Ok. Everyone knows the drill. Still here goes nothing -
Harry Potter & the other characters of J.K. Rowling are strictly hers (though this plot here is mine J). I am not the original writer (though I wish I could be) & I do not wish to make money from this. Most Importantly, I DO NOT want to get sued. So if anyone has any problems with anything I write, then just tell me.
There's plenty more...blah blah blah....forget it & let the story begin :).
Note: US English has been used here.
HARRY POTTER & THE POWER OF HOGWARTS
Chapter 7 – Confessions & Revelations
"What I am about to say is known to only 2 people. No one else knows and I would prefer it to be kept in that way." Everyone around Harry nodded their heads.
"Who else knows?" Remus asked before Harry could continue.
"No prizes for guessing." Harry said.
"Dumbledore?" Tonks asked, knowing the answer well enough. Harry just nodded. Everyone went silent. Harry closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath before opening his eyes again. It was time.
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"Severus, did you know anything about this before?"
"No sir. The dark lord had not discussed it with anybody. We were all summoned 10 minutes before the attack." Snape answered.
"Alastor, please give me a detailed report of everything that happened yesterday night." Dumbledore's voice was calm but the coldness in it was very prominent. He had returned instantly after receiving the owl from the Order members but alas, he was too late to do anything. The battle at Azkaban was technically won but still, they had lost by a huge margin. Everyone who had been there was sure that by now, Voldemort and his lackeys must be celebrating their victory.
Moody got up and looked around for a moment. The emergency Order meeting had started as soon as Dumbledore had arrived. Arthur and Molly Weasley looked as if they had seen a ghost. Molly was still shaking from time to time. Minerva McGonagall was trying her best to keep her composed self but seemed to be failing miserably. Bill and Charlie Weasley had just joined in. They had remained back at the headquarters to protect the younger Weasleys and Hermione and seemed eager to learn what had happened. Dung seemed to be uncomfortable from the after-effects of the hexes which had hit him. Snape, who had not gone to the rescue since he had been summoned, seemed to be in a very foul mood. Remus and Tonks sat side-by-side looking as if they had just been through a lot recently. Radould MacMillan, one of the foreign members of the Order, looked as if someone had died in his family. Hagrid stood in a corner of the room, refusing to sit down despite repeated pleas from Dumbledore. The other members all were finding the table or the floor or the ceiling to be quite fascinating. All had a faraway look in their eyes as they were reliving what they had seen and done the previous night (though it was only a few hours before as it was 7:00 A.M. on August 1'st).
"Why don't you let someone else do the talking? You know I am not very good at explaining" Moody said with a scowl in his voice. He just wasn't in the mood to talk now. If he had had his way, he would be sitting in an empty room and analyzing what had happened – and would be preparing his next course of action.
Dumbledore looked somewhat disgruntled at this. He did not expect anyone to pass on their responsibility to the other unless those responsibilities were too horrible. He looked around the table once again and prepared himself for something worse than what he had thought previously. Turning back to Moody, he said "Because I am looking for facts – blunt facts and you are the best man for it. Pease proceed Alastor."
Moody noticed the air of finality in Dumbledore's voice. Inwardly he was cursing his luck but knew that he had to do what was being asked of him. With as much courage as he could summon, he started off with the number of causalities and their name. The light wizards had lost 14 of their members out of which Kingsley Shacklebolt was one. Another 8 casualties had been that of the ministry aurors (including Kingsley). It seemed that 12 death-eaters had also died – all of them had taken killing curses which the light wizards had avoided. He approximated that there were at least 60 death-eaters present at the battle. Dumbledore did not move a muscle while hearing all this. Moody then recounted what he had seen at Azkaban. When he reached the part where Harry had saved McGonagall's life, Dumbledore seemed to stiffen a bit.
"Sorry for interrupting you Alastor, but did you say Harry was there? Harry Potter?" Dumbledore looked at Moody in disbelieve. Moody gave an affirmative nod. "And he was using magic?" Another affirmative nod followed. "Anything else?" Dumbledore asked. "Apparation" came the reply from Moody. Dumbledore looked concerned at this. Harry was not supposed to perform magic outside school and he wasn't supposed to know how to apparate. In spite of these, he WAS performing magic and had learned to apparate added to the fact that he had done all this in front of a load full of ministry aurors. What puzzled him even more was that he had not been notified by the ministry that Harry had been doing underage magic.
"Why hasn't the ministry notified me about Harry's use of underage magic? Kingsley, do you have any idea about what is go…" Dumbledore trailed off realizing that there was no Kingsley here today – and there would be none in the future too. The mood around the table worsened. Dumbledore then turned to McGonagall and asked her "Why hasn't the ministry notified me?"
"I don't know" McGonagall replied truthfully.
"Well, I have to ask Fudge about this" Dumbledore looked very grave. He was wondering what he would be able to do this time around to save Harry. Even the last time around, Harry had used the patronus charm to protect himself but this time he had performed magic and apparated at Azkaban – a place which should be unknown to him. This raised another serious question in his mind – how did Harry get to Azkaban?
"He had no right to be there" McGonagall shouted out at that moment. She had kept herself under control before because Dumbledore was not there and the Order members had looked upon her for direction. But now that Dumbledore was back, she decided to become vocal. "How come that boy gets into so much trouble? He could have died today Albus, he…" Dumbledore stopped her in mid-sentence by raising his arm towards her. He understood what she was going through because he himself was feeling very uncomfortable about the scenario.
"How did Harry get there?" Dumbledore looked at Moody as if he had the answer ready. Moody just shrugged his shoulders and said "Must have apparated to Azkaban." This was not a good enough suggestion in Dumbledore's opinion. He turned his head to face the person who he knew would surely have the answer.
"Remus, where were you last night?" the coldness in Dumbledore's voice was very prominent. He expected all his Order members to act as a unit, at least that was what they had been told to do.
Remus stared back at Dumbledore for a second before replying "I was at Harry's house."
"Ha…caught at last. I had told you Headmaster that…" Snape looked like he had caught the snitch at the world championship finals to help England win but his happiness was short-lived as Dumbledore continued talking to Remus.
"I thought that Order duties came before than any other thing." Dumbledore was very serious now. Seldom had anyone seen Dumbledore being so calm and so cold at the same time. Everyone seemed to understand the real thing at last – the war had truly started and it would have many causalities, both physically and morally. "How come you were at Harry's house when this happened?"
"Surely Headmaster…" Remus seemed to be matching Dumbledore's tone to the last bit, much to the surprise of everyone "…you couldn't have forgotten that yesterday was Harry's birthday, could you? I was celebrating his birthday with him."
"That doesn't give you the excuse to pass on Order information to Harry." This seemed to incense Remus even more. Dumbledore had accused him of something without even worrying to ask him whether he had done it or not.
