Chapter Three

(A/N: As a notice, I didn't remember Dumbledore's middle name, so that's why I put in new ones. My apologies for the inconvenience. A.S.Leif)

That evening, all of the Order gathered at the new Headquarters. Word had spread of Harry's relation to Snape, and the boy-who-lived was currently seated as far away from his third cousin as humanlypossible. Splikvin had thoughtthe entire thingincredibly amusing, but didn't tell her twin that, and was seated between Snape and Remus.

Harry shared a couch with Sirius and Moody, and Ron and Hermione shared a couch nearby. The twins, Ginny, and Neville were absent, but Hagrid was present. "Any idea what this is about?" Harry asked Sirius; his godfather shrugged in response. That's not much of an answer, Harry thought, then Dumbledore entered.

"As of today, this will be the new Headquarters for the Order," he began, all conversations stopped. "We will be thinking of a new, faster, and less detectable way for us all to get here, rather than flooing. Now, there is not much business tonight, but there is the question of allowing three sixth years into our ranks." Dumbledore looked at the three Gryffindors, his eyes were serious. "Ms. Granger has turned seventeen, so she is allowed to join freely if she wishes; Mr. Weasley has the same option. However, Mr. Potter must have both Sirius Black's and Remus Lupin's approval if he wishes to join. I normally would not offer, but seeing as how you are the owner of this place and therefore have free reign, I cannot stop you from attending, or listening in on, the meetings." The Potions master snorted. "The overall decision lies with you three: wait; join now; or do not join."

Ron immediately said, "I'll join." Hermione bit her lip thoughtfully then nodded.

Harry looked at his godfather and guardian. "If you want to." Sirius said in answer to the unasked question. Harry nodded then looked at Remus.

"If you promised to be careful, and listen to our advice, that includes all Order members." The werewolf said.

"I promise."

"Then go ahead."

Harry turned to Dumbledore, "I want to join."

"Very well, let's begin with Mr. Weasley." The other Order members got up and stood in a line, with Dumbledore at one end and Fawkes, who had appeared minutes before the meeting began, at the other. A scroll and red-gold quill appeared in Dumbledore's hands. "Ronald Weasley, by signing this, you agree to protect others, fight those of darkness, and give your all to preserve this world. Do you so swear?"

Ron nodded. "I swear."

"Then sign, and become a member of the Order of the Phoenix." Ron took the quill added his name to the already signatured parchment. Dumbledore shook Ron's hand. "Merlin blesses." Ron went down the line and shook each person's hand. When he reached his mother, she hugged him with misty eyes. At the end of the line, Fawkes hovered above Ron's head and allowed a tear to fall. "Welcome to our ranks." Dumbledore said. Ron smiled and took his place between Tonks and Fawkes.

Hermione stepped up and Dumbledore repeated his small speech. She responded with a firm, "I swear it." Hermione went down the line as Ron had and received a tear from Fawkes. Then it was Harry's turn.

"Harry Potter, by signing this with your guardians' consent, you agree to protect others, fight those of darkness, and give your all to protect this world. Do you so swear?"

"I do." Harry replied, and signed. Sirius grinned when he shook Harry's hand, and Remus smiled; Snape let go quickest of all. When Fawkes leaked a tear, Harry felt a cool wave flow through him. "Welcome to our ranks." Dumbledore said; before anyone could move he added, "One moment. I believe there is one other to invite." With a twinkle in his eyes he called, "Selena? Might you come back in for a moment?" Harry stared; he hadn't even seen her leave.

Splikvin came hesitantly back into the room. "Yes Headmaster?"

"We were wondering if you would like to join the Order." Dumbledore told her gently.

She blinked. "If you wish."

"It is your choice, my dear."

Splikvin looked out the window at the starlit night. "I will." Dumbledore smiled and repeated what he'd told the other three and she signed the paper he held. She gave the quill back to Dumbledore and went down the line of handshakes. Reaching Ron, she drawled, "My own students beat me to it."

Harry, Sirius, and Remus returned to The Hideaway late that night and Harry fell asleep as soon as he reached his bed.

The next day, Harry went to Diagon Alley and bought more potion ingredients, his idea for the cottage in the States was beginning to become more solid. His plan was to turn it into an emergency station, in case anyone got in trouble and needed a place to go. Of course, how he planned to allow people to travel halfway across the world was another matter which he was thinking about.

He also picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet and read through it. Rita Skeeter hadn't written anything of late, which was most likely for the better. However, there was an article about a Death Eater sighting near the ruins of Azkaban. I wonder if there's a new prison being built, Harry thought, and decided to ask Moony and Padfoot as he got ready to head home.

"Not yet," Sirius told him after he'd posed the question.

"There aren't any other prisons that need to be held," Remus added, "There are a few in the Ministry holding cells, but there's still a few more. So there isn't a need for a new prison just yet."

"How long will it take to make one?" Harry asked.

"A few weeks maybe," Sirius replied with a shrug.

"But we might not have that much time!" objected Harry.

"Optimistic aren't you?" Remus teased subtly, "It can't be helped."

A spark flew in Harry's mind. "Maybe it can," he murmured.

