Chapter Two - Order Meeting
As he made his way down the hall, to the stairs for breakfast early the next morning, tears once again stung his eyes. He couldn't hold them back very well this time, as memories of Sirius came to him. He wiped at his face with the back of his hand. He turned around and walked past his and Ron's room. He kept going, until he reached the room Buckbeak stayed in the year before. He wasn't surprised to see the hippogriff still there. But Lupin was there, also. Harry saw that he was crying, too, and turned around.
"S-Sorry," Harry stuttered. He just then realized he wasn't alone in grieving for Sirius. Lupin had been one of his best friends. Lupin had lost both of his best friends.
"Wait. No, it's okay. Don't worry, Harry," he said, somehow smiling through his tears.
"I didn't mean to just walk in, Professor," Harry said.
"Please, call me Remus, Harry," he said, wiping away his tears.
"Right. Um…" Harry started awkwardly, but then couldn't find anything to say. Remus was looking at him, waiting for him to finish, so all he managed was a weak "Are you alright?"
"Fine," he said, "This place does bring back a lot of memories. Doesn't it?"
Harry nodded. He couldn't go for more than five minutes without thinking of Sirius.
"Come here, you might find this interesting," Remus said, indicating an open book on his lap.
Harry sat at Remus's side and looked at the book. It was a large photo album, full of moving pictures. Remus pointed to a picture of four teenage boys in Hogwarts robes.
"That was from our fourth year," he said.
"And this is Sirius and your father after a particularly brutal Quidditch game," he motioned towards pictures of the two Marauder's dressed in muddy Quidditch robes.
"What position did Sirius play?" Harry asked.
"Beater. Quite good, too," Remus said. He turned the page to show a new set of pictures.
Harry looked curiously at a picture of Sirius polishing trophies in the trophy room.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the picture. Remus laughed.
"I couldn't help but take that picture. It was from second or third year. Sirius' fiftieth detention. James was right behind Sirius by a few. Pathetic thing is it sort of turned into competition between them," he said, "They saw it as something of an honor to have the most detentions."
"I can't say I'm surprised," Harry smiled.
Harry sat with Remus for hours, looking through the old photo album, reminiscing about Sirius and listening to Remus's stories from when they were young. Harry felt as though the ache that was Sirius's death had eased a little when he left.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully by normal standards. Fred and George were experimenting with new products for their shop. It seemed their line of Skiving Snack Boxes was complete at last, as almost everyone at lunch fell ill in one form or another until the twins handed out the proper antidotes. And Harry quickly declined when they asked if he would help them with some new product.
That evening, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and the twins were ushered upstairs to their rooms by Mrs. Weasley while Order members filed in for a meeting.
"Let's use the invisibility cloak," Ron suggested, "We might be able to listen in on some news."
"Don't be thick. It's too crowded down there," Fred said.
"And Moody's eye can see through it, anyway," Harry said.
"Damn!" Fred swore as he searched his pockets, "I left the Extendable Ears in the kitchen!"
"Just open the door a bit," Ginny said.
Ron pulled the door open a crack and peered out, "Snape just came in."
Fred shoved Ron out of the way and looked out to where Snape stood.
"Give me a piece of parchment and quill," he said to Ginny, an impish grin on his face.
She handed them to him with an equally mischievous grin. Fred took the quill in hand and wrote in bold black letters:
CAUTION:
- GREASE MAY DRIP FROM HAIR -
He tapped the scrap of parchment with his wand and guided it along the wall down to the hallway below them. Once it was at the back of Snape's robes, he muttered, "Affikse."
They all fell into fits of laughter and had to shut the door as to not be heard. When they finally recovered some ten minutes later, Ron risked a peek down the stairs, giving them a full account of what he was seeing
"They're all just standing around, most likely waiting for Dumbledore to arrive. Snape's skulking in a corner. Not very social, is he? McGonagall is talking with Lupin. Tonks just knocked something over. No surprise there. I can't see very well," he opened the door a bit more and stuck his head out, "There's a group of people I've never seen before. They look like they're from the ministry. Not very much going on. I wish I could hear what they're saying. Someone just came in. Dumbledore. Uh oh. Here comes mum," he swiftly shut the door with a soft click, his eyes wide, "Don't think she saw me. Hope not, anyway."
He grabbed the nearest book from the floor, pretending to be reading. The others did things along the same lines. Just as Harry opened his broom polishing kit, the door opened.
"You all are behaving?" Mrs. Weasley asked suspiciously, her eyes lingering on Fred and George.
"Yes," they said a little too quickly.
"Kingsley said he saw someone peeking out this door," she said eyeing them all.
"Not us. We were busy testing some new products on Harry, Ron, and Ginny," Fred said, trying to get his mother's focus on something else.
"You had better not be, Fred Weasley! If--"she was cut short by Mr. Weasley.
"Molly, the meeting's about to start!" he called from the bottom of the stairs.
"Behave," she said warningly before leaving.
"There has to be some way to be able to listen in," Harry said.
"Don't you know any spells we can use, Hermione?" Ginny asked, hopefully.
"I tried but couldn't think of any," she said.
"What room is above the kitchen?" Harry asked, an idea coming to him.
"We were trying that earlier this summer, before you guys came back from Hogwarts. But the door won't open. It wouldn't budge a bit," George said.
"Let's go have a try, though. Maybe Hermione knows a spell or something," Ron shrugged.
"With us, then," Fred waved them to follow. They carefully snuck down the hall. Fred and George led them to the door and Ron tried the handle. It turned but the door wouldn't move when he pushed.
"Let's just blow it up," he suggested.
"Oh yes, mum would love that," Fred said sarcastically.
"We think there's some kind of charm or spell on it," George said.
"I don't think there is. Have you tried using any spells on it to get it open?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, only a few simple ones to try and unlock it," Fred said.
"And you weren't thrown across the room or anything?" she asked.
They shook their heads, "No. Er- why?"
"Because if there were a spell on this door and you tried to break it like that, its force would blast you away from it. There's probably just something heavy blocking it," she said, knowledgably, "That's probably why no one else has attempted to open it yet. They probably thought there was some powerful magic on it or something."
"It would make sense. I mean, Sirius's parents weren't exactly..." Ron trailed of, glancing nervously at Harry, "Sorry."
"Don't. You don't need to do that. I mean tiptoeing around me like that," he muttered quickly and changed the talk back to that of the door, "So, how do we get through this door, then, Hermione?"
"There's a simple spell that should work," Hermione said, "Just use the summoning charm on these bolts. Then the door will come right out of the frame."
"You're kidding?" Ron said, "It was that easy? Nothing is ever that easy for us. We'll probably get this open and a swarm of somethings will attack us."
"I wouldn't doubt that with our luck" Harry said.
"Aren't Gryffindors supposed to be brave?" George taunted.
"Only giving you fair warning. Go on then," Harry said.
George aimed his wand at a bolt and muttered, "Accio." The bolt flew out and landed in his hand. He did the same with the other two.
"Hermione, you have to be the sharpest witch I know," Fred admired.
"Thanks," she said, blushing.
Harry, Ron, Fred, and George lifted the heavy wooden door out of its frame and set it aside. No swarms of somethings attacked and Harry was relieved. The room, in fact, seemed quite normal. What was blocking the door was a massive desk that seemed to be of solid wood. They scrambled over the desk into the room. It seemed to be a study or library of some sort. There were shelves upon shelves of books in the large room. Hermione gazed around dreamily.
"This is great Harry," Ron said.
"Hermione, do you know any way we could be able to listen to them down there?" Fred asked. Hermione snapped out of her daze.
"What? Oh, yeah. I do but I can't do magic outside school," she said.
"Me and Fred can," George said.
"It's really really advanced and hard. I can barely get it right myself," Hermione said.
"Hermione, will you just tell us it?" Fred said.
"Exaudio. Just tap the floor and say it, but it's--"
"Really hard," George finished, "We know."
After nearly twenty attempts at the spell by the twins, they could hear muffled voices from the floor where they were tapping it.
"I can't believe you even got that far. You would do so good in school if--" Hermione was cut off again by George.
"Shh. We can barely hear," he said.
They could just make out McGonagall's voice.
"We've been trying for fifteen minutes! It isn't coming off, Severus!" she said exasperatedly.
Then Snape mumbled something. Harry only caught the words, "Damn kids."
They all fell into silent fits of laughter.
"Sorry about this, Severus," Mrs. Weasley apologized, "I'll be sure to have a word with them."
Again Snape muttered. Then Dumbledore's voice was heard, "I must ask for everyone's attention."
All talking stopped abruptly and he continued, "I have some daunting news for you all today. I have heard from three different sources this week that Voldemort has sent Death Eaters to search for the Atrabestas."
Everyone gasped, including Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George. Harry and Hermione looked at them confusedly, but they shook their heads and said they'd explain later. People were beginning to talk again but stopped when Dumbledore began to speak once more.
"It seems to me that the best way to prevent him from getting them is to be the first to find them. I will need a small group to go. Hagrid has already expressed his wish to lead this group. No one will be forced to go," he said, "Is there anyone here that wishes to go along with Hagrid?"
There was ten minutes of whispered conversation between people before anyone spoke aloud.
"Denatius and I wish to go," came the unfamiliar voice of a woman.
"I'll go too," a more familiar voice said.
"Charlie," Mrs. Weasley cried barely above a whisper and Harry heard her muffled sobs. Ginny, Ron, and the twins' faces paled a bit.
"Is that all, then?" asked Dumbledore.
No one else spoke up so Dumbledore began to talk again, "Next is the issue of--"
But what the next issue was, no one heard. They heard a loud bang as someone burst through the door of the kitchen.
"Dumbledore! An attack!" a young man's voice shouted.
"Where at, Raymer?" Moody asked.
"Some muggle village. Little Whinging," he said.
Before the news could fully hit Harry, he felt someone grab him by his arm and pull. It was Ron. The twins, Hermione, and Ginny were already climbing over the desk. Harry followed suit with Ron. As they were fitting the door back into place, they heard the voices come back into the hall below. Hermione and Ginny jammed the bolts back in hastily and they all sprinted back to their room.
The others were talking but Harry barely even hear what they said. He couldn't believe there was an attack on Little Whinging and he couldn't help but hope that the Dursleys were okay. True, they did mistreat him but they were still his family no matter. He didn't want anything to happen them.
Harry's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Albus Dumbledore stood, looking intently at Harry. They were all still panting from sprinting down the hall. They tried to steady their breathing. Harry tried to make his face look blank, like he didn't know about the attack.
"Evening, Professor," Harry said politely.
"My great Professor! To what do we owe this wondrous pleasure?" Fred was pushing it. Dumbledore gave a curt smile before speaking.
"I believe you heard what has just transpired in the kitchen?" he asked. They all began to give fake puzzled looks and shake their heads until Moody entered the room and they grinned sheepishly.
"You did not get to hear all of it, having fled before Mr. Raymer finished, though, as Moody tells me," he said, "And Harry, I believe you have a right to know what exactly happened. Raymer had heard from a man at the Hog's Head that something was going to take place in Little Whinging."
"And the fool boy went himself rather than contact us," Moody growled.
"The Dursleys were about to leave to go to London, I believe. As soon as they stepped foot on the sidewalk, two death eaters appeared. They were apparently looking for you. Mrs. Dursley was hit with a particularly strong stunning spell. When the Death Eaters saw that the Dursleys truly did not know where you were, they disapparated," Dumbledore explained.
"That is what they've gotten from the fat one, at least," Moody said.
"Raymer arrived to find them. And so he called in Mediwizards and then he came here to tell us," Dumbledore continued, "Mrs. Dursley will be fine. We will be using memory charms to cover up this particular incident. We do, after all, need you to go back there next summer."
Harry nodded as relief coursed throughout him. He couldn't believe he was actually glad that the Dursleys were all right. Harry wondered if he dared to ask about the meeting. Dumbledore already knew they were there anyway so it couldn't hurt.
"Professor, could I ask you something about the meeting?" he asked.
"Of course," he replied, "Although I may not be able to answer it."
"But last year you said you regretted not telling me things. You saw what happened because of it," Harry said bitterly.
"Yes, I did see. But that was a bit different. As you are now in the care of Mrs. Weasley and she does not wish me say anything to any of you, I shall respect her wishes," he said and smiled as he added, "to an extent."
"Keeping us in the dark won't help anything," Harry muttered.
"Harry, I will tell you everything I think you should know, but some things I must keep to myself. I do not even tell the Order members everything. You must understand," he said.
Harry nodded.
"What was it you had wanted to ask, Harry?" Dumbledore pressed.
"What exactly are Atrabestas?" he asked.
"They are terrible creatures, evil to their very core. Not evil like a Dark wizard. A wizard can change their ways. They have free will and can choose the path they wish to take. But Atrabestas are more like a Dementor, dark by nature. Everyone in the wizarding world fears them. Mostly, because we know so little about them. People often fear what they do not know," Dumbledore explained with a grim expression.
"What do they look like?" Harry asked.
"You cannot not describe them, they are so foul. Just know that they are not pleasant," Moody growled.
"What was the other issue you were going to bring up?" Harry asked.
"That was only of the school's defenses and better ensuring them," he said vaguely.
"Surely Voldemort won't attack the school!" Hermione exclaimed.
"It is always better to be prepared. I am sure that all of my students are in no immediate danger," he said confidently.
"We should get back to the meeting," Moody said.
"I do ask that you do not visit that study until the meeting comes to a close," Dumbledore said. They all nodded, rather disappointedly.
"And before it slips my mind, as most things tend to, these are for you," he said, handing Fred and George two scarlet and gold badges.
"What is this?" Fred and George both exclaimed, looking at him as if they expected him to yell 'Just kidding!'
"Your Prefect badges," Dumbledore replied, smiling, "There are two prefects from each house and year. And as you two are my only eighth years, you were chosen. I do believe I had told you once that the only way you would be chosen as Prefects is if you were the only choices."
For about the third time that night, everyone fell into fits of laughter. Even Dumbledore was chuckling lightly as he left.
While they waited for the meeting to come to an end, Fred and George entertained them, trying to jinx their badges to make them a bit more interesting. George had managed to make his give off a red glow and the lion on Fred's roared loudly whenever touched with his wand. They were even kind enough to fix up Ginny's when asked to. Ron seemed rather protective of his and shoved it into one of his pockets.
The sound of voices in the hall downstairs half an hour later announced the conclusion of the meeting. The group was heading down to the kitchen to eat dinner when Harry saw Dumbledore lead Tonks and Remus into the Drawing Room and shut the door.
"Dumbledore, Remus, and Tonks are in there discussing something," he said to the others, motioning at the door, "What do you s'pose that's about?"
"The Extendable Ears. They might still be in the kitchen," George said hopefully.
Harry darted down to the kitchen and after looking around for a moment, he thought Mrs. Weasley must have found them. Then he saw the flesh-colored strings lying in the trash bin. Apparently she had found them but didn't discard of them well enough. He grabbed the lot of them and raced back up the stairs, handing them out. The strings crawled under the crack in the door and Harry heard Dumbledore's voice.
"So it's all set then. I expect you to be on the Hogwarts train tomorrow at Eleven O'clock, Nymphadora."
Then footsteps could be heard and they tugged on the Extendable Ears just in time. They pocketed them just as the door opened.
"Harry!" Dumbledore called, "Could I have a word with you?"
He knows we were just spying, Harry thought nervously. Slowly, he walked over to Dumbledore.
"Yes, professor?" Harry asked.
"You will need to start your Occlumency lessons again, Harry, as you now know the prophesy, it is imperative that you learn to block Voldemort from your mind," he said.
Harry felt relieved that Dumbledore hadn't known he was spying again, but then angry that Dumbledore wanted him to continue lessons with Snape after what happened last year. He wanted to see Snape no more than he had to.
"I'd rather not," he said curtly.
"You need to. If Voldemort breaks into your mind, he may find the prophesy and if he does, it will not be good," Dumbledore said.'
"You know how I feel about Snape. I won't see him for any longer than I have to," Harry spat the name as if it were something repulsive.
"I had no intentions to have Snape give you the lessons. I will be giving you them, myself. But if I wasn't able to, you would have taken them with him. And if I am away, he will stand-in for me," Dumbledore said firmly, "Mondays. Eight O'clock. I must be going now. I'm sure they're in a right state at the ministry. Bye, Harry."
"Bye, Professor," Harry said briskly. He turned and saw five nervous faces looking at him. He walked with them into the kitchen.
"He didn't know about us spying," he said and their relief showed on their faces.
"What do you think that meeting with Tonks and Lupin was about?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. Why is Tonks going to be on the train September first?" Harry asked.
"Well, that's pretty obvious," Hermione said, "She'll be watching over you."
Harry groaned, "They had better not be planning on having people following me around all year."
"Hey, what are you all up to?" Remus said as he sat opposite him at the table. He was looking rather happier than usual.
"Hi, Remus. Not much," Harry said.
"I think you might want to start using 'Professor' again so you don't forget when you're at school," he said, grinning broadly.
"You mean you're teaching again?" Harry asked happily.
"So that's what the meet--" Ron started and Harry kicked his shin under the table to shut him up before he said too much.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Ginny asked angrily.
"Sorry, Gin," Harry said.
"I think he meant it for this idiot," Fred said, pointing to Ron.
Remus was looking at them all suspiciously so Harry tried to bring his attention to something else, "What are we learning in Defence this year?"
"You'll have to ask your Defense Professor," he said.
"But, I thought you said-" Harry said.
"I'm teaching Care of Magical Creatures," he said.
"What about Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore told me you heard the first half of the meeting?" Remus asked.
"Oh yeah. The Atrabestas. I forgot," Harry said.
"So, do you know who is teaching Defense?" Fred asked.
"Snape," he said.
"WHAT?" all of them cried, causing a few other occupants of the kitchen to stare at them.
"Calm down. I was only kidding," he said, laughing.
Harry fell back in his chair thanking Merlin he was kidding. Ron still looked a little shocked from the experience. Fred and George were laughing with Remus, finding it a great joke.
"Don't ever do that to us again!" Ron shouted, making everyone laugh harder.
"So, who's teaching Defense?" Ginny asked, when calmed down.
"Annissa Green," he answered.
"Really?" Hermione asked excitedly. "I read about her in Modern Magical History."
"She'll make a very good Defense teacher. She's very experienced dealing with Dark Arts."
"Who is she?" Harry asked.
"Famous auror. She ridded the world of many of Voldemort's dark creatures. But she's most famous for her invention of the Patronus spell. Before that, there was no way to fight a dementor. Wizards had no means of defense against them. She wanted to go with Hagrid, but Dumbledore said he needed her at the school. One, to teach. And two, in case of any attacks," Remus said.
"Dumbledore said we didn't have to worry about the school being attacked," Hermione said.
"You can never be sure, though. It would be better to be prepared, than defenseless," Remus replied.
"Supper will be ready much sooner if I have some help," Mrs. Weasley hinted, cutting off their conversation.
They all stood to help with something. Ron and Harry took out the dishes and set the table. As Harry was carrying over a handful of spoons, Mrs. Weasley began storming.
"George! You fix that badge and give it back to whoever it belongs to, this instant!" she yelled.
"But mum--"
"Fix it now or I'll fix you, George Weasley!" she continued to yell.
Fred took out his own badge in an attempt to explain to his mother, but she didn't let him get a word in.
"Both of you! Give those back!" she raged.
"They are our badges!" George finally managed to get in.
"Don't you give me any of that nonsense! I--"
Ginny cut her short, "It's true. Dumbledore came up earlier and gave them the badges."
Mrs. Weasley looked at them incredulously.
"He said that to every year and house, there are two prefects and as Fred and George are the only eighth years, they get the badges," Hermione confirmed.
Mrs. Weasley looked about to faint. Remus helped her into a chair to sit.
"Prefects? Fred and George?" she asked, absolutely astounded.
The twins beamed brightly at her and nodded, apparently pleased with themselves. They were caught by surprise when she drew the two of them into a tight hug.
"Then that is everyone in the family!" she exclaimed, "Oh, I couldn't be any prouder! I'd never have imagined it! Prefects!"
"It's only because we were the only choice," Fred said, as if explaining for performing some wrongdoing, "It wasn't our fault."
Mr. Weasley walked into the kitchen at that moment and his face filled with shock at the sight of Mrs. Weasley hugging and praising the twins.
She caught sight of him and exclaimed, "Prefects, Arthur! Prefects!"
"Not Fred and George?" he asked, shocked.
"Hey! Now why's everyone always so surprised when they hear?" Fred asked, causing another round of laughter.
After a jovial supper, Harry went to bed with his ribs sore from all of the laughing he did since his return to Grimmauld Place. He felt truly happy for the first time since Sirius's death a few months ago.
As he made his way down the hall, to the stairs for breakfast early the next morning, tears once again stung his eyes. He couldn't hold them back very well this time, as memories of Sirius came to him. He wiped at his face with the back of his hand. He turned around and walked past his and Ron's room. He kept going, until he reached the room Buckbeak stayed in the year before. He wasn't surprised to see the hippogriff still there. But Lupin was there, also. Harry saw that he was crying, too, and turned around.
"S-Sorry," Harry stuttered. He just then realized he wasn't alone in grieving for Sirius. Lupin had been one of his best friends. Lupin had lost both of his best friends.
"Wait. No, it's okay. Don't worry, Harry," he said, somehow smiling through his tears.
"I didn't mean to just walk in, Professor," Harry said.
"Please, call me Remus, Harry," he said, wiping away his tears.
"Right. Um…" Harry started awkwardly, but then couldn't find anything to say. Remus was looking at him, waiting for him to finish, so all he managed was a weak "Are you alright?"
"Fine," he said, "This place does bring back a lot of memories. Doesn't it?"
Harry nodded. He couldn't go for more than five minutes without thinking of Sirius.
"Come here, you might find this interesting," Remus said, indicating an open book on his lap.
Harry sat at Remus's side and looked at the book. It was a large photo album, full of moving pictures. Remus pointed to a picture of four teenage boys in Hogwarts robes.
"That was from our fourth year," he said.
"And this is Sirius and your father after a particularly brutal Quidditch game," he motioned towards pictures of the two Marauder's dressed in muddy Quidditch robes.
"What position did Sirius play?" Harry asked.
"Beater. Quite good, too," Remus said. He turned the page to show a new set of pictures.
Harry looked curiously at a picture of Sirius polishing trophies in the trophy room.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the picture. Remus laughed.
"I couldn't help but take that picture. It was from second or third year. Sirius' fiftieth detention. James was right behind Sirius by a few. Pathetic thing is it sort of turned into competition between them," he said, "They saw it as something of an honor to have the most detentions."
"I can't say I'm surprised," Harry smiled.
Harry sat with Remus for hours, looking through the old photo album, reminiscing about Sirius and listening to Remus's stories from when they were young. Harry felt as though the ache that was Sirius's death had eased a little when he left.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully by normal standards. Fred and George were experimenting with new products for their shop. It seemed their line of Skiving Snack Boxes was complete at last, as almost everyone at lunch fell ill in one form or another until the twins handed out the proper antidotes. And Harry quickly declined when they asked if he would help them with some new product.
That evening, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and the twins were ushered upstairs to their rooms by Mrs. Weasley while Order members filed in for a meeting.
"Let's use the invisibility cloak," Ron suggested, "We might be able to listen in on some news."
"Don't be thick. It's too crowded down there," Fred said.
"And Moody's eye can see through it, anyway," Harry said.
"Damn!" Fred swore as he searched his pockets, "I left the Extendable Ears in the kitchen!"
"Just open the door a bit," Ginny said.
Ron pulled the door open a crack and peered out, "Snape just came in."
Fred shoved Ron out of the way and looked out to where Snape stood.
"Give me a piece of parchment and quill," he said to Ginny, an impish grin on his face.
She handed them to him with an equally mischievous grin. Fred took the quill in hand and wrote in bold black letters:
CAUTION:
- GREASE MAY DRIP FROM HAIR -
He tapped the scrap of parchment with his wand and guided it along the wall down to the hallway below them. Once it was at the back of Snape's robes, he muttered, "Affikse."
They all fell into fits of laughter and had to shut the door as to not be heard. When they finally recovered some ten minutes later, Ron risked a peek down the stairs, giving them a full account of what he was seeing
"They're all just standing around, most likely waiting for Dumbledore to arrive. Snape's skulking in a corner. Not very social, is he? McGonagall is talking with Lupin. Tonks just knocked something over. No surprise there. I can't see very well," he opened the door a bit more and stuck his head out, "There's a group of people I've never seen before. They look like they're from the ministry. Not very much going on. I wish I could hear what they're saying. Someone just came in. Dumbledore. Uh oh. Here comes mum," he swiftly shut the door with a soft click, his eyes wide, "Don't think she saw me. Hope not, anyway."
He grabbed the nearest book from the floor, pretending to be reading. The others did things along the same lines. Just as Harry opened his broom polishing kit, the door opened.
"You all are behaving?" Mrs. Weasley asked suspiciously, her eyes lingering on Fred and George.
"Yes," they said a little too quickly.
"Kingsley said he saw someone peeking out this door," she said eyeing them all.
"Not us. We were busy testing some new products on Harry, Ron, and Ginny," Fred said, trying to get his mother's focus on something else.
"You had better not be, Fred Weasley! If--"she was cut short by Mr. Weasley.
"Molly, the meeting's about to start!" he called from the bottom of the stairs.
"Behave," she said warningly before leaving.
"There has to be some way to be able to listen in," Harry said.
"Don't you know any spells we can use, Hermione?" Ginny asked, hopefully.
"I tried but couldn't think of any," she said.
"What room is above the kitchen?" Harry asked, an idea coming to him.
"We were trying that earlier this summer, before you guys came back from Hogwarts. But the door won't open. It wouldn't budge a bit," George said.
"Let's go have a try, though. Maybe Hermione knows a spell or something," Ron shrugged.
"With us, then," Fred waved them to follow. They carefully snuck down the hall. Fred and George led them to the door and Ron tried the handle. It turned but the door wouldn't move when he pushed.
"Let's just blow it up," he suggested.
"Oh yes, mum would love that," Fred said sarcastically.
"We think there's some kind of charm or spell on it," George said.
"I don't think there is. Have you tried using any spells on it to get it open?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, only a few simple ones to try and unlock it," Fred said.
"And you weren't thrown across the room or anything?" she asked.
They shook their heads, "No. Er- why?"
"Because if there were a spell on this door and you tried to break it like that, its force would blast you away from it. There's probably just something heavy blocking it," she said, knowledgably, "That's probably why no one else has attempted to open it yet. They probably thought there was some powerful magic on it or something."
"It would make sense. I mean, Sirius's parents weren't exactly..." Ron trailed of, glancing nervously at Harry, "Sorry."
"Don't. You don't need to do that. I mean tiptoeing around me like that," he muttered quickly and changed the talk back to that of the door, "So, how do we get through this door, then, Hermione?"
"There's a simple spell that should work," Hermione said, "Just use the summoning charm on these bolts. Then the door will come right out of the frame."
"You're kidding?" Ron said, "It was that easy? Nothing is ever that easy for us. We'll probably get this open and a swarm of somethings will attack us."
"I wouldn't doubt that with our luck" Harry said.
"Aren't Gryffindors supposed to be brave?" George taunted.
"Only giving you fair warning. Go on then," Harry said.
George aimed his wand at a bolt and muttered, "Accio." The bolt flew out and landed in his hand. He did the same with the other two.
"Hermione, you have to be the sharpest witch I know," Fred admired.
"Thanks," she said, blushing.
Harry, Ron, Fred, and George lifted the heavy wooden door out of its frame and set it aside. No swarms of somethings attacked and Harry was relieved. The room, in fact, seemed quite normal. What was blocking the door was a massive desk that seemed to be of solid wood. They scrambled over the desk into the room. It seemed to be a study or library of some sort. There were shelves upon shelves of books in the large room. Hermione gazed around dreamily.
"This is great Harry," Ron said.
"Hermione, do you know any way we could be able to listen to them down there?" Fred asked. Hermione snapped out of her daze.
"What? Oh, yeah. I do but I can't do magic outside school," she said.
"Me and Fred can," George said.
"It's really really advanced and hard. I can barely get it right myself," Hermione said.
"Hermione, will you just tell us it?" Fred said.
"Exaudio. Just tap the floor and say it, but it's--"
"Really hard," George finished, "We know."
After nearly twenty attempts at the spell by the twins, they could hear muffled voices from the floor where they were tapping it.
"I can't believe you even got that far. You would do so good in school if--" Hermione was cut off again by George.
"Shh. We can barely hear," he said.
They could just make out McGonagall's voice.
"We've been trying for fifteen minutes! It isn't coming off, Severus!" she said exasperatedly.
Then Snape mumbled something. Harry only caught the words, "Damn kids."
They all fell into silent fits of laughter.
"Sorry about this, Severus," Mrs. Weasley apologized, "I'll be sure to have a word with them."
Again Snape muttered. Then Dumbledore's voice was heard, "I must ask for everyone's attention."
All talking stopped abruptly and he continued, "I have some daunting news for you all today. I have heard from three different sources this week that Voldemort has sent Death Eaters to search for the Atrabestas."
Everyone gasped, including Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George. Harry and Hermione looked at them confusedly, but they shook their heads and said they'd explain later. People were beginning to talk again but stopped when Dumbledore began to speak once more.
"It seems to me that the best way to prevent him from getting them is to be the first to find them. I will need a small group to go. Hagrid has already expressed his wish to lead this group. No one will be forced to go," he said, "Is there anyone here that wishes to go along with Hagrid?"
There was ten minutes of whispered conversation between people before anyone spoke aloud.
"Denatius and I wish to go," came the unfamiliar voice of a woman.
"I'll go too," a more familiar voice said.
"Charlie," Mrs. Weasley cried barely above a whisper and Harry heard her muffled sobs. Ginny, Ron, and the twins' faces paled a bit.
"Is that all, then?" asked Dumbledore.
No one else spoke up so Dumbledore began to talk again, "Next is the issue of--"
But what the next issue was, no one heard. They heard a loud bang as someone burst through the door of the kitchen.
"Dumbledore! An attack!" a young man's voice shouted.
"Where at, Raymer?" Moody asked.
"Some muggle village. Little Whinging," he said.
Before the news could fully hit Harry, he felt someone grab him by his arm and pull. It was Ron. The twins, Hermione, and Ginny were already climbing over the desk. Harry followed suit with Ron. As they were fitting the door back into place, they heard the voices come back into the hall below. Hermione and Ginny jammed the bolts back in hastily and they all sprinted back to their room.
The others were talking but Harry barely even hear what they said. He couldn't believe there was an attack on Little Whinging and he couldn't help but hope that the Dursleys were okay. True, they did mistreat him but they were still his family no matter. He didn't want anything to happen them.
Harry's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Albus Dumbledore stood, looking intently at Harry. They were all still panting from sprinting down the hall. They tried to steady their breathing. Harry tried to make his face look blank, like he didn't know about the attack.
"Evening, Professor," Harry said politely.
"My great Professor! To what do we owe this wondrous pleasure?" Fred was pushing it. Dumbledore gave a curt smile before speaking.
"I believe you heard what has just transpired in the kitchen?" he asked. They all began to give fake puzzled looks and shake their heads until Moody entered the room and they grinned sheepishly.
"You did not get to hear all of it, having fled before Mr. Raymer finished, though, as Moody tells me," he said, "And Harry, I believe you have a right to know what exactly happened. Raymer had heard from a man at the Hog's Head that something was going to take place in Little Whinging."
"And the fool boy went himself rather than contact us," Moody growled.
"The Dursleys were about to leave to go to London, I believe. As soon as they stepped foot on the sidewalk, two death eaters appeared. They were apparently looking for you. Mrs. Dursley was hit with a particularly strong stunning spell. When the Death Eaters saw that the Dursleys truly did not know where you were, they disapparated," Dumbledore explained.
"That is what they've gotten from the fat one, at least," Moody said.
"Raymer arrived to find them. And so he called in Mediwizards and then he came here to tell us," Dumbledore continued, "Mrs. Dursley will be fine. We will be using memory charms to cover up this particular incident. We do, after all, need you to go back there next summer."
Harry nodded as relief coursed throughout him. He couldn't believe he was actually glad that the Dursleys were all right. Harry wondered if he dared to ask about the meeting. Dumbledore already knew they were there anyway so it couldn't hurt.
"Professor, could I ask you something about the meeting?" he asked.
"Of course," he replied, "Although I may not be able to answer it."
"But last year you said you regretted not telling me things. You saw what happened because of it," Harry said bitterly.
"Yes, I did see. But that was a bit different. As you are now in the care of Mrs. Weasley and she does not wish me say anything to any of you, I shall respect her wishes," he said and smiled as he added, "to an extent."
"Keeping us in the dark won't help anything," Harry muttered.
"Harry, I will tell you everything I think you should know, but some things I must keep to myself. I do not even tell the Order members everything. You must understand," he said.
Harry nodded.
"What was it you had wanted to ask, Harry?" Dumbledore pressed.
"What exactly are Atrabestas?" he asked.
"They are terrible creatures, evil to their very core. Not evil like a Dark wizard. A wizard can change their ways. They have free will and can choose the path they wish to take. But Atrabestas are more like a Dementor, dark by nature. Everyone in the wizarding world fears them. Mostly, because we know so little about them. People often fear what they do not know," Dumbledore explained with a grim expression.
"What do they look like?" Harry asked.
"You cannot not describe them, they are so foul. Just know that they are not pleasant," Moody growled.
"What was the other issue you were going to bring up?" Harry asked.
"That was only of the school's defenses and better ensuring them," he said vaguely.
"Surely Voldemort won't attack the school!" Hermione exclaimed.
"It is always better to be prepared. I am sure that all of my students are in no immediate danger," he said confidently.
"We should get back to the meeting," Moody said.
"I do ask that you do not visit that study until the meeting comes to a close," Dumbledore said. They all nodded, rather disappointedly.
"And before it slips my mind, as most things tend to, these are for you," he said, handing Fred and George two scarlet and gold badges.
"What is this?" Fred and George both exclaimed, looking at him as if they expected him to yell 'Just kidding!'
"Your Prefect badges," Dumbledore replied, smiling, "There are two prefects from each house and year. And as you two are my only eighth years, you were chosen. I do believe I had told you once that the only way you would be chosen as Prefects is if you were the only choices."
For about the third time that night, everyone fell into fits of laughter. Even Dumbledore was chuckling lightly as he left.
While they waited for the meeting to come to an end, Fred and George entertained them, trying to jinx their badges to make them a bit more interesting. George had managed to make his give off a red glow and the lion on Fred's roared loudly whenever touched with his wand. They were even kind enough to fix up Ginny's when asked to. Ron seemed rather protective of his and shoved it into one of his pockets.
The sound of voices in the hall downstairs half an hour later announced the conclusion of the meeting. The group was heading down to the kitchen to eat dinner when Harry saw Dumbledore lead Tonks and Remus into the Drawing Room and shut the door.
"Dumbledore, Remus, and Tonks are in there discussing something," he said to the others, motioning at the door, "What do you s'pose that's about?"
"The Extendable Ears. They might still be in the kitchen," George said hopefully.
Harry darted down to the kitchen and after looking around for a moment, he thought Mrs. Weasley must have found them. Then he saw the flesh-colored strings lying in the trash bin. Apparently she had found them but didn't discard of them well enough. He grabbed the lot of them and raced back up the stairs, handing them out. The strings crawled under the crack in the door and Harry heard Dumbledore's voice.
"So it's all set then. I expect you to be on the Hogwarts train tomorrow at Eleven O'clock, Nymphadora."
Then footsteps could be heard and they tugged on the Extendable Ears just in time. They pocketed them just as the door opened.
"Harry!" Dumbledore called, "Could I have a word with you?"
He knows we were just spying, Harry thought nervously. Slowly, he walked over to Dumbledore.
"Yes, professor?" Harry asked.
"You will need to start your Occlumency lessons again, Harry, as you now know the prophesy, it is imperative that you learn to block Voldemort from your mind," he said.
