I'm so so sorry this took so long to write. I've been attending orientations since school here in the Philippines is about to start and well, I'm an incoming freshmen in a University so talks and seminars are all over the place.

This will be the start of the final few chapters of the story. I plan to end this a decent time before book 6 comes out.

As always, read and review. Thanks.

Chapter twenty-four

The New Order

Harry immediately went to Ron's house to tell him what had happened. Classes at Hogwarts were suspended until the murderer was solved. Potter also asked Hermione to come along with him to Ron's house so they can make a plan of action.

Once there, Harry told Ron and Hermione what happened and about the second prophecy.

"So Dumbledore dying was part of the prophecy?" asked Hermione.

"Exactly and through his murder, I was able to identify who Voldemort has been pretending to be." answered Harry.

"Who then?"

"This may sound crazy but it's Sirius."

"What!" screamed Ron.

"Quiet!" said Hermione. "Actually, come to think of it, it does make sense. What, with Crouch surfacing, Voldemort must have thought that you, Harry, would want to get to the bottom of everything. Voldemort and Crouch must have met in the Dementors' Realm and planned everything. They pretended that Sirius was alive to get you interested and in the process, get you to try and rescue Sirius which was actually Voldemort."

"But Voldemort probably didn't need Harry to get out of the Dementors' Realm. Why wait for Harry to rescue him?" asked Ron.

"Because if Harry rescues this fake Sirius whom Harry believes is really his godfather, he will have no doubts that Sirius was really himself because emotions for his godfather will run Harry. Harry would not know that Voldemort was alive. That would be of Voldemort's advantage, the element of surprise and his enemy's ignorance, which will leave Harry helpless when the final battle happens since Harry then would not be ready to fight" answered Hermione.

As the three of them sat on the floor by the cracking fire, everything slowly made sense. Hermione's explanation gave light to Harry's many questions. At least now, things were clearer.

"But wait." chipped in Ron. "When we used veritaserum on Crouch, he didn't say anything about this. He just said that he wanted to be the next Dark Lord and stuff."

"I bet that's a cover up. Voldemort can use anything that can connect him to other people to his advantage and control them. The veritaserum was not enough to uncover everything because Voldemort was in control of Crouch. Voldemort did not allow Crouch to tell the truth about Voldemort and his true agenda even if veritaserum was being used." answered Hermione.

"How exactly did he connect to Crouch to control him as we were interrogating him at your house then?"

"Like I said, Voldemort can use anything that can put a connection between him and another person. Much like Harry's scar. Crouch was a death eater. He has the death eater's mark on his arm. Before, Voldemort would send signals through these marks on his death eaters to gather them. That was how Voldemort controlled Crouch so he wouldn't blurt out everything when we used veritaserum. Crouch was being controlled by Voldemort through the image of the dark mark burned on his arm."

"You know what this means?" said Harry suddenly. "Since Voldemort is alive, its time to form the new order of the phoenix."

"I have thought of that." said Hermione. "That is why I have invited some members of the old order here. They will be arriving later. I did not invite all of them. Just some since we can't appear too suspicious. Remember, Voldemort still doesn't know that we know who he is pretending to be. Inviting too many members may send Voldemort an idea that we are on to him."

It was around nine pm when the new order arrived. McGonagall was there, along with Lupin, Mad Eye, Tonks, and even Snape. They all sat by the fire, huddled up together. Molly and Arthur later went down from upstairs to join them. Hermione stood up and explained everything to the group. Gasps from the order were sometimes heard. It seems that no one even on the slightest would have thought Voldemort would still be alive.

"If I may dear," said Molly after Hermione was done talking. "How about Crouch? Dumbledore was keeping him, right? What do we do with him now that Dumbledore is... is no more?" A hint of tears was visible in Mrs. Weasley's eyes.

"Well I know where Dumbledore used to hide him. Maybe he is still there." said Harry to the order.

"Well, its dangerous, Harry." snapped McGonagall, her gaze clear through the light of the fire cracking in the fireplace. "dangerous for anyone of us to be associating with Crouch."

"And even if we get him and lock him up, he will still be able to communicate with Voldemort through many ways and then, well, old Voldemort will know we're on to him." said Molly.

"And" added McGonagall "Voldemort will be able to know that the order has been re-established."

"Crouch is just a pawn of Voldemort." said Hermione finally after thinking hard. "It is not crucial that we capture him. Besides, I think after Dumbledore's murder, Voldemort already came for Crouch. There is nothing more we can do about Crouch."

"What do we do then?" asked Ron.

"We" answered Hermione. "need to concentrate on finding out how to kill Voldemort. He did not die with the killing curse from Dumbledore years ago so he will be a tough one. And remember, Harry is the only one who can truly kill him. There is also a possibility that Voldemort kills Harry."

Suddenly, an owl tapped at the window. Arthur went to it and took a note off its leg.

"It's for you, Harry" said Arthur as he handed the note to Potter.

Harry opened the letter and slipped out the parchment from the envelope. It read:

Harry,

I am sorry about what happened to Dumbledore. I know you feel terribly sad about this so how about you and I have a small dinner on the night a day after tomorrow to cheer you up? At my place here in 12 Grimmauld Place.

Hope you confirm by return owl.

Sirius

"Voldemort wants to have dinner with me." Said Harry after reading and re-reading the letter.

"Well.., what now?" said Ron.

"Harry, you need to act as if nothing is out of the ordinary. Voldemort must not know we know he is disguised as Sirius. You will have to have dinner with him. Once there, act pained due to Dumbledore's death okay, not that you aren't pained in reality…" said Hermione.

"Right" said Harry immediately. "I will."

With that, Harry turned over Sirius' letter and wrote "Okay. At your place at around seven in the evening" and folded the parchment. He attached it to the hooting owl and then it flew away into the night.

"You know what this means, don't you?" said Harry after a short moment of silence. "With Voldemort disguised as Sirius? It's in the prophecy. The bit with being covered in the flesh of the dead? 'Covered in the flesh of the dead, he will gain the trust of the one born as the seventh month dies.' It means…"

"Yes." Said Hermione softly as she patted Harry on the back.

It meant Sirius was dead. He has been dead all this time. It was Voldemort who led Harry to believe his godfather was alive.

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR