry, wake up," Ron urged, continuing to tug on his sleeve. "It's almost time for class and we're going to be late for our Dark Arts class. Hurry up and get dressed."
Harry shot out of his bed and ran to his trunk to change out of his pyjamas. "What time is it?"
"We have 5 minutes to get to class," Ron said hurriedly. "Hurry mate."
"Thanks for waking me up," Harry said as he slipped on his pants.
"No problem, just hurry."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It took another minute or so for Harry to finish getting dressed and get his books and sword. The two boys then ran down the staircase to the common room where Hermione was waiting for them.
"It's about time you got up Harry," Hermione scolded him. "We're going to be late."
"All right, all right," Harry said huffily as the trio ran out of the door. "It's my fault for oversleeping. No need to rub it in."
"Yeah Hermione," Ron agreed as they ran towards the dungeons. "I think Walter will be lenient when we get there."
"Still." Hermione insisted, breathing heavily as the load of books weighed down on her. "We'll get points taken off."
"Don't worry Miss Prefect, you'll probably gain those points back by answering a couple questions in class."
"Oh I see, leave it to me to get you out of the mess that you've both created."
"Enough, let's keep running," Harry interrupted before the argument continued further.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When they got to the dungeons for their Dark Arts class, the trio quickly burst through the door but stopped dead in their tracks as soon as they realised who the professor was.
"Good morning, how nice of you three to join us," Sepet's cold voice was heard from beneath his hood covering his face. "Now which one of you three overslept?"
"I did," Harry said, noticing that Malfoy was smirking in the background.
"That will be 15 points for oversleeping and 10 points each for being late - now find your seats and let us continue the lesson."
"What happened to Professor Laikov?" Hermione dared to ask as they found their seats in the back of the room.
"That is none of your concern Miss Granger," Sepet replied. "Now open your books to page 428."
They did as they were told and the lesson continued. Sepet's lecture was regarding minotaurs and demon spawns and how to best defeat one. However, unlike Walter, Sepet told stories in vivid detail about each type of creature. To Harry it was almost as if Sepet was there in person but knowing that vampires could live forever, it didn't come as much of a surprise.
Hermione was taking careful notes but at the same time, Harry noted that she was also writing on a spare piece of parchment and passing it back and forth between herself and Ron. Harry felt a slight pang of jealously but quickly killed it off and looked on in interest.
"Mr. Potter," Sepet called, snapping him out of his trance. "Why don't you enlighten us with your knowledge and tell us why you cannot allow a demon spawn to look you in the eyes."
Harry stared at him dumbfounded. He hadn't read the book ahead of time and so he didn't know what the answer was. "I don't know sir."
Sepet seemed to smirk under the hood but Harry couldn't really tell since it was so dark under it and not even the torches in the room seemed to penetrate the darkness. "I didn't think so. What about you Miss Granger?"
"Because it will send images so horrifying into your mind that it will shred your mind," Hermione answered resolutely.
"Good." Sepet said almost to himself, "That will be ten points from Gryffindor since Mr. Potter did not know the answer and five points to Gryffindor for Miss Granger being able to answer it."
The rest of the lesson continued on in silence but the students, both Slytherins and Gryffindors alike, seemed to enjoy the stories that Sepet told regarding his experiences with these creatures.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the students were leaving and gathering their books, Harry noticed that Malfoy and his two goons were coming over to where he was but fortunately, Sepet called Harry aside for a moment.
"Mr, Potter, could I have a word?"
Harry gave Ron and Hermione an uneasy look but walked over to see what Sepet wanted. Malfoy, seeing that his chance to taunt Harry again was taken away, quickly walked out of the room.
"Yes sir?"
"Next time you decide to be late, save yourself the embarrassment and just don't show up to class," Sepet said without a hint of emotion. "However come, I want to teach you something."
"Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger - go ahead without Mr. Potter," Sepet told them.
"I'll wait for him if you don't mind Professor," Ron said after consulting with Hermione.
