Disclaimer: Is it really necessary to write one for each chapter!?! Ok well I suck blah blah etc… because I didn't come up with Harry Potter; the wonderful JK Rowlings did… But the plot of this story is mine!!!! HAHA ::evil grin::
A/N: Ok I am not updating until there are at least 30 reviews (jk) Thanks for all the reviews everyone! Although, I have to admit that I am slightly disturbed by the mounting hatred against ickle Ron…
Chapter 6: Mysteries Revealed
Harry saw Ron, standing among the dementors as prey among its predator. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see the towering hooded figures slowly closing the circle. His heart was beating a thousand miles an hour and he knew that he had to do something. Hermione was moving toward the street attempting to summon her Patronus, with no result. "Expecto Patronum", she screamed. But Harry could tell that her heart was not in it. If anything she sounded as if she was almost pleading with the dementors to stop, and he seriously doubted they would.
He raised his wand and tried to muster up an extremely happy memory. He thought about the previous Christmas, at 12 Grimmauld Place with Sirius and the Order. He remembered Christmas Day and receiving all of his gifts. He shouted as loud as he could "EXPECTO PATRONUM!." His glorious silver stag emerged from the tip of his wand and galloped toward the ring of dementors. It was able to pin two dementors to the ground before it started to fade. While he had watched his patronus, he was vaguely aware of a small voice from behind him scream the same incantation.
Before he knew it, a silvery form of a lion rushed by him and attacked a dementor that had been standing to the left of where the previous two had been. It too however faded. Harry was about to repeat the spell again when felt himself being pushed aside by a hand that had grabbed his shoulder. He stumbled to the side slightly before righting himself to see Mundungus shove Hermione aside as well. She had been so surprised that she had completely fallen over onto the grass.
Harry heard Mundungus' raspy voice, "Expecto Patronum!". From the tip of his wand, Harry saw the form of a pirate take shape. Harry would later laugh to himself about how fitting this was, considering the way he saw Mundungus conduct business with Fred and George the previous year.
The silvery form of the pirate managed to attack three dementors and bring them all to the ground. This resulted in creating a fairly large opening in the circle from where the others had been. Mundungus ran through and grabbed Ron, who was on his knees, and roughly brought him to his feet. He managed to push Ron rather hardly out of the way before the circle of dementors closed once again, this time around him.
After being pushed, Ron had fallen face first on the pavement and Hermione immediately dashed toward him. She turned him over but from what Harry could see he appeared to be knocked out cold.
He was about to shout the incantation again when a familiar voice beat him to it. He turned his attention from the dementors to the source of the voice. He could make out the faces of Remus and standing behind him, Mrs. Weasley.
Slowly, the lights flickered back on along Privet Dr. Harry could see that all of the remaining dementors had been destroyed. The resulting scene was horrible. Mundungus was on his knees, his face buried in his arms. Ron was laying unconscious on the side of the road, Hermione hovering over him. Mrs. Weasley had already started running toward Ron with Remus.
She had a look of pure horror plastered on her face. She crouched above her son and gasped, "He hasn't been… kissed… no, not my Ron…" her voice trailed off but she was soon comforted by Hermione's reassuring voice, "No Mrs. Weasley, Mundungus pushed him out of the way before they could… I think he was knocked out from the fall." But Harry could here the uneasiness in her voice.
Remus kneeled down next to Ron, "He is out cold… Molly, Ron will be fine I assure you…but"
Mrs. Weasley looked around the street, "Oh… Mundungus!... are you alright?"
She got up from Ron's side and swiftly walked over to the man on his knees. "Thank you so much! You saved my son's life… Come along, let us get you inside so you can rest." He reluctantly and unsteadily rose to his feet. He had a look of relief on his face but there was also hurt, anger, and frustration in his eyes. Harry knew that being that close to the dementors, especially more than one, would force a person to replay all of the horrible memories in their lives. It was not something that Harry liked to think about.
Remus moved over to his other side, "Come on Dung, I'll help." With that he threw his arm around Mundungus' shoulder, beckoning for him to do the same. The two then slowly hobbled back inside the house.
Harry walked over to where Mrs. Weasley had now joined Ginny and Hermione with Ron. "We better get him inside and let him rest for a while", she took out the wand from her pocket, "Mobilicorpus." Ron's body floated to an upright position, although his feet were slightly off of the ground.
Harry watched as the three of them walked, or floated in some cases, back into the house. He however stayed back when he noticed the lights were on in several houses across the street. He knew that it had to be well after midnight and that the neighbors were normally asleep by this time. No doubt they had heard all of the yelling. He took once last glimpse at the surrounding houses and turned to make his way up the walk into the front door.
