Chapter Twelve
New Instruction

Ginny read the letter through twice before it all sank in. The world was in danger, and people were dead, and there were more Death eaters than before…

Ginny stood up and threw her letter into the flames. So did Harry. With a flick of her wand, Ginny extinguished the fireplace. Ginny walked over to the closet and opened it.

"Thank you Ginevra. Now we must be leaving. Harry: do as I said to do in that letter. Ginevra, come with me," Dumbledore instructed as he clambered out of the tiny closet.

"But Professor! I haven't told Harry anything yet! Can't we stay just a few more minutes?" Ginny protested.

But it was not Dumbledore who answered. "Gin, I can't. I have to go now. It's important. I'll tell you what; I'll meet you at the Shrieking Shack on July 25. Don't come before midnight. Then you can tell me everything, I promise," Harry answered, and after giving Ginny a quick kiss on the cheek, he left.

"Now, we must be leaving ourselves. Put your shoes on and we'll leave. We'll fly. I brought my broomstick, and I trust you've shrunken yours?" Dumbledore planned.

Ginny nodded as her eyes filled up with tears. She withdrew her shrunken broom from her pocket and returned it to normal size. Dumbledore reached back in the closet and pulled out an ancient-looking broom.

"Are you ready? Before we leave, I must tell you that your family is fine. But I'm afraid that Draco Malfoy killed Neville Longbottom. He was actually dueling Bellatrix Lestrange, and winning, but Malfoy hit him with the Killing Curse as soon as young Neville turned around. We shall give him a quiet funeral tomorrow, and after that you need to get going again. And you must promise me that if you see any Death Eaters you shall get into hiding and inform me right away."

They flew to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place where every single member of the Order and the D.A. was waiting for Dumbledore's next instructions.

On the way there, Ginny told Dumbledore everything that happened on her journey. She told him about Krum and the Death Eaters in full detail. But then Ginny had a question.

"Professor, I remember when the Order went through Sirius's will two summers ago that nothing was mentioned about Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Whom was that left to?"

"Well, when we reformed the Order of the Phoenix, I advised that every member write their will that summer. The first time, no one did, and it caused confusion when members died. Sirius asked me if he should leave the house to Harry. I advised against it, and said that it should remain in the family. So it was left to Nymphadora Tonks. She graciously kept it as Headquarters for the Order. Now, we didn't read that part out loud, because Nymphadora already knew it was left to her. And if and when Nymphadora dies, the house will be closed up for good. Sirius and Tonks discussed that when they wrote their wills. It has already been decided, so you need not worry about it, Ginny," Dumbledore explained.

When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, Ginny was swarmed with hugs and everyone was shouting things like, "She's okay!", and "She's still alive!", which made Ginny feel as if they expected her to be dead.

At dinnertime, everyone was conversing about their near-death encounters, and how well they dueled and everything they saw. Ginny just ate her food quietly and didn't even hear Hermione, Luna, the twins and Ron trying to get her attention. Finally, George was able to catch her eye.

"Bloody hell, George! What did you poke me in the eye for?" Ginny yelled angrily while rubbing her eye.

"Well we were calling your name and tapping your shoulder, but you didn't even notice us. You're lucky it wasn't me who got your attention. I was going to slip a Canary Cream into you your potato…" Fred snickered.

"So, Ginny…did you find Harry?" Hermione asked with a look of great concern on her face. Ginny told them all about Krum, and Harry and the Death Eaters, and her hiding spot. When she finished, no one spoke for a moment. Finally, Ron spoke.

"So you have to meet him at the Shrieking Shack in five days. Could we come too?"

But it wasn't Ginny who answered. "Ron! We have to fight the Death Eaters! They're all still alive and still out in the world trying to bring Harry to Voldemort, and trying to kill Ginny so she can't help him," Luna said sharply.

Although Ginny knew this already, hearing from someone else made her realize how much danger she and Harry, and even the D.A. and the Order were in. The Death Eaters were trying murder her so Harry will have to duel both Snape and Voldemort alone, and the D.A. and the Order were risking their lives to make sure that didn't happen.

The rest of the meal was eaten in almost absolute silence. After everything was cleaned up, Dumbledore led them all into the drawing room, where he summoned many armchairs for them all to sit on.

"As you all know, seventeen year-old D.A. member, Neville Longbottom has perished at the hands of Draco Malfoy. He was putting up a great fight with Bellatrix Lestrange, but as soon as he turned around, Malfoy was there ready to commit his first murder. We need to make sure it was his last. The Death Eaters must be stopped, and there are other ways to do that besides murder. Harry has figured this out and is going to use that knowledge as an advantage in his duel with Voldemort. But it is up to you to figure it out for yourself. Voldemort may be powerful, yes; but he fails to acknowledge that death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person, such as the Dementor's Kiss. After receiving the Kiss, you are not dead, but it is much worse than death. You have no soul, and therefore you cannot really live. You are basically alive, but what point is there to live? You can no longer walk, talk, think, or do anything. But we must not get to far away from the subject. Members of the Order: You will need to make sure that no witch or wizard is left behind. They all need to get into hiding. I will organize portkeys to take them to places such as the one that Ginny and Harry used this evening. After that, one member will stand guard at each of these places every night. You will be rotating of course. When not standing guard, two Order members will be grouped up with three D.A. members, which brings me to the D.A.'s new orders. D.A. members will be roaming wizarding areas all over Europe. I have contacted the American Ministry, and they will set up a defense system, and also inform other areas of the world. So our main focus is Europe. As I have said, three D.A. members and two Order members will stay together and search for the Death Eaters. You will be sleeping during the day, and start patrolling at dusk. And at 6:30 AM you will send an owl with your progress. If you encounter any Death Eaters, call for backup, and you will duel them. Once they are weak, bind them to something, and after all are bound down, I will come and handle it. If the Final Duel has not occurred by July 29, all of you will report back here for special instruction. Any questions?" Dumbledore finished and sighed. Ginny couldn't help but notice that lately, Dumbledore didn't look well. He seemed to have lost all the youth left in his face. The twinkle that was once in his brilliantly blue eyes was gone, and he always looked extremely tired and worn out.

Ginny raised her hand. "Professor, I have a question. Are you going to sleep now? I think we'll all be fine. You need to rest, too. Please, just go lie down for a few hours. I'll take it from here."

Dumbledore smiled and a faint twinkle appeared in his eye. "Why, thank you, Ginevra. But I must insist that you not call me Professor outside of school. Yes, Ginevra, I will go lie down. Thank you all very much, and I bid you a goodnight."

When Dumbledore went upstairs, Lupin, Charlie, Bill, and Mr. Weasley started gathering items to turn into portkeys. Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Hermione, and Luna started preparing a lot of food because everyone would be sleeping during the day, and this was the only time they had to start preparing food for the week. Moody, Ron, Fred, and George left to look for good places to use as refuge for witches and wizards in hiding. Everyone else just loitered around; helping whomever needed help, and started cleaning the house. As Ginny strode over to the stairs, she wondered what Harry was doing right now. She sat down on the bottom stair, and was drifting off…