AUTHOR'S NOTE: PLEASE REVIEW. THANKS!
Chapter 16 - "It's our turn now..."
Ashamed at his earlier display of vulnerability, Alastor Moody immediately summoned all remaining Order members for an emergency meeting as Harry requested. Also present were professors from other schools present within the room and all the DA members except for Ginny and Cho who hadn't been found by Dobby yet. House-elves' representatives were also invited.
Before they started the conference, all of them raised their wands to reconstruct the fallen wards. It was not as strong as the previous barriers but it would hold off the enemies until they're all ready for battle. As expected, Severus Snape was the first to react.
"Will someone enlighten me as to why we are all here? And why is that abominable boy presiding this meeting?" he smirked disdainfully at Harry.
"You may leave if you want to, Snivellus. No one's forcing you to stay." snapped Harry. Snape's eyes bulged as he heard what his old school enemies used to call him. He glared at Harry menacingly and seriously considered hexing him in front of everyone but was stopped by an even more menacing glare from the boy.
"Don't even think of it, Snivellus." he said venomously, his whole body glowing with anger once more. Snape fell silent.
"The situation has reached its worst. Dumbledore has been killed by Voldemort..." Harry paused. "...and Ginny went over to the dark side." Mrs. Weasley cried hysterically at that and Mr. Weasley hid his own anxiety to comfort her. Bill and Charlie just donned vacant expression for which Harry was thankful because he couldn't stand to see any more members breaking down at the news. The vacillating Percy was not invited so he did not have to worry about his reaction.
"Seeing the futility of relying on the Daily Prophet for the news, the DA decided to use the Quibbler to spread information that the war is not finished yet and that we could all do something to finally end it, with us as the winning side."
"Harry, we can't do that! The owls are being watched by our enemies. They'll just destroy them." commented Kingsley Shacklebolt, one of the employees of the Ministry of Magic who joined the Order.
"We know...that's why we are going to request the house-elves to do that for us. They can go past any anti-apparition barriers and are hardly noticed by most wizards. They can deliver the papers, right Dobby?" said Hermione confidently.
"Yes, of course, young Miss Granger. The house-elves are always willing to help the cause." replied Dobby excitedly while the other house-elves nodded their heads vigorously in agreement.
"Now, the operation is simple. We shall gather volunteer writers from this group and finish all the articles here. The house-elves will be the ones responsible for the reproduction and distribution of the papers so it wouldn't be that hard." said Harry. "Those who wish to write the articles can confer with Luna and Hermione after the meeting."
"Now, I want to hear your reports..." continued Harry as he sat carefully on his chair.
One by one, all the Order members who was away on a mission, informed them of their progress. Several giants already joined Voldemort but some agreed to help them if they can promise to give them a parcel of land in which they can dwell in peacefully after the war. The werewolves were still undecided due to the previous Minister's obvious contempt of their breed but they did not want Voldemort to rule them either. The goblins would join them if and only if Ludo Bagman would pay them the amount he owed them and that their share of the profits of the Gringotts Bank would be raised to twenty percent as opposed to their current ten percent share which they considered improportional to the amount of work they were putting on the job. The vampires were hopeless for they believe they would benefit more if they choose Voldemort's side and there was no sign of the dementors yet after they left Azkaban.
Harry was carefully considering the demands of the giants and goblins. And he was thinking that the werewolves can be swayed if they can eliminate their distrust in the Ministry of Magic. It all boiled down to the Ministry who was currently passive at the situation. "Who's running the ministry now?" he asked the ministry officials there.
"No one. Some were even afraid to go to work now." answered Mr. Weasley ruefully.
"Well, then how do we usually get a Minister?" asked Harry, disgusted at his own ignorance of the matter. He should have thought of this before.
"We usually vote but in times like this...." Mr. Weasley's voice trailed off. "... the minister can just be anyone within the ministry who is brave enough to take the responsibility." Harry sighed with relief.
"Is that all? So, Mr. Weasley you can be the new minister now and talk to the representative of the giants, goblins and werewolves. Give them what they want...it's not so much anyway compared to what they're going to do for us. Hagrid, Bill and Lupin will help you with it. Kingsley can take charge of organizing the intelligence network alongside with Tonks and Snape, much as I hate him. By the way Snape, Voldemort already knows you're a spy so better stay out of his way for a while." Snape looked alarmed at this news.
