Chapter 3: The Weasleys Prove Their Worth
Two days after they had received their O.W.L.s, four envelopes arrived, one for each Hogwarts student, with the usual information about school supplies. "Standard Book of Spells Grade 6 by Miranda Goshawk, knew that was coming," said Ron lazily as he perused the list, "and this here, the new Dark Arts book...hmm...can't say I've heard of it." Harry looked down at his own parchment and saw The Practical Uses of Defense Against the Dark Arts and Why They are Great to Know by Kenton Salisbury. That brought to mind the usual question of each successive year, "Who do you think'll be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" asked Harry. "I dunno," said Ron, "although I'm hoping it'll be somebody like Mad-Eye. He's a clever fellow...that is, when Barty Crouch isn't imitating him and trying to kill you."
Harry nodded slightly; what if the real Moody was the teacher this year? Surely he would have heard about it in the notes he had received all year from different members of the Order. Hermione looked up from her own parchment, "Maybe it'll be Tonks." "Lord, I hope not," said Ron, "I mean I like her and everything, she's quite good, but she's just a little...er...clumsy at times." "And you're not?" snipped Hermione. Harry rolled his eyes; just when he thought they had gotten over the whole O.W.L. incident...
"Good day Ickle Ronniekins!" said George, entering the kitchen and nicking an apple from the bowl of fruit in the center, "Heard about your O.W.L.s!" Ron sunk lower in his chair, "Oh great..." "Such a good boy our Ronnie is!" said Fred, following George into the kitchen; a twin sat down on each side of Ron, leaning in close, "A great show-off you are eh?" "Don't look at me, she's the show-off!" said Ron, pointing to Hermione. "Yeah, but you're the one in our family," leered Fred, "following Emperor Percy are we? Going to be Head Boy?" "N-N-No..." muttered Ron, suddenly stuffing his papers underneath the table.
Harry looked at Ron; he hadn't said anything about Head Boy, but from the way he was acting... "Wait a minute, Ron, you made Head Boy?" said Hermione incredulously. She had already seen her paper earlier and knew she had made Head Girl, but Ron had said nothing... "Give us that paper here," said George. Ron shook his head violently, sweat pouring down his face. "Ron come on let us in on it!" said Harry eagerly. Ron suddenly tried to duck under the table but Fred and George jumped him and stole the paper from his pincer-like grasp. They both howled with laughter, "Oh ickle Ronniekins, you're Head Boy!"
A moan of embarrassment came from underneath the table; Harry ducked his head under a bit to see Ron burying his head in his arms, "Ron, come on, it's not so bad. It's just the two of them that make it seem so bad..." But Harry could barely be heard now because Fred and George had started in on a chorus of "Weasley is our King."
"What's all this shouting about?" cried Mrs. Weasley as she came downstairs. "Guess what mum!" said George, "We've got another Head Boy in the family!" She looked around for Ron, who could momentarily not be found until Fred and George took it upon themselves to drag him out by the legs from under the table. She screeched with happiness, "Oh RONNIE! I'm so HAPPY!" They howled with laughter as Ron's face turned the color of a beet, "Mum, mum get off..."
At the sight of this, Ginny suddenly got up and left the room, stuffing her papers quickly into her back pocket. Too late, however, for Fred had picked up on her subtle movements, "Hey, come back here you! Did you make Prefect?! You did didn't you?!" he shouted, running after her. "Prefect? Another?" said Mrs. Weasley, nearly bursting with pride, "GINNY!"
Life around the Burrow seemed to get more and more interesting each day, what with the discovery of Ron the Head Boy and Ginny the Prefect. Harry, naturally, found the whole thing quite amusing, especially when Fred and George approached him and asked if he wouldn't mind taking part in some anti-Prefect and anti-Head Boy mischief. The three of them, after all, had not made any of those positions. "Ah no thanks, Fred, George, I think I'll just take a nap," said Harry, hurrying off to his room.
He ignored the suspicious explosion that followed ten minutes later.
Two days after the commotion of the arrival of school letters, they were all getting ready to leave for Diagon Alley when everything took a turn for the worst. Packing their trunks and various animal cages into the cars the Ministry had once again provided, everything seemed normal for the moment. Fred and George had stayed at the house, opting to Apparate to Diagon Alley later and follow them in a while, which Mr. Weasley was grateful for since there was hardly enough room in the car as it was.
They arrived at Diagon Alley twenty minutes later, and Harry found himself in a crowd of wizards and witches, and he and Ron agreed to meet Ginny, Hermione, and the Weasley parents later at Florean Fortescue's. In the meantime, the two of them went to Madam Malkin's to be fitted for new robes.
Things seemed to be going well as they were getting new supplies to fill up their Potions kits when suddenly Harry caught sight of someone familiar standing outside the window of the shop.
Professor Snape.
He looked away quickly and nudged Ron, "Look outside." Ron turned and saw that Snape was in fact gesturing at the two of them, trying to get them to hurry up. "Uh...I think he...actually wants us for once," said Ron slowly, amazed at what he was seeing. They both bought their supplies quickly then headed out the door, Harry not meeting Snape's gaze; he was too angry at him to do that.