"Well sir, could you please point out the person who got this information for the Order?" Remus's voice was scathing now. Dumbledore eyed Remus carefully as Remus continued to stare back at him. Remus had never before stared at him with such contempt in his eyes.
"Alastor, who got the information first?" Dumbledore asked Moody without turning his eyes from Remus. "Tonks" came the reply. Before Dumbledore could come up with the obvious question, Tonks spoke for the first time that day "Harry told me about the impending attack." This statement caused everybody's heads to jerk up from whatever they were doing. Dumbledore looked at Tonks and asked "Harry?" the voice was almost down to a whisper at this apparent shocking statement.
"Yes" Tonks said, without taking her eyes off her hands. She was trying to clear some unseen dirt on her hands.
"But how did Harry know?" Dumbledore's mind was racing against time, formulating different theories of how Harry could have got the knowledge of the attack.
"I don't know. He just said that it was going to happen and it happened." Tonks looked at Dumbledore. Her face had an unreadable expression on it. Dumbledore seemed to think about how Harry got the information when Remus interrupted his chain of thoughts.
"So sir, you were saying something about me passing on information to…" Remus left the sentence hanging in mid-air. He had not taken lightly to Dumbledore's accusation. Dumbledore was snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at Remus for a moment before turning back to Moody. "Alastor, please continue." The room fell silent once again as Moody started to continue from where he had left off.
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"HARRY WAS THERE?" Ron shouted when the twins came in to give their report. Everyone had been so preoccupied that they had failed to notice one extendable ear near the door hinge.
"shhhhhhh" the twins chorused together and jumped up to shut Ron's mouth before he could do any more damage.
"Look guys, this is not a good joke" Ginny spoke from the bed which Harry used to occupy when he was at the Headquarters. She had been in a very foul mood since she had heard about the attack. Hermione was sitting next to her, looking very thoughtful.
"We swear on all our pranks…" George started "…that Harry was there" Fred finished off. "Unless everyone down there is lying" Fred said as George pointed his finger downstairs, where the Order meeting was going on. By this time, Ron had calmed down.
"How did he know of the attack?" Hermione asked. Her face had turned pale when she realized that this was not one of the twins' regular jokes.
"It looks like he had the information first-hand" Fred said as he slumped down at the end of Ron's bed. George, who had grabbed one of the chairs said "Harry informed Tonks about the attack. Otherwise no one would have known about it."
"Tonks?" Ginny said with dislike in her voice "Why did he tell Tonks? He could have told Ron about it." Ron was nodding his head in agreement.
"And what would Ron have done with the information?" Hermione asked both Ginny and Ron. They looked at her for a moment and started to mumble something under their breaths. "Surely, you both don't think that we would have gone to Azkaban to stop the attack, do you? This is the kind of thing that the Order is there to prevent."
"Yeah…seemed like they prevented getting themselves killed too." Ron said sarcastically. Everyone had seen the state of the Order members after they had returned.
"But how did Harry get in touch with Tonks?" it was Hermione this time. She seemed to be analyzing the situation carefully and wanted to get her facts correct.
"Seems like Tonks was in Harry's house yesterday when Harry got to know about the attack." Fred explained. Ginny turned her head away at this comment.
Hermione looked at Fred (or was it George?) and continued her question-round "And how did Harry know of the attack?"
"Dunno." Both the twins shrugged their shoulders. "Maybe he had a scar-attack or something" Fred said while George nodded in agreement.
"Could be…" Hermione looked quite worried as her words trailed off. That would mean that Harry could even be having nightmares. She felt terrible for Harry. She wanted to be by his side now.
"But he could have told me about it after he had told Tonks." Ron spoke for the first time since the twins had clamped his mouth shut. Hermione looked at him in disbelieve while Ginny seemed to have lost all interest in taking part in any conversation. The twins looked at each of them and announced "Duty beckons. We go forth to bring news about the war-front." It was really amazing how seriously the twins took these self-imposed duties. They left the room as silently as possible and took up their respective positions.
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Moody had slumped down in his chair after finishing what he had to say. He had once again omitted the part of Harry using a portkey. Looking around he saw that a storm was about to brew up.
"Don't blame Potter for what he did." Everyone was surprised to hear these words coming from Snape's mouth even before anyone had made any comment about Harry. He had paused for the effect before continuing "It's their family trait to show-off."
"Severus, please" Dumbledore did not want any more trouble brewing up before he had dealt with the scenario on hand.
"But Harry shouldn't have been there Albus." McGonagall continued to press on it again. "You know it as much as we do. I may not agree with Professor Snape's point of putting it…" she gave a sidelong glance at Snape who had a scowl on his face "…BUT HE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE."
"And what else should he do, or not do, for that matter?" Remus threw up this question at Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore looked over his moon-glasses towards Remus.
"Excuse me?" McGonagall had been unable to interpret either Remus's question or his cold voice.
"What Remus meant was what should Harry have done when he heard of the news?" Tonks spoke for the first time after Moody had finished his explanation.
"Miss. Tonks, I think that is obvious." Professor McGonagall had gone into her professor-like approach. "He should have let us take care of the situation."
"In the same manner as the Order took care of the Potter's?" this question felt like a slap on the face of McGonagall. "Or in the similar manner in which we (Tonks gave a quick glance towards Dumbledore turned back to McGonagall) let him grow up in that hell-hole?"
"Nymphadora, you…" McGonagall was cut off by Tonks who did not care about being called Nymphadora right now.
"Or the manner in which we took care of his Occulmency classes?" Tonks met Snape's gaze which had murder written all over it. "OR THE MANNER IN WHICH THE ORDER FAILED TO TELL HIM WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT TAKING THE OCCLUMENCY LESSONS COULD BE?" Tonks spat out. McGonagall seemed taken aback at this outburst. She regained her self-composure quickly but found herself at a loss of words to counter Tonks's accusations. Dumbledore was staring at Tonks intently, as if trying to find some clue for the reason of her outburst. The other members were too stunned to say anything. Hagrid even silently agreed with whatever Tonks had said. After all, he had had first hand experience at seeing how Harry had been treated at the Dursley's.
"Or maybe he should let the Order handle his whole life for him." Remus said in a cool, calculated voice. "Tell me one thing Professor, though I agree with you but I can't help wonder why you think Harry shouldn't have been there?"
"He could have got killed." McGonagall said, finding some strength in her voice again.
"So?" Remus seemed to be waiting for more.
"So what?" McGonagall asked, knowing fully well that she didn't have any answer to give to Remus. All she knew was that Dumbledore had always maintained that Harry was too important for them to lose.
"A war has it's causalities, don't they Headmaster?" this sudden change of direction caused everyone to change shift their focus towards the headmaster.