Remus had then appeared from the house. "I understand that we have some nosy neighbors?"
Harry nodded, "I am not sure what they have seen… but they had to have heard the shouting."
Remus stood looking out at the sky, which was adorned with a half moon, "Go inside and help, Mundungus is already upstairs in the guestroom sleeping, but I am sure Molly could use your help. Don't worry, I'll do the damage control." He said this with a lopsided smile and proceeded to walk across the street toward the houses.
Harry watched him reach the front gate and turned to go inside. Once inside, he shut the door behind him. He could hear Mrs. Weasley in the living room talking. He went to the doorway and saw her talking into the fireplace to the familiar head of Mr. Weasley. He realized that they must have had the house hooked up to the Floo Network again. He walked away quietly, as so not to intrude, but he caught her last sentence, "Oh Arthur, Mundungus is such a hero… he saved our little boy… oh… I am so grateful."
Harry thought that he would never hear the words 'hero' and grateful' come out of Mrs. Weasley's mouth in reference to Mundungus Fletcher. It appeared that he was finally in her good graces.
~~~~~~***~~~~~~***~~~~~~
Harry awoke the next day to the sound of Ron's snores coming from his bed. Mrs. Weasley had put him down on Harry's bed when she had brought him upstairs.
Ron had woken up during the night. He had been fairly disoriented and he was now sporting a bright red welt on his forehead from hitting the ground.
He had fallen back asleep after being awake just long enough to ask if Hermione was okay. Harry guessed it would not be long before they made their relationship official, at least to themselves if no one else.
He slowly raised himself off of the cot and made his way over to the window. He peered out into a dreary gray sky that was less than promising. He quietly tiptoed his way over to his wardrobe and threw on a pair of jeans and a green T-shirt. He looked in the mirror and rubbed his palm across his head, succeeding only to make his hair more unmanageable.
Ron gave a rather loud grunt and Harry glanced over his shoulder. Ron only rolled onto his side, continuing his rhythmic snoring.
Harry opened the door and closed it very gently behind him. He made his way down the stairs, and passing the living room, glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. Once in the hallway, he could hear voices coming from the kitchen.
He pushed open the door to find Mrs. Weasley, Mundungus, and Remus sitting at the kitchen table. As he entered each of their heads turned to face him.
Mrs. Weasley greeted him with a warm smile, "Oh Harry dear… you are the first one up… have a seat." He sat down on the right side of Remus. From across the table Mrs. Weasley passed him a plate of eggs and toast. He eagerly dug into the food, as he felt as if he had not eaten anything in ages.
Remembering his manners he looked up, feeling his face turn red. Indeed they were all watching him, but they were all smiling. Remus spoke, "Don't worry Harry, we know you must be hungry… oh and you don't have to worry about your neighbors… I, uh… took care of them."
Harry spoke through a mouthful of eggs, "Wha did ya do to 'em?"
"Well I manipulated anyone's memory who I suspected might have seen something and made them think the noise was just a cat in the trash cans outside."
Harry laughed, "That was one loud cat."
"Yes well," Mundungus spoke for the first time, "This is a serious situation Harry. Luckily Dumbledore talked to Fudge and there will be no measures taken against the underage magic you three did, it was after all, life or death. But, it is no longer safe for you here. Voldemort somehow knows now that all of you are living here and the temptation to leave the house is just too strong."
"Yes," Mrs. Weasley continued, "we now know that the attack in Diagon Alley was just a diversion. The death eaters were just putting on a show because they knew we would all show up, which would leave you out in the open. They are aware that there are people watching over you Harry."
"For the remaining days before school, Dumbledore wishes for you to relocate. You can't stay here and the Leaky Cauldron is definitely out. The Burrow is not safe enough, I fear, and now that Grimmauld Place is no longer at our disposal…"
"What?" asked Harry, "why isn't it at our disposal?"
Remus shifted slightly; "Well now that Sirius is gone…" he looked at Harry and continued, "Kreacher has a new master within the family. Unfortunately the next one in line is Narcissa. Also Dumbledore decided to break the Fidelius Charm after Sirius... he figured that we should probably change headquarters anyway."
Harry was slightly confused. Where else could they possibly go?
Mrs. Weasley huffed, "I never did like that House Elf. He was working against us from day one, and he never fulfilled his duties, the way a house elf should."
Remus smiled slyly, "Let us be thankful that a young Miss Granger was not present to hear that comment Molly."
