Chapter 6: The Final Year Begins

Harry and his friends stayed at the Burrow until the fourth of January, then they packed up their things and the L'Ordine drivers took them to King's Cross to catch the train to Hogwarts. The journey itself was uneventful and they arrived back in the castle just in time for the evening meal. After dinner, Harry did the rounds and handed presents to the few friends he hadn't managed to see over Christmas: Dumbledore, Hagrid and the two McGonagalls. Professor McGonagall had a few administrative matters that she needed to address urgently so it was almost curfew before Harry returned to his quarters to find Ginny waiting for him.

"Sorry about the wait, Ginny," Harry said as he began his nightly rituals. "Professor McGonagall had some paperwork she needed me to sign off on."

"That's okay, Harry," Ginny assured him.

Once they had both finished their preparations, the two teens slipped into Harry's bed and were soon asleep.

The winter term began the next day, and the seventh years were soon deep into preparation for the upcoming NEWTs - within two days Ron, Hermione and the seventh-year Ravenclaws were rarely seen outside of the Library when they weren't in class and Hermione often missed at least one meal a day. Harry, secure in the knowledge that he knew the theory, concentrated on his practical work, spending long hours in his quarters or the Potions dungeon working on his potion and Neville and Megan spent most of their time in the greenhouses as they both felt this was likely to be where they would score the highest.

Ginny was busy with her own studies, though of course not as busy as her older friends, so she ended up spending a lot of time with Jenna, Hagrid or Dee and Gabrielle – who was teaching her a little French in return for some help with Charms. About the only time she saw Harry during the day was at meals, though she often joined him for the night after curfew. Ten days after the start of term she walked into Harry's rooms to find him bent over a steaming iron cauldron, he glanced up, "Hi Gin."

"Hi Harry. What are you working on?"

"My Potions assignment," Harry admitted. "Can you find me some amethyst chips? I think there are some on the third shelf on the left."

Ginny nodded and crossed over to the shelves on the back wall that Harry used to house his supplies. "Got it. Anything else?"

"I also need some ground calcite, powdered jasper and the bottle of peppermint oil."

Ginny easily located all three items and brought them over to Harry. "What is that?"

"Wolfsbane," Harry admitted. "Or a variation of it. The version I made for Remus is good, but it's thermally unstable and doesn't keep for more than a few hours at room temperature. Freezing Charms extend its shelf-life, but it's still not the perfect answer."

"And you think this might be?"

"If I can get the proportions right, yes," Harry replied. He twisted off the stopper of one of the jars and shook out three purple-white chips, then dropped them one at a time into the potion. Then he picked up the silver ladle next to the cauldron and stirred it for a few moments. Once he was satisfied, he took a small measure of white powder from the second jar and added it. There was a brief explosion and Ginny staggered back. "Was that supposed to happen?"

"It usually does," Harry admitted. "Sorry." He added the last two ingredients with little fanfare and then stirred it vigorously for a moment or two then returned the ladle to the bench. "It has to simmer overnight, then it's ready for testing. Are you joining me tonight?"

"I'd like to."

"Well, go in and make yourself comfortable. I'll clean this up and join you in a few minutes."

Ginny nodded and went through the door into Harry's bedroom.


"Have you seen this morning's Prophet, Harry?" Neville asked when they arrived at breakfast the next morning.

"Not yet. Why?"

"The Wizengamot's approved the appointment of the new Head of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Who is it? The frontrunners were Martin Everett and Director Mawdsley last I heard."

"Neither."

"Really? Who is it then?"

"John Martin," Neville replied. "He's another member of the Wizengamot. A maverick from what Gran says."

"Interesting…" mused Harry. "I'll have to ask Jenna to get a report on him for me. What have we got today?"

"Just Defence Against Dark Arts this morning," Neville told him, then added. "I've got History of Magic this afternoon."

"Which means I've got Defence and Potions," Harry declared. "Unfortunately Potions is a theory lesson today, but I'll manage. What have you got, Gin?"

"Transfiguration this morning, and then Care of Magical Creatures after lunch."

"Looking forward to it?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good."

The three friends quickly finished their breakfasts and left the Great Hall. Neville headed straight for the Defence classroom, while Harry walked Ginny to class before joining Neville.

After lunch, Harry caught up with Jenna just as she was leaving one of the storerooms near the Potions classroom. "Have you seen the Prophet?"

Jenna nodded. "I've contacted Jackson. He's going to send us a copy of L'Ordine's file on Martin. The general file should be in your quarters by tonight. The 'Eyes Only' files – assuming there are any – might take a day or too. Jackson's only got Level Yellow Clearance remember?"

Harry nodded. L'Ordine agents were allocated one of eight levels of security clearance according to their roles and responsiblities: Level Yellow was a mid-level clearance given to agents with particular specialist skills; regular bank personnel like the unfortuate Msr LeBon were allocated Level White, while Council members such as Haimric, the Archbishops and the various Companions held Level Black.