Dumbledore gave Remus another calculated look before answering "Miss. Tonks, Remus – I don't want this kind of behavior from now onwards." Dumbledore felt very uncomfortable now. He knew he couldn't answer any more questions like these without saying something about the prophecy. Tonks didn't take lightly to this comment. It was an insult. Snape had got away with everything over the years and when it came to Remus – he had been insulted by Dumbledore twice already within the space of a couple of hours, that too in front of all the other members. She wouldn't have given it a second thought if it had involved only her. But Dumbledore had insulted Remus. Remus had stuck up for her against Mrs. Weasley and she was unable to do anything to help him. She got up and left the room, tripping on the carpet on the hallway.
No one spoke for a minute. No one had ever DARED to think of doing such a thing in the presence of Dumbledore. They had been stunned by what Tonks had just done. Even Remus was still staring at the open doorway (which was now empty as the twins had disappeared upstairs before they got caught). Mrs. Weasley, who had become much stable over the past hour even though she didn't feel like talking (she had wanted to support McGonagall but thought better of getting Remus angry), kept looking back-and-forth towards the door and Dumbledore. Even Snape seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Seems like you have a very supportive family" Snape sneered, being the first one who had been able to get out of the shock in about a minute's time.
"You are right Severus Snape" The voice of an angry Harry Potter bellowed all over 12 Grimmauld Place.
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"…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives" Harry finished off with a sigh. His gaze was fixed upon a spot on the ceiling. He didn't know what more to say to either Remus or Tonks or Dobby. He just wished that nothing like this had ever happened, that his whole life was just a bad dream but he knew that this was one wish which this room would never be able to provide.
Dobby, who was standing at the bedside since Harry had beckoned him closer, had an expression of pure horror in his eyes. He had known that Harry was very important to the wizarding world but now he knew that he was not very important – he was the most important person of the wizarding world, at least now. He looked at Harry one more time before going back to the corner of the room (from where he had been observing the injured Harry for the last 2 days in the trunk) and sat down with his head in-between his knees.
Remus and Tonks were still staring at Harry, 3 minutes since he had stopped talking. Remus was still unable to believe what he had heard. "Maybe my mind just made up the whole thing" he tried to convince himself, but all in vain. He had, never in his wildest dream, visualized that this was why Dumbledore had always said that Harry was important to all of them. He had always thought that Dumbledore thought it was their responsibility to take care of Harry but now he knew what had been going on for years – Dumbledore had been using Harry and was still trying to do so. This was manipulation to the extreme level. He felt a rage build up in his body. He wanted to turn into a werewolf and tear up Dumbledore then and there. But that wouldn't be a solution, only a way to vent his anger. He looked at Harry's face, rather his eyes, and now understood the reason behind shallowness in them, the reason why Harry felt he was responsible for everything bad happening now and the reason why he had those nightmares. He looked at Harry for a long time, not wanting to let go of the moments which passed by. He wanted to save these moments in the deepest and most secure part of his brain and heart. He looked at those unruly hairs and those emerald green eyes which looked haunted. He tried to visualize those eyes in a jovial mood but was unable to do so. His gaze rested upon the scar – 'the Dark Lord will mark him as equal' – and thought of how much burden one single scar could bring on a person. He shuddered inwardly when he thought of what he would have done if he had been in Harry's position. Looking all over Harry, he closed his eyes and tried his best to store every minute detail about him. He wanted to remember each and every detail about Harry when he would not be around – maybe when he would be dead. He did not want Harry to die but that was a distinct possibility now – a distinct possibility that Remus would lose the youngest member of his new family, his godson. But he now felt a strange calm within. He knew that Harry's fate was sealed and he (and the others) could only hope for the best. Looking at Harry and reliving the words Harry had just said AND thinking about the life Harry had to lead because of it, a certain portion of Remus wished that Harry had never been born or had been killed along with his parents.
Tonks eyes had gone dull. No one could have ever imagined Nymphadora Tonks to look so lifeless, to feel so helpless. She had always been someone who used to bring a spark to other people's lives, mostly at the cost of them making fun of her. She had never given it a second thought – at least, she could make some people happy. But as she looked at the face which was looking straight up at the ceiling, she felt that she may never be able to bring that happiness to her new family. She felt she had failed to make those people happy who mattered the most to her now. She felt she had failed in her life. This past summer had been one of her best. She had spent some quality moments with Harry and Remus and even though those moments were short, those were all heartfelt moments. Harry and Remus had never made fun of her like other people did. Other's treated her more as a joker than anything else. But whenever Harry and Remus had pulled her leg, there had been a feeling of being a part of a family, and family members had every right to poke a bit of fun at you. This feeling had grown stronger as each day had passed this summer because all of them had a common factor in their lives – Sirius. Even now, whenever Harry or Remus made fun of her, they did it with the utmost respect – something which not many people gave her. This was her family and now she hated it for a moment. She hated being part of a family whose other members couldn't share the burden of the youngest member. She hated the very thought of having to lose Harry. For a moment, she hated both Harry and Remus for treating her like the way they had. It would have been much better off if they had never cared for her. At least, she would have felt less pain in that way. But it could not be undone now. She wanted to go and hug Harry. She wanted to take away all his pain. She wanted that goddamn scar on her forehead rather than Harry's. She realized that the emotions she had seen on Harry's face on the evening of his birthday were nothing compared to what reality was. He had spent his whole life in hell – and was still living in hell. Even though he didn't show it, she knew Harry had been mentally prepared himself for what was to come. As much as she wanted, she knew that she could do nothing about it. She now understood by what Harry had meant by his birth-right when he was fighting Bellatrix. All she could do was hope for Harry's survival. She knew one thing for sure – if Harry didn't make it then she wouldn't be able to spend a single minute without being haunted by those sorrow-filled emerald green eyes.
"What?" Harry looked at both Remus and Tonks. Both had expressions which Harry couldn't decipher. He saw a single tear fall down Tonks face while Remus turned away his face. "Hey, you guys. What do you want to do – sit here and cry? C'mon" Harry's voice was angry. "Dobby" Slowly Dobby came forward. Harry saw that he was crying freely. "You too!!!" "At least, don't make me feel like I am already dead" Harry joked.
"Mister – Harry – Potter" Remus had turned to face him once again. Harry saw tears flowing down Remus's face "Never – ever – say – a – dumb – joke – like – that – again". Tonks had looked up to see a crying Remus. That was the last straw – she lost whatever control she had had over herself and broke down completely. Harry looked at all of them and felt his heart getting filled with warmth. He had always known that he was special to Remus but today he understood just what he meant to Remus. He looked at Tonks and Dobby and felt their love for him. He had never understood fully about how everyone had felt about him, maybe because he was too busy preparing himself for his target, but now he knew and he was very happy about it. He wanted to jump around with joy and scream 'I have a family – people who love me'.