"Suit yourself but if you do so, take a seat. This will take a while - follow me Mr. Potter," Sepet replied as he led Harry to the centre of the room as Ron took a seat. Hermione, however, left the room; probably to get to Transfiguration which he would be missing since Sepet was delaying him.
"I have already asked Professor McGonagall to detain you here so that I could teach you how to handle your sword better. Now let's get started, draw your sword," Sepet said as he drew his sword from beneath his robe.
Harry did as he was told but when he made to draw his wand as well, Sepet stopped him.
"You won't need your wand this time; I will only concentrate on your sword handing. You will probably need it later," Sepet told him.
Harry gave Sepet a look of confusion but complied nevertheless and gripped his sword with two hands.
"Defend yourself," was all Sepet said before he lunged at Harry with his sword.
Harry deflected the sword and swung low for Sepet's legs but was easily blocked.
"You're swinging too wide, I can see them coming," Sepet instructed and he attacked once again, this time coming from the top left.
Harry made to block it but at the last moment, Sepet changed directions and made a cut low. Harry tried to follow but Sepet was quicker and his sword made a slight cut into Harry's robe.
"Don't try to look, feel," Sepet told him.
Harry tried to do as he was told and made better attempts to try to predict where Sepet's next move was coming from.
"How about we take this up a bit?"
Harry nodded and Sepet's inhuman speed came into play. Sepet charged at Harry and launched a fury of attacks from different directions, all of which Harry managed to block.
However this took a high toll on Harry and eventually Sepet won by dropping to the ground and sweeping Harry's legs out from under him and knocking the sword out of his hands as Harry was falling to the ground.
"Not bad Mr. Potter but you may want to try to use your legs on occasion as well. Now let's try again."
Harry tiredly got up from the ground and picked up his sword and faced Sepet again but he barely had time to bring up his sword to ready position before he found his sword locked with Sepet's.
Harry tried to get them unlocked by swinging down and around but Sepet followed and with his sword on top, Sepet sung downward, forcing Harry to jump backwards.
As he did, Harry brought his sword to ready position and jumped forward, thrusting his sword in Sepet's direction as he did. Sepet easily deflected it to the right and attacked from the right.
Harry did something a little different this time though and as Sepet's sword was coming back, Harry followed it and with his sword still connected to Sepet's, brought his blade around the other side of Sepet's sword while taking a step back to get out of the way.
Sepet's sword hit nothing but air but the force caused Sepet to lose his balance and Harry brought the blade of his sword back and around Sepet's. He then thrust forward but Sepet sensed this and did a similar manoeuvre, bringing his sword around as Harry did earlier to push it out of the way.
"Not bad Mr. Potter - almost had me there but let's stop for now," Sepet said, bringing his sword back into ready position. "I look forward to duelling you again."
The sound of Ron clapping filled the room and both Sepet and Harry sheathed their swords once again.
"Good show mate," Ron called from where he was sitting with a large grin on his face.
"Mr. Weasley," Sepet said now facing Ron. "That will be enough of your comments."
Ron stopped clapping immediately and stopped smiling.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, Harry walked over to where Ron was sitting and grabbed his bag. "Let's go Ron."
~*~*~*~*~
Classes were somewhat tiring that day since Harry was both anxious and worried to go on his mission. Hermione, noticing his worried expression from time to time would ask if he was all right but he would always give her the same positive reply.
Close to the time Harry was to go on the mission, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the library when Cho walked in to get him.
"Let's go Harry," Cho said, taking him by the arm.
Ron sniggered when he saw what he saw. "Don't go snogging for too long."
Cho and Harry blushed but Hermione whacked Ron on the arm to get him to be quiet. Hermione then stood up and gave Harry a tight hug much to Ron's dismay.
"Be careful and good luck," she whispered in his ear. "Ron and I will make sure Sepet doesn't do anything while you're gone."
"Thanks," he whispered back as she pulled out of the hug. "Good luck to you too."
Cho then took Harry by the arm and the two of them walked out of the library.
"She cares a lot for you," Cho commented as they walked out of the library. "I can see why Rita Skeeter thought you two were together."
