Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor

Spying for the Order

Harry spent most of that Sunday in his trunk reading, studying, doing his homework, practicing occlumency, working on his ethereal magic and sifting through his memories with his pensieve. He was slowly sorting through his most troubling memories and setting them aside for future reference to dull their impact and, hopefully, get them out of his dreams. While he was in the process of removing one particularly disturbing memory - the memory of Cedric's death and Voldemort's return - it occurred to him that he finally understood how Albus was always able to appear so calm and relaxed: The old man simply refused to deal with many of his most painful memories until he had the benefit of time and experience on his side. At first it seemed as though the aged wizard had an unfair advantage but the more he thought about it the more he realized that Albus was doing the only really reasonable thing he could under the circumstances.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny came in around ten, Ron and Hermione to finish their chess game and Ginny to check up on Harry. They wound up staying for lunch and Hermione, although she was probably loath to admit it, learned a lot about house elves and realized her mistake in trying to free them because Harry and Ginny had insisted that Dobby and Winky join them at the table. At one point Ron asked Harry what he was going to do with the other five chambers of his trunk. Harry paused and looked thoughtfully around the kitchen for several seconds before voicing his opinions. "You know, Ron," he said thoughtfully. "I really don't know. I suppose I should be thinking about that, though, since I really don't have anywhere to go after Hogwarts and with the modifications Dobby and Winky have made to this place I could, quite literally, live out of my trunk." Then turning towards Dobby, said, "What do you think, Dobby? I don't want to make any extra work for you or anything but do you think you could do a little work on chambers three, four and five?"

Dobby looked at Harry, an eager smile on his face, and said, "Yes, Harry! Dobby is only too happy to help Harry!"

Harry thought about what kinds of rooms he would like in his home after Hogwarts for several more seconds then said, "The first thing we need to look at is a proper room for you. I mean, if you are going to be my house elf I want you to be comfortable. So I want you to turn the fifth chamber into a proper apartment for yourself." Then glancing at Winky and then over at Ginny, added, "I want you and Winky to work on it together because we have got to look to the future and, even though I am not going to say anything definite just yet, I have a feeling you two might be sharing that apartment in the not too distant future. I will make one stipulation, however. I want it to be large enough that any one of us, or all of us for that matter, can come in and have tea with you." Then, turning to Ginny, he asked, "Is that okay with you, Gin?"

Ginny smiled and nodded her head.

"The next thing we will need is an owlry. I don't want just any owlry, though, because they start to smell after a while. Is there any possibility you could transform one of the chambers onto an open-air field with lots of grass, a few trees, a bush or two and a pond or stream?"

Dobby and Winky looked at each other, holding a silent conversation for a few seconds, then turned back to Harry. "Yes, Harry," Dobby said. "Dobby and Winky can do it. It will take a little longer but Dobby and Winky is sure they can do it."

Harry hesitated before making his third request because he didn't even know if it was possible in a trunk. He knew it was possible in the castle environment, but a trunk? He just didn't know. Then, deciding to go for it, asked, "Now, I don't even know if this is possible in a trunk but I've got to ask. Can you put a copy of the Room of Requirement in one of the chambers of this trunk?"

Ron, Hermione and Ginny all gasped and looked at Harry as though he had lost his mind. At this Harry smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. "I just thought I'd ask," he said innocently.

Several seconds later, after another silent conversation, Dobby turned to Harry and said, "Dobby and Winky is sure they can do it, Harry. But it will require study and house elves is not usually allowed to study."

Harry turned toward Ginny who, seemingly reading his mind, nodded her head, granting him permission to give Winky permission to study. Then, turning back to Dobby and Winky, Harry said, "Ginny and I give you permission to study anything you want. We do, however ask that you stay away from the Dark Arts unless it is for information purposes only."

Dobby and Winky jumped up onto the table and ran across the table, throwing themselves into Harry and Ginny's arms. Winky was crying tears of joy as she launched herself at Ginny. "Oh, thank you, Ginny!" the overjoyed house elf screamed. "Winky is always wanting to study but is not wanting to upset her master!"

Ginny hugged Winky and laughed. "That's all right, Winky," she said. "I want you to study. Remember when I told you that I wanted you to think of me as your equal? Well being able to think for yourself and study is a part of that equality."

Dobby just launched himself at Harry, too overjoyed for words, and clung to his neck, crying his eyes out. When the excitable house elf was finally calmed enough Harry set him back on the table and, noticing the scowl on Hermione's face, inwardly groaned but smiled at Dobby and said, "You're welcome."

After lunch Hermione and Ron left to go to the Hogwarts main Library to finish their homework and Ginny left to get the rest of her homework and returned a few minutes later with her books. She spread her stuff out on the large oak table in the room Harry had come to call The Conference Room even though the walls were lined with weapons and the far wall held a spectacular view of the Hogwarts grounds. For himself, after Ginny was settled, Harry set the book on Ethereal Magic Dumbledore had given him in the center of his desk and retired to his bedroom to work on expanding his awareness of the world around him.

Stretching out on his bed, Harry closed his eyes and entered into a deep meditative state. Setting his internal alarm for half an hour before dinner, so he would have time to take a shower and get cleaned up, Harry left his body and expanded his consciousness to include the whole of his trunk. He watched Ginny as she worked on her Potions essay for a few minutes and then turned his attention to the book on his desk.

As he approached the book and touched it with his consciousness he was surprised when he felt all of the information in the book, and all of the experiences behind this information, become a part of his awareness. He quickly sorted through this information and stored it in his own mind for future contemplation but then returned to the book and started reading. He felt Ginny look up as the cover of the heavy book thudded softly on the desk and chided himself for making so much noise because even though he had told Ginny what he was going to be doing he could not help but imagine that seeing a book reading itself was a creepy sight.

At first, from Harry's point of view, the reading went slowly. But before long he was quite literally flying through the pages. When he was finished he softly closed the book and turned his attention back to Ginny. Looking over her shoulder he saw that she had only written about twenty centimeters and wondered if he had really read that entire book so quickly. Finding a small scrap of parchment Harry picked up one of Ginny's spare quills, dipped it in her ink well and wrote, "Sorry about the noise. I will leave you alone for a while. I am going to do a little exploring. H." The writing was messy but legible as he hadn't quite got the hang of writing with his mind yet.

Needless to say, Ginny was startled when one of her scraps of parchment began floating towards her. And she was almost unnerved when one of her quills rose up, dipped itself in her ink and began writing. But when she read the note she smiled and, nodding, said, "Alright then. I'll see you later."

After cleaning her quill Harry laid it down and began expanding his consciousness beyond his trunk. As he took in the sixth-year boys' dormitory he became aware of Dean who was sitting at his desk working on a transfiguration assignment, Seamus who was working on a charms essay and Neville who was reading one of his herbology texts. Slowly expanding his awareness even further he gradually became aware of the goings on in all of Gryffindor Tower and, eventually, the whole of Hogwarts. He briefly turned his attention towards the library where he found Ron and Hermione browsing through the books in the Restricted Section. He mentally chuckled at the changes that had come over Ron since the end of last term. He guessed that the combination the brain attack, the realization of Hermione's motivation and his new responsibilities in the Order were largely to blame but he knew that he couldn't discount love's role in his friend's transformation.

Next Harry expanded his consciousness to include Hogsmeade and the surrounding countryside. He was hesitant at first, as he began to explore the region, but gradually grew comfortable with the idea of being able to become aware of ever increasingly large regions of space and time. What surprised him most, however, was the fact that he could feel the complex swirls of thought and emotion that filled the world. He could tell what people were thinking and feeling and he could feel as to whether their intentions were honorable or not. He could also feel the general flow of individual thoughts and emotions so that he could know whether or not they merited further investigation.

On a whim Harry gradually increased his awareness to include the whole of Great Britain. It was more of an experiment to see how far he could extend himself than anything else and at first he was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of all of the various thoughts and emotions of the millions of souls involved. But he gradually began to sift through the mundane and focus himself upon a few of the more interesting gatherings. Sifting through those as well he became aware of the Order's headquarters, and the debates going on there, and a particularly disturbing collection of thoughts in an old manor home on the outskirts of a small town in northern England.

Focusing himself upon this second collection of emotions he followed then to their source and found himself looking down upon a gathering of cloaked and hooded figures bowing down before a tall, central figure with a reptilian face, red eyes that seemed to glow with malevolence and thin, bony, white hands and fingers. This central figure was issuing commands to his 'faithful followers' and telling them of his plans to attack Hogsmeade. Harry listened in horror as Voldemort described the attack and, before he knew what was happening or could even stop himself, found that his consciousness was split between Order Headquarters and Voldemort's meeting.

The members of the Order of the Phoenix were discussing the progress that was being made with the werewolf population and the renovations that were being made to one of Harry's castles in Wales and another in Ireland. Hestia Jones was taking notes when the quill suddenly flew out of her hand and a fresh piece of parchment laid itself out on the table. Most of the Order members either screamed or gasped when this happened but one - the leader of their group - sat calmly and watched as the quill took on a life of its own.

The first words to appear at the top of the parchment, in a still sloppy script, were "DEATH EATER MEETING IN PROGRESS." The quill then underlined these words and proceeded to record everything that was being said by Voldemort and his followers as they made plans to attack Hogsmeade. Fifteen minutes later, as the Death Eater Meeting came to an end Harry, whose writing was much neater at this point, made a notation at the bottom of the parchment which said, "(Sorry, no date set.) H."

As Hestia retrieved her quill and the various members of the Order looked on in amazement Albus simply nodded his head and smiled, his eyes twinkling merrily with the mischievous glint and said, "Ah. It would seem as though our second spy was successful."

At dinner in the Great Hall that night Harry approached the Head Table and briefly, out of the corner of his eye, caught a quick nod from Snape. Walking over to stand in front of the Headmaster he cast a quick privacy charm and said, "I was successful with Bane, sir. It wasn't easy but it did work."

Albus looked up and smiled. "So I hear, Harry. Tell me, did you study the elements during your Maturo Auctus?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir. I didn't think I would need it but Merlin insisted."

Albus chuckled slightly. "Ah, yes. Merlin. He is a bit of a task master isn't he."

Harry knew that it was meant as a joke but he was so tired that he couldn't bring himself to laugh. "Yes, sir," he said softly. "He is at that."

Sensing Harry's subdued demeanor Albus gazed over his half-moon glasses at Harry for several seconds before saying anything else. And when he did it was with a sense of compassion and understanding. "Tell me," he asked, "Did he teach you to brew the restorative draughts as well?"

Harry nodded. "I've got four of them going as we speak. They should be ready in a few hours."

"Very well. I want you to know that Severus has confirmed your transcript of the Death Eater Meeting. I don't know how you did it. Splitting your consciousness so clearly in two is very difficult, Harry. You must be careful. From now on I will suggest you attend to their meetings and then report your findings unless it is a matter utmost urgency. Hestia has been instructed to leave a fresh quill, a bottle of ink and a stack of parchment on a separate desk in her office at headquarters for your use."

Harry nodded again. "Where's this Andromeda Babcock girl we are supposed to be meeting?"

Albus looked over Harry's shoulder. He could tell the young man before him was fatigued but at the same time he knew, even though it pained him greatly, that certain things could not be helped. Finding the little dark haired girl sitting next to Luna he said, "It would seem that Miss Lovegood has already found her."

Harry turned around after lifting the privacy charm and started back towards his seat when Remus stopped him. "You had better get a good night's sleep tonight, Harry. You and Neville are going to have an early start in the morning. I will be up there at four thirty to make sure you're up so we can start warming up for our run."

"Our run?" Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow at the werewolf.

"Twice around the castle grounds," Remus said, smiling sadistically. "We've got to get you back in shape for Saturday."

Harry groaned as he recalled the forgotten training schedule. "I'll be sure to warn Neville," he said. "But you had better be ready for a fight on Saturday because we aren't going to let you off so easy this time."

Remus chuckled but Harry was almost certain he could hear Tonks saying that she thought Harry meant it.