The Potions lesson – which focused on common poison antidotes – was intriguing as it was something that neither Harry or Haimric had studied for sometime. After dinner, he joined the two Weasleys in the Gryffindor common room. Harry and Ginny curled up together on one of the sofas while Ron took the chair opposite. Ginny seemed content to read a novel that she had bought during their brief visit to Diagon Alley after Christmas so Harry and Ron got out their chess sets.

They played three games before Hermione came in from her rounds (Harry drew once and lost twice). Ron got up at that point and joined her at one of the study tables. Harry woke Ginny – who had fell asleep reading – and after making sure that no-one was watching them, they slipped through the door into Haimric's quarters. As Harry expected, Jenna was waiting with the report.

"Don't be too long, love," Ginny told Harry, yawning.

"I won't be," Harry assured her as she went into his bedroom.

"Have you had the 'little wizards' talk yet?" Jenna asked teasingly.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I have Haimric's memories of over three thousand births – over two thousand of them as the father, including that of your great-grandfather. I think I understand the process." Then thinking about for a moment, he added. "I can also remember receiving several hundred and giving nearly thirty-nine hundred variations of the 'little wizards' or 'little witches' talk myself."

"Point taken."

"What do we know about Martin?" Harry asked, decided to change the subject.

"A fair bit," Jenna said. "Though some of it's a little odd."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing… he's a Muggleborn."

"That is unusual. There hasn't been a Muggleborn in a senior Ministry post in two-hundred and thirteen years. And that was as Head of Magical Transportation. I don't think we've ever had a Muggleborn as Head of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Vincent DePaul and Sinestra Calvin both held that position," Jenna reminded him.

"Lord Vincent was French and Lady Sinestra was only an Acting Head – and that for only three weeks," Harry countered. "Besides, they were Procella. That's different."

"True," Jenna conceded.

"Anything else on Martin?"

"Born on the 21st of January 1945 in Birmingham. Unknown father, mother died when he was four. He was adopted quickly, attended Hogwarts from 1956 to 1964. Gryffindor Prefect and Head Boy. Gained twelve OWLs including nine 'Outstandings'. He chose to study Advanced Study of Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic and Muggle Studies during his sixth and seventh year – gaining four 'Outstandings' and two 'Exceeds Expectations'."

"Which subjects were his E's in?"

"Care of Magical Creatures and Charms. He applied to Wizengamot Administration Service for a post as a clerk advocate in 1964. As you know, the Court Interrogators act as judges and prosecution so it's the clerk's job to liase with the relevant departments and assemble the prosecution case before it is presented."

Harry nodded. "Go on."

"He was accepted by the Service and assigned as an advocate for the Sheriff of Coventry. He remained there for twelve years. While there he met his future wife, Georgina Sinton, daughter of Joseph Sinton, the Head of the Wizengamot Administration Service, she was – and still is – an advocate in her own right.

"They married eighteen months later, and had one daughter, Charlotte. When Professor Vicksburg, the incumbent Sheriff, retired shortly before Voldemort's first defeat, Mr Martin was appointed to his position to replace him. While in post, his policy of seeking justice over political convenience earned him a number of enemies and lead an estrangement with his wife. After an assassination attempt during a trial of three suspected collaborators during the Death Eater Trials of 1982 he was reassigned to the safer seat at Guildford." Jenna concluded. "The rest you know."

"Yep. Was Jackson able to talk to Brother Copernicus?" Harry asked, naming one of L'Ordine London's political analysts

Jenna nodded, "Copernicus reckons that short of one our own agents, he's about best we could have hoped for. He has been involved in a number of minor sex scandals – including an ongoing affair with one of the senior CA's at his court, but nothing ever came of it."

"Glad to hear it," said Harry. "Now, I think I'm going to head to bed. Ginny doesn't like it when I keep her waiting."

Jenna chuckled, "Good night, Harry. Sweet dreams."

"You too, cuallach."

The snow melted in time for Ravenclaw to play Slytherin on the third Saturday in January. They lost though only narrowly as Slytherin's Claude Guile beat Warrington of Ravenclaw to the Snitch. Slytherin however moved to second in the table, which meant – as Harry reminded his team shortly before their own match – that Gryffindor would need a good win against Hufflepuff to stay at the top.

The day of the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match reminded Harry forcibly of his first one against Hufflepuff. Though the snow has stayed away, the pouring rain and fierce winds were more than enough to remind the team that it was still the middle of winter.

"You can't do something about this, can you, Harry?" Ron asked, looking gloomily out the half-open door at the sheets of rain.

"I could," Harry admitted. "But not without a huge expenditure of power, and I'd have to keep it going for the entire match. Ginny or William would have to play Seeker."

"Forget I asked."

"Done," Harry told him. "Now, I know these aren't the best conditions… Actually they're pretty much the worst conditions we could have. But we're the best team Hogwarts has got and we're going to win. Got it?"

"Got it," chorused the rest of the team.