"She's my best friend," Harry said, glancing back into the library one last time as they walked along. "I can imagine why anyone would make that mistake."
"Yes but the reality is that she's with Ron," Cho said; almost as if to reassure herself.
"Those two argue all day, it's a wonder they don't just get married right now," Harry said aloud but to himself, he thought the notion of Hermione and Ron getting married sounded very strange.
Cho laughed. "I guess they just enjoy showing their affection in that manner."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time Harry and Cho arrived at Dumbledore's office, everyone from his team was already gathered and Sirius greeted Harry enthusiastically.
"Harry! How are you doing?" Sirius said as he entered the room.
"I'm doing great and yourself?"
"Just great too - the other team already went ahead of us - we're just waiting for Walter," Sirius told him.
"I haven't seen him all day," Cho said. "Professor Sepet was teaching the Dark Arts class today which was out of the ordinary."
"Yes it was and he didn't tell us where Walter was either," Harry added.
"Walter should be coming in a bit," said Mundungus Fletcher who was sitting in a purple robe next to the fireplace. "He said that he wanted to grab a few of his skeletons along the way."
Sirius nodded and walked towards the fireplace. He took a large pouch sitting on the mantle and opened it.
"There's enough floo powder for a round trip," Sirius said looking into the pouch.
"For one or two groups?" asked Arabella Figg.
"Looks like one," Sirius replied. "Did Arthur bring another pouch with him?"
"Not that I know of," said Arabella.
"So why did he leave already?" Sirius said with a hint of urgency in his voice. "We need to get another pouch to him otherwise he won't be able to retreat."
"We can't leave without Walter," Mundungus Fletcher protested.
"But what if he's been overrun by the ministry guards?"
"I doubt that," Arabella said in an attempt to calm Sirius' worries. "Arthur is well known in the ministry and they don't know that he's in the Order. Besides, I think he and the Weasley family have the sense not to go attacking people in the ministry. Their objective wasn't to seize their floor but to only watch for any suspicious people."
"I hope that you're right," Sirius said.
At that moment, the door opened and Walter entered the room with four skeletons.
"Sorry I'm late," Walter apologized, "I was trying to find a few skeletons but they were patrolling in odd places."
"I'm surprised you didn't just call them over," Sirius said with a look of confusion.
"I guess I could but I thought it was best if I went to look for the best ones," Walter replied, "At any rate, let's get going."
"Just say Ministry of Magic to get there," Walter said as he walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the bag that Sirius was holding.
"Wait," Sirius told him, holding an arm out to stop Walter, "We need another bag of floo powder for Arthur to get back."
Walter merely smiled and pointed to a pouch attached to his belt. "I always prepare for the worst."
"You would make a good Auror Mr. Laikov," Moody growled as he made his way over to the fireplace. "Pity that you just don't come work for us."
"Alas I have my duties," Walter said and with that, he threw the floo powder into the fireplace.
"MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" Walter yelled and with the skeletons behind him, he disappeared into the fireplace.
"Next will be the students," Moody said. "They will have the best chance. Come, wands out."
Cho, Blaise and Harry drew their wands and walked over to the fireplace. Blaise went first and with a poof of smoke, she disappeared into the fireplace.
Cho grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the pouch that Sirius was holding and stood before the fireplace.
"See you on the other side Harry," Cho said with a smile.
"MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" Cho shouted and she too disappeared into the fireplace.
Finally it was Harry's turn.
"Good luck Harry," said Sirius as Harry took a pinch of floo powder from the pouch.
Harry nodded and grinned. "Thanks Sirius. See you there."
Harry then stood to face the fireplace and threw in the floo powder.
"MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" he yelled and stepped in.
Harry was sucked into the fireplace as if he were in a drain and things around him spun really quickly. Fireplaces whizzed by quickly as Harry travelled through the floo network and he could catch glimpses of what was on the other side. However he eventually came to what he thought was the right one and exited through the fireplace.
He was thrown out of the fireplace and landed with a thud.
"Hi Harry," Cho said as she held out a hand to help him up.
