Chapter 5 - Where is Harry?
Ron and Hermione stared in dismay as the two tired owls arrived. This was the umpteenth time that their owls returned without having delivered the letters. The Order was being extremely secretive when asked about Harry's whereabouts. But they both thought it was ridiculous. The term would start the next day and Harry had not arrived yet. He should have been here a few weeks ago!
"I can't believe this!" exclaimed Ron in exasperation as he caught the undelivered parchment dropped by his owl.
"Maybe he doesn't want to have anything to do with us anymore..." said Hermione in desperation as she too grabbed her own undelivered mail.
"That's ridiculous, Herm, and you know it. He must have been attacked or something." argued Ron.
"If he had, then we would have heard of it by now." said Hermione in anguish. The Order used to tell them what's happening with Harry however edited it may be but now, they just plainly evaded the issue.
Just then a very anxious looking Molly entered the kitchen to prepare lunch. They noticed that her usual cheerful greeting was absent as she tried her very best to act like she had not seen them.
"Hi, mum!" greeted Ron.
"Oh, hi, dear. Aren't you going to prepare your things for tomorrow?" said Molly, her tone a little higher than usual.
"If that's not a brush off, then I don't know what was." whispered Ron to a worried Hermione. Clearly, the suspicious attitude of Mrs. Weasley was getting on her nerves.
"Is Harry going to be here today or is he just going to meet us at the station?" asked Hermione with an expression that stated that she wanted an answer now.
"Oh, I'm not so sure, dear. Maybe you can just ask Dumbledore when he drops by later." replied Molly and made an obvious show of being busy to discourage them from asking any more questions.
Hermione looked skeptical but decided not to press her anymore. "Come on, we better pack our things now so we can have enough time to interrogate Professor Dumbledore later."
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Unfortunately, Dumbledore did not arrive. He was currently having a meeting at his office with Moody, Lupin, Tonks and Snape. All were perusing a copy of Snape's report on his progress.
"Curious...Very curious." commented Dumbledore as he finished reading Snape's account of what he had unearthed during the past few days. "I have never yet heard of a muggle house that a wizard has failed to locate despite of using magical means."
"That's what has been puzzling me, Professor. Usually, the telephone companies have a record of their client's addresses but it seemed that after the phone had been installed, those people had arranged for the bank to automatically debit the bill from their account and had somehow convinced them to erase their address from their records." said Snape, also mystified by his findings.
"And 'Voldie's Downfall'? Sounds highly suspicious. Of course it could just be coincidental -- but then again, maybe not." said Alastor Moody whose rotating eyes was busy scanning the report for anything that he had missed out.
"I tried asking around if they knew the band but I think they are just starting. No one knew them yet."
"Hmm....what about the name of the bank?" asked Lupin.
"That's another strange thing. Apparently, after the phone company had verified their bank account, they couldn't seem to contact them anymore but since the bill is being paid regularly, they decided not to be bothered by it." replied Snape.
"Interesting. What about the one who answered the phone? Are you sure it's not Harry?" asked Tonks who found it highly unusual for muggles to be so well-hidden like that.
"I'm quite sure. The voice is very different from Harry's and even if it's him, I'm certain that he has no way of knowing that I'm the one who's calling them."
"You can't be too sure about that, Severus. Never underestimate the muggle when it comes to technology. Maybe they have some device that shows the face of the person calling them." said Dumbledore as he leafed through a latest edition of a muggle magazine about computers and other forms of hi-tech gadgets. "See here. Maybe they have this kind of telephone." he added as he showed them a phone that has a camera on it.
Snape and the others eagerly read its description.
"But Professor, this only works when both the caller and the receiver have cameras on their phone and I'm definite that the one I used was just an ordinary one." said Snape in confusion.
The headmaster and the others stared at one another - seemingly at a loss for words. Harry Potter was missing for almost a month now and their only lead was untraceable. The term would be starting tomorrow and if they failed to locate him on time, they wouldn't anymore be able to hide the fact that Harry was nowhere to be found.
"I guess this leads us to a possibility that Harry is with a group of wizards who, like him, have decided to live a muggle life for a reason that we don't know yet. And they are using every possible means to prevent anyone from finding them. The band is a good cover since no one would suspect wizards to pursue that career. As of now, this is still good. Since we can't locate him yet then it is possible that once the news leaks out, the death-eaters would have a hard time finding him too." said Dumbledore.
"But it's not impossible?" said Moody with concern, voicing out the other's unspoken question.
"I'm afraid it's not, Alastor. It's only a matter of time." replied Dumbledore grimly. Then he turned to Tonks. "Please try to check at the Ministry's archives if there's a record of missing wizards who could possibly be with Harry right now."
"Yes, Professor." agreed Tonks immediately.
"And Severus, please try to find the band. I'm sure they will be asked to perform in some clubs or bars sooner or later. You just have to find the correct one."
"I will." declared Snape somewhat arrogantly. He was never one to back out on a challenge. And this task - although unpleasant - was proving to be a worthy test on his intellect.
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Ron, Hermione and Ginny were huddled together at the living room, waiting for the Order members who would take them to the King's Cross Station. All were sitting in an uncomfortable silence. They knew something was wrong the moment they woke up and did not find Harry there. Molly and the others locked themselves in one room and claimed they were having a meeting but they knew they just wanted to avoid their questions.
"Their attitude is making me nervous." stated Ginny to break the silence.
"What could possibly be so bad for them to continually avoid us?" said Hermione in an anguish voice.
The others looked more alarmed at her words. The Order members have trusted them with so many secrets before - including deaths of some members and other suspicious behaviors of their enemies. Why stop now? And where's Harry?
"I suppose Harry's still alive since there's no article about him on the Daily Prophet." said Ron distractedly as he scanned the day's paper.
"RON!" exclaimed both Ginny and Hermione and stormed out of the room in disgust.
'What did I do now?' thought Ron in confusion as he stared at the retreating figures of the girls.
Hermione and Ginny were still mad at Ron for his insensitive comment a while ago as they boarded up the train in haste. Mr. Weasley had arrived just in time to bring them to the train station and instead of the usual ministry cars, he transported them there through a portkey and left as soon as they passed the barrier. It happened so fast that they did not have the opportunity to ask him anything. And worse, the first person they saw on the train was the last person they wanted to see in their current mood.
"Oh, here comes the loser bunch. Where's Potty? Tired of your company already?" sneered a tall blond boy who could be regarded as drop-dead gorgeous if only he did not have that ugly expression that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face.
"Mind your own business, Malfoy. I'm not in the mood." said Ron sourly as he instinctively reached for his wand. One can never be too careful with a Malfoy around.
"I'm just asking you a question, Weasel. Why, can't take the idea of your boyfriend leaving you?" Draco continued to taunt him, not realizing that Ron was already feeling murderous at the moment.
"Back off, Malfoy." said Hermione angrily and she held Ron's and Ginny's arms to steer them away from trouble.
"Oh, I'm soooo scared. I didn't know you had it in you, Granger." said Draco. Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind his back.
"Come on, Ron, Ginny. We don't have to waste our time with these people." said Hermione as she, too, struggled to keep her temper in check.
"See, I'm right. These bunch of losers don't have the nerve to fight me without their pathetic defender who thinks he was the saviour of the wizarding world." declared Draco arrogantly to his cronies and proceeded to stroll around the train to find other unsuspecting victims to torment.
"What did you say, Malfoy?" said Hermione coldly, effectively stopping Draco in his tracks. He slowly turned around and gave her a mocking glare but his glare faltered slightly as he noticed her withering stare.
"I said you don't have the nerve to fight me without your pathetic friend who was under the delusion that he would be the one to --- "
"SILENCIO VOX!"
A jet of light that suddenly escaped from Hermione's wand immediately disabled Draco's vocal chords but before he could retaliate, another stream of light followed and he was horrified to find his legs gradually vanishing before his eyes. When he turned to his cronies, he saw that they too was suffering the same fate in Ginny's and Ron's relentless hands.
"You will never speak another demeaning word about Harry and the rest of our friends from now on. Am I clear?" said Hermione with the same cold tone which matched her frosty expression.
Draco would never admit it to anyone else but at the moment, he was too terrified to do anything but nod his head dumbly like Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione gave him a self-satisfied smirk and left with Ron and Ginny who waved mockingly at the three half-bodied Slytherins.