The sky lit up in a blood red hue when the sun made its appearance in the early morning hours. Harry sank back into the castle as he heard the first stirrings below him. The Order meeting would start as soon as the sun topped the mountains.
Harry dreaded the stares and sympathy he would get once the Order was assembled. He breezed into Dumbledore's office and was unsurprised to find the elderly headmaster awake and busy at his desk. Dumbledore looked equally unsurprised to see Harry.
"Good morning," he said evenly. Harry just stared.
"What did you expect?" Dumbledore asked after a moment. "Did you really think I wouldn't know? After so many years as Headmaster, it would be a shame for me not to know what goes on in this castle. And quite a bit of what happens outside it, too."
"You knew? That's all you have to say to me? After all the pushing and manipulation you did, that's it? You knew?"
"You never cease to impress me, Harry. Yes, I was doing quite a bit of manipulation, though I didn't realize you were aware of it. It was necessary, and I hope you know that." Dumbledore's face looked grave in the early morning light.
"How so?" Harry asked with a calmness he didn't feel.
"Harry, you've done more to thwart Lord Voldemort in the past two years than you realize. If this last battle must be counted a failure then, well, it's in the minority. You've had many triumphs over him in your twenty two years of life, but you can hardly expect me to be surprised when he finally got the upper hand."
"If you expected this to happen, then why were you still pushing me into it?" The calm voice broke and anger like he hadn't felt since fifth year came flooding forward.
"Dear Harry, I'm not omniscient, and I've never claimed to be. I suspected that he would eventually defeat you, but I never thought it would be here, or now, or this time. I suppose I'm guilty of trusting too much in your incredible luck, and thinking too highly of you. Death is always a step away in times like these, but no one ever expects the next step to be the last. You've had countless close calls, but you've always come out on top. My greatest mistake, seeing it now, was not truly believing that your luck would ever run out."
"Oh, that's wonderful. Neither can live while the other survives, but surely he wouldn't kill me." Harry lifted an eyebrow, his anger fading into sullen resentment.
"Your strike on him last night was absolutely necessary. Don't ever doubt that. As I said, death is always a possibility. Every man and woman on our side began the night with the knowledge that they might not see the morning. But it needed to be done. It will all be explained at the meeting, which starts momentarily. It's in the Transfiguration classroom. I'll see you there." Peremptorily, he dismissed Harry from the room. Harry left, fuming.
Well, this is just great, Harry thought. 'You've been a great help, thanks for the assistance, and have a nice afterlife? Fantastic, just superb. He paced the hallway, deciding whether it was worth it to actually attend the meeting. There weren't many things a ghost could do to help, he supposed. He should just skive off and find somewhere comfortable to spend the rest of eternity. But thoughts of Romy, Hermione, the Weasleys and the rest of the Order plagued him. He couldn't just leave them without another word. Fine, he thought. I'll go, but they'd better not stare. He felt like a petulant child, but cheerful thoughts were hard to come by this morning. He made his way to the Transfiguration classroom and shuffled to the back, hoping to remain unnoticed.
The Order filed in one by one and sat at the empty desks without a glance to the back of the room. Harry was almost sorry not to hear the whispers and catch the stolen glances that would've come if they'd seen him. At least then he wouldn't feel so insignificant. Romy and Hermione found him at once, however. They came to stand beside him, Romy smiling apologetically. She started to speak, but Harry silenced her and gestured to the front of the room, where Dumbledore was now standing.
"Good morning," he began. The others nodded or mumbled a greeting. "It is a pleasure to see you all here, alive and well, despite the horrors of last night. I doubt there's a one of you who isn't aware of the great losses we sustained, and I applaud your valor in showing up this morning. None of you is bound to us in any lasting way, so if anyone feels that the cost is too great and wishes to leave, please do so now." He scanned the room. No one moved. "Again, I applaud you. This is where the game becomes risky. Our numbers are significantly diminished, so each and every one of you is valuable in your own way. And the danger is doubled. Voldemort has had his victory and he will be drunk with it. His moves will be bolder, and his strikes will be harder. We all must be prepared. Now, will Miss MacAran please come forward?"
Everyone looked to the back of the room at Romy, some of them catching sight of Harry for the first time and gasping. She walked slowly to the front.
"Romilly, can you give us the list of who we lost last night?" Romy nodded and pulled a slip of paper from her pocket. She cleared her throat and blinked rapidly.
"Mundungus Fletcher, Neville Longbottom, Padma Patil, Ernest MacMillan, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minerva McGonagall, Dedalus Diggle, Grawp the giant, Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, Fred Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Severus Snape," she paused for a second and was interrupted by a late arrival.
"I'm not dead yet," Snape said fiercely from the doorway. "Though I'm sure a great number of you would be more than glad to be rid of me." He attempted to smile, but his face was so gaunt and drawn that it became more of a snarl.
"Severus!" Dumbledore boomed. "You had strict orders to stay away from this meeting, my friend. We'd rather not lose you if we don't have to. You should be resting."
"Rest! I've had all the rest I can take. This bloody potion I'm taking won't let me sleep, and I'm going mad lying in that hospital bed. I told you I'd be here, and you're going to need me, so I'm here." He stumbled to a seat in the front row and sat down. Dumbledore gave him one more hard stare and gestured for Romy to continue.
"Harry Potter, Blaise Zabini, Dean Thomas, Luna Lovegood, Lee Jordan, and Amos Diggory." Gasps and sighs punctuated each name she read, and a heavy silence descended on the room when she'd finished. Several people looked back at Harry, startled, as if they hadn't noticed that he was transparent the first time they'd seen him. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Thank you Romilly. Now, will Nymphadora Tonks please come forward?" Dumbledore nodded to the group in the front, and Tonks stood.
"Morning everyone," she began with her usual cheerfulness. "Now, as a few of you knew, Mad-Eye and I hit the headquarters of You-Know-Who's operation. It got a bit sticky, but we came out alright and got some very useful stuff. The first is this." She rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a small ledger. "Mad-Eye and I are fairly certain that it's a complete list of You-Know-Who's followers. Of course, it's heavily enchanted and we haven't been able to crack it yet, but it's only a manner of time. I think Albus wanted George Weasley and Hermione Granger on that detail, am I right?" Dumbledore nodded and Tonks continued.
"This is the big one though," she said triumphantly, pointing her wand into the hallway and pulling something in. It was a small table with a shallow basin on top. "This is Voldemort's Pensieve." Gasps were heard from all corners of the room. "We weren't sure who it belonged to until I...err...went into it and found something very interesting." Meaning, she tripped and fell into it by accident, Harry thought with little humor. The Pensieve was far too fascinating.
"Found what?" A voice from the crowd cried out.
"Oh, only the memory of young Tom Riddle opening the Chamber of Secrets. Plus every encounter You-Know-Who has ever had with Harry." Tonks' voice was smug.
"Merlin," Harry whispered. What a find.
"What the hell good is that going to do us?" the same voice asked.
"Are you joking?" Harry asked loudly, causing all heads to swivel backwards as one. "Do you know what we can do with that? Merlin only knows how many other battles with us are stored in that thing. We can examine each and every one from Voldemort's perspective and see where we went wrong. God, we've never had a bigger advantage!"
"Quite right, Harry. I believe that's going to be your task for a while, examining the contents of the Pensieve," Tonks replied, glancing at Dumbledore for confirmation again. Dumbledore gestured for Tonks to sit and again took control of the meeting.
"Now, you've heard the failures and successes of the Halloween operation. Unfortunately, things are exactly as bleak as they seem. Our numbers are cut by nearly half and we're going to have to go for a more direct link with the Ministry. We lost most of the Aurors in our number, and the Minister is going to be less than pleased with us, but we must gain his cooperation. Voldemort is stronger. We are weaker. That might mean that we must be content to sit back on our duffs and wait for our next opportunity. How many did the Death Eaters lose last night?"
Shouts of "Two on our front" and "We got three of them" and "Six from the group we had" filled the room. Dumbledore laughed.
"One at a time, please. Alastor, what was your count?"
"Nine. All three Lestranges, Dolohov, MacNair, that son of a bitch Nott, and a few others we didn't know." Moody almost smiled and his tone was self-satisfied.
"Very good. Harry?" Harry did a mental count.
"Sixteen at least disabled, ten of those dead for sure."
"Excellent. Romilly?"
"I'm not sure any of them are dead. Six plus Malfoy, all left in full-body binds behind the cabin. If no one came and got them, they might die of exposure soon." Romy shrugged as if she were talking about the death of insects. Well, maybe she was.
"Hagrid?" Dumbledore turned to the giant who, amazingly, Harry hadn't noticed in the room.
"Three, sir. We tried our best, but they were too tricky for us. Got my brother, they did." Hagrid choked out the last five words and howled, burying his face in his hands. The wizard next to him patted his back gingerly, looking uncomfortable.
"Thank you, Hagrid. Severus?"
The count went on and on. Forty-seven was the total; a respectable number, but all told, less than a quarter of the suspected number. That fact alone was enough to rob them of any enthusiasm.
"This is a bigger victory than you might think," Dumbledore commented when people began groaning and looking disheartened. "Yes, we were badly beaten, but Voldemort was beaten too. He lost nearly fifty loyal followers last night. He won't take that risk again." People began smiling again. "We also took two very valuable items from him. That is why his presence was necessary elsewhere, so we could raid his stronghold." Harry finally got it. Voldemort wouldn't leave his hideout for anyone but Harry Potter. It almost seemed worth it now. A Pensieve and a log book...not a bad haul.
"We're almost done here. I know you're all anxious to be with your families, especially those who have lost someone. So here are your assignments for the time being. Severus, rest. You'll need your strength and a full recovery for what's in store for you. Tonks and Moody, you know where I want you. Harry, Hermione, Romilly, Ginny, and George, you're assigned to research at the new safe house. I'll escort you there myself. Hagrid, you'll continue your teaching duties here. You'll still have work to do on the side. For clean-up at Grimmauld, I need..."
Harry stopped listening. Research, he thought. Bloody research. Safe house. I guess this is what I get for getting myself killed. Total bloody boredom.