"As for the Dementors, the DA will take care of them. We just need information regarding their present location. All professors in this room will take charge of teaching Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts except for Professor Moody who would be in charge of giving Auror training to all the DA members." continued Harry.
"Why are we all taking orders from him? He's just a little boy?" demanded Professor Leninski, a teacher from Durmstrang. The others looked stunned at his reaction. Obviously, they had not found it strange that Harry was giving them orders.
"I'm fed up with adults giving me orders which entails nothing but wait around for something to happen... I can't wait anymore... for every minute that I wait, someone is being tortured...someone is being killed...someone's life is being destroyed. It's about time we take some action... It's our turn now." replied Harry calmly, earning the respect of all the wizards present.
The next few days were highlighted with trainings going on every corner of the Room of Requirements. The dueling club was restored once again to help the students prepare for battle. Petunia was getting her private training from none other than Professor McGonagall herself who had taken quite a liking to her. The Auror training was also going on very well....within a week, Harry was able to master wandless magic and a few DA members namely, Hermione, Ron, Luna and Neville were able to do it quite well although they still prefer to use wands because wandless magic was very exhausting.
But nothing surprised them more than the reaction of the whole wizarding community when they released the first edition of the Rebel Quibbler. Dobby and several house-elves appeared before the DA members after a very tiring session with Professor Moody, each of them carrying a handful of letters which was all addressed to the Quibbler. Hermione excitedly grabbed one letter and read it in front of everyone.
Dear Editor,
We're so glad to find that our world is not yet fully dominated by the poor excuse of a man who fancied himself as 'lord'. We're now teaching some defensive spells to our children here as you have suggested in your paper.
Keep up the good work!
Melissa Banes
Luna also grabbed another one, clearly exhilarated that so many had taken an interest at his father's paper. Her eyes were flooded with tears of joy as she read the letter.
Dear Editor,
Thank you for being brave enough to publish this paper despite of everything that is happening around us. I already sent 1000 galleons to the Gringotts bank so that you can continue your operation.
Whereas before we were already losing hope, now we have found courage again due to your efforts. We sincerely hope that through this paper, you can reach out more people to help the cause. I was one of those severely injured during the first war so I can't be of much help in the final battle but rest assured that I will always be at the good side and continue to give you my whole-hearted support.
Enclosed is an anecdote of what I and my friends had experienced during the first war. I hope you can publish it so that the others will know more about the cruelty of war and hopefully be enlightened that the dark side only prevails if the light allows it.
Thank you again and more power!
Louisa Alstrong
Neville gasped as he heard the name. "Hey! She's one of my grandma's friends!"
Dobby went to Harry and handed him a parchment. "Mr. Harry Potter, that one's from Miss Cho. I found her in one of the safehouse in her country. She's hiding there with her family. She asked me to give this to you personally."
Harry took the letter from his outstretched hand and read the letter.
Dear Harry,
I'm really sorry for my outburst. I know I have acted very childishly. Dobby gave me a copy of the Quibbler and I must admit that I'm very impressed with what you guys have done lately. And I'm quite ashamed for acting so irresponsibly in this hard times. While in hiding, I came to terms with the fact that you and I are really not meant for each other. Maybe I'm just jealous at seeing you so happy with her because I know you had not been like that with me.
Please forgive me...and if the DA will agree to it, I wish to return and help you fight. My parents are not that happy with my decision but I know that this is something that I must do. Please send me a letter soon if you all want me to return.
Again, I'm sorry.
Cho
When Harry looked up, he saw the rest of the DA members curiously staring at him. Luna averted her gaze when he looked her way.
"What does she want?' asked Hermione.
"She said she's sorry and she wants to come back." replied Harry, eyeing Luna's expression carefully. "If we all agree, that is...do you want her to come back?"
"Yes!" exclaimed one very excited voice and they were very surprised to see that it was Lee. The others laughed at his reaction but no one expressed any objection.
"Well, Dobby, tell her that we want her back as soon as possible. We need all the help that we can get." said Harry with a smile as he walked over to Luna.
"You don't have to be afraid...she got over me now...she said so in the letter...and from what I can see, one of our friends is going to make sure that it stays that way." he gave her a smile and slowly bent to kiss her lightly on the lips.
"You're really amazing, Harry, do you that?" said Luna, surrendering herself to the kiss.
"As I've said before....It's our turn now." replied Harry, implying a totally different meaning to his words as he gave her another slow kiss that erased all the doubts from her mind.
Chapter 16 - "It's our turn now..."
Ashamed at his earlier display of vulnerability, Alastor Moody immediately summoned all remaining Order members for an emergency meeting as Harry requested. Also present were professors from other schools present within the room and all the DA members except for Ginny and Cho who hadn't been found by Dobby yet. House-elves' representatives were also invited.
Before they started the conference, all of them raised their wands to reconstruct the fallen wards. It was not as strong as the previous barriers but it would hold off the enemies until they're all ready for battle. As expected, Severus Snape was the first to react.
"Will someone enlighten me as to why we are all here? And why is that abominable boy presiding this meeting?" he smirked disdainfully at Harry.
"You may leave if you want to, Snivellus. No one's forcing you to stay." snapped Harry. Snape's eyes bulged as he heard what his old school enemies used to call him. He glared at Harry menacingly and seriously considered hexing him in front of everyone but was stopped by an even more menacing glare from the boy.
"Don't even think of it, Snivellus." he said venomously, his whole body glowing with anger once more. Snape fell silent.
"The situation has reached its worst. Dumbledore has been killed by Voldemort..." Harry paused. "...and Ginny went over to the dark side." Mrs. Weasley cried hysterically at that and Mr. Weasley hid his own anxiety to comfort her. Bill and Charlie just donned vacant expression for which Harry was thankful because he couldn't stand to see any more members breaking down at the news. The vacillating Percy was not invited so he did not have to worry about his reaction.
"Seeing the futility of relying on the Daily Prophet for the news, the DA decided to use the Quibbler to spread information that the war is not finished yet and that we could all do something to finally end it, with us as the winning side."
"Harry, we can't do that! The owls are being watched by our enemies. They'll just destroy them." commented Kingsley Shacklebolt, one of the employees of the Ministry of Magic who joined the Order.
"We know...that's why we are going to request the house-elves to do that for us. They can go past any anti-apparition barriers and are hardly noticed by most wizards. They can deliver the papers, right Dobby?" said Hermione confidently.
"Yes, of course, young Miss Granger. The house-elves are always willing to help the cause." replied Dobby excitedly while the other house-elves nodded their heads vigorously in agreement.
"Now, the operation is simple. We shall gather volunteer writers from this group and finish all the articles here. The house-elves will be the ones responsible for the reproduction and distribution of the papers so it wouldn't be that hard." said Harry. "Those who wish to write the articles can confer with Luna and Hermione after the meeting."
"Now, I want to hear your reports..." continued Harry as he sat carefully on his chair.
One by one, all the Order members who was away on a mission, informed them of their progress. Several giants already joined Voldemort but some agreed to help them if they can promise to give them a parcel of land in which they can dwell in peacefully after the war. The werewolves were still undecided due to the previous Minister's obvious contempt of their breed but they did not want Voldemort to rule them either. The goblins would join them if and only if Ludo Bagman would pay them the amount he owed them and that their share of the profits of the Gringotts Bank would be raised to twenty percent as opposed to their current ten percent share which they considered improportional to the amount of work they were putting on the job. The vampires were hopeless for they believe they would benefit more if they choose Voldemort's side and there was no sign of the dementors yet after they left Azkaban.
Harry was carefully considering the demands of the giants and goblins. And he was thinking that the werewolves can be swayed if they can eliminate their distrust in the Ministry of Magic. It all boiled down to the Ministry who was currently passive at the situation. "Who's running the ministry now?" he asked the ministry officials there.
"No one. Some were even afraid to go to work now." answered Mr. Weasley ruefully.
"Well, then how do we usually get a Minister?" asked Harry, disgusted at his own ignorance of the matter. He should have thought of this before.
"We usually vote but in times like this...." Mr. Weasley's voice trailed off. "... the minister can just be anyone within the ministry who is brave enough to take the responsibility." Harry sighed with relief.
"Is that all? So, Mr. Weasley you can be the new minister now and talk to the representative of the giants, goblins and werewolves. Give them what they want...it's not so much anyway compared to what they're going to do for us. Hagrid, Bill and Lupin will help you with it. Kingsley can take charge of organizing the intelligence network alongside with Tonks and Snape, much as I hate him. By the way Snape, Voldemort already knows you're a spy so better stay out of his way for a while." Snape looked alarmed at this news.