"Thank you," Harry said as he took her hand and stood up.
This gave Harry the first opportunity he had to look around. The room was somewhat large and the walls appeared to be made out of white marble. The floor had a chequered black and white tile pattern and there were wooden double doors across from the fireplace with a suit of armour on either side of it. It was almost as if Harry was in a ballroom; there was even a piano off to one corner and some comfortable chairs and a tea table surrounding the fireplace.
Walter was standing next to the double doors with his four skeletons on either side of it and Blaise was sitting in one of the chairs fiddling with her wand.
Harry heard several more pops come from the fireplace and Sirius, Mundungus Fletcher, Arabella, and Moody appeared one by one.
"Walter, what floor are we on?" Moody growled as he walked towards the double doors.
"I think we are on the same floor that Arthur is on," Walter replied, opening the double doors up a bit so that he could take a look outside.
"Yeah, we are," Walter confirmed a moment later and pulled on the door handles.
The doors swung open inward and Walter walked outside, signally for everyone to follow. "Come on, the coast is clear. Most people have gone home it seems and are probably on the lower floors."
They all made their way outside and Harry took a good look around. There was a staircase leading up to next floor and another leading down next to each other in the middle of the floor.
"Walter," they heard Arthur call from a darkened corner off to their right.
Walter looked in his direction and nodded. "You have this floor secure, we'll head up."
"All right."
They headed upstairs and Harry saw that the floor arrangement was identical to the floor he was just on except that there wasn't another stair case leading up.
"Fudge's office is straight ahead," Walter said facing Harry as he pointed to the double doors across from the staircase.
The floor had four rooms, each with a double door and four guard towers. However Harry noticed that no one was around.
"Where is everyone?" Cho asked, apparently noticing the same thing.
"I'm not sure," Sirius replied, looking around as well with his wand drawn.
"Doesn't matter," Arabella said, climbing ahead of them and opening the double doors. "The fewer people around, the less likely we'll be caught."
Upon opening the doors, Harry got a glimpse of what was inside. The floor was made of the same black and white tile that he had seen in the room on the floor below and the walls were lined with bookshelves filled with hundreds of books. There seemed to be an absence of furniture for only a desk surrounded by chairs was the only things in view.
A short wizard in a purple striped suit was sitting in the chair behind the desk and a bowler hat was resting on the desk along with a wand. However immediately behind him were two dementors with their hoods up guarding the ministry of magic vigilantly.
Upon seeing the doors open revealing the group of Order members, Fudge immediately stood up in shock.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, looking at each person but his gaze settled on Harry. "Mr. Potter, what are you doing this far away from Hogwarts?"
"Quite simple," Walter said sharply. "You will write an order releasing Headmaster Dumbledore from prison and hand it to us."
Fudge laughed. "Have you lost your mind? Do you really expect to force me to do that? Albus is guilty and you know it. The rest of you will be next, I will personally see to that now."
"You are hopelessly outnumbered," Walter said, trying to reason with him. "Surrender now while you still can."
"I will not," Fudge said stubbornly then he turned to his two dementors. "Deal with them."
The two dementors started walking forward but Sirius and Moody cast patronus charms to drive them away but since the dementors had nowhere to run to, they wailed aloud as if in pain and disintegrated into thin air, leaving only empty cloaks where they were standing.
Walter grinned and approached Fudge. "Everyone but the students please wait outside, this won't take long - make sure no one comes up."
"Are you sure?" Sirius said.
Walter nodded and Arabella, Sirius, Mundungus Fletcher and Moody took their places outside.
"Would you be so kind, Miss Zabini, as to close the door," Walter told Blaise.
She did as she was told and then turned her attention back to Fudge as did Harry and Cho.
Fudge was eyed his wand but was careful not to take one eye off Walter.
"Be careful, Mr. Laikov," Fudge said as he slowly walked around to the front of the desk. "You are treading on dangerous ground. All I need to do is call out and hundreds on ministry guards will be here to defend me."
"It is you who is in danger, minister," Walter said with disdain. "Your ministry guards are non-existent and you have no one to defend you."