Harry felt relieved that Dumbledore hadn't known he was spying again, but then angry that Dumbledore wanted him to continue lessons with Snape after what happened last year. He wanted to see Snape no more than he had to.
"I'd rather not," he said curtly.
"You need to. If Voldemort breaks into your mind, he may find the prophesy and if he does, it will not be good," Dumbledore said.'
"You know how I feel about Snape. I won't see him for any longer than I have to," Harry spat the name as if it were something repulsive.
"I had no intentions to have Snape give you the lessons. I will be giving you them, myself. But if I wasn't able to, you would have taken them with him. And if I am away, he will stand-in for me," Dumbledore said firmly, "Mondays. Eight O'clock. I must be going now. I'm sure they're in a right state at the ministry. Bye, Harry."
"Bye, Professor," Harry said briskly. He turned and saw five nervous faces looking at him. He walked with them into the kitchen.
"He didn't know about us spying," he said and their relief showed on their faces.
"What do you think that meeting with Tonks and Lupin was about?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. Why is Tonks going to be on the train September first?" Harry asked.
"Well, that's pretty obvious," Hermione said, "She'll be watching over you."
Harry groaned, "They had better not be planning on having people following me around all year."
"Hey, what are you all up to?" Remus said as he sat opposite him at the table. He was looking rather happier than usual.
"Hi, Remus. Not much," Harry said.
"I think you might want to start using 'Professor' again so you don't forget when you're at school," he said, grinning broadly.
"You mean you're teaching again?" Harry asked happily.
"So that's what the meet--" Ron started and Harry kicked his shin under the table to shut him up before he said too much.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Ginny asked angrily.
"Sorry, Gin," Harry said.
"I think he meant it for this idiot," Fred said, pointing to Ron.
Remus was looking at them all suspiciously so Harry tried to bring his attention to something else, "What are we learning in Defence this year?"
"You'll have to ask your Defense Professor," he said.
"But, I thought you said-" Harry said.
"I'm teaching Care of Magical Creatures," he said.
"What about Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore told me you heard the first half of the meeting?" Remus asked.
"Oh yeah. The Atrabestas. I forgot," Harry said.
"So, do you know who is teaching Defense?" Fred asked.
"Snape," he said.
"WHAT?" all of them cried, causing a few other occupants of the kitchen to stare at them.
"Calm down. I was only kidding," he said, laughing.
Harry fell back in his chair thanking Merlin he was kidding. Ron still looked a little shocked from the experience. Fred and George were laughing with Remus, finding it a great joke.
"Don't ever do that to us again!" Ron shouted, making everyone laugh harder.
"So, who's teaching Defense?" Ginny asked, when calmed down.
"Annissa Green," he answered.
"Really?" Hermione asked excitedly. "I read about her in Modern Magical History."
"She'll make a very good Defense teacher. She's very experienced dealing with Dark Arts."
"Who is she?" Harry asked.
"Famous auror. She ridded the world of many of Voldemort's dark creatures. But she's most famous for her invention of the Patronus spell. Before that, there was no way to fight a dementor. Wizards had no means of defense against them. She wanted to go with Hagrid, but Dumbledore said he needed her at the school. One, to teach. And two, in case of any attacks," Remus said.
"Dumbledore said we didn't have to worry about the school being attacked," Hermione said.
"You can never be sure, though. It would be better to be prepared, than defenseless," Remus replied.
"Supper will be ready much sooner if I have some help," Mrs. Weasley hinted, cutting off their conversation.
They all stood to help with something. Ron and Harry took out the dishes and set the table. As Harry was carrying over a handful of spoons, Mrs. Weasley began storming.
"George! You fix that badge and give it back to whoever it belongs to, this instant!" she yelled.
"But mum--"
"Fix it now or I'll fix you, George Weasley!" she continued to yell.
Fred took out his own badge in an attempt to explain to his mother, but she didn't let him get a word in.
"Both of you! Give those back!" she raged.
"They are our badges!" George finally managed to get in.
"Don't you give me any of that nonsense! I--"
Ginny cut her short, "It's true. Dumbledore came up earlier and gave them the badges."
Mrs. Weasley looked at them incredulously.
"He said that to every year and house, there are two prefects and as Fred and George are the only eighth years, they get the badges," Hermione confirmed.
Mrs. Weasley looked about to faint. Remus helped her into a chair to sit.
"Prefects? Fred and George?" she asked, absolutely astounded.
The twins beamed brightly at her and nodded, apparently pleased with themselves. They were caught by surprise when she drew the two of them into a tight hug.
"Then that is everyone in the family!" she exclaimed, "Oh, I couldn't be any prouder! I'd never have imagined it! Prefects!"
"It's only because we were the only choice," Fred said, as if explaining for performing some wrongdoing, "It wasn't our fault."
Mr. Weasley walked into the kitchen at that moment and his face filled with shock at the sight of Mrs. Weasley hugging and praising the twins.
She caught sight of him and exclaimed, "Prefects, Arthur! Prefects!"
"Not Fred and George?" he asked, shocked.
"Hey! Now why's everyone always so surprised when they hear?" Fred asked, causing another round of laughter.
After a jovial supper, Harry went to bed with his ribs sore from all of the laughing he did since his return to Grimmauld Place. He felt truly happy for the first time since Sirius's death a few months ago.