Mrs. Weasley blushed, "Well anyway Harry, Professor Dumbledore has suggested that the three of you, along with a few members of the Order, should stay at Meracordia Castle."
Harry frowned, "Meracordia? Never heard of it."
"It's Professor Dumbledore's," she replied.
"What's Professor Dumbledore's?"
"The castle, Harry dear."
"Oh… wait… he has a castle?"
Remus got up from the table and brought his dish to the sink, "Well it is his, his family's rather, but he doesn't live there and it's unplottable which makes it a huge asset."
Harry looked over to his ex-teacher, "So we are moving into some abandoned castle?"
Remus finished with his dish and sat back down at the table, "Who said it was abandoned?"
"But you just said…"
"His brother, Harry… Aberforth lives in Meracordia Castle."
Harry remembered seeing a picture of Dumbledore's brother at Grimmauld place the previous year. He recalled Moody describing him as a 'strange bloke.'
"Well Harry," Mrs. Weasley got up from the table and peered through the curtains, "you should go up and wake the others. You need to get your things together; we want to have all of you out of here by nightfall."
~~~~~~***~~~~~~***~~~~~~
They had all gathered in the small living room of Mrs. Figg's house. Remus had told them earlier that they would use a portkey to get to a village that was a short distance from the castle. They could not use it at 4 Privet Dr. because of all of the charms protecting the house.
Remus had used a shrinking charm on their trunks so that they were carried easily in their pockets. They had no way of taking Hedwig, so Mrs. Weasley had sent her off to Fred and George, who were renting an apartment in Hogsmeade. They planned on sending the owl on to Hogwarts in four days, when the four of them would be returning to school.
They were finally ready to leave. Mrs. Figg stood in the doorway, as she wished to see the seven safely off. They gathered around what looked like an old battered up tennis racket.
"Ok," Remus spoke suddenly, "Everyone hold on."
Suddenly Harry felt the dreaded familiar pull behind his navel. The room disappeared in whirl of color and the next thing he knew he was standing on ground, looking out at new surroundings altogether.
The living room was replaced with hundreds of dense trees and from what Harry could see, a few cabins strewn about. He saw people chopping wood, facing the other direction about 50 feet to his left through the trees.
Remus tugged the tennis racket away and threw it on the ground, "Come quickly… we don't want to cause too much of a scene."
Harry, along with everyone else, followed Remus through the trees, and suddenly the line of trees stopped. Instead, a huge plain of grass lay out in front of Harry. There were a couple of trees in the distance but besides that it appeared almost empty. This did not deceive Harry; he remembered how the castle would be hidden. Remus had told him earlier that Dumbledore was again acting as secret keeper for its location.
Almost if as on cue Remus reached in his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper which he passed along. When Harry received it he read the following which was writing in Dumbledore's handwriting,
The new headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at Meracordia Castle.
Harry passed the slip along to Ron, who was behind him. Mundungus was at the back and when he got the paper he quickly burned it with his wand. Remus started forward, "Follow me."
Sure enough, after walking ten feet and thinking 'Meracordia Castle,' Harry saw a huge stone edifice rise up, almost as if it had just grown out of the ground. He looked up at the immense castle and was extremely impressed.
It towered up five stories and Harry reckoned it was at least six times as long as the Dursley house.
They approached the front door which appeared to be almost 10 feet high. It was made out of stone that Harry could not identify. It was festooned with one huge brass ring on the center. Remus reached out and grabbed the ring which he rapped against the stone several times. Harry surprisingly noted that the knocking sound that resulted could only result from a hollow door. But this door appeared to be made from solid stone.
They waited several moments before the door opened. An old man appeared. For a moment Harry could have sworn that it was Dumbledore, but with another gaze he realized he was wrong.
This man had a long white beard like Dumbledore, but there were no glasses on his face. He was also wearing shabby robes that were a greenish color, they were quite tattered and Harry wouldn't have been surprised if green was not their original color. His white hair, which was decorated with streaks of silvery gray, was pulled back from his face and fastened behind his neck.
But Harry noticed his eyes. The seemed to have the same twinkle that Dumbledore's did. Harry surmised that this was the reason he had mistaken him for Dumbledore.
The old mad smiled widely at the company before him. His voice was deep and welcoming, "Ah I was wondering when you were to arrive. Come, come… we shall get you all settled in…."
One by one they entered the mysterious new castle. Mundungus was the last to enter and he shook the old man's hand, "Good to see you Aberforth… it has certainly been a while."
The old man who was revealed to be Aberforth nodded his head and closed the door.