"Potter, Weasley, hurry up," he said, "there's been trouble." The two of them exchanged glances as they followed Snape to the outside of Ollivander's, where they spotted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley with Ginny and Hermione. "Remus already told us," said Mr. Weasley breathlessly, "will they have to wait for Ministry officials or will they be Apparating here or...?" "I really can't say," said Snape smoothly, "mostly because I do not know. My guess would be that Ministry officials will be speaking with them first, then they will be at liberty to Apparate, at which time I'm assuming they would go to none other than their own joke shop."
"Has something happened to Fred and George?" said Harry quickly. Ron had a look of fear, "Are they all right?" "More than fine," said Snape irritably, "they managed to combat four Death Eaters on their own...although unfortunately they all escaped." "Will somebody please explain how Fred and George ended up fighting Death Eaters?" said Ginny indignantly. Apparently they had refrained from letting students in on the matter. "Keep your voice down you silly girl!" said Snape, "We don't want it all over Diagon Alley!" Mr. Weasley looked as if he was within a flobberworm's length of jinxing Snape for telling his daughter what to do but he kept quiet for the moment.
Suddenly Remus Lupin appeared and said, "They should be Apparating at any moment now." Immediately they hurried down the alley to the twins' joke shop, Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. A minute later, and with a distinct pop, the twins appeared, looking slightly bedraggled. Mrs. Weasley immediately grabbed the both of them, "Oh you two! I was so worried!" and she sobbed heartily into George's shoulder. "Ah, mum, come off it, we're fine," said George, rolling his eyes at Fred. He only shrugged, "Let's talk it over in the Leaky Cauldron over some butterbeers eh?" he asked cheerfully. "Even after fighting bloody Death Eaters he's still just as bloody cheerful as ever," muttered Ron beneath his breath.
After situating themselves at a large, round table in the Leaky Cauldron, George and Fred began to elaborate on what had happened. "Well," Fred began, "we were just throwing together a few last minute items before we were going to leave when we heard this noise downstairs." "So I went down to check it out figuring it'd be one of you all come back to get something," continued George, "when I see this tall bloke wearing black robes and a mask. I figured it could only mean one thing so I Apparated back upstairs before he saw me and told Fred what was going on." "Then we decided it was time for action," said Fred, "and well, mum, we're sorry and what not about the house, but it had to be done." She straightened, "What did you do?"
George smiled, "Well...we weren't sure if we could take on that Death Eater, or rather, we figured there'd be more than one, so we...well...we tested out our Swamp again." "You...you...blew up your Swamp in my house?" whispered Mrs. Weasley with anger. "Now mum, it might have been the difference between life and death!" said Fred, holding up his hands in defense, "I mean, it just tore right through the house and threw those bloody Death Eaters for a tizzy! Not only that, but once we got downstairs and saw what had happened, we just started hexing and jinxing them all as much as we could!" At this point, George turned to Ginny, "Thanks for showing me that Bat-Bogey Curse last summer."
"So after about ten minutes of all this business going on the Ministry officials arrived and tried to take hold of the situation, but all four of 'em managed to Disapparate," said Fred, "but we're still not entirely certain why the whole bloody thing happened to begin with. I mean, the Ministry officials never really cleared it up for us..." "They were looking for someone," said a smooth, dark voice from the corner, hidden in shadows; only then did Harry realize that Snape had in fact come in with them, although no one had noticed. "For one person in particular," he said, leaning into the light; he looked around the table until his eyes finally rested on Harry. Everyone turned to face Harry, and he burned with shame and embarrassment.
The Death Eaters had attacked Fred and George on the pretense of finding Harry.
They might have killed them.
Because they were looking for Harry. For him.
He slid under the table, hiding himself up to his forehead, and found he could not face Mr. and Mrs. Weasley nor any of their children for the rest of the day.
That evening Harry was sulking in his room in Grimmauld Place; after the day's events, it was decided that it would be best to go back to the Order's headquarters. There he met Lupin, Tonks, and Moody for the first official time that summer, although he had been corresponding with them since the day after school had finished.
He looked around the room dimly; since last year it had changed quite a bit because of Mrs. Weasley's efforts to clean the entire place, making it almost spic and span. Harry, however, still saw it as the place where he had spent so much time with Sirius...and so much time he would no longer spend with him.
He lay down on the four poster bed, dimly aware of the fact that the door had opened, expecting to see Ron pop his head in. Instead, no one came in...or so Harry thought. He looked down at the end of the bed to see two pale, orb-like eyes staring at him, a long, pointed nose barely touching the sheets.
"You," hissed Harry, "get out of my sight or I'll kill you with my bare hands you filthy little...creature." Kreacher's eyes became slits, and he slinked from the room carefully, presumably going back to the attic where he was supposed to be. The first thing Harry had wanted was for Kreacher to have his head cut off like all his predecessors after the traitorous thing he had done to Sirius, but Dumbledore would have none of it. Instead, he talked to Kreacher and told him that if he valued his life he would stick to the attic and not bother the Order. Only when no one was home was he allowed anywhere else in the house, and with good reason, as the members of the Order were all looking for reasons to hex the desolate beast into oblivion, including Harry.
"Harry!" called a voice up the stairway, "Harry, come down here! There's something we need to discuss!" It was Mr. Weasley; Harry wasn't sure if he could look him in the face yet or not, but for now he would keep his head down. He descended the stairway slowly, wishing he would just vanish into the floorboards. Mr. Weasley was waiting for him, "This way now Harry, to the kitchen. It's a very important meeting, you know..."
