Chapter 3
The Reunion of The Order
"Harry! Oh, Harry! Please wake up!" Hermione's voice echoed through Harry's mind. He stirred and opened his eyes. The bedroom came into focus along with Hermione and Ron's faces.
"Oh thank god!" Hermione said hugging Harry tightly.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!" Harry yelled. His right arm and his left leg were broken. His scar was still very painful. So were his left leg and his right arm. They must have been broken. Suddenly the memory of last night came flooding into his mind. He turned and saw Cho lying on the bed. He couldn't breathe. Ron noticed what he was looking at. Hermione did too and her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm really sorry Harry!" whispered Ron. Harry just sat there his mouth wide open staring at his wife. Hermione hugged Ron with silent tears trickling down her face. They just didn't know what to say. Suddenly Harry moved and dragged himself over to Cho. He stroked her cheek as his tears fell onto her face. Then a wave of anger swept over him just like last night. He was ready to kill.
"He will pay!" Harry whispered under his breath. "HE WILL PAY!" he yelled. All the strength left his body and fell down, down.
Harry lay in his hospital bed. Cho's last words were echoing through his head again and again.
"Harry!"
After the night she had died, Harry hadn't said anything ever since. He had been in hospital for two days now. This was his second. His healer had said that he could go home in a day. His leg was better but his arm still needed some rest.
Harry stared at the ceiling the same sentence going round his head. Ron entered the ward and sat down beside Harry's bed. After about five minutes Ron decided to talk.
"Are you alright Harry?" he asked even though he knew it was a stupid question. Harry paused and then, to Ron's surprise, he spoke.
"Where is James?" he asked.
"He's fine, he's been staying at our house while the Ministry search yours," said Ron. "Look, Harry. If there is anything we can do...just ask."
Harry tore his eyes away from the ceiling and looked at Ron. Then he smiled.
"Thanks Ron," he said. Then they gave each other a friendly hug. "What would I do without you?"
"Exactly the same as what I'd do without you," said Ron. "Nothing."
Soon it was time for Harry to go home. As the Ministry was searching his home he had asked Ron if he could stay at his place and Ron had agreed.
Harry entered Ron's house and closed the door behind him. He placed the suitcase by the door and looked up. At the kitchen table Harry saw the whole Order. He was very surprised.
"Hi Harry," said Ginny nervously. "We came as soon as we heard, we're...we're really sorry Harry." Harry sat down at the table and sighed. They would have to find out sometime.
"I suppose you want to know what happened," he said looking around at them all. A few of them nodded timidly.
"Ok then," said Harry and then he told them all that had happened. Everything went all right until he got to the worst part. "And then Voldamort raised the knife and...and...a..." he tried to bring himself together. "And then Ch...Cho d...died." He took a deep breath and looked down at the kitchen table. Everyone else was looking at it too. There was silence for about a minute. Harry looked up, around the table. Neville Longbottom, Dean & Ginny Thomas (Ginny was now married to Dean), Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Padma Patil, Luna Lovegood, Alicia Spinnet, Colin Creevy, Dennis Creevy, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, Terry & Katy Boot (Katy Bell was now married), Zacharias Smith & Fred, George, Angelina & Ron Weasley. All together they were the Order of the Phoenix.
Hermione came running downstairs with Cecile and James.
"Daddy!" yelled James, running towards Harry.
"James!" Harry said, standing up and almost being knocked over by the force of his son's hug. "I'm so glad you're alright!"
"Where's Mummy?" James asked looking up at Harry.
"Um...well...Mummy...um...Mummy is sleeping," Harry said. "And...Mummy is going to be asleep for a long, long time."
"Hey," said Hermione patting James and Cecile on the back. "Why don't you two go and play outside while we have a chat?"
"OK," said James, running out into the garden with Cecile. As soon as Cecile and James were outside Neville couldn't stop himself.
"So what are we going to do?" he blurted out.
"First," said Hannah Abbot. "How did he come back?"
"It's impossible!" said Ernie Macmillan pompously. "He could only get out of the depths of hell if..."
"If someone helped him!" said Hermione triumphantly. "But who would help him?"
"A Death Eater!" suggested Katie Bell.
"But they are on our side now!" said Anthony Goldstein.
"Except from the one who got away," said Ron.
"Draco Malfoy!" exclaimed Harry. "That bastard!"
"He must have gone to the same place where we sent You-Know-Who and perform all of those counter curses," said Ginny. "But that's impossible. He couldn't have performed them all at the same time. There were about 60 of us!"
"So he'd have needed a lot more people," said Terry Boot thoughtfully. "But who?"