Harry looked around at what appeared to be an entrance hall. It was dimly lit by a couple of candles that were hung in candelabras on the walls. The light played off the thousands of paintings that appeared to be in the room. Harry noticed that they were Wizard pictures as the subjects were moving in the frames. There was a doorway on the back wall. On the left side of the room there was another doorway but on this one there appeared to be no doorknob to enter.
Harry looked up and noticed that the ceiling had pictures on it as well. He concluded that this would probably be the most interesting house he had ever been in, and it made sense considering it belonged to Dumbledore's family.
They were led through the doorway on the back wall. They passed through a dark hallway that had many doors on either side. The hallway finally filtered into a room that reminded Harry of the Gryffindor common room. It had drapes along two windows that were scarlet and gold. The fireplace on the far wall burned brightly. It illuminated the furniture which was two long sofas covered in the same scarlet colored fabric. Harry liked the cozy aura that this room generated.
Harry noticed a spiral staircase in the corner of the room.
Aberforth turned to face them. "This is the North Wing… there are four floors up the staircase… on each floor you will find several bedrooms. Pick whatever one suits you… as they all have… shall I say different personalities?"
He pointed to a door Harry had not seen. "The dining room and kitchens are through this door… the house elves," Harry saw Hermione tense, "will call you when meals are being served… oh… and please try not to wander around… I have yet to discover every room in this castle and I fear you might die before I found you… well I will be off…" He smiled and winked, "Welcome to Meracordia Castle," and with that he disapparated.
Mrs. Weasley started toward the staircase, "You all should get a move on… Go pick a room… Remus and I will restore your trunks to their normal size later." She continued to the base of the staircase and signaled for the rest to follow.
Harry was the first to walk the length of the toasty room, followed by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Harry mused at Remus and Mundungus, who were already lounging around on one of the couches.
Harry slowly started to climb the stairs. Despite their old appearance, there was not as much as a creak from the steps. He finally reached the first landing and peered down the hallway. There appeared to be ten doors, five on either side.
He decided it would be beneficial to find a room on this floor, rather than climbing more stairs. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny also got off behind him. He proceeded to walk down the darkened hallway which had candelabras on the walls, like the entrance hall. The walls were made of a stone that made the hallway appear cave like.
He turned to the first door on his left and opened it. To his surprise inside was a room that had a large bed in the center of the room covered in large, all-encompassing drapes made of some kind of animal fur. The fireplace on the right side was lit and there was an enchanted harp playing a soothing tune in the far corner.
The room was a rich deep red that radiated warmth. Harry clearly understood what Aberforth had said about each room having a 'personality.' He didn't quite feel as if this personality suited him.
He turned to walk out and Ginny pushed past him, "Oh… I like this… Alright this is good for me." She plopped herself down on the bed.
Harry turned and walked to open the door across the hall. He grasped the doorknob and pushed the door slightly ajar so that he could see inside. The room was covered wall to wall in bookshelves. There was a small bed in the corner but the room was obviously centered around the large wooden desk in the back of the room.
Walking back, he called into Ginny's room, "Hermione, your room is across the hall."
He walked to the next room on the left and discovered the door was already open. He looked inside and the first thing he saw was the night sky. He would have thought he was seeing things but he realized that the whole room, the bed, the curtains, the walls, and the ceiling were covered in a night sky pattern.
Ron entered and stood behind him, "Ugh Harry, you cannot take this room… you'll just have nightmares thinking about divination and the planets."
Harry laughed and exited the room. He hoped that he wouldn't have to look in many more rooms. It was a good thing that the room across the hall turned out to be perfect for him. The walls were rich green and the room itself was quite simple. It had a large bed on one wall with a night stand next to it. On the other side of the room there was a wardrobe and a small sofa.
Harry had been glad when Ron had also found his room; it had been the last one on the left and it was of course, bright orange.
They had been upstairs only a little while when a house elf had come to announce dinner. They met the others in the dining room, which of course was another magnificent room. It had a long table that could have sat fifty people. There were as many pictures as in the entrance hall. The only difference was there were none on the ceiling. Instead there was a chandelier that stretched to encompass the whole ceiling, branching out to the very corners of the room. The crystal of the chandelier illuminated the room brightly when it reflected the fire of the candles.
Aberforth had not turned up for dinner but Harry had seen him sitting in front of the fireplace in the living room as if in a trance. When they had all reached the bottom staircase he saw him disapparate with a pop.
Remus was pushing the food around his plate with his gold fork, "So where did all of you decide to take your rooms?"
Mrs. Weasley looked across the table to him, "The kids are all on the second floor and I am on the third."