"Let's get out there and do it. Now Ginny, I want you to rack up a good score as you can, as quickly as possible. I'm going to aim to catch the Snitch within the first hour. We need at least a hundred points on the board before that. Can you do it?"

"I think so," Ginny said, a little doubtfully.

"Ok, let's do it. GO GRYFFINDOR!"


When Harry woke up in the Hospital Wing that evening, it took him a few moments to piece together what had happened to land him there:

The game had started reasonably well, Ginny had gained control of the Quaffle at the outset and she had scored – or assisted - three goals in quick succession before their Keeper had finally caught on and passed the ball to one of his own Chasers. The next hour or so was pretty evenly divided and when Harry called a halt after ninety minutes they were only twenty points up on one-hundred to eighty. They had taken a brief rest while Harry renewed the Repelling Charm on his glasses, and then returned to play after Madam Hooch blew her whistle. He had spotted the Snitch about twenty minutes later and flew towards it, then…

It was all a blank.

No, wait. He did remember something…. A slight tingling sensation, then the feeling of… falling of the sky!

"How are you feeling, Harry?" asked a voice, interrupting his thoughts.

Harry looked up. It was Jenna. "I've been better, Jenna. What happened?"

Jenna paused. Harry could see she was debating how to tell him something. "We don't know how, but your broom got struck by lightning. It was destroyed and you fell. We thought you were going unconscious, but after a couple of seconds you transformed. That broke your fall and Poppy and I brought you up here."

Something about Jenna's tale didn't sound right. His thighs hurt sure enough - though he was pretty there was no real damage there - but his only other injuries seemed to be in his back and arms, and muscular at that. Then he realised exactly what she'd said. "Hang on. I didn't become Haimric did I?"

Jenna shook her head. "No, you somehow managed the Animagus transformation."

"Falcon?"

"Indeed. It wasn't enough to keep you aloft though and you pulled several muscles in your back. No permanent damage though."

"What happened with the match?"

"Ron took charge and told Rolanda that Ginny would be switching to Seeker. Hufflepuff got a couple of goals through after that but I think Ginny said the eventual score three-hundred to sixty."

"Ginny was here?"

"Until about five minutes ago," Jenna admitted. "Poppy insisted that she go and get some sleep."

Harry nodded. "What happened to my broom?"

"Sorry Harry. There's nothing left of it. It was burnt really badly and then broke up in the wind."

"That's okay. I suppose Madam Pomfrey wants me to stay overnight?"

"She does," Jenna confirmed. "Would you like me to get her?"

"No, I'll just get some sleep. Talk to you in the morning?"

"Definitely."

Things were relatively quiet in the castle over the next few weeks as the students were gearing up for the end-of-term exams. Harry – having completed his Potions work in early February, had a slightly lighter load academically than some of his friends, but L'Ordine business – both intelligence updates and the process of applying for their training programme took up much of the remaining time. Though he was careful to keep some space for both Quidditch practice and 'Ginny time'.

Easter was soon upon them, and Haimric supervised the handing out of careers leaflets to the Gryffindor fifth years. After the Easter break - which he spent mostly at the Burrow, but included a brief tour of L'Ordine's London offices and a flying visit to Godric's Hollow were the work to rebuild the Potter house was well underway – he also held the required advisory sessions with his fifth years.

Some of the sessions went better than others: Sonja Duquesne, a willowy blond girl, expressed an interest in becoming a seamstress. Haimric advised that she would need top grades in Charms and Transfiguration (both of which she currently scored only Average to Exceeds Expectations) and suggested continuing Potions as well, then promised to contact Waverly Witch-Wear (a L'Ordine front) in Cardiff's Ddewin's Lôn with the view to her spending the summer helping out there.

On the other hand, his interview with Geoffrey Hooper was rather less helpful, the wiry, black-haired youth was very definite that he wanted to play professional Quidditch, and though Haimric reminded him several times that this was unlikely due to his two failed attempts to gain a place on the school Quidditch team he remained insistent that this was what he wanted. In the end though, Harry got him to agree to the back-up profession of Hit Wizard, for which he would need at least 3 NEWT passes, including Charms and Defence.

Ron, Hermione, Neville and the other seventh years were all sending off applications during this period as well. Ron had highlighted Quidditch as his most likely avenue of employment – though like Hooper, he was also considering Hit Wizard training. Neville sent off several applications to apothecaries and herbologists for apprenticeships and at Harry's urging also applied for one of the vacant slots on the International Herbology Council's planned census-tour of Eurasia. Hermione wouldn't tell him what she'd applied for though he was fairly certain that St Mungo's, Gringotts and the Department of Mysteries were all going to be receiving owls from his 'sister' in due course.


A/N: I apologise again for how long this has taken to update. It is also clear that I will probably not be able to complete this story before HBP comes out. I have no intention of abandoning it however and I am hoping to at least complete the next chapter by then as this will take Harry out of Hogwarts. In the meantime, please review.