Author's Note: Thank you for all who reviewed and for all those who are
patiently following my story. I'm really glad I have smart readers :-)
Chapter 17 - The Wizard Intelligence Network
"Hey, Harry! I still can't believe you appointed my father as Minister of Magic....just like that." said Ron in between mouthfuls of the steaming muffin they were eating at breakfast.
"He deserved that position more than anyone and I really believe he would be very good at it." replied Harry earnestly, looking very tired but pleased that his best friend and the twins were not moping anymore about what happened to Ginny. Perhaps they had been so relieved to know that she was still alive that they didn't care anymore if she switched sides. Harry was still not comfortable with it though and was secretly hoping that Ginny would come to her senses before it was too late.
Dumbledore was another matter. His death came as a nasty shock but it also served as a catalyst for Harry. Much as he wanted his mentor to be with him in the final battle, he knew that he could not dwell on this remorseful thought. He was thrown in a devious battle of quick decisions and fast actions. He had to adjust....acceptance was the key. Dumbledore died a valiant man and he better make sure that his sacrifice would not be in vain.
The past few weeks had been very hard for them, what with all of the extra trainings, meetings and other things that they had to accomplish. It was a wonder that they could still have the luxury of eating together and chatting during meal times. But it was all worth it. All the physical pain, gruelling mind exercises, and several sleepless nights were all worth it. They would get their world back.
"By the way, where's Lee?" asked Hermione, noticing the empty chair beside Ron.
"He went to ensure that umm...Cho get back here safely." replied Neville who almost choked on his tea in haste.
Hermione was about to say something when the door opened revealing a triumphant Lee and a highly embarrassed Cho. Cho stole an apprehensive look at Luna before she cautiously approached the table, a little nervous about the others' reaction even if Lee already assured her that everything was alright.
"Mmm...hi, guys. Sorry for everything." said Cho, thinking that it would be better to start with a personal apology first.
"It's okay. Let's forget about the past. We're all glad you came back." said Luna, smiling warmly at her.
"Yes, it's okay, Cho. Don't worry and besides, we need you to help Hermione with the power revival potion or have you forgotten about that?" said Harry, motioning the new arrivals to have a sit.
"Oh, no, how could I forget? I asked my grandmother about it too and she was able to provide me with some useful information to make the potion easier to prepare but I won't bore you with the details. You can trust Hermione and I would be able to brew it well." answered Cho, blushing slightly as she noticed the adoring glances that Lee was sending her way.
"Speaking of which, when are we going to attack the dementors, Harry?" asked Ron eagerly. Hermione rolled her eyes but Harry merely chuckled at his best friend's question.
"My, my! A little warfreak, are we? Would you still be excited if I tell you we need to get past Aragog and his children to do that?" inquired Harry, poker faced as he stared at his friend's appalled expression. Seamus and the twins could not suppress their reactions though. Soon, all those who had heard their little escapade in the forest during their second year were roaring with laughter.
"Hey, I'm just joking." appealed Harry as Ron bodily lifted him up from his chair and tickled him on the ribs mercilessly. Harry retaliated by grabbing hold of Ron's foot which he knew was Ron's most ticklish point. Everybody started placing bets at once as to who was going to give up first.
"I bet two sickles for Harry." said George loudly.
"So much for brotherly loyalty." muttered Ron grouchily.
"I'm for Ron, three sickles. There, little brother, I'm rooting for you. Don't you dare lose." threatened Fred.
"I'm for Harry, ten sickles." shouted Neville in between.
"A galleon for Harry ---" said Luna, joining in the fun.
"Ron! Two galleons!" even Hermione loosened after a while.
The two boys continued tickling each other, very much aware about what their friends were doing and clearly enjoying it. The table was filled with shouts of "Go, Ron!" and "Get him, Harry!" and some of the students from other schools came nearer to watch. Professor McGonagall went to the Ministry with Professor Moody so no one was there to reprimand them.
"ARE WE FIGHTING A WAR HERE OR NOT!" Harry and Ron stopped at once to find out who rudely interrupted their little show.
"I came here immediately after locating the highly dangerous dementors thinking that our oh-so-wonderful leader was itching to hear the report but what do I see --- the arrogant little boy who fancied himself saviour of the wizarding world and his beloved sidekick manhandling each other and a rowdy bunch of bloody Gryffindors egging them on." spat Snape furiously. "If I had known, I wouldn't have wasted my precious time on that mission."
Everyone stared shamefully at their feet as Snape spent almost an hour lecturing them on the seriousness of war and how all of them should behave at such a grave situation. It was Harry who recovered first.
