CHAPTER 18: Potter's Army

Harry left the Hog's Head and was brought straight to the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, where Madame Pompfrey insisted that he take his normal bed while she looked over him.

"Despite a nasty scar across your chest you should be fine, Mr. Potter. However I'd feel more comfortable if you spend the night. Of course when do I get what I want? The Headmaster should arrive in a few moments, I daresay he would like to speak with you." Harry nodded. "In the mean time, just lay there. You have a few visitors." She swept out of the room, allowing Ginny, Ron, and Hermione to enter.

"Hey guys, I miss anything important?" Harry joked, trying to ease the somber attitude of his friends.

"What happened, Harry?" Ginny asked quietly. Hermione nodded vigorously beside her, holding her hand over her mouth as if she were about to cry.

"I got jumped, basically. Dolohov followed me, told me Voldemort wanted me to join him, I said no, but before I could hex him Avery appeared out of nowhere and stunned me. Dolohov hit me with the-er- I mean a curse, I'm not sure which one, but it broke the stun." Harry had come close to saying killing curse, but wasn't sure it was a great idea to tell Hermione that now, she seemed so close to crying that anything would send her over the edge.

"You killed them, didn't you?" This time it was Ron, Harry looked at him for a second as if trying to see what he thought about the fact, but there was almost no emotion in his eyes.

"I killed them, yes. I'm not sure where he took them, though."

"Where who took them?" Ginny asked.

"Dumbledore-Aberforth Dumbledore, I mean. He's the owner of the Hog's Head, when I woke up that's where I was."

"You have no idea what curse Dolohov hit you with?" Hermione finally spoke. Harry almost laughed at how good she was at catching him in his lies. Harry sighed before responding.

"I knew the curse, it was the killing curse." Hermione gasped, tears running down her cheeks. She looked caught between hugging Harry and running out of the room, after a moments time she chose the latter. As she raced from the room Ron turned towards where Harry was laying. "It's fine, go make sure she's ok." Ron nodded and hurried from the room, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

Ginny sat on the edge of the bed tentatively, as if not sure if it was going to hurt Harry. Seeing how uncomfortable she was Harry made an attempt to get up and comfort her, but as soon as he pulled the bed sheets off of his bare chest she gasped.

"Harry is that-did Dolohov do that?" She stared at his chest, wide eyed. Harry looked down to see what she was staring at and realized that when Madame Pomfrey said he would have a nasty scar, she wasn't kidding. From his left shoulder all the way down to the bottom of his right rib cage was a scar that made it look like he had been cut in half with a rather jagged saw.

"Yea, I guess that's where the curse hit me." Harry stared down, looking somewhat comical trying to turn his body to see just how far the scar went.

"Harry! That scar on your back can't be from the same curse, can it?" Harry followed his gave to the back of his right shoulder. He reached around to see what scar she was talking about, and realized it ran from the side of his shoulder to the middle of his back.

"Oh, that? No, Gin, that's where the Hungarian Horntail got me in fourth year, the scar never exactly healed." He finished somewhat lamely.

"Is that where the basilisk got you?" She asked, inching closer to him and touching the puckered scar just above the elbow on his left arm. Harry nodded. She turned her attention to another ugly looking scar on his other arm. "And that's…"

"That's where Pettigrew stabbed me to get my blood, that's how Voldemort got his body back." Harry said in a flat, almost dead voice. Ginny gasped. She knew part of the story about that night where Harry returned to the triwizard maze clutching the cup and Cedric's dead body, but she didn't know that Harry's blood was part of the potion, and he hadn't even mentioned Peter Pettigrew's part in the whole affair.

"I'm so sorry, Harry." She whispered, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. Harry hadn't seen this coming, but he felt so comfortable with Ginny, she wasn't just his best mate's younger sister anymore, she was his friend, she would follow him into any battle, but that was the last thing Harry wanted her to do.