"What?"

"Maybe it can be helped." Harry repeated, and then stood. "I'll be back later; I need to go check on something." With a grin, he disappeared.

"Oh dear…" Remus sighed.

Harry had teleported to the empty 200 acres he owned, and then transformed into a phoenix. He flew high above the estate, seeing what it all looked like. Most of it was grassy hills, but Harry came across a piece of swampland that would fit his idea quite nicely. Harry perched on a boulder and transformed back to human. He closed his eyes and sent his elemental magic out, looking for stone. Only twenty feet down, the granite practically sang against his magic. Good, Harry thought, sensing more than enough to suit his needs.

Harry cast a net of magic out and pulled up on the stone. It thrust out of the ground and began to shape itself to Harry's will. The lower level came first. He formed passages, closets, and plumbing. The second level had cells and a few secret passageways, a long with an office and more plumbing. The third and fourth floors were similar to the ground floor, and had passages as well. Harry shifted the granite to make windows in the offices.

Finished with the main building, Harry pulled up on the granite to form a huge wall over a hundred feet tall, with stone spikes at the top, as sharp as any dragon's claw. He created larger doors on the north wall, and four stone watchtowers at each corner. Done with the structure, Harry transformed into a phoenix and flew over to the entrance to go over it with spells.

He conjured cots and toilets in each cell, but made sure that there was no way they'd be moved and used in any other way than the ones they were meant for. He also put a charm on the cell door so that there were what appeared to be mirrors from the inside, but were really windows on the outside; he also put an unbreakable charm on all of them. In the offices he created desks and chairs, as well as in the watchtowers. Unsure about what kinds of protection spells were put on a prison, he left it at that and used the ring to travel to the new Headquarters.

He found Dumbledore in the main room, along with Remus, Tonks, Hagrid, and Splikvin. Not wanting to intrude on their conversation, he plopped onto a couch—he was tired again, very tired, and the muscles in his arms and shoulders hurt.

"Did you need something Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"No Sir, I just wanted to show you something."

"Possibly why you left this morning?" Moony asked with a smiled.

Harry smiled back, "Yeah, actually."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Take use!" Tonks exclaimed.

"Alright; it's at the empty lot." He told Dumbledore. The headmaster nodded then created a portkey for the others.

"It's about fifty miles west of here," Harry said once they'd arrived. Dumbledore nodded and they portkeyed again; this time appearing ten feet from the black granite prison.

Tonks whistled. "Wow."

"I figured, with Azkaban gone, maybe I could make a new one." Harry said, rubbing his eyes.

Splikvin was staring wide-eyed at the prison. "Potter—you used your elemental abilities, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"For how long?"

"Umm—maybe four, five hours?"

She whirled to face him. "Four hours? What the hell did you think you were doing?" she shouted.

Hagrid stepped between them. "Don't you be yellin' at Harry," he growled while the others stared, "He didn't do nothin' wrong."

Splikvin closed her eyes and turned away. After pacing for a few minutes, she was calm, in appearance at least. "My apologies, I overreacted slightly." Tonks snorted, earning a very Snape-like glare. Splikvin's voice grew harsher. "And I say slightly because he could have injured himself permanently; worst case scenario: he could have paralyzed himself." Harry's jaw dropped, and she began to pace again. "I did not tell him this before, which was a mistake on my part. Harry, what you do is real. Your elemental magic is your soul. When you cast it out, you cast your soul out; which is why I told you to never cast use it all. You learned to gather wind with your soul. If the net you created with your magic broke, you would be just as if you had been kissed by a dementor—but it would have been much more painful." She shook her head. "A friend of mine used too much of her magic doing a great working, alas, she was not as fortunate as you. Give me your arm." Harry extended it, and she felt the muscle on it. "Your arms are tired, yes?" he nodded. "Most likely because to move the rock, your magic needed some sort of physical strength to connect." She released his arm and looked at him seriously. "If you ever plan to do something of this—magnitude again, I strongly advise you to notify me first."

Harry nodded. "I will."

Splikvin nodded and turned to look at the prison. "I will admit though, this will definitely work if the Ministry approves."

Dumbledore smiled, "I already have permission from the Ministers to put wards on any building I deem suitable to replace Azkaban. Shall we begin?"

So together they began to construct the wards. Since he was still tired, Harry could only tell them about the building itself. They put up anti-apperation/dissaperation wards, a ward that would prevent portkeys from being used, dark magic detectors, an emergency lock down ward, and they created frames on each floor so that the founder would be able to travel there if necessary. Harry then showed them the secret passageways he'd built. Some of them could only be used when the person had a small animagus form, like Harry's cobra; others they created passwords for.

Once they finished, it was well past sundown and they portkeyed out, since Dumbledore had been keyed into the wards they were able to do so, and informed Arthur Weasley about the new prison. The Minister informed the other Minister and they agreed to have the criminals housed in the Ministry holding cell to be transported to the new prison in a few days.

Harry was glad when he went to bed that he wouldn't have to work at the new prison: Shadow Hold was not going to be a comfortable place.

Coming Up:

Housemates

Summer School

Then:

Break-in the Prison