Remus smiled, "Ahh… Mundungus and I are both on the fourth. Molly, would you be willing to deliver a message for me when you go to Diagon Alley tomorrow?"
She smiled, "Of course Remus."
Ron looked up from his food and swallowed, "Why are you going to Diagon Alley mum?"
"Someone needs to get all of your school supplies. I am meeting your father there in the morning."
~~~~~~***~~~~~~***~~~~~~
The rest of the night had been fairly uneventful. They had finished dinner and retired to the living room. Mrs. Weasley had provided Mundungus with a pipe to smoke. Harry still could not get used to the idea that Mrs. Weasley was fussing over him. He would never have guessed that one day she would be providing him with a pipe. Apparently she still felt as if she was in his debt for saving Ron.
They had spent a while talking about the new broom The Excelsior which Ron wanted to have very much also.
It started getting late and they each decided to go to bed. They made their way up the spiral staircase and entered their respective rooms. Harry had changed into his pajamas. His trunk, he realized, had indeed been restored to its original size. He turned down the blankets and curled up onto the bed. It was extremely comfortable and reminded him of his bed in Gryffindor Tower.
He tossed and turned for a couple of hours before he gave up. All he could think about was returning to Hogwarts. He didn't realize how eager he was to see everyone. He was even looking forward to seeing Neville and Luna which surprised him immensely.
He got up from the bed and grabbed his dressing gown from his trunk. He pulled it over his pajamas and instinctively put his wand in his pocket. After putting on his glasses, he walked out the door and down the hall, not going anywhere in particular. He walked for a while, down the winding staircase and passed the living room, whose fire had long been put out. The only light was from the candelabras on the walls.
After a few minutes he found himself in the entrance hall, face to face with the door that he had seen earlier that day; the one that had no doorknob. He placed his hand on the door which was made of stone. It felt solid and cold. He tried to push it but his effort was to no avail.
He was about to give up when he heard a small voice. "Over here." In one of the pictures next to the door a small creature, that reminded him of a garden gnome. It was perched on a small brick wall, overlooking a river. It waved at him and then slowly pointed to the candelabra next to the door. Harry noticed small markings on it that he did not recognize.
He smoothed his finger over the engravings and felt himself being sucked into the door. He had shut his eyes out of shock but he opened them when he realized he was no longer moving. He adjusted his eyes and looked out before him. He found himself in a small empty room. In the center of the room was an enormous stone spiral staircase which twisted itself through a hole in the ceiling.
He walked toward the staircase and looked up. A dark abyss stared down at him.
Gathering all of the courage he could muster up, he stepped on the first step. He slowly but steadily climbed each step in turn. He finally reached the landing on the second floor and saw that there was a hallway that was dimly lit.
At the end of the hallway was a single door. He followed the hallway and pushed open the door.
As he opened the door he was blinded by a pile of dust that had fallen on him. He concluded that this room must not have been used a whole lot.
He took off his glasses and used the sleeve of his dressing gown to wipe them off. As he placed them back on his face he discovered the small dusty room. He walked in and began to peruse its contents.
The first thing he noticed was a large trunk on the floor. He carefully opened the lid and found several glass vials marked 'Dragon's Blood.' He remembered Dumbledore doing something with Dragon's blood on his Chocolate Frog Card.
He replaced the lid and continued until he found himself face to face with a large bookshelf. The strange thing about that particular one however was not the shelf itself but the books on it. Harry tried to picture Hermione's face if she ever found these books. They had to be the thickest book that he had ever seen in his life.
With some effort he managed to pull down one of the books. He wiped off the dust with his hand and read the title "Every Curse and Spell" – A lesser known work by Homer
He was about to replace it when he saw that a book had been hidden behind it. He attempted to place the book he was holding on the floor, but because of its weight he ended up dropping it which resulted with a loud thud.
He reached up to the book on the back of the shelf and brought the book down to eye level. The title read:
Mysteries of the Wizarding World: a compilation of Authors
He opened the heavy cover of the book and immediately noted that the pages were extremely fine. The book slipped from his hand and he fumbled it, making a tear in the page. To his astonishment, the page restored itself right in front of him.
He walked over to the back wall where there was a small desk. He laid the book down on the table and pulled up a small stool from the corner. Intrigued, he started to page through the book.
However, his attention was seized by a picture on one of the pages. He drew in his breath and took in the page. On it was a picture of something that he had emblazoned on his mind from the first day that he had seen it. Sandwiched between two other pictures was a sketch of the veil that Sirius had fallen into.
*** Thanks to my beta "Bootstrap Jim" from Fraggle Rock***