"Ginny you don't get to hog Harry all to yourself, you know." Harry drew away from Ginny quickly when he heard Parvati's voice. "I wanted someone to tell me when you woke up, Harry, but obviously someone forgot to tell me."

"Er-Parvati…This isn't-" Harry stammered, waiting for her to blow up at him like Cho did last year after hearing Harry was meeting Hermione.

"I know, Harry. I'm not a jealous person, not exactly anyway." Ginny blushed and walked quickly out of the room, muttering something about being late. Parvati watched her go and then took her place at the end of Harry's bed. "You would have to do a lot more than hug one of your friend's to get rid of me, Harry Potter."

"How do you know me and her are just friends?" Harry asked playfully. Parvati leaned in to whisper something in his ear, her cheek gently brushing his.

"I don't really mind a challenge." Harry thought he had been hit with a total body binding hex the way he couldn't control his muscles, or his mind for that matter. Harry could see why she didn't mind a challenge. Parvati pulled away just enough to be able to look into his eyes. Before Harry knew what he was doing, they were kissing.

"Hem Hem." For the second time Harry jerked upright, seeing Ron and Hermione at the door.

"I told you I wanted to kill Ron." Parvati whispered before standing up.

"Hope we're not interrupting anything?" Ron said with a grin, earning him a hard smack on the chest from Hermione.

"Stop being such an insensitive prat!"

"I'm not insensitive!" Harry could see the two friends about to erupt in another argument, but before he could say anything Hermione said something that made his jaw drop.

"Well this could have just as easily been Harry walking in on you! Then how would you like it if he made jokes?" Ron went red.

"I-er-well…" Ron stammered.

"What do you have to worry about, Ron? It's not like you have a girlfriend…" Harry saw Ron blush even more. "Wait…You mean to say that…Oh this is too good! Who is it Ron?"

"Well, I…um…I'm going out with…" As Ron stammered on Hermione blushed. "Well, when Hermione said it could've been you walking in on me? She sort of should have said…well…us."

"You two? You're telling me that my two best friends are dating and didn't even tell me?" Harry cried in mock outrage, apparently they were too embarrassed to see that Harry was joking.

"I'm really sorry, Harry!" Hermione started. "It just sort of…happened. We were going to tell you-What's so funny?" Harry was laughing hysterically now.

"This is too brilliant. It's about bloody time! And what do you mean 'just happened?' You two have liked each other for ages!"

"No we haven't!" Ron yelled, but blushed a deeper shade of scarlet.

"Oh, stop it, Ron. Everyone knew it." Parvati said with a mischievous smile. Harry burst out laughing again.

"Excuse me, but I will need to borrow Harry sometime soon, so if you stop making him laugh so much that he dies of suffocation I would be extremely pleased."

"Headmaster!" Parvati said, bolting upright as if she had been caught like Harry had been twice.

"Yes, Miss Patil?" Dumbledore glanced kindly at her, but she couldn't respond. "And might I say congratulations to you and Harry, I believe you two will make a very nice couple." Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled as they went from Parvati to Harry…and then over to Ron and Hermione. "I don't make it a habit to eavesdrop on personal conversations, but I couldn't help but over hear. And the answer is yes, Mr. Weasley, it has been quite obvious to most of us here at Hogwarts that you and Miss Granger here would end up together." Dumbleodre signaled for Harry to follow him and walked out of the room.

Harry walked quickly towards Dumbledore's office, but never caught up with the old man. As soon as he came into view of the Gargoyles the two statues leapt out of the way, allowing Harry to enter without breaking stride.

"Well, Harry. I told you I would tell you of anything that happens within the Order, but that is a two sided agreement. Would you be ok with accompanying me to tonight's emergency meeting to tell the full version of events?" Harry nodded quickly. "Very well, Harry, follow me."

