A/N: Alright, my readers, it's time once again to get back to my two favorite dark creatures. In this chapter, we're going to learn that being on the light side doesn't always mean being the good guy. Should be fun. On with the show! But before that, I need to speak to Blank_eyes.
Blank_eyes: You make a very good point about the secret keeper thing, but listen to my reasoning for a moment. If there was a spy in the Order, Dumbledore would want them caught. Using the Fidelius was a perfect way to find the spy. He announced to the Order that the Potters would go under the Fidelius Charm, but didn't tell them who the secret keeper was. Once the Potters were gone, he could leak false information to different Order members as to who was the secret keeper, and see who got attacked. Tactically, it would flush out the rat, so to speak, because they would know who was told what.
**
Chapter 12: Deceptions, Theories, and a Portrait
**
Professor Dumbledore was always good at math. When the news of this latest murder got to him, he quickly put two and two together, and made four. He was inching closer to his goal, of finding out who the members of the Imperial Dragon Circle were, and hopefully, Ronald Weasley could put the final pieces of the puzzle in place. Too many coincidences were present to be passed off as coincidences, especially considering the Dumbledore didn't believe in coincidences.
Harry and Hermione were both trained in Occlumency over the summer. There were very few master Occlumencers in the known Wizarding world. The only conclusion he could come to was that they learned from someone outside Wizarding society. That meant either a Dark Arts Master, or someone who needed to keep themselves hidden, like an assassin. After reading the letter from the Grangers, who didn't know where Harry and Hermione had gone during the day while they were out shopping, he knew where the trip across Europe had taken them. The problem was, it wasn't anywhere near any know Dark Arts Masters. That left assassins. Professor Dumbledore was aware of the circumstances under which Theodore Nott had met his end. Someone knew exactly what he was afraid of, and used it against him. The only way a person could know that would be if they were a legilimens. The team of assassins known as Nytemare and Dreem were legilimencers, the perfect trainers for them.
Then, there was the knowledge of enchantment. Professor Dumbledore had studied enchantment quite thoroughly when he was younger, and discovered that it took several months to train your body to feel magic, and years to manipulate it properly. Harry and Hermione had learned to detect it in a couple of months. They had very good teachers, but who could have taught them? It was a lost art. Then, he heard about the murder. Rodolphus LeStrange bled to death as a result of drinking a sweating solution. It was changed using enchantment. The professor had to make the connection between Harry's teacher and the assassins.
Surprisingly, that made his job easier. Once he found out who the assassins were, he could have them detained, and questioned about who their master was, and what his goals were. And he had the perfect plan to ascertain who they were. He was going to have Ronald Weasley get the information for him.
**
Ron had been taken from his Divination class to meet the Headmaster. It was a class he didn't share with Harry or Hermione, but he assumed that they would be there with him. Imagine his surprise when he entered the office to find himself alone with the Headmaster. He wondered briefly if he'd done something wrong, but couldn't remember doing anything to get himself in trouble. He sat down, and took one of the offered Lemon Drops.
"Ronald, I'm sure you are probably wondering why I asked you up here today." The old wizard said. "It has to to do with a matter of great importance to the world."
"Sir?" Ron was stumped. A matter of great importance? Concerning the whole world? Ron was never the best at putting two and two together, usually ending up with eight or nine. "What are you talking about?"
"Why, The Order of the Phoenix, of course." Said Dumbledore, forming his next thoughts very carefully. "Two of our members thought that you would make a fine asset to