From his previous encounters with Fudge, Harry would never expect him to act in any manner but what was in his best interest; however what Fudge did in the next minute would surprise Harry and everyone else in the room.
Fudge suddenly went for the wand on his desk and Walter immediately ran towards him.
"GET DOWN!" Walter yelled as he ran towards Fudge.
Fudge turned around and fired a stunning spell at Walter but Walter dove to the ground as did Harry and the rest of the students.
"Professor!" Cho exclaimed, pulling out her wand.
Fudge fired several more stunning spells at Walter who was now on the ground but each one missed as Walter rolled along the ground to avoid getting stunned.
Harry also pulled out his wand but by the time that he had it pointed in Fudge's direction, Walter had already reached him and had stood up again.
Fudge pointed the wand at Walter but Walter brushed it aside with his hand and it fired, sending a stray shot into the bookshelf. Walter then punched Fudge in the stomach and twisted Fudge's wrist around and pulled the wand from his grasp.
Fudge screamed in rage as the wand was taken from him. Walter spun around, out of range so that the wand was now pointed at Fudge.
"Harry," Walter ordered, "Tie the minister up until he wishes to cooperate. That should give him time to cool down."
Harry nodded and with his wand still drawn, walked over to Fudge.
"Potter," Fudge said with rage still in his eyes. "You've betrayed us all."
Harry merely shook his head and conjured ropes, binding the minister tightly.
Cho came up behind Harry and looked at Fudge. "He doesn't know what he's doing."
"Yes, it's a pity that he strongly believes that You-Know-Who hasn't come back," Harry agreed.
Some yelling and a few thuds were heard from the floor below, causing Harry and Cho to jump.
"What's going on?" Blaise asked in alarm, drawing her wand.
"I don't know - everyone to the door," Walter instructed them, heading over as well, forming a bone spear in his hands as he went along. "Check outside."
They ran towards the door and were about to open it but Sirius burst through. The other Order members were near the stairway and firing downward but from Harry's vantage point, he could not see what was going on.
"WALTER!" Sirius yelled in anger, pointing his wand at him. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!? YOU BETRAYED US ALL!"
Walter didn't respond but ran at Sirius and with the point of his spear, cut into Sirius' hand before he could fire anything. Sirius' wand dropped to the ground and Walter brought the blunt end of the spear around, knocking Sirius out with one swift motion.
Harry, Cho, and Blaise stood there dumbfounded.
"W - why?" Cho asked.
"It's over," Blaise said, pointing to the staircase.
Groups of skeletons armed with swords, spears and shields had emerged from the rooms and surrounded the Order members. Moody, Mundungus, and Arabella were at the staircase firing away at the skeletons but the skeletons were advancing with their shields in front so the spells merely bounced off them and went in different directions.
Skeletons emerged from the floor below as well and charged at the three Order members at the staircase, ramming their shields into them and knocking all three out.
Harry reached for his sword but Walter shook his head.
"Don't," he told him with his spear pointed in his direction.
In an act of bravery, Blaise quickly raised her wand and fired a stunning bolt at Walter. However he spun out of the way and Blaise was immediately overpowered by skeletons.
Harry and Cho were the only ones standing now but now that the other Order members had been captured, they were completely surrounded by Walter and his skeletons.
"Should we try to fight?" Cho whispered to him as she put her back to his.
"We don't have much of a choice," Harry said, getting ready to draw his sword.
"I'm warning you Mr. Potter," Walter said. "Don't - my orders were quite clear to bring you in alive and I do not wish to kill you."
"But why?" Harry asked. "Why betray the Order now?"
Walter's mouth twisted into a smile. "Because I was ordered to. How else did you think you were able to survive?"
"Is that all? You were ordered to? So if Sepet told you to kill yourself, you'd do it?" Harry said defiantly.
"I wouldn't go that far but you'd probably be pretty close," Walter said with a grin. "Now enough talk, it took me 24 hours to get all of these skeletons here so that you could be captured. Now I will carry out my mission and bring you to Voldemort."
Fudge was staring at Walter in fear from where he was tied up.
"You-Know-Who is dead, it's only you who believes that he is back," Fudge said.
Walter laughed as he made his way over to where Fudge was and pulled out his dagger. "Your beliefs will get you into trouble someday but for now, just be happy that you're alive Minister."
With that, Walter cut the ropes binding Fudge and helped him up. "Now the traitors have been rounded up and you're safe."
"You're a death eater," Fudge stated in shock. "Your master is dead but why - "
"Brilliant deduction Minister," Walter said with a hint of sarcasm. "We'll benefit by getting our revenge and you'll get what you want; your traitors removed from society. Now if you don't' mind, I'll be leaving with my prisoners."
Then Walter turned to his skeletons and gave one order. "Take them."
Seeing that they were going to be taken prisoner, Harry and Cho drew their weapons to defend themselves as the skeletons attacked. Harry fired an ice bolt at the nearest skeleton which froze it despite the shield and with one swift stroke, shattered it to pieces. However Cho was not as lucky for she was quickly overpowered and knocked unconscious by the skeletons.
Harry turned around in time to see Cho fall to the ground but when he turned around to see if she was all right but when he did so, something hit him hard in the back of the head.
Harry's vision blurred and he dropped both his sword and wand. He felt both of his legs go out from underneath him and he collapsed to the cold tile floor. The last thing he was able to make out before he went unconscious completely was Walter glancing down at his body and grinning triumphantly.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Well, talk about taking way too long. This chap took way to long to get up so I apologize for the delay. However I would like to thank Quis for getting me out of my writer's block and for discussing random topics with me. Also, Luke-6622427 suggested a mailing list to tell people when my updates are up. If you want to be on the mailing list, post a review with your e-mail address. Ok, now on to the replies:
Sew2100: Thank you for the review. I'm glad that people appreciate my work.
MaxLoneWolf: Hehe, you might be right in the long run or you might not be. As for contacting me, feel free to do so anytime you wish.
Katy999: Eh, yeah. it was because you read the story the day before. this one took too long. Then again, in between school work and writer's block I guess it's not that bad.
Phoenix of Light: Hope you found this chapter as exciting as the previous ones.
Anir: Your thinking is similar to MaxLoneWolf's. Of course, whether or not you're right or not. you'll have to keep reading to find out.
steviej1026: Unfortunately, I don't know if NAPPA will update his fic or not anytime soon.
Erunantala: I apologize for taking so long. However, I hope that the wait was worth it. I'm not exactly sure what people think of the missions but I've been trying to come up with unique ideas each time. As for my writing style. I didn't think it was quite unorthodox... In fact, I think it still needs a bit of work.
wiske-ir: Wow, that makes it about 10 people who've said that. Is the style of writing/plot that close to Rowling's? I didn't think it was. As for the book of elements. since you gave me a signed review. Go ahead and use it, I don't mind because I can't say it's entirely original for me to use the elements book. I only came up with the incantations.
JoshWhitt: Haha, tons and tons of bloodshed? Yeah, I think this fic is a little bloody for a HP fanfic. I dunno if I overdid it or not. Hopefully now that Draco is out of the order, you'll feel a little happier. As for Harry teaching Cho the elemental spells.. That's not a bad idea but only if the plot allows for it, in this book anyway.
The-Dude: Thanks for the review. Once spring break starts next week, I hope to update quicker than this time.
Sunny: I hope that your opinion of Walter doesn't drop but he is still a cool character even though he betrayed everyone. The book of elements was something that I thought would be a little interesting, however I think that it sorta turned Harry into a James Bond because there seems to be a spell for each trouble spot he gets into just as James Bond has a gadget for each problem that arises. Oh well, that has all changed with this chapter.
luke-6622427: No need to kill yourself by losing sleep over my fic. It'll always be here as long as the site is up and even if the site went down, I can always post it elsewhere. As for a mailing list, that's not a bad idea, I probably should create one.
Sailor Miaka: Thank you for reviewing. Hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the previous ones.