Harry shuffled into the kitchen, his head still hung low, when suddenly he heard "SURPRISE!" He looked up to see the kitchen decorated with sparkling letters reading "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" in bright bold colors, and the entirety of the Order clapped and whooped at him with merriment. He smiled slowly, "Uh...th-thank you, I didn't expect you'd know it was my birthday..." "Of course we know!" said Tonks with her bright bubble gum pink hair, "Ron and Hermione told us and after all, it's only right that you get to celebrate like the rest of us!" He glared slightly at Ron and Hermione, then smiled, "Thanks."
Several presents later, including a Foe-Glass from Moody, a new broom polishing kit from Ron, a homework calendar from Hermione, a case of Butterbeer from Tonks, Three Skiving Snackboxes from Fred and George, a working Quidditch model with moving, tiny players from Ginny, a new Quidditch robe from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and finally, two presents from Lupin. "The first is from me," he said easily, "I thought you might like it." Harry ripped back the brown paper to discover a book entitled Recognizing the Werewolf and Other Dangerous Creatures you Should Know by Kenton Salisbury. Harry laughed heartily, "Hmm, recognizing a werewolf...how would I know anything about that?" "Should give that to Hagrid, you should," said Ron through a mouthful of cake, "might teach him something about what normal people consider dangerous..." They all laughed, and Harry continued to the second present.
"Harry...before you open that..." said Lupin slowly, "I just thought you should know that this isn't from me. It's a present from Sirius. Something you were meant to have should he ever...leave." Harry stiffened, then unwrapped the present slowly, careful not to rip any of it. A slender box of oak slowly appeared, long and thin but small, maybe twelve inches long but only two wide. Harry looked up at Lupin curiously, then opened the box; inside it was an old, used wand. "It was your father's," said Lupin softly, "Sirius found it in the wreckage the night your parents passed away. He kept it with every intention of giving it to you."
Harry pulled it out of the box slowly, gently, and stared hard at it; this had been in his father's hand, his father had held this wand. The kitchen fell silent; Harry looked up at Lupin, "Thank you."
Suddenly the door to Grimmauld Place flew open and in swept Snape, tall and dark as usual, who entered the kitchen without being much aware of what was happening. Then he saw the birthday banner, and scowled slightly, "Potter is a year older I see, although a year wiser I doubt." Everyone in the kitchen including Harry ignored his remark and continued on, except for Hermione. Slowly, everyone, including Snape himself, noticed that she was staring at him openly. "What are you staring at girl?" said Snape in a loathing tone. Hermione continued to stare at him for another minute, then said, "All you had to say was 'Happy Birthday.'" And suddenly, she got up and went upstairs, presumably to bed.
She hadn't said much, but the tone of her voice and the expression of disbelief on her face was enough to make almost anyone ashamed of themselves. Snape's head moved back noticeably with surprise, then recovered, "I thought we were here to have a meeting, not a birthday party," he said, with renewed bitterness. "And you would be right, Severus," said Lupin with slight cheer in his voice, trying to lighten the mood, "we just thought we'd give young Harry here a pleasant birthday for once." Harry grinned at Lupin, "Being Dursley-free during my birthday doesn't happen as often as I'd like it to." "Stupid Muggles," said Ron happily. Mr. Weasley frowned at his son, "Muggles are not stupid. They're brilliant." "Ah, yes, well, now's not the time to get into it," said Lupin, clapping his hands together with a look of 'the matter is closed' on his face.
"Right," said Mrs. Weasley, "Ginny, Ron, George, Fred, you four off to bed. Important matters." "But-" said Ginny, "No buts Ginny! Off to bed with you! This is members of the Order only! Go on!" Fred and George, however, remained firmly seated. "Fred! George! Off with you quickly!" The two of them shook their heads, "Not this time Mum. We're in the Order. Dad said we could be since we're old enough now." She turned on Mr. Weasley, "Arthur!" He backed up a few feet, "Molly dear, I think they could be quite useful! I mean, they know just as many underground people as Mundungus Fletcher himself! And besides, they defended themselves against Death Eaters once already! I think they're fit!" Fred and George nodded eagerly, and Mrs. Weasley sat down with indignation, "Fine," she muttered, "but if you mess around so much as once I'll-" "Yes Mum, we know, ship us off to join the circus or something," said Fred idly, "now let's get to this meeting!" Harry got up to leave but Lupin put a hand on his shoulder, "You too Harry." Harry was thankful Ron and Ginny had already left; if they had stuck around they would have been throwing a tantrum at this outrage.
At this point they all sat down quickly, and Lupin began. "Harry, this meeting, as you might have guessed by now, is mainly about you. After what happened at the end of last year we realized that there was no way you could be left out of the loop any longer. Despite your age, you have to be in the Order. However, anything you hear should not be taken lightly; we expect you will not share this information with Hermione, Ron, or Ginny, much less anyone else you might happen to encounter. This is a strict rule that we will adhere to quite harshly; if you are caught dispersing this information, you will be expelled from the Order."