"It's not a crime to have fun for a while, Snape. It keeps us sane but I guess you wouldn't understand....so let's hear your report." he said.
"What? Here? In front of so many people?" asked Snape incredulously.
"Yes, is there any problem?" countered Harry, chuckling softly at seeing Snape's discomfort.
"This is ridiculous! I refuse to share my most top secret findings in front of all this ---- I don't trust them! You should, of all people, know the importance of secrecy, Potter!" hissed Snape angrily at Harry. How dare he do this to him!
"You, of all people, should know the importance of not having too many secrets, Snape." Harry paused, struggling to put the image of Sirius out of his mind. "It inspires distrust and a feeling of inferiority. We are all fighting a war. We are all equal here." Then he whispered in an undertone. "But of course, I took some precaution. I'm not that stupid, you know. I had Hermione put a hex on the application papers. Trust me, if anyone was stupid enough to betray us, that person would pay dearly for his or her mistake."
Snape calmed down a bit after hearing that. "I sincerely hope you won't regret this, Potter. I still think the idea is stupid." Harry merely shrugged his shoulder at that. "Well, as you know, the dementors have been very quiet since the breakout from Azkaban. It's very fortunate that I stumbled upon a group of stupid death-eaters who didn't recognize me."
"Aren't they all?" snorted Hermione.
"Maybe you would like to finish the report, Miss-know-it-all Granger?" Hermione muttered a hasty apology. Snape continued. "With a few carefully placed questions, I was able to discern that the dementors are being held captive by none other than Voldemort himself in an empty wizarding village --- probably to starve so that when let out, they can wreak more havoc to the whole wizard community." Very audible gasps were heard around the room. "The only problem is they did not have any idea where the village is ... but according to them, it's the same village that the dementors demolished forty years ago." Snape concluded his report, looking sheepish for not being able to discover the most important detail.
"How many are they?" asked Harry.
"A hundred and sixty including the leader." replied Snape matter-of-factly.
"A HUNDRED AND SIXTY?!?" exclaimed Seamus, clearly horrified at the idea of fighting such a huge number of dementors.
"Any death-eater guards?" asked Luna, already mentally calculating the odds.
"Only three and they are only guarding the gate."
"It's okay, then. I was afraid there would be more. The odds is six enemies to one DA member --- not bad." said Harry.
"ARE YOU INSANE? HOW COULD WE POSSIBLY DO THAT?" exclaimed Parvati.
"Yeah, we might be dead before we even tackle half of them." agreed Colin.
"Well, considering that Harry fought off nearly a hundred dementors on our third year, I would say it would be fairly easy. He was not even in top condition then." said Ron, grinning at the others.
"Potter, you can always ask the help of the order members for that." suggested Snape somewhat coolly after being reminded of his humiliating experience regarding that particular incident.
"No, Snape. The DA can handle it but I need the names of the dementors' victims in that village forty years ago. If possible, bring them all here when you find them."
Snape nodded and left instantly as if he could not stand being in the same room as Harry longer than necessary. When he left, Harry immediately called his aunt and discreetly ordered the DA members to follow him to the training room. Letting everybody in the room hear the report is one thing but letting them know their plan was an entirely different thing.
"So, Aunt Petunia, can you tell us where your village was?" he immediately asked after everyone had settled down. The captives were already relocated to a secure cell within the Ministry of Magic so they did not have to worry about them escaping for now.
"The village is called Crigod's Commune. The most powerful and decent wizards lived there and nobody had an inclination to go to the dark side. I made a map to make it easier for you." said Aunt Petunia, spreading out a large map for everyone to see. She pointed her finger at a rather large area on the parchment. "This is the place and this is the gate -- the only entrance to the village. You may enter it only if you had a resident with you."
"I was wondering....if it was so meticulously concealed, how did Voldemort order the dementors to attack the village?" asked Ron.
"Because a resident was captured and Voldemort placed him on imperius curse to lead the dementors to the place."
"Crigod.....hey, that's a scrambled Godric!" exclaimed Luna. Hermione eyed her with interest. "Godric Gryffindor must have owned that place. It is even possible that most of the residents there are related to him."
"You're really not as far out as you seem, Luna." said Hermione, giving her a genuine smile. "I think we're on the right track, then. The wizards from that village would be able to help us turn the tide to our favor."
"Harry, according to my grandma, the one who could destroy the king of dementors would automatically be their next leader." said Cho, glad that she was able to discover it.
"Oh, is that so? Interesting!" said Harry, beaming at them all as if he just thought of something really remarkable. "Let's keep that information to ourselves...."
Chapter 17 - The Wizard Intelligence Network
"Hey, Harry! I still can't believe you appointed my father as Minister of Magic....just like that." said Ron in between mouthfuls of the steaming muffin they were eating at breakfast.
"He deserved that position more than anyone and I really believe he would be very good at it." replied Harry earnestly, looking very tired but pleased that his best friend and the twins were not moping anymore about what happened to Ginny. Perhaps they had been so relieved to know that she was still alive that they didn't care anymore if she switched sides. Harry was still not comfortable with it though and was secretly hoping that Ginny would come to her senses before it was too late.
Dumbledore was another matter. His death came as a nasty shock but it also served as a catalyst for Harry. Much as he wanted his mentor to be with him in the final battle, he knew that he could not dwell on this remorseful thought. He was thrown in a devious battle of quick decisions and fast actions. He had to adjust....acceptance was the key. Dumbledore died a valiant man and he better make sure that his sacrifice would not be in vain.
The past few weeks had been very hard for them, what with all of the extra trainings, meetings and other things that they had to accomplish. It was a wonder that they could still have the luxury of eating together and chatting during meal times. But it was all worth it. All the physical pain, gruelling mind exercises, and several sleepless nights were all worth it. They would get their world back.
"By the way, where's Lee?" asked Hermione, noticing the empty chair beside Ron.
"He went to ensure that umm...Cho get back here safely." replied Neville who almost choked on his tea in haste.
Hermione was about to say something when the door opened revealing a triumphant Lee and a highly embarrassed Cho. Cho stole an apprehensive look at Luna before she cautiously approached the table, a little nervous about the others' reaction even if Lee already assured her that everything was alright.
"Mmm...hi, guys. Sorry for everything." said Cho, thinking that it would be better to start with a personal apology first.
"It's okay. Let's forget about the past. We're all glad you came back." said Luna, smiling warmly at her.
"Yes, it's okay, Cho. Don't worry and besides, we need you to help Hermione with the power revival potion or have you forgotten about that?" said Harry, motioning the new arrivals to have a sit.
"Oh, no, how could I forget? I asked my grandmother about it too and she was able to provide me with some useful information to make the potion easier to prepare but I won't bore you with the details. You can trust Hermione and I would be able to brew it well." answered Cho, blushing slightly as she noticed the adoring glances that Lee was sending her way.
"Speaking of which, when are we going to attack the dementors, Harry?" asked Ron eagerly. Hermione rolled her eyes but Harry merely chuckled at his best friend's question.
"My, my! A little warfreak, are we? Would you still be excited if I tell you we need to get past Aragog and his children to do that?" inquired Harry, poker faced as he stared at his friend's appalled expression. Seamus and the twins could not suppress their reactions though. Soon, all those who had heard their little escapade in the forest during their second year were roaring with laughter.
"Hey, I'm just joking." appealed Harry as Ron bodily lifted him up from his chair and tickled him on the ribs mercilessly. Harry retaliated by grabbing hold of Ron's foot which he knew was Ron's most ticklish point. Everybody started placing bets at once as to who was going to give up first.
"I bet two sickles for Harry." said George loudly.
"So much for brotherly loyalty." muttered Ron grouchily.
"I'm for Ron, three sickles. There, little brother, I'm rooting for you. Don't you dare lose." threatened Fred.
"I'm for Harry, ten sickles." shouted Neville in between.
"A galleon for Harry ---" said Luna, joining in the fun.
"Ron! Two galleons!" even Hermione loosened after a while.
The two boys continued tickling each other, very much aware about what their friends were doing and clearly enjoying it. The table was filled with shouts of "Go, Ron!" and "Get him, Harry!" and some of the students from other schools came nearer to watch. Professor McGonagall went to the Ministry with Professor Moody so no one was there to reprimand them.
"ARE WE FIGHTING A WAR HERE OR NOT!" Harry and Ron stopped at once to find out who rudely interrupted their little show.
"I came here immediately after locating the highly dangerous dementors thinking that our oh-so-wonderful leader was itching to hear the report but what do I see --- the arrogant little boy who fancied himself saviour of the wizarding world and his beloved sidekick manhandling each other and a rowdy bunch of bloody Gryffindors egging them on." spat Snape furiously. "If I had known, I wouldn't have wasted my precious time on that mission."
Everyone stared shamefully at their feet as Snape spent almost an hour lecturing them on the seriousness of war and how all of them should behave at such a grave situation. It was Harry who recovered first.
"It's not a crime to have fun for a while, Snape. It keeps us sane but I guess you wouldn't understand....so let's hear your report." he said.
"What? Here? In front of so many people?" asked Snape incredulously.
"Yes, is there any problem?" countered Harry, chuckling softly at seeing Snape's discomfort.
"This is ridiculous! I refuse to share my most top secret findings in front of all this ---- I don't trust them! You should, of all people, know the importance of secrecy, Potter!" hissed Snape angrily at Harry. How dare he do this to him!
"You, of all people, should know the importance of not having too many secrets, Snape." Harry paused, struggling to put the image of Sirius out of his mind. "It inspires distrust and a feeling of inferiority. We are all fighting a war. We are all equal here." Then he whispered in an undertone. "But of course, I took some precaution. I'm not that stupid, you know. I had Hermione put a hex on the application papers. Trust me, if anyone was stupid enough to betray us, that person would pay dearly for his or her mistake."
Snape calmed down a bit after hearing that. "I sincerely hope you won't regret this, Potter. I still think the idea is stupid." Harry merely shrugged his shoulder at that. "Well, as you know, the dementors have been very quiet since the breakout from Azkaban. It's very fortunate that I stumbled upon a group of stupid death-eaters who didn't recognize me."
"Aren't they all?" snorted Hermione.
"Maybe you would like to finish the report, Miss-know-it-all Granger?" Hermione muttered a hasty apology. Snape continued. "With a few carefully placed questions, I was able to discern that the dementors are being held captive by none other than Voldemort himself in an empty wizarding village --- probably to starve so that when let out, they can wreak more havoc to the whole wizard community." Very audible gasps were heard around the room. "The only problem is they did not have any idea where the village is ... but according to them, it's the same village that the dementors demolished forty years ago." Snape concluded his report, looking sheepish for not being able to discover the most important detail.
"How many are they?" asked Harry.
"A hundred and sixty including the leader." replied Snape matter-of-factly.
"A HUNDRED AND SIXTY?!?" exclaimed Seamus, clearly horrified at the idea of fighting such a huge number of dementors.
"Any death-eater guards?" asked Luna, already mentally calculating the odds.
"Only three and they are only guarding the gate."
"It's okay, then. I was afraid there would be more. The odds is six enemies to one DA member --- not bad." said Harry.
"ARE YOU INSANE? HOW COULD WE POSSIBLY DO THAT?" exclaimed Parvati.
"Yeah, we might be dead before we even tackle half of them." agreed Colin.
"Well, considering that Harry fought off nearly a hundred dementors on our third year, I would say it would be fairly easy. He was not even in top condition then." said Ron, grinning at the others.
"Potter, you can always ask the help of the order members for that." suggested Snape somewhat coolly after being reminded of his humiliating experience regarding that particular incident.
"No, Snape. The DA can handle it but I need the names of the dementors' victims in that village forty years ago. If possible, bring them all here when you find them."
Snape nodded and left instantly as if he could not stand being in the same room as Harry longer than necessary. When he left, Harry immediately called his aunt and discreetly ordered the DA members to follow him to the training room. Letting everybody in the room hear the report is one thing but letting them know their plan was an entirely different thing.
"So, Aunt Petunia, can you tell us where your village was?" he immediately asked after everyone had settled down. The captives were already relocated to a secure cell within the Ministry of Magic so they did not have to worry about them escaping for now.
"The village is called Crigod's Commune. The most powerful and decent wizards lived there and nobody had an inclination to go to the dark side. I made a map to make it easier for you." said Aunt Petunia, spreading out a large map for everyone to see. She pointed her finger at a rather large area on the parchment. "This is the place and this is the gate -- the only entrance to the village. You may enter it only if you had a resident with you."
"I was wondering....if it was so meticulously concealed, how did Voldemort order the dementors to attack the village?" asked Ron.
"Because a resident was captured and Voldemort placed him on imperius curse to lead the dementors to the place."
"Crigod.....hey, that's a scrambled Godric!" exclaimed Luna. Hermione eyed her with interest. "Godric Gryffindor must have owned that place. It is even possible that most of the residents there are related to him."
"You're really not as far out as you seem, Luna." said Hermione, giving her a genuine smile. "I think we're on the right track, then. The wizards from that village would be able to help us turn the tide to our favor."
"Harry, according to my grandma, the one who could destroy the king of dementors would automatically be their next leader." said Cho, glad that she was able to discover it.
"Oh, is that so? Interesting!" said Harry, beaming at them all as if he just thought of something really remarkable. "Let's keep that information to ourselves...."