Harry expected Dumbledore to reach for the bag of floo powder to return to Grimmauld Place, but to his surprise he walked up and stroked Fawkes on the head. "Will you please let me know if anything happens while I am gone?" The Headmaster whispered to his bird, receiving an affectionate nip on the finger. "Thank you, Fawkes." With a flash the bird disappeared. "Harry, you can't tell anyone about this meeting place. I've found that it is absolutely necessary to stay here at Hogwarts, and recent events prove the same for you. That is what led me to discover this chamber. Actually discover isn't the right word, Dilys here turned me onto it." Dumbledore signaled to the portrait of Dilys Derwent, the witch in the painting blushed. "Promise me that you will not tell anyone of this chamber's existence." Harry nodded. "Very well, stand back." Dumbledore pointed his wand at the solid wall behind his desk. Soon Harry saw a small portion of the wall grow red, and then expand. When it got to be about the size of Harry's fist he saw that it was some kind of rune, it looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. The rune kept growing until it was roughly the size off a door, then it completely vanished taking the portion of wall away with it.

As they crossed the threshold Harry felt air rush past him, and turned to see that the wall had sealed itself behind him. Harry glanced at Dumbledore who smiled and simply said, "only the truly loyal Harry." This wasn't quite as good an answer as he had hoped for, but it told him it was Dumbledore's way of weeding out the Pettigrew's this time around.

After a brief walk they entered a large, cave like room with torches on the walls which cast an eerie glow over the assembled crowd. "Please sit, everyone. We will start tonight by hearing from Harry, who had a…unique…experience this morning." Dumbledore stepped aside, leaving Harry standing alone in front of all of the shadowy figures.

"Well-today was the trip to Hogsmeade, and, er, me and Parvati went together-"

"Get on with it, Potter." Harry heard the unmistakable icy tone of Professor Snape. It actually helped Harry to know who he was speaking to, even though Snape wasn't exactly his first choice of an audience.

"Yea, get to the good part, will you?" Remus yelled, taking Harry's mind off the potions master.

Harry spoke for twenty minutes, recounting every detail that he could possibly remember, leaving out parts of his conversation with Aberforth. He fielded questions for several more minutes after that, before Dumbledore stood up from where he had been sitting so still and quiet that Harry never realized he was still in the room.

"You now all know the full extent of the Prophesy, and I needn't have to remind you not to even speak of it outside of this hall or Grimmauld Place. However, now we must move to a different matter entirely. Mudungus Fletcher, will you please come forward?" Harry saw a tentative figure approach the front of the room. Dumbledore's eyes were cold, an expression Harry had never seen before in the old man. "You have been repeatedly warned that while on guard duty you must actually be present. Yet today you failed again, and, unfortunately, this cannot go unpunished. I suggest that-"

"WAIT A SECOND!" Harry bellowed, jumping up from his chair. "You mean to tell me that because he wasn't following me around like you asked him to he's going to be punished?"

"Sit down, Potter. It is not your place to interrupt the Headmaster." Snape interjected, but Harry didn't obey.

"I have every right to stop the Headmaster from making a mistake. This, ultimately, will be my fight, and I need you all with me. If that means forgiving a few more mistakes then normally, so be it. I understand that you have all fought, suffered, and lost people to this cause, but who are you to ask for perfection? If you want to understand why this happened take a look at the reason Dung is here with us today. Sirius once told me that the reason Dung was in the Order was because not only was he loyal, but because he knows all of the crooks, he's, in a sense, an informant, an early warning. To use him on guard duty is to take him out of his element. You can't blame him for failing in a place where he shouldn't be expected to succeed." Harry finished hotly, anger boiling up inside of him. He stared around the room, almost daring for someone to contradict him.

"I'd have to agree with Harry." Lupin stood up, Harry felt a rush of gratitude towards his new guardian. There were murmurs of assent throughout the crowd, "we're with you, Harry," was repeated quite a few times.

"Very well, there shall be no punishment, meeting adjourned."

On their way to the door, many of the Order members stopped to shake Harry's hand or pat him on the shoulder. Finally only he and Dung were left in the room.

"I dunno what got inter ya, they'd a been right ta kick me out…I guess I owe you an apology, 'Arry."