He turned to Snape, "Severus?" He scowled at Harry slightly before speaking, "By now, Potter, you must have guessed what my position is in the Order." Harry nodded gravely, and Snape waited for him to speak. "Ah, well...I always figured that...you...well...were spying for Dumbledore. Working for Voldemort and getting inside information on what's going on." "Do not say the Dark Lord's name," said Snape casually as he continued on, "you assume correctly. Naturally, I've discovered quite a bit about what the Dark Lord intends to do about you. Clearly, from the attack on the Weasley twins," he threw them a look of distaste, "you've already guessed that he's looking for you with all haste. His intentions are to find you as soon as possible, and whether it be by his hand or that of his Death Eaters, he wants you dead. He's already proven he will go to any length to find you after the attack on the Weasley home, and we suspect the Dursleys are next."
"The Dursleys?!" said Harry, "They haven't-" "Done a thing, yes I know," said Snape, "but the Dark Lord could care less. Therefore, Mundungus Fletcher and Kingsley Shacklebolt are both stationed around their house, thus explaining their absence here this evening. We've been taking turns holding guard over their house, although the boy Dudley has proven a considerable nuisance ever since he started throwing rocks at Mundungus, who's been taking his Animagus form of a dog." He cleared his throat, "I, on the other hand, have successfully scared the overweight oaf several times in my own Animagus form. The point, however, is that the Dark Lord will go to any lengths to destroy you. He's already proven himself capable of attacking Muggles and magic folk alike, with his attacks on the Grangers as well as the Weasley twins."
He sat back and folded his arms, "Anything else, Lupin?" "Actually yes, there is one more thing," said Lupin softly, "you see, Severus, I just received a letter from Dumbledore not too long ago, and he would like for you to resume Occlumency lessons with young Harry." "Impossible," said Snape shortly; "And why is that?" quipped Lupin. Snape glared at Harry, "Because he's a nasty little sneak who can't be trusted. He's no longer welcome in my office." Harry, who had never felt welcome anywhere Snape was to begin with, was fine with this decision until Lupin said, "It's an order, Severus, not a request." Snape stiffened, "An order from Dumbledore to resume Potter's Occlumency lessons?" "That's right," said Lupin. Snape seemed to be weighing this carefully then said, "My office at six o'clock, Thursday nights, Potter," although he said it as if he were sucking on a lemon. Harry nodded, "Ah, thank you, sir..."
"Well that settles that," said Lupin happily, although Snape was now glaring at him with venom, "Continuing on, we should touch on the subject of Harry at school this year." He looked at Fred, "You've already agreed to look after Harry from Hogsmeade, yes?" Fred nodded, "Gladly." "And of course, we have George in Diagon Alley," said Lupin, turning to him next. George in turn nodded, "Yeh, no problem. Besides, Fred and I are making some good contacts in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade already. Fred, you wanna elaborate on that?" Fred shrugged, "Well luckily the store we're renting for the Hogsmeade shop is right next to the Hog's Head, so it'll be easy to make contacts in there, what with all the strangers wandering in and out. Should be easy to get some bits of information whenever we need it."
Lupin suddenly turned to Harry, who had not been aware this entire time that Fred and George were already so deeply immersed in the Order; even Mrs. Weasley looked surprised at them. "Harry, I know this sounds a bit overboard what with us having people all over to look after you, but it's important. I hope you understand that we all know how you can take care of yourself, but it's a matter of safety. Dumbledore likes you very much, and well, he'd much rather you stick around for graduation your seventh year rather than end up..." "Dead?" asked Harry casually. Lupin hesitated, "Well yes." "I know," said Harry, "and I'll try to stay out of trouble, I promise."
"Yeh, but I wonder how many times any of us has promised that and broken it a few months later," said Tonks whimsically, "I mean after all, we don't go looking for trouble. Trouble comes looking for us."
At this Harry suddenly looked at Lupin, "Sir...I was just...I mean, something's been on my mind as of late." "What's that Harry?" asked Lupin. "Well I was thinking...I mean, if I'm to be so guarded, maybe I should take some extra precautions. And what I was thinking was...well...I'd like to become an Animagus." Mrs. Weasley stiffened, "Harry, that's very dangerous business. You have no idea what can happen to a wizard who doesn't know what they're doing. There've been dreadful, irreversible accidents with young people who think they know what they're doing!" "I didn't say I just wanted to do it all on my own! I'll need help! I don't want to risk being stuck as a...a half human half fish or whatever! I'm just saying that it might be worthwhile if ever I'm in a tight spot!" finished Harry in an exasperated tone.
"You'd have to license it with the Ministry of Magic," said Mr. Weasley, "and they don't take underage wizards." At this Harry said, "I've already thought about that, and what I was thinking was kind of doing something like my Dad. You know, just kind of...doing it without them knowing." "You mean illegally," said Snape in an ill tone. "Well...sort of, but it's not like I'll be doing anything illegal to begin with!" said Harry, "I mean, just for my own protection!" Mr. Weasley held up a hand, "Actually, Harry, I think I have an idea. If we can persuade Cornelius Fudge and get a waiver from him, you might be able to become a legal Animagus, even at your age. After all the guff he's taken this summer for trying to destroy your image, he does owe you a bit of a favor." Only Snape looked dissatisfied with this prospect, as he was always thinking of Harry as the one that got away with everything. "Well then Harry, I suppose it's worth a shot," said Lupin, although Mrs. Weasley looked most displeased, "Just be careful Harry," she said, "I don't want you coming home a half wolf or something. Oh goodness! Sorry Remus!" she said, "I meant no offense!" He grinned, "None taken."