"Come close, will you? C'mon, give me a hug and everything will be allright." He said motioning to all of them. He lifted his hands with great effort and managed to give both Tonks and Remus a hug. Both of them hugged him in return. Dobby was standing a little bit away from them when Harry asked "Isn't Harry Potter's Dobby going to give Harry Potter a hug?" Dobby gave a huge grin and almost leapt on all of them. They all held in an embrace for a few seconds before finally pulling away, each with a smile on his/her lips.
"Look guys, nothing comes out of crying. I found it out the hard way, so listen to me, will you?" Harry said to all of them and continued "And don't make me feel like I am walking to my death. No Remus…" Harry interrupted Remus's protest "…I am not joking now. What I am saying is that we have a war on our hands and there will be causalities. It can be me, you or any other person. The least we can do is fight to the best of our abilities and hope we win this war. Even if anyone dies, at least, he or she should try to go out with their heads held high" Harry finished.
"Harry Potter is speaking the truth. Harry Potter is the best wizard Dobby is ever seeing" Dobby said in a whisper which was clearly heard by all of them. Both Tonks and Remus had no choice but to agree with Harry's words. They also agreed with Dobby saying that Harry was the best wizard. After all, a wizard is more than just magic. A wizard is a human too and Harry was easily one of the most selfless person's they had come across.
Harry smiled at Dobby and said "Thank you Dobby. I will always be grateful to you." This caused Dobby to blush so much that both Tonks and Remus laughed at him. Harry forced them to shut up - he hadn't meant to embarrass Dobby. To his relief he saw that Dobby didn't mind it at all. They talked for sometime more before Harry felt too tired to continue anymore. He persuaded Dobby to go to sleep after he heard the news that Dobby hadn't slept for 2 straight days (WHAT?). He felt grateful that Dobby had done so much for him but also didn't like so much devotion from Dobby – it could have made Dobby ill. The last thing he wanted was another person (or elf) in a bed next to him. After Dobby had retired, Harry finally fell asleep, leaving a wide-awake Tonks and Remus chatting nearby.
"How does he do it?" Tonks asked, her eyes still hadn't left Harry from the time when he had fallen asleep.
"Frankly, I don't have any idea." Remus replied. He was also watching Harry's face which seemed very calm now. "Even James and Lily weren't so selfless." He added. Thinking some more, he added "I think it is due to his upbringing."
"What do you mean? He could never have learned any good lessons from them." Tonks replied with a tinge of anger in her voice. She absolutely hated the Dursley's.
"No. I meant that he knows what it is to lead a difficult life." Remus corrected Tonks chain of thoughts "He learnt all the lessons of life due to the way he was brought up – doing chores, getting beaten, never having a friend…" Remus's voice trailed off in pain. he couldn't bring himself to say anything more.
"Maybe that's what makes him special" Tonks said, understanding what Remus said.
Remus shrugged his shoulders and said "Maybe". They continued to chat about Harry for some more time. Neither Tonks nor Remus knew when they had fallen asleep in their respective chairs while watching Harry sleep.
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"Get up, you sleepy heads." Both Remus and Tonks felt a splash of water hitting there faces causing their eyes to open in an instant. Harry was standing in front of them, with an empty glass in each hand, and laughing at their reactions.
"I am going to punch your nose in" Tonks bellowed. Obviously she wasn't a morning person. Remus, on the other hand, just did a drying charm on his face and asked "Did you try to jerk us awake?"
"No. Thought this would be more fun" Harry's eyes were sparkling with excitement. "Always wanted to do this to Dudley" He smiled.
"Then why don't you do that to him?" Tonks asked groggily. "Ouch…" she cried out, pressing the side of her neck. "Damn, why did I have to fall asleep in such a position?" she asked herself aloud. "All I had to do was make a wish and I would have had the best bed in the whole world"
"It comes naturally to you" Remus said with a chuckle.
"What comes naturally to me?" Tonks gave him a questioning look.
"Tonks, you still haven't figured it out, have you? About why it comes naturally to you to forget to make one simple wish." Harry asked with an odd expression on his face.
"Figured out what? What are you talking about?" Tonks asked, thinking about what mess she could have got into this time.
"That your head-quarter is empty." Harry chuckled. Remus burst out laughing while Tonks pondered over what Harry had just said.
"Hey you" She said to Remus. "Stop laughing. Anyways, what do you mean Har?" Tonks asked in a serious tone "Why would Grimmauld Place be empty?" This statement had both Remus and Harry rolling on the floor. They were unable to control their body movements any more. Tonks thought about what may have been the cause – and then got it.
"Mr. Potter & Mr. Lupin, I'll get you back to you for this" She bellowed, angry at herself for not understanding what Harry had meant by her head-quarter. Both Remus and Harry tried to sober themselves but were thrown into a fit of laughter again at seeing the expression on Tonks's face. "How dare you say that I have no brain?"
"Sorry…sorry" Harry put up his hands in surrender though his face betrayed his real feelings. Remus had also regained some control over himself.
"Ok you guys" Remus was the one who spoke this time "time for breakfast"
At breakfast, Harry asked whether his portkey plan had succeeded or not. He was very happy to learn that it had worked perfectly. Tonks and Remus explained to him that the bullets had been taken out by Dobby and the wounds had been healed by a potion which the room had provided. Remus pointed out the new housing complex of the 4 death-eaters. Harry then explained that he would like to interrogate them after breakfast but Tonks said they should be getting back to the headquarters now (which caused both Harry and Remus to sport huge grins) as they had spent over 3 days here. Harry then explained that they need not worry about being late at their headquarters. He went on to explain that a day passed in this room of his trunk was equivalent to only one hour passed outside.
"You mean that only 3 hours or so have passed in reality?" Tonks asked in disbelieve. Harry, whose mouth was full, gave an affirmative nod. Both Tonks and Remus looked stunned.
"So, that's how you got time to practice, didn't you?" Remus asked, finally getting the answer to the question which had popped up in his mind before.
"Yes" Harry said as he gulped down the last of his orange juice. "Well, we should start the interrogation now" He continued after glancing at the watch. Both Remus and Tonks gave a grim nod and got up from their chairs to proceed towards the end of the room. Once they had come close enough, Harry wished for an interrogation chamber along with phial of Veritaserum. They found themselves in front of a table which had 3 chairs. The room had a light which was focused on the opposite wall of the chamber. Harry took the chair in the middle and was flanked on the left side by Tonks and while Remus sat on his right side. The lighting on the room was such that their faces were covered in darkness. The wall in front of them had magical chains on them.
"Dobby" Harry called. Dobby popped right beside Harry and gulped at the scene which met him. "Would you please stay with us? We may need your help in case a death-eater proves to be too nasty." Harry said. Dobby gulped one more time before nodding. He then went to the farthest corner of the room and made himself invisible – he didn't want to be seen by any bad, dark wizard.
"Summon the prisoner in cell number one and bind him in the chains" Harry said loudly to the room. Promptly, his request was carried out. The prisoner was dazzled in the bright light which was focused on him and instinctively shut his eyes. Harry rose from his chair, took the vial of Veritaserum and went towards the death-eater.
He muttered a spell under his breath which caused the death-eaters mouth to be forced open, much against his wishes. Harry tilted the phial and 3 drops of Veritaserum entered the body of the death-eater. Instantly, his eyes glazed over, indicating that the serum's effect had started. Harry went back to his chair.
"Your name?" Harry asked.
"Albert Verhal" came the reply in a monotonous voice.
"Do you serve Voldemort?" came the next question which caused a shiver in everyone. The death-eater seemed to be afraid of the name, even under the influence of Veritaserum.
"Yes."
"How long?" it was Remus this time.
"For the past month"
"Why did you choose to serve him?" Remus continued.
"He had threatened to kill my family if I didn't join"
"Do you like serving him?" Tonks asked for the first time.
"No" came the prompt reply.
"Where is Voldemort present now?" Harry questioned.
"I don't know"
"Then how do you go to him?" Tonks asked.
"He summons us."
"Can you describe the place where you meet him?" Tonks continued. She was the more experienced of all of them in questioning a prisoner.
"We always meet in a big, dark room. There are no windows present and a snake is always around. It kills anyone who may try to escape." came the reply.
"Nagini?" Harry asked. Both Remus and Tonks's heads snapped round at him.
"Yes. That's the name which the Dark Lord uses to call it."
"What is your lord planning now?" Tonks proceeded with her questions.
"I don't know. I am new to his group"
"Does he have spies anywhere?" Tonks asked knowing the answer fully well.
"He has spies everywhere."
"Even the ministry?" Remus asked.
"Yes"
"Is Fudge a spy or does he work for your lord?" Harry asked.
"No. The dark lord is happy with whatever Fudge does. He doesn't feel the need to recruit such a weak wizard."
"What do you mean that your lord is happy with what Fudge does?" Tonks felt the need for extra clarification.
"Fudge is still ignoring the lord's actions because he is too much of a coward to fight against him. The dark lord is happy that Fudge has given him the time to recruit us. He also wants Fudge to remain the minister as long as possible." Harry smiled inwardly at this. Fudge's time at the office was in Harry's hands now and he knew that Voldemort will have to deal with a new minister soon.
"What does your lord think of Dumbledore?" it was Harry this time.
"He hates Dumbledore" came the reply.
"What does he think of Harry Potter?" Remus asked, continuing in the same groove.
"He wants to kill Harry Potter."
"Do you know why?"
"No."
The questions went on for some minutes more. This death-eater was obviously a new recruit and didn't know much. The next two death-eaters turned out to be new recruits too. One of them had been recruited only a week ago. All of them had been bullied into recruitment. Harry and the other interrogators came to know that Bellatrix and another death-eater (whose name they didn't know) were the closest people to Voldemort. Voldemort trusted them the most and had agreed to their selection of candidates for recruitment. Most of the other recruits had been very happy to have been given the opportunity to serve the dark lord. According to their information, Voldemort had recruited around 90 – 120 death-eaters in the past 6 months. Also, it seemed that Voldemort was back to his full power now and wanted to destroy the Order of Phoenix. All this information unsettled the interrogators. Obviously, everyone had underestimated the reach of Voldemort. He already had an army of death-eaters and now, with his most powerful death-eaters free, he would only grow stronger. At last, the turn for the 4'th death eater came.
"Name?"
"Mathew Macnair" All the 3 interrogators exchanged a look. At last they had someone who was an experienced death-eater.
The interrogation of Macnair went much better than the previous one's. He was one of those who had served Voldemort from the start of his dark era. He knew many things about Voldemort's planned activities. He revealed that Voldemort was planning to steal something – something which would give him an advantage over Dumbledore. But he didn't know what it was. According to him, only 2 persons knew about it – Bellatrix and another death-eater whose name was not known to anyone. This death-eater had recently joined Voldemort's group (he had supposedly come over from Bulgaria) but Voldemort seemed to trust him greatly. Both that death-eater and Bellatrix seemed to be equally powerful and recruitments were made based on their suggestions. The unknown death-eater seemed to have an extensive knowledge about the people of England and seemed to pick up the better wizards for recruitment. Also, Voldemort had said that there would be a second major attack if the attack on Azkaban went ahead smoothly and as planned (Macnair didn't know the result of the battle). Harry, Remus and Tonks looked very concerned at this. After each interrogation had been finished, the prisoners were sent back to their cells. After Macnair was sent back, the three interrogators started a serious discussion.
"What should we do now?" Harry asked both Tonks and Remus. Both of them were trying to think of a way to let the others know of this information but they did not want Harry to get into trouble for using portkeys and imprisoning people against their wishes and without any kind of authority.
"We should tell the Order about this." Tonks said finally. Harry and Remus both agreed to this.
"We can tell the Order as soon as Dumbledore returns." Remus added.
"Oops…" Tonks said as she put her hand inside her robe pocket. Remus did the same thing. Both took out a medallion apiece which looked as if it had been lying in a trash can for hundreds of years. One look at the medallion caused Tonks to jump up (though Harry saw no reason for it. The medallion seemed to look the same to him).
"Dumbledore's back. Meeting starts as soon as everyone gets there." Harry nodded to both of them as they got up. Even though he would have like them to stay, he knew that their duty was more important. He understood that the medallion was some kind of a communication device and was disguised to look so dirty and worthless.
"You sure it won't be a problem with those guys around?" Remus asked in a concerned voice, his eye towards the cells of the death-eaters.
"No, Dobby and I won't harm them" Harry replied with a smile. Remus gave him a look but said nothing. Harry then led them out of the room and the trunk. Once outside, Tonks gave out a low whistle.
"Wow…it's just 1'st of August here." She was looking at the copy of The Daily Prophet which Hedwig had just brought in. There was no mention about the attack on Azkaban. Obviously, the ministry wanted to keep the report under wraps as long as possible.
"Yup. I had wished for more time in the trunk." Harry replied though he was pretty sure he had explained this before. Tonks seemed to be forgetting the fact that they had been in a trunk rather than in the real world outside.
"And it is 6:30 in the morning" Tonks kept talking as if she had not heard Harry. "I should be in bed now."
"Tonks!!!" Remus said with a warning in his voice.
"OK…OK, got it. Let's go now. Bye Har. Will miss you." Tonks said giving Harry a hug. Harry felt grateful that Tonks would miss him. He was sure that Remus would miss him too though Remus didn't say anything.