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't lying when I said I needed all of you, including you, Dung, to help me out."

"Yea, well you saved me arse in there, so if you ever need anything, and I mean anything, dealing with this war er not, I'm your man." Harry simply nodded, realizing that this was the second person today to tell him that.

Harry left the chamber and walked up to his room to find an empty common room. He closed the curtains surrounding the bed and closed his eyes, but heard a quiet pop and a small weight on top of his leg.

"Master must forgive me, Dobby didn't mean to land on Harry Potter's leg." A tearful Dobby said, jumping off the bed.

"It's ok, Dobby, I know you didn't mean it."

"Harry Potter is too kind, sir!" Dobby squeaked. "That is why I have come to talk to him. I have told you that you are a beacon of hope for all house elves, sir. And since you set Dobby free, I want to pledge my service to you."

"But, you're working at Hogwarts now. You can't serve to masters…" Harry asked more than said this.

"Ah, but Dumbledore isn't actually my master, Harry Potter sir. Dumbledore is telling me that I can work for wages and I can call him anything Dobby likes, which means Dumbledore has released Dobby from the House Elves enslavement. Dobby can still earn his wages at Hogwarts, but he can properly serve Harry Potter now."

"Dobby, that's –er- nice of you but-"

"Harry Potter musn't deny Dobby, Dobby knows of Harry Potter's plight concerning He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and Dobby can help. I can move without being seen, 'tis a mark of a good house elf. I can spy on You-Know-Who and his nasty evil wizards."

"Dobby, it's too dangerous, I won't have you risk your life for me."

"OH! Sir is to kind to Dobby! I wish to do this, and The other House Elves wish to help as well, but they cannot break their magical contract with Albus Dumbledore, so orders from him must come first. As for the House Elves that serve the evil wizards, Dobby already knows many of them from his time at Malfoy Manner, and they all wish to be freed. Dobby can use them to spy on their masters."

"But Dobby, they can't divulge their master's secrets!" Harry protested.

"Only the ones that their masters forbid them to repeat. And Dobby can ask them to stay out of his way while he does the spying, there is no rule that a House Elf must protect their master from eavesdroppers, 'tis a custom that many elves practice because they love their masters."

"Dobby, I don't know-"

"Dobby and Winky will not take no for an answer, Harry Potter. You are our master now."

'Wait-Winky?" Harry began to ask, but Dobby had disappeared.

"You know what's going on, Albus." Moody growled from the chair in front of the Headmaster's desk.

"I'm not sure I know what you are referring to." Dumbledore looked very old and tired.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about. I mean Potter. He's building himself an army, about half the students in the school, or maybe more now, would be willing to risk their lives for him. He's got that DA who are like his own personal body guards, loyal only to him, and now he's reaching into the Order, your Order."

"Ah, yes I do know that. If I am not mistaken he also has a few House elves working for him, Dobby and Winky at the very least. I'm quite afraid that you may have left a few things out, Alastor." Moody raised his eyebrows. "After Umbridge was carried into the woods by the Centaurs, I went in after her. However, while I was their an interesting thing happened, you see, that night one of the leaders of the Centaurs, Bane, was stargazing."

"What a bloody surprise." Moody growled, Dumbledore pretended not to hear him.

"He saw in the stars that their was a man that could make the Centaurs equal to humans, a man that would be willing to fight on their behalf."

"You think it's Potter? He's not a man, he's only a boy!"

"Do you really think so, Alastor? This boy has faced Voldemort more times than you or I combined. This boy has suffered more than anyone should be forced to, and if he acts emotional once in a while it is in no way the mark of a child. Just remember, humans are the only ones that think of manhood as a number." Moody sat quietly for a moment, scratching his chin.

"What if they think it is Voldemort? He offers the Dementors more power, why not the Centaurs?"

"A thought that occurred to me as well. Bane and the other Centaurs know of Voldemort's cruelty, they know he will not give them power or equality. Voldemort killed some of their kind during the first war, and they shall not forget it, at least I hope they don't."