Two days after they had received their O.W.L.s, four envelopes arrived, one for each Hogwarts student, with the usual information about school supplies. "Standard Book of Spells Grade 6 by Miranda Goshawk, knew that was coming," said Ron lazily as he perused the list, "and this here, the new Dark Arts book...hmm...can't say I've heard of it." Harry looked down at his own parchment and saw The Practical Uses of Defense Against the Dark Arts and Why They are Great to Know by Kenton Salisbury. That brought to mind the usual question of each successive year, "Who do you think'll be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" asked Harry. "I dunno," said Ron, "although I'm hoping it'll be somebody like Mad-Eye. He's a clever fellow...that is, when Barty Crouch isn't imitating him and trying to kill you."
Harry nodded slightly; what if the real Moody was the teacher this year? Surely he would have heard about it in the notes he had received all year from different members of the Order. Hermione looked up from her own parchment, "Maybe it'll be Tonks." "Lord, I hope not," said Ron, "I mean I like her and everything, she's quite good, but she's just a little...er...clumsy at times." "And you're not?" snipped Hermione. Harry rolled his eyes; just when he thought they had gotten over the whole O.W.L. incident...
"Good day Ickle Ronniekins!" said George, entering the kitchen and nicking an apple from the bowl of fruit in the center, "Heard about your O.W.L.s!" Ron sunk lower in his chair, "Oh great..." "Such a good boy our Ronnie is!" said Fred, following George into the kitchen; a twin sat down on each side of Ron, leaning in close, "A great show-off you are eh?" "Don't look at me, she's the show-off!" said Ron, pointing to Hermione. "Yeah, but you're the one in our family," leered Fred, "following Emperor Percy are we? Going to be Head Boy?" "N-N-No..." muttered Ron, suddenly stuffing his papers underneath the table.
Harry looked at Ron; he hadn't said anything about Head Boy, but from the way he was acting... "Wait a minute, Ron, you made Head Boy?" said Hermione incredulously. She had already seen her paper earlier and knew she had made Head Girl, but Ron had said nothing... "Give us that paper here," said George. Ron shook his head violently, sweat pouring down his face. "Ron come on let us in on it!" said Harry eagerly. Ron suddenly tried to duck under the table but Fred and George jumped him and stole the paper from his pincer-like grasp. They both howled with laughter, "Oh ickle Ronniekins, you're Head Boy!"
A moan of embarrassment came from underneath the table; Harry ducked his head under a bit to see Ron burying his head in his arms, "Ron, come on, it's not so bad. It's just the two of them that make it seem so bad..." But Harry could barely be heard now because Fred and George had started in on a chorus of "Weasley is our King."
"What's all this shouting about?" cried Mrs. Weasley as she came downstairs. "Guess what mum!" said George, "We've got another Head Boy in the family!" She looked around for Ron, who could momentarily not be found until Fred and George took it upon themselves to drag him out by the legs from under the table. She screeched with happiness, "Oh RONNIE! I'm so HAPPY!" They howled with laughter as Ron's face turned the color of a beet, "Mum, mum get off..."
At the sight of this, Ginny suddenly got up and left the room, stuffing her papers quickly into her back pocket. Too late, however, for Fred had picked up on her subtle movements, "Hey, come back here you! Did you make Prefect?! You did didn't you?!" he shouted, running after her. "Prefect? Another?" said Mrs. Weasley, nearly bursting with pride, "GINNY!"
Life around the Burrow seemed to get more and more interesting each day, what with the discovery of Ron the Head Boy and Ginny the Prefect. Harry, naturally, found the whole thing quite amusing, especially when Fred and George approached him and asked if he wouldn't mind taking part in some anti-Prefect and anti-Head Boy mischief. The three of them, after all, had not made any of those positions. "Ah no thanks, Fred, George, I think I'll just take a nap," said Harry, hurrying off to his room.
He ignored the suspicious explosion that followed ten minutes later.
Two days after the commotion of the arrival of school letters, they were all getting ready to leave for Diagon Alley when everything took a turn for the worst. Packing their trunks and various animal cages into the cars the Ministry had once again provided, everything seemed normal for the moment. Fred and George had stayed at the house, opting to Apparate to Diagon Alley later and follow them in a while, which Mr. Weasley was grateful for since there was hardly enough room in the car as it was.
They arrived at Diagon Alley twenty minutes later, and Harry found himself in a crowd of wizards and witches, and he and Ron agreed to meet Ginny, Hermione, and the Weasley parents later at Florean Fortescue's. In the meantime, the two of them went to Madam Malkin's to be fitted for new robes.
Things seemed to be going well as they were getting new supplies to fill up their Potions kits when suddenly Harry caught sight of someone familiar standing outside the window of the shop.
Professor Snape.
He looked away quickly and nudged Ron, "Look outside." Ron turned and saw that Snape was in fact gesturing at the two of them, trying to get them to hurry up. "Uh...I think he...actually wants us for once," said Ron slowly, amazed at what he was seeing. They both bought their supplies quickly then headed out the door, Harry not meeting Snape's gaze; he was too angry at him to do that.
"Potter, Weasley, hurry up," he said, "there's been trouble." The two of them exchanged glances as they followed Snape to the outside of Ollivander's, where they spotted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley with Ginny and Hermione. "Remus already told us," said Mr. Weasley breathlessly, "will they have to wait for Ministry officials or will they be Apparating here or...?" "I really can't say," said Snape smoothly, "mostly because I do not know. My guess would be that Ministry officials will be speaking with them first, then they will be at liberty to Apparate, at which time I'm assuming they would go to none other than their own joke shop."
"Has something happened to Fred and George?" said Harry quickly. Ron had a look of fear, "Are they all right?" "More than fine," said Snape irritably, "they managed to combat four Death Eaters on their own...although unfortunately they all escaped." "Will somebody please explain how Fred and George ended up fighting Death Eaters?" said Ginny indignantly. Apparently they had refrained from letting students in on the matter. "Keep your voice down you silly girl!" said Snape, "We don't want it all over Diagon Alley!" Mr. Weasley looked as if he was within a flobberworm's length of jinxing Snape for telling his daughter what to do but he kept quiet for the moment.
Suddenly Remus Lupin appeared and said, "They should be Apparating at any moment now." Immediately they hurried down the alley to the twins' joke shop, Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. A minute later, and with a distinct pop, the twins appeared, looking slightly bedraggled. Mrs. Weasley immediately grabbed the both of them, "Oh you two! I was so worried!" and she sobbed heartily into George's shoulder. "Ah, mum, come off it, we're fine," said George, rolling his eyes at Fred. He only shrugged, "Let's talk it over in the Leaky Cauldron over some butterbeers eh?" he asked cheerfully. "Even after fighting bloody Death Eaters he's still just as bloody cheerful as ever," muttered Ron beneath his breath.
After situating themselves at a large, round table in the Leaky Cauldron, George and Fred began to elaborate on what had happened. "Well," Fred began, "we were just throwing together a few last minute items before we were going to leave when we heard this noise downstairs." "So I went down to check it out figuring it'd be one of you all come back to get something," continued George, "when I see this tall bloke wearing black robes and a mask. I figured it could only mean one thing so I Apparated back upstairs before he saw me and told Fred what was going on." "Then we decided it was time for action," said Fred, "and well, mum, we're sorry and what not about the house, but it had to be done." She straightened, "What did you do?"
George smiled, "Well...we weren't sure if we could take on that Death Eater, or rather, we figured there'd be more than one, so we...well...we tested out our Swamp again." "You...you...blew up your Swamp in my house?" whispered Mrs. Weasley with anger. "Now mum, it might have been the difference between life and death!" said Fred, holding up his hands in defense, "I mean, it just tore right through the house and threw those bloody Death Eaters for a tizzy! Not only that, but once we got downstairs and saw what had happened, we just started hexing and jinxing them all as much as we could!" At this point, George turned to Ginny, "Thanks for showing me that Bat-Bogey Curse last summer."
"So after about ten minutes of all this business going on the Ministry officials arrived and tried to take hold of the situation, but all four of 'em managed to Disapparate," said Fred, "but we're still not entirely certain why the whole bloody thing happened to begin with. I mean, the Ministry officials never really cleared it up for us..." "They were looking for someone," said a smooth, dark voice from the corner, hidden in shadows; only then did Harry realize that Snape had in fact come in with them, although no one had noticed. "For one person in particular," he said, leaning into the light; he looked around the table until his eyes finally rested on Harry. Everyone turned to face Harry, and he burned with shame and embarrassment.
The Death Eaters had attacked Fred and George on the pretense of finding Harry.
They might have killed them.
Because they were looking for Harry. For him.
He slid under the table, hiding himself up to his forehead, and found he could not face Mr. and Mrs. Weasley nor any of their children for the rest of the day.
That evening Harry was sulking in his room in Grimmauld Place; after the day's events, it was decided that it would be best to go back to the Order's headquarters. There he met Lupin, Tonks, and Moody for the first official time that summer, although he had been corresponding with them since the day after school had finished.
He looked around the room dimly; since last year it had changed quite a bit because of Mrs. Weasley's efforts to clean the entire place, making it almost spic and span. Harry, however, still saw it as the place where he had spent so much time with Sirius...and so much time he would no longer spend with him.
He lay down on the four poster bed, dimly aware of the fact that the door had opened, expecting to see Ron pop his head in. Instead, no one came in...or so Harry thought. He looked down at the end of the bed to see two pale, orb-like eyes staring at him, a long, pointed nose barely touching the sheets.
"You," hissed Harry, "get out of my sight or I'll kill you with my bare hands you filthy little...creature." Kreacher's eyes became slits, and he slinked from the room carefully, presumably going back to the attic where he was supposed to be. The first thing Harry had wanted was for Kreacher to have his head cut off like all his predecessors after the traitorous thing he had done to Sirius, but Dumbledore would have none of it. Instead, he talked to Kreacher and told him that if he valued his life he would stick to the attic and not bother the Order. Only when no one was home was he allowed anywhere else in the house, and with good reason, as the members of the Order were all looking for reasons to hex the desolate beast into oblivion, including Harry.
"Harry!" called a voice up the stairway, "Harry, come down here! There's something we need to discuss!" It was Mr. Weasley; Harry wasn't sure if he could look him in the face yet or not, but for now he would keep his head down. He descended the stairway slowly, wishing he would just vanish into the floorboards. Mr. Weasley was waiting for him, "This way now Harry, to the kitchen. It's a very important meeting, you know..."
Harry shuffled into the kitchen, his head still hung low, when suddenly he heard "SURPRISE!" He looked up to see the kitchen decorated with sparkling letters reading "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" in bright bold colors, and the entirety of the Order clapped and whooped at him with merriment. He smiled slowly, "Uh...th-thank you, I didn't expect you'd know it was my birthday..." "Of course we know!" said Tonks with her bright bubble gum pink hair, "Ron and Hermione told us and after all, it's only right that you get to celebrate like the rest of us!" He glared slightly at Ron and Hermione, then smiled, "Thanks."
Several presents later, including a Foe-Glass from Moody, a new broom polishing kit from Ron, a homework calendar from Hermione, a case of Butterbeer from Tonks, Three Skiving Snackboxes from Fred and George, a working Quidditch model with moving, tiny players from Ginny, a new Quidditch robe from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and finally, two presents from Lupin. "The first is from me," he said easily, "I thought you might like it." Harry ripped back the brown paper to discover a book entitled Recognizing the Werewolf and Other Dangerous Creatures you Should Know by Kenton Salisbury. Harry laughed heartily, "Hmm, recognizing a werewolf...how would I know anything about that?" "Should give that to Hagrid, you should," said Ron through a mouthful of cake, "might teach him something about what normal people consider dangerous..." They all laughed, and Harry continued to the second present.
"Harry...before you open that..." said Lupin slowly, "I just thought you should know that this isn't from me. It's a present from Sirius. Something you were meant to have should he ever...leave." Harry stiffened, then unwrapped the present slowly, careful not to rip any of it. A slender box of oak slowly appeared, long and thin but small, maybe twelve inches long but only two wide. Harry looked up at Lupin curiously, then opened the box; inside it was an old, used wand. "It was your father's," said Lupin softly, "Sirius found it in the wreckage the night your parents passed away. He kept it with every intention of giving it to you."
Harry pulled it out of the box slowly, gently, and stared hard at it; this had been in his father's hand, his father had held this wand. The kitchen fell silent; Harry looked up at Lupin, "Thank you."
Suddenly the door to Grimmauld Place flew open and in swept Snape, tall and dark as usual, who entered the kitchen without being much aware of what was happening. Then he saw the birthday banner, and scowled slightly, "Potter is a year older I see, although a year wiser I doubt." Everyone in the kitchen including Harry ignored his remark and continued on, except for Hermione. Slowly, everyone, including Snape himself, noticed that she was staring at him openly. "What are you staring at girl?" said Snape in a loathing tone. Hermione continued to stare at him for another minute, then said, "All you had to say was 'Happy Birthday.'" And suddenly, she got up and went upstairs, presumably to bed.
She hadn't said much, but the tone of her voice and the expression of disbelief on her face was enough to make almost anyone ashamed of themselves. Snape's head moved back noticeably with surprise, then recovered, "I thought we were here to have a meeting, not a birthday party," he said, with renewed bitterness. "And you would be right, Severus," said Lupin with slight cheer in his voice, trying to lighten the mood, "we just thought we'd give young Harry here a pleasant birthday for once." Harry grinned at Lupin, "Being Dursley-free during my birthday doesn't happen as often as I'd like it to." "Stupid Muggles," said Ron happily. Mr. Weasley frowned at his son, "Muggles are not stupid. They're brilliant." "Ah, yes, well, now's not the time to get into it," said Lupin, clapping his hands together with a look of 'the matter is closed' on his face.
"Right," said Mrs. Weasley, "Ginny, Ron, George, Fred, you four off to bed. Important matters." "But-" said Ginny, "No buts Ginny! Off to bed with you! This is members of the Order only! Go on!" Fred and George, however, remained firmly seated. "Fred! George! Off with you quickly!" The two of them shook their heads, "Not this time Mum. We're in the Order. Dad said we could be since we're old enough now." She turned on Mr. Weasley, "Arthur!" He backed up a few feet, "Molly dear, I think they could be quite useful! I mean, they know just as many underground people as Mundungus Fletcher himself! And besides, they defended themselves against Death Eaters once already! I think they're fit!" Fred and George nodded eagerly, and Mrs. Weasley sat down with indignation, "Fine," she muttered, "but if you mess around so much as once I'll-" "Yes Mum, we know, ship us off to join the circus or something," said Fred idly, "now let's get to this meeting!" Harry got up to leave but Lupin put a hand on his shoulder, "You too Harry." Harry was thankful Ron and Ginny had already left; if they had stuck around they would have been throwing a tantrum at this outrage.
At this point they all sat down quickly, and Lupin began. "Harry, this meeting, as you might have guessed by now, is mainly about you. After what happened at the end of last year we realized that there was no way you could be left out of the loop any longer. Despite your age, you have to be in the Order. However, anything you hear should not be taken lightly; we expect you will not share this information with Hermione, Ron, or Ginny, much less anyone else you might happen to encounter. This is a strict rule that we will adhere to quite harshly; if you are caught dispersing this information, you will be expelled from the Order."