"Well...it couldn't be any of the death eaters because we gave them a life sentence in the new Azkaban and with all of that security from the giants and the centaurs they couldn't possibly get away with it!" explained Alicia Spinnet.
"AZKABAN!" yelled Harry so loud that it made everyone jump. "That's it!"
"What's it?" asked Ron, recovering from the shock.
"DEMENTORS!"
"Oh!" everyone said.
"Oh no!" said Hermione. "So they all performed the counter curses!"
"Yes!" Harry exclaimed. "And that's why Voldemort's ...Voldamort's free." At the sound of his name and the word free, the arm that Dean had around Ginny, tightened and the Pumpkin juice that Neville was drinking was spilt all over the table.
"What are we going to do?" asked Susan Boot snuggling more closely to Terry. There was a long silence and another table-staring session. Suddenly Harry stood up.
"We have to go after him," he said simply.
"Yes," said Zacharias sarcastically standing up as well. "Let's go after You-Know-Who, Malfoy and 70 Dementors to get our souls sucked out of us! What a jolly good idea!"
"You would do anything if the 4th person that you had ever loved had been murdered!" shouted Harry. He sat back down in his chair, breathing heavily.
"Well," said Alicia quietly. "I think that it is the only thing we can do." A few people nodded in agreement.
"Where is he?" asked Dean. "I mean, he could be in Australia for all we know!"
"I know how we can find out!" said Hermione, a cunning grin appearing on her face.
Then she started muttering to herself "But we don't have the equipment? Oh. Um. Oh yeah! The Ministry does!" She turned to everyone else, who by now thought she was mad. "Everyone," she announced. "We are going to the Ministry of Magic!"
Once everybody was crowded around the fireplace, they all took some Floo Powder from the yellow bowl on the mantelpiece.
"OK, two at a time!" said Hermione as Ginny and Dean climbed into the fireplace and said clearly "The Ministry of Magic!"
"Oh! And Alicia, Susan? Could you look after the kids?" Hermione yelled over the great roar of the fire as she clambered into it with Ron.
"Sure!" they said stepping away from the queue and strolling out to the garden to watch Cecile and James.
In pairs, the Order all got into the fireplace and transported themselves to The Ministry of Magic. Last but not least Harry and Luna got in the fireplace.
"You do the honours," said Harry to Luna closing his mouth tight so that he wouldn't swallow the ash when they departed.
"Alright then," she said. "THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" And off they went spiralling past fireplace after fireplace spinning and spinning. Harry realised that you shouldn't drink Pumpkin Juice before using Floo Powder but it was too late now. Luna clutched onto Harry as she almost fell out of the wrong fireplace. After about 2 minutes they both flew out of the fireplace rolling over each other, Harry landing at Ron's feet.
"Are you alright? You look at bit peaky," asked Ron helping Harry up and brushing the ash off him.
"Yeah. I'm fine!" said Harry whose eyes had just come into focus. He was in a room with a highly polished dark wooden floor and many fireplaces along the walls. Every now and then a witch or a wizard would appear from a fireplace on the left of the room and long queues were forming in front of the fireplaces on the right hand side. The group of them walked over to the reception area.
"Ah!" said a large, brown-haired lady behind the desk. "The Order of the Phoenix! What an honour to meet you!" she turned to Harry. "I'm very sorry to hear what happened to your dear wife." "Thank you," said Harry trying not to think about it. "We need to see the Minister of Magic. It's urgent."
"Dumbledore? Well...I'll see what I can do." said the large lady getting out of her chair, with great difficulty, and walking out of the reception area towards the Order. "Follow me," she said beckoning them. They walked over to a lift and all squashed up inside it. The lady pressed a button reading 'The Minister of Magic's Office'. "I'm Ursula by the way," she said. "I don't mean to be nosy but does this have anything to do with You-Know-Who?" "Yes," said Katie. "I'm afraid it does. But we can't tell you much more, it's Order business."
"Oh that's fine dear," said Ursula. "I just wanted to know!" The lift finally reached the top floor and they stepped off and followed Ursula through a door and down a long gold corridor. The floor was gold, the walls were gold, everything was gold. They soon reached the golden-framed portrait at the end. The portrait was of Fawkes the phoenix. It squawked loudly as they approached it.
"Billywig Sting!" said Ursula and the portrait swung open. "Ok then, everyone in! The Minister will be with you in a moment!" They all entered as Ursula walked out of the portrait hole and waved goodbye. The room had light wooden panelled walls and a red velvet carpet. In the centre of it was a matching wooden coffee table covered with magazines. Red, velvet armchairs surrounded the table. Harry had been here before but the décor had changed since he last came. This was the waiting room. "I guess we wait here," said Zacharias as everyone found a chair.