"As for the Dementors, the DA will take care of them. We just need information regarding their present location. All professors in this room will take charge of teaching Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts except for Professor Moody who would be in charge of giving Auror training to all the DA members." continued Harry.
"Why are we all taking orders from him? He's just a little boy?" demanded Professor Leninski, a teacher from Durmstrang. The others looked stunned at his reaction. Obviously, they had not found it strange that Harry was giving them orders.
"I'm fed up with adults giving me orders which entails nothing but wait around for something to happen... I can't wait anymore... for every minute that I wait, someone is being tortured...someone is being killed...someone's life is being destroyed. It's about time we take some action... It's our turn now." replied Harry calmly, earning the respect of all the wizards present.
The next few days were highlighted with trainings going on every corner of the Room of Requirements. The dueling club was restored once again to help the students prepare for battle. Petunia was getting her private training from none other than Professor McGonagall herself who had taken quite a liking to her. The Auror training was also going on very well....within a week, Harry was able to master wandless magic and a few DA members namely, Hermione, Ron, Luna and Neville were able to do it quite well although they still prefer to use wands because wandless magic was very exhausting.
But nothing surprised them more than the reaction of the whole wizarding community when they released the first edition of the Rebel Quibbler. Dobby and several house-elves appeared before the DA members after a very tiring session with Professor Moody, each of them carrying a handful of letters which was all addressed to the Quibbler. Hermione excitedly grabbed one letter and read it in front of everyone.
Dear Editor,
We're so glad to find that our world is not yet fully dominated by the poor excuse of a man who fancied himself as 'lord'. We're now teaching some defensive spells to our children here as you have suggested in your paper.
Keep up the good work!
Melissa Banes
Luna also grabbed another one, clearly exhilarated that so many had taken an interest at his father's paper. Her eyes were flooded with tears of joy as she read the letter.
Dear Editor,
Thank you for being brave enough to publish this paper despite of everything that is happening around us. I already sent 1000 galleons to the Gringotts bank so that you can continue your operation.
Whereas before we were already losing hope, now we have found courage again due to your efforts. We sincerely hope that through this paper, you can reach out more people to help the cause. I was one of those severely injured during the first war so I can't be of much help in the final battle but rest assured that I will always be at the good side and continue to give you my whole-hearted support.
Enclosed is an anecdote of what I and my friends had experienced during the first war. I hope you can publish it so that the others will know more about the cruelty of war and hopefully be enlightened that the dark side only prevails if the light allows it.
Thank you again and more power!
Louisa Alstrong
Neville gasped as he heard the name. "Hey! She's one of my grandma's friends!"
Dobby went to Harry and handed him a parchment. "Mr. Harry Potter, that one's from Miss Cho. I found her in one of the safehouse in her country. She's hiding there with her family. She asked me to give this to you personally."
Harry took the letter from his outstretched hand and read the letter.
Dear Harry,
I'm really sorry for my outburst. I know I have acted very childishly. Dobby gave me a copy of the Quibbler and I must admit that I'm very impressed with what you guys have done lately. And I'm quite ashamed for acting so irresponsibly in this hard times. While in hiding, I came to terms with the fact that you and I are really not meant for each other. Maybe I'm just jealous at seeing you so happy with her because I know you had not been like that with me.
Please forgive me...and if the DA will agree to it, I wish to return and help you fight. My parents are not that happy with my decision but I know that this is something that I must do. Please send me a letter soon if you all want me to return.
Again, I'm sorry.
Cho
When Harry looked up, he saw the rest of the DA members curiously staring at him. Luna averted her gaze when he looked her way.
"What does she want?' asked Hermione.
"She said she's sorry and she wants to come back." replied Harry, eyeing Luna's expression carefully. "If we all agree, that is...do you want her to come back?"
"Yes!" exclaimed one very excited voice and they were very surprised to see that it was Lee. The others laughed at his reaction but no one expressed any objection.
"Well, Dobby, tell her that we want her back as soon as possible. We need all the help that we can get." said Harry with a smile as he walked over to Luna.
"You don't have to be afraid...she got over me now...she said so in the letter...and from what I can see, one of our friends is going to make sure that it stays that way." he gave her a smile and slowly bent to kiss her lightly on the lips.
"You're really amazing, Harry, do you that?" said Luna, surrendering herself to the kiss.
"As I've said before....It's our turn now." replied Harry, implying a totally different meaning to his words as he gave her another slow kiss that erased all the doubts from her mind.