"Bye Tonkie" Harry said as they pulled apart. Tonks glared at him for a moment while Remus winked at Harry. Harry was trying to maintain a straight face with great difficulty. Finally Tonks gave up and stomped out bellowing "Let me just get back, scar-head" much to Harry's and Dobby's amusement (Dobby had followed them up and had finally made himself visible).
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"I see that you have succeeded in your mission very well" the cold voice said. The men and women in front of him were standing with their heads lowered. No one said a word.
"But…" the voice paused, letting the word sink in. Everyone who was there shivered, not from the chill in the air but rather due to the chill in the voice of their lord.
"…it seems our plans didn't work out properly" the red snake-like eyes surveyed everyone closely. "I wonder…how did they know about our plan?" A few of the hooded figures shifted at their places. "And…" Voldemort paused again for the effect "…how did Harry Potter get out of there alive?" his tone was close to a whisper – a deadly whisper which sent shivers down to the bones of everyone present. Still, no one dared to answer.
"I wonder who informed Harry Potter?" the questions kept flowing from the mouth of the dark lord. No one raised their heads. Even Bellatrix and the unknown death-eater kept their mouths shut which was enough indication for the others to remain quite.
"It seems one of our numbers has decided not to come here today." The eyes of Voldemort rested on a vacant place in the circle of death-eaters. "I will have to have a private conversation when Severus comes here."
Harry woke up with a start. He did not know what had caused him to get up from his sleep but he knew that he was sweating profusely. He just had a vision of Voldemort – and Voldemort seemed to be unaware of it. He seemed puzzled at this and couldn't find any explanation. He also remembered that Snape had not been present in the group and Voldemort's private conversation meant some kind of torture. He smiled at this but inwardly hoped that nothing too bad would happen to Snape. After all, no human deserved to be tortured by Voldemort, no matter what they had done.
Shaking a bit, Harry proceeded towards the shower. Tonks and Remus had left for a little under 2 days now (according to the timeline in the trunk). He knew that only about 2 hours must have passed and most probably their meeting was still in progress at the headquarters. Harry took a long hot shower and felt a bit refreshed. He got dressed and went to practice for sometime. It was still too early in the morning for him to have breakfast. So, he decided to spend the time doing what he liked best – dueling with his double. He had been dueling for a few hours when Dobby popped in.
"Harry Potter" Dobby said in an anxious voice. Harry's double stopped the duel while Harry turned round to face him. "What is it Dobby?" Harry asked seriously. He had seldom seen Dobby so serious.
"Harry Potter's Tonkie is here…" Dobby paused before continuing "…and doesn't look happy."
"Thank you Dobby. I'll be right there." Harry said, hurrying out of the 5'th compartment and then the trunk.
"Tonks" Harry exclaimed. Tonks was sitting on the corner of his bed. On hearing his voice, she turned to face him.
"Oh Harry…they are so horrible" Tonks was on the verge of crying. Harry stopped her before she could continue and instinctively led her inside his trunk to the 5'th compartment where he knew they would have more time to discuss things.
"Ok. What is it?" Harry was very serious. He knew that unless it was something grave, Tonks wouldn't rush here so soon, and look so disheveled.
"The meeting. We arrived…" Tonks went on to explain everything to Harry. Harry listened quietly, his face turning very grim as Tonks concluded.
"I didn't know what to do so I came here. They never give any value to my words. All I am required for are my metamorphical abilities. I didn't know what to do…I couldn't see Remus being insulted in front of everyone." Tonks started crying as she hugged Harry. Harry quietly held onto her while fuming inwardly. He was really angry with Dumbledore today. After Tonks had sufficiently calmed down, she pulled away and said "Sorry for bothering you like this."
"No sorry in a family, is that understood?" Harry tried to smile but failed miserably. Tonks nodded in reply, her eyes fixed on the floor. Harry glanced at the clock on the wall and said "So, the meeting has proceeded by about 40 seconds by now. I think I can fix it." At Tonks's alarmed look, Harry explained "I won't do anything stupid – don't worry about that." Tonks said nothing. She had come to trust Harry's judgment by now. "Go, wash yourself up quickly and get back to the Order meeting." Tonks headed straight for the bathroom and came back 2 minutes later looking much better.
"C'mon" Harry motioned her to follow him. Once outside, Harry asked her to return to the headquarters for the meeting. Tonks didn't say anything. She didn't want to go back there but followed Harry's advice grudgingly.
After Tonks left, Harry proceeded to do what he had to do – make some people aware of their limits.
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The twins had reported what had been happening in the meeting, what Dumbledore had said to Remus and how Tonks had left the meeting. Hermione and Ron exchanged a quick glance before Ron started "How can he say such a thing to Lupin when he has never said anything to Snape?" Hermione nodded in agreement. The twins also went quite. They all knew that Remus was a very mild-mannered gentleman unless they counted his encounter with Molly Weasley (which all felt was quite a good thing to happen). All of them looked gloomy when everyone started. The whole house seemed to tremble at the sound of a single person's voice.
"You are right Severus Snape"
"HARRY!!!" All of them jumped out of their seats and rushed downstairs. They rushed into the meeting room, whose door was still open and through which Tonks was just re-entering, and stopped dead in their tracks. In the fireplace, there was the face of Harry Potter – one whose eyes were blazing in anger.
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"Harry. How nice of you to join us." Dumbledore said in a very friendly tone.
"I don't…" Harry was interrupted from continuing by Hermione.
"Harry! How are you? We were all so worried." Hermione couldn't prevent herself. Harry turned towards Hermione and the others. He had missed them a lot but he knew that now was not the time to have a nice chat with his friends.
"Hermione, I will talk to you guys later." He turned back towards Dumbledore and said "I have some important things to talk about now." Hermione got the hint and didn't press the matter any further.
"All right you lot, get to your rooms. An Order meeting is going on." Mrs. Weasley over-protectiveness took over. She didn't want her children to hear about the horrors of the war which they were talking about. In the meanwhile, Tonks had got back to her seat. Remus gave her a look meaning 'Did you have to get him into this?'. Tonks just gave an answering look meaning 'Only he can put Dumbledore in his right place'.
"No need Mrs. Weasley, the meeting is temporarily interrupted. It will resume when I am gone." Harry said in an authorative voice. Mrs. Weasley was about to say something in protest when Arthur Weasley placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked annoyed at being overruled but did not say anything.
"You are not the one who has the authority to stop an Order meeting Potter" Snape sneered. "So just get out."
"Snape…"
"Professor Snape, Harry" Dumbledore corrected him. Harry looked at him for a moment before turning to face everybody else.