He turned to Snape, "Severus?" He scowled at Harry slightly before speaking, "By now, Potter, you must have guessed what my position is in the Order." Harry nodded gravely, and Snape waited for him to speak. "Ah, well...I always figured that...you...well...were spying for Dumbledore. Working for Voldemort and getting inside information on what's going on." "Do not say the Dark Lord's name," said Snape casually as he continued on, "you assume correctly. Naturally, I've discovered quite a bit about what the Dark Lord intends to do about you. Clearly, from the attack on the Weasley twins," he threw them a look of distaste, "you've already guessed that he's looking for you with all haste. His intentions are to find you as soon as possible, and whether it be by his hand or that of his Death Eaters, he wants you dead. He's already proven he will go to any length to find you after the attack on the Weasley home, and we suspect the Dursleys are next."
"The Dursleys?!" said Harry, "They haven't-" "Done a thing, yes I know," said Snape, "but the Dark Lord could care less. Therefore, Mundungus Fletcher and Kingsley Shacklebolt are both stationed around their house, thus explaining their absence here this evening. We've been taking turns holding guard over their house, although the boy Dudley has proven a considerable nuisance ever since he started throwing rocks at Mundungus, who's been taking his Animagus form of a dog." He cleared his throat, "I, on the other hand, have successfully scared the overweight oaf several times in my own Animagus form. The point, however, is that the Dark Lord will go to any lengths to destroy you. He's already proven himself capable of attacking Muggles and magic folk alike, with his attacks on the Grangers as well as the Weasley twins."
He sat back and folded his arms, "Anything else, Lupin?" "Actually yes, there is one more thing," said Lupin softly, "you see, Severus, I just received a letter from Dumbledore not too long ago, and he would like for you to resume Occlumency lessons with young Harry." "Impossible," said Snape shortly; "And why is that?" quipped Lupin. Snape glared at Harry, "Because he's a nasty little sneak who can't be trusted. He's no longer welcome in my office." Harry, who had never felt welcome anywhere Snape was to begin with, was fine with this decision until Lupin said, "It's an order, Severus, not a request." Snape stiffened, "An order from Dumbledore to resume Potter's Occlumency lessons?" "That's right," said Lupin. Snape seemed to be weighing this carefully then said, "My office at six o'clock, Thursday nights, Potter," although he said it as if he were sucking on a lemon. Harry nodded, "Ah, thank you, sir..."
"Well that settles that," said Lupin happily, although Snape was now glaring at him with venom, "Continuing on, we should touch on the subject of Harry at school this year." He looked at Fred, "You've already agreed to look after Harry from Hogsmeade, yes?" Fred nodded, "Gladly." "And of course, we have George in Diagon Alley," said Lupin, turning to him next. George in turn nodded, "Yeh, no problem. Besides, Fred and I are making some good contacts in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade already. Fred, you wanna elaborate on that?" Fred shrugged, "Well luckily the store we're renting for the Hogsmeade shop is right next to the Hog's Head, so it'll be easy to make contacts in there, what with all the strangers wandering in and out. Should be easy to get some bits of information whenever we need it."
Lupin suddenly turned to Harry, who had not been aware this entire time that Fred and George were already so deeply immersed in the Order; even Mrs. Weasley looked surprised at them. "Harry, I know this sounds a bit overboard what with us having people all over to look after you, but it's important. I hope you understand that we all know how you can take care of yourself, but it's a matter of safety. Dumbledore likes you very much, and well, he'd much rather you stick around for graduation your seventh year rather than end up..." "Dead?" asked Harry casually. Lupin hesitated, "Well yes." "I know," said Harry, "and I'll try to stay out of trouble, I promise."
"Yeh, but I wonder how many times any of us has promised that and broken it a few months later," said Tonks whimsically, "I mean after all, we don't go looking for trouble. Trouble comes looking for us."
At this Harry suddenly looked at Lupin, "Sir...I was just...I mean, something's been on my mind as of late." "What's that Harry?" asked Lupin. "Well I was thinking...I mean, if I'm to be so guarded, maybe I should take some extra precautions. And what I was thinking was...well...I'd like to become an Animagus." Mrs. Weasley stiffened, "Harry, that's very dangerous business. You have no idea what can happen to a wizard who doesn't know what they're doing. There've been dreadful, irreversible accidents with young people who think they know what they're doing!" "I didn't say I just wanted to do it all on my own! I'll need help! I don't want to risk being stuck as a...a half human half fish or whatever! I'm just saying that it might be worthwhile if ever I'm in a tight spot!" finished Harry in an exasperated tone.
"You'd have to license it with the Ministry of Magic," said Mr. Weasley, "and they don't take underage wizards." At this Harry said, "I've already thought about that, and what I was thinking was kind of doing something like my Dad. You know, just kind of...doing it without them knowing." "You mean illegally," said Snape in an ill tone. "Well...sort of, but it's not like I'll be doing anything illegal to begin with!" said Harry, "I mean, just for my own protection!" Mr. Weasley held up a hand, "Actually, Harry, I think I have an idea. If we can persuade Cornelius Fudge and get a waiver from him, you might be able to become a legal Animagus, even at your age. After all the guff he's taken this summer for trying to destroy your image, he does owe you a bit of a favor." Only Snape looked dissatisfied with this prospect, as he was always thinking of Harry as the one that got away with everything. "Well then Harry, I suppose it's worth a shot," said Lupin, although Mrs. Weasley looked most displeased, "Just be careful Harry," she said, "I don't want you coming home a half wolf or something. Oh goodness! Sorry Remus!" she said, "I meant no offense!" He grinned, "None taken."