The Reunion of The Order
"Harry! Oh, Harry! Please wake up!" Hermione's voice echoed through Harry's mind. He stirred and opened his eyes. The bedroom came into focus along with Hermione and Ron's faces.
"Oh thank god!" Hermione said hugging Harry tightly.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!" Harry yelled. His right arm and his left leg were broken. His scar was still very painful. So were his left leg and his right arm. They must have been broken. Suddenly the memory of last night came flooding into his mind. He turned and saw Cho lying on the bed. He couldn't breathe. Ron noticed what he was looking at. Hermione did too and her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm really sorry Harry!" whispered Ron. Harry just sat there his mouth wide open staring at his wife. Hermione hugged Ron with silent tears trickling down her face. They just didn't know what to say. Suddenly Harry moved and dragged himself over to Cho. He stroked her cheek as his tears fell onto her face. Then a wave of anger swept over him just like last night. He was ready to kill.
"He will pay!" Harry whispered under his breath. "HE WILL PAY!" he yelled. All the strength left his body and fell down, down.
Harry lay in his hospital bed. Cho's last words were echoing through his head again and again.
"Harry!"
After the night she had died, Harry hadn't said anything ever since. He had been in hospital for two days now. This was his second. His healer had said that he could go home in a day. His leg was better but his arm still needed some rest.
Harry stared at the ceiling the same sentence going round his head. Ron entered the ward and sat down beside Harry's bed. After about five minutes Ron decided to talk.
"Are you alright Harry?" he asked even though he knew it was a stupid question. Harry paused and then, to Ron's surprise, he spoke.
"Where is James?" he asked.
"He's fine, he's been staying at our house while the Ministry search yours," said Ron. "Look, Harry. If there is anything we can do...just ask."
Harry tore his eyes away from the ceiling and looked at Ron. Then he smiled.
"Thanks Ron," he said. Then they gave each other a friendly hug. "What would I do without you?"
"Exactly the same as what I'd do without you," said Ron. "Nothing."
Soon it was time for Harry to go home. As the Ministry was searching his home he had asked Ron if he could stay at his place and Ron had agreed.
Harry entered Ron's house and closed the door behind him. He placed the suitcase by the door and looked up. At the kitchen table Harry saw the whole Order. He was very surprised.
"Hi Harry," said Ginny nervously. "We came as soon as we heard, we're...we're really sorry Harry." Harry sat down at the table and sighed. They would have to find out sometime.
"I suppose you want to know what happened," he said looking around at them all. A few of them nodded timidly.
"Ok then," said Harry and then he told them all that had happened. Everything went all right until he got to the worst part. "And then Voldamort raised the knife and...and...a..." he tried to bring himself together. "And then Ch...Cho d...died." He took a deep breath and looked down at the kitchen table. Everyone else was looking at it too. There was silence for about a minute. Harry looked up, around the table. Neville Longbottom, Dean & Ginny Thomas (Ginny was now married to Dean), Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Padma Patil, Luna Lovegood, Alicia Spinnet, Colin Creevy, Dennis Creevy, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, Terry & Katy Boot (Katy Bell was now married), Zacharias Smith & Fred, George, Angelina & Ron Weasley. All together they were the Order of the Phoenix.
Hermione came running downstairs with Cecile and James.
"Daddy!" yelled James, running towards Harry.
"James!" Harry said, standing up and almost being knocked over by the force of his son's hug. "I'm so glad you're alright!"
"Where's Mummy?" James asked looking up at Harry.
"Um...well...Mummy...um...Mummy is sleeping," Harry said. "And...Mummy is going to be asleep for a long, long time."
"Hey," said Hermione patting James and Cecile on the back. "Why don't you two go and play outside while we have a chat?"
"OK," said James, running out into the garden with Cecile. As soon as Cecile and James were outside Neville couldn't stop himself.
"So what are we going to do?" he blurted out.
"First," said Hannah Abbot. "How did he come back?"
"It's impossible!" said Ernie Macmillan pompously. "He could only get out of the depths of hell if..."
"If someone helped him!" said Hermione triumphantly. "But who would help him?"
"A Death Eater!" suggested Katie Bell.
"But they are on our side now!" said Anthony Goldstein.
"Except from the one who got away," said Ron.
"Draco Malfoy!" exclaimed Harry. "That bastard!"
"He must have gone to the same place where we sent You-Know-Who and perform all of those counter curses," said Ginny. "But that's impossible. He couldn't have performed them all at the same time. There were about 60 of us!"
"So he'd have needed a lot more people," said Terry Boot thoughtfully. "But who?"
"Well...it couldn't be any of the death eaters because we gave them a life sentence in the new Azkaban and with all of that security from the giants and the centaurs they couldn't possibly get away with it!" explained Alicia Spinnet.
"AZKABAN!" yelled Harry so loud that it made everyone jump. "That's it!"
"What's it?" asked Ron, recovering from the shock.
"DEMENTORS!"
"Oh!" everyone said.
"Oh no!" said Hermione. "So they all performed the counter curses!"
"Yes!" Harry exclaimed. "And that's why Voldemort's ...Voldamort's free." At the sound of his name and the word free, the arm that Dean had around Ginny, tightened and the Pumpkin juice that Neville was drinking was spilt all over the table.
"What are we going to do?" asked Susan Boot snuggling more closely to Terry. There was a long silence and another table-staring session. Suddenly Harry stood up.
"We have to go after him," he said simply.
"Yes," said Zacharias sarcastically standing up as well. "Let's go after You-Know-Who, Malfoy and 70 Dementors to get our souls sucked out of us! What a jolly good idea!"
"You would do anything if the 4th person that you had ever loved had been murdered!" shouted Harry. He sat back down in his chair, breathing heavily.
"Well," said Alicia quietly. "I think that it is the only thing we can do." A few people nodded in agreement.
"Where is he?" asked Dean. "I mean, he could be in Australia for all we know!"
"I know how we can find out!" said Hermione, a cunning grin appearing on her face.
Then she started muttering to herself "But we don't have the equipment? Oh. Um. Oh yeah! The Ministry does!" She turned to everyone else, who by now thought she was mad. "Everyone," she announced. "We are going to the Ministry of Magic!"
Once everybody was crowded around the fireplace, they all took some Floo Powder from the yellow bowl on the mantelpiece.
"OK, two at a time!" said Hermione as Ginny and Dean climbed into the fireplace and said clearly "The Ministry of Magic!"
"Oh! And Alicia, Susan? Could you look after the kids?" Hermione yelled over the great roar of the fire as she clambered into it with Ron.
"Sure!" they said stepping away from the queue and strolling out to the garden to watch Cecile and James.
In pairs, the Order all got into the fireplace and transported themselves to The Ministry of Magic. Last but not least Harry and Luna got in the fireplace.
"You do the honours," said Harry to Luna closing his mouth tight so that he wouldn't swallow the ash when they departed.
"Alright then," she said. "THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" And off they went spiralling past fireplace after fireplace spinning and spinning. Harry realised that you shouldn't drink Pumpkin Juice before using Floo Powder but it was too late now. Luna clutched onto Harry as she almost fell out of the wrong fireplace. After about 2 minutes they both flew out of the fireplace rolling over each other, Harry landing at Ron's feet.
"Are you alright? You look at bit peaky," asked Ron helping Harry up and brushing the ash off him.
"Yeah. I'm fine!" said Harry whose eyes had just come into focus. He was in a room with a highly polished dark wooden floor and many fireplaces along the walls. Every now and then a witch or a wizard would appear from a fireplace on the left of the room and long queues were forming in front of the fireplaces on the right hand side. The group of them walked over to the reception area.
"Ah!" said a large, brown-haired lady behind the desk. "The Order of the Phoenix! What an honour to meet you!" she turned to Harry. "I'm very sorry to hear what happened to your dear wife." "Thank you," said Harry trying not to think about it. "We need to see the Minister of Magic. It's urgent."
"Dumbledore? Well...I'll see what I can do." said the large lady getting out of her chair, with great difficulty, and walking out of the reception area towards the Order. "Follow me," she said beckoning them. They walked over to a lift and all squashed up inside it. The lady pressed a button reading 'The Minister of Magic's Office'. "I'm Ursula by the way," she said. "I don't mean to be nosy but does this have anything to do with You-Know-Who?" "Yes," said Katie. "I'm afraid it does. But we can't tell you much more, it's Order business."
"Oh that's fine dear," said Ursula. "I just wanted to know!" The lift finally reached the top floor and they stepped off and followed Ursula through a door and down a long gold corridor. The floor was gold, the walls were gold, everything was gold. They soon reached the golden-framed portrait at the end. The portrait was of Fawkes the phoenix. It squawked loudly as they approached it.
"Billywig Sting!" said Ursula and the portrait swung open. "Ok then, everyone in! The Minister will be with you in a moment!" They all entered as Ursula walked out of the portrait hole and waved goodbye. The room had light wooden panelled walls and a red velvet carpet. In the centre of it was a matching wooden coffee table covered with magazines. Red, velvet armchairs surrounded the table. Harry had been here before but the décor had changed since he last came. This was the waiting room. "I guess we wait here," said Zacharias as everyone found a chair.