"First of all, this is not Hogwarts. Secondly, school is not in session. And last but not the least, I am the owner of this house" Harry's tone was very angry. He looked at all those who were present, as if to challenge them from stopping him. "If anyone has any problems with that, THEY CAN GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE." The wave of anger in his voice seemed to rock the whole house. Pin-drop silence followed. Remus was trying his best to put on a fatherly look on his face, which suggested he was angry with his son's behavior, but Harry didn't meet his gaze. Tonks looked quite smug at the proceedings while McGonagall seemed to be shocked. Even the sneer on Snape's face had been replaced by one of true horror when he realized that Dumbledore had not protested against Harry. He quickly regained his composure but not before Harry had seen the expression. Moody was just surveying the whole scenario. There seemed to be no change in his demeanor. The twins were looking at Harry with envy because he had been able to do something which they would have themselves loved to do sometime. Hermione, on the other hand, was appalled beyond speech (How could someone talk to their professors like that?). Ron had a look of pure awe on his face while Ginny was happily surveying the other's expressions. She was happy at the effect Harry had over them. Everyone seemed to be in a state of shock at the statement given by Harry.
"Now, as I was saying" Harry had turned to back to Snape "I can do whatever I want to in my house AND if you don't like my being here, then the door is right there…Snape" Harry turned to meet the gaze of Dumbledore as he said the name of his Potions professor. Snape was beyond himself with anger. He got up to leave the room when Harry jeered at him "You are leaving just because a 16-year old told you to do so?" This seemed to be the last straw for Snape. He stopped in mid-step and whipped his wand out. Tonks had been ready for something like this and disarmed him immediately.
"ENOUGH" This time the shout came from Dumbledore. He had already heard one of the worst war-reports in his life and the last thing he wanted was infighting between the Order members. His shout made everyone, including Harry, wince. Seldom had people seen Dumbledore lose his cool. There was pin-drop silence in the room for the second time now.
"Severus, if you'll please return to your seat. Miss. Tonks, could you please return his wand" There was no arguing with Dumbledore at this moment. Both did as they were told. Dumbledore then turned to Harry.
"To what do we owe this unexpected appearance from you Harry" Dumbledore's voice was back to his polite best. Harry looked at Dumbledore for a moment and wondered how he managed to change his manners so quickly.
"Tonks came to me." A few heads, including Ginny's, turned towards Tonks. Harry waited for a response from Dumbledore but none came forth. He decided not to back off and remained silent. After about 20 seconds of pure silence, Dumbledore gave in. "And?"
"She told me what happened." Harry's eyes were fixed on Dumbledore now. He wanted to check each and every expression of this old manipulator in front of him. Waiting for a few seconds for the effect to take place, he asked "Is it true?" Harry knew that each and every word Tonks had said was true but he wanted to hear it from Dumbledore's own mouth.
Dumbledore looked at him for a moment, his eyes looked very lifeless now "Is what true?" he asked at last.
"That you insulted Remus?" The air around the house seemed to have frozen. This was the first time someone had demanded an explanation from Dumbledore (whatever Molly Weasley did was mostly due to her over-protectiveness). Everyone knew that something real bad was heading their way. This conversation was heading towards a major disaster.
"I did not insult Remus." Remus and Tonks eyes went wide at this statement. Even McGonagall was surprised at this but did not show it while Snape had his sneer back now. He was going to enjoy this discussion between the Headmaster and his favorite pupil. "What I did was to remind him of his limitations." Dumbledore said.
"And who decides your limitations sir?" Harry promptly spat back. Everyone was silent. For the first time, someone had directly challenged Dumbledore's authority. This conversation seemed to be a sequel of first's for Dumbledore.
"Manners Mr. Potter" Professor McGonagall recovered as quickly as she could. "You should be ashamed of yourself for questioning the headmaster like that."
Harry turned to face his transfiguration teacher. "And who should be ashamed of what my life has been? Who should be ashamed of how I was protected over the years?" Professor McGonagall was visibly shaken by this barrage of questions, the second time in the past 2 hours. These were the questions to which no one had any answers. "And who should be ashamed of what happened to Cedric? Who should be ashamed of being responsible for Sirius's death? Why should only I be ashamed of anything?" Harry somehow managed to stop his rambling. Remus and Tonks were both looking at Harry with wide eyes now – he seemed to be taking apart McGonagall.
"Professor McGonagall, you have earned my respect as a teacher but please remember that you teach transfiguration and not philosophy. Please understand that people like me also have emotions, even though it may be harder for some of the people here to understand." To say that McGonagall was shocked would be an understatement. She looked at Dumbledore who refused to meet her eyes. Her eyes had become misty but she managed to keep herself under control.
"HARRY" Hermione shouted at him "HOW DARE YOU TALK TO EVERYONE LIKE THAT?" Harry turned his glare towards her which almost made her blood freeze. She almost staggered backwards at the coldness in his eyes. He looked at her for a few moments and then turned away. The last thing he wanted was to shout at his friends.
Turning back towards Dumbledore, he proceeded to repeat his question "Who – decides – your – limitations?" Much to Harry's satisfaction, Dumbledore seemed to be at a loss of words. Finally, he spoke "Harry, I decide my own limitations."
"Then sir, you have crossed your limit today." The sneer on Snape's face grew even wider at hearing this. This was getting better than he had expected. No one moved a bit – no one dared to move. "You know something, you can get respect only if you show others respect but it seems you have been forgetting many things lately," Dumbledore didn't say anything. He had a sad look on his face.
"Sir, you know what you have to do next, don't you? I know you do." Harry kept meeting his gaze. Everyone was looking at the staring contest going on. Remus and Tonks both wondered what Harry wanted Dumbledore to do and how could Dumbledore already know about it. Remus was a bit upset at what Harry was doing. He knew Harry would get into trouble for this at school. Tonks, on the other hand, could not help but felt pleased at Harry's actions. He could really be trusted to take care of delicate issues like these.
After a few minutes silence, in which both Harry and Dumbledore kept staring at each other, Dumbledore finally spoke "You are right Harry." His voice was a bit shaky and he seemed to have aged quite a lot in these past few minutes. Turning back to Remus and Tonks, Dumbledore said "I apologize to both of you for my behavior." Everyone's eyes went wide at this – Albus Dumbledore, one of the greatest sorcerers ever was apologizing to two people based on the accusations leveled by a 16-year old kid. The last 12 hours had really been filled with surprises for everyone. Even Snape's sneer was gone now. He had hoped that the relation between these two would sour as they had seemed to be at loggerheads with each other but unfortunately, one of them had given in.
"Thank you sir and I hope the others learn from your decisions." Harry said and his face disappeared from the fire as abruptly as it had appeared for the first time.
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Harry had decided to spend the day outside his trunk. He wanted some time off. Also, he had to meet the Minister of Magic today. He knew that this would be very problematic today because of what had happened at Azkaban but hoped that he would be able to make it. At last, after several attempts, he succeeded in fixing an appointment with the minister at 2:00 in the afternoon at the Leaky Cauldron.
Remus and Tonks had arrived at 11:00 in the morning. They updated him on the number of casualties suffered by the Order and the ministry. Harry was very sad to hear it but there was no way he could undo the past. After getting all the updates came the real talk.
"What the hell were you doing today?" Remus seemed quite angry.
"What he did was absolutely right." Tonks jumped to Harry's defense.
"Tonks, I am not saying he did anything wrong today but do you have any idea about what Snape will make him go through at school?" Tonks looked bewildered for a moment. She had never thought of this issue. Now, the more she thought, the more she felt that Remus was right. At last, she spoke. "Harry" Harry looked at her. "What the hell were you doing today?" Tonks bellowed. Harry looked at her, and even though he saw that she was very angry, he burst out laughing. Tonks looked mildly surprised. Her amazement grew when Remus too started grinning.
"Now what?" Tonks asked desperately.
"Tonks. Really…" Harry paused trying to catch his breath. He was opening his mouth again when he started laughing for the second time. Remus had also joined in. Dobby, who had been watching all this, decided to put Tonks out of her misery.
"What Harry Potter is wanting to say is that Tonkie's head-quarters is not in existence anymore and she understands everything very late" Tonks looked at him for a moment and then bellowed "You little monster..I'll get you this time" With that, Tonks took off after Dobby, who always kept popping to a few feet ahead of her. Remus and Harry just laughed at their antics.
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"What do you want today?" Minister Fudge asked his teenaged well-wisher.
"A small favor from you" the boy replied. Fudge's face brightened a bit – he had a bargaining point now. "Fudge – don't even think about bargaining on this." The boy's cold voice interrupted his thoughts. This boy surely knew how to get his work done – he would surely become a great politician one day.
"Ok…what is it?"
"You know a friend of mine" the boy said "in fact, he knows you too." Fudge just kept looking at the boy. Finally, he asked with a bit of apprehension in his voice "Who is it?"
"Harry Potter"
"THAT DAMN KID." Fudge bellowed. His anger faded away as soon as he saw that the stranger had his wand pointed towards him and the wand-tip seemed to have some sparks on the surface. Realizing that the boy had become very angry Fudge said meekly "Oh…Harry Potter…yes…what a lovely boy. Sorry, I mistook him for someone else. Yes Harry Potter…such a nice boy." Harry couldn't help but pity this man sitting in front of him. He understood why Voldemort never tried to recruit him – Fudge was a pure waste of a wizard.
"What can I do to help your friend?" Fudge's voice was very polite now.
"He was seen at Azkaban yesterday night. Is that correct?" the boy asked.
"Yes. He was performing underage magic though we couldn't track him. Don't know how he managed it though. He was also apparating without a license." Fudge replied. He then saw the boy's wand's tip had sparks on it again. The question was asked again.
"Was Harry Potter seen at Azkaban?" Fudge was visibly trembling now. He nodded his head in an affirmative acknowledgement but the sparks on the boy's wand's seemed to have grown larger now.
"Last chance Fudge. Was – Harry – Potter – seen – at – Azkaban?" Fudge looked at the hatred and grim determination on the boy's face and knew that this was indeed his last chance to answer correctly. This boy looked very dangerous to him.
"NO…HARRY POTTER AT AZKABAN? Are you mad?" Fudge managed to say with great difficulty. "He was never seen anywhere close to Azkaban. How could he? He wouldn't even know where Azkaban is."
"Correct answer. I will leave now. You know what to do, right?" Fudge nodded his head in reply thinking of how he would have to take off Harry's name from all the reports and how he would have to convince the ministry auror's that one of his personal men was impersonating Harry.
"You are very co-operative. Have a nice day." With that, a smiling Harry apparated back to 3, Sunshine Villa. He still had some work to do.
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Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office at Hogwarts and thinking over what he had heard today. He was replaying the events of the Order meeting when a hand appeared in his fireplace and threw something towards him. The hand disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Instinctively, he caught the thing with his left hand while his wand was ready in his right hand. Then he saw that the thing he had caught was a parchment with 4 names written on it along with a short note underneath – summon them. He looked over the names once again and did as he had been asked to. Before him lay 4 death-eaters, all stunned. He quickly used his own stunning, anti-summoning and anti-apparation spells and secured them. With a smile on his lips, he wrote 2 notes. The first one was for intimating everyone of an Order meeting the next day at 10:00 in the morning while the second note had just 2 words written on them – Thank You.
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August 2'nd seemed to be bright and sunny. Harry woke up to find a school owl sitting on the dining table. As soon as he took the note, the owl flew away making it obvious that no answer was required. He quickly read the 2 lettered note and smiled.
"Dobby" Harry called out.
"Yes Harry Potter"
"I would like to have my breakfast now." Harry said with a smile. Dobby popped away as soon as he heard this. Within a minute, Harry was eating a delicious chinese breakfast. In the meantime, Hedwig came in with The Daily Prophet to which Harry had subscribed this year. Harry was about to take another bite from the chinese dish which Dobby had cooked today when his hand, with the fork, stopped in mid-air. His eyes had rested themselves upon the heading of the newspaper which lay in front of him. It read – Ministry Building Attacked By Death-Eaters.
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A/N:
Ok guys, here's the 7'th chapter.
I was just bowled over by the response to the 6'th chapter. I guess you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Everyone loves a bit of action. Hope you like this chapter. If you guys are disappointed, then just say it in your reviews. And thanks to everyone who read this.
Confusion Queen –Harry, Tonks and Remus all have Sirius in common. Hence the close relationship. Hope your teeth's are ok.
skeeter007 – You have been reviewing from the very beginning of this fic and it is very much appreciated. Glad you liked the 6'th chapter.
EvilLaughKid – No money please. If I take even a single penny, I could get sued for millions. And I am not the master fic writer. Surely, there are many people out there who are better than me. And keep the praises down a bit ;)
Jack-A-Roe – I am glad too that you continued :).
Slimpun – Please turn off your CAPS lock when you post a review. I had thought you were shouting at me. Another thing, I don't remember mentioning Harry as a female. It would be helpful if you could copy 2-3 lines where I made the mistake and post it in your review. It would be a great help.
csferosha – Remus and Tonks may or may not become an item. There will be romance but not too much. It is war-time, right? You'll have to continue to know more.
Be0t – Harry/Tonks…hmmm…maybe, may not be. Like I said before – it's war-time. Watch out for more.
Lord Pallav – Thanks for your review. I am an Indian but I would prefer it very much if you left these kinds of questions out of your reviews. Many people may think these are racial reviews.
And all the other guys who reviewed – Thanks for your reviews. The reviews of the 6'th chapter were just…'WOW'. Please know that they are very much appreciated and give me a real kick-in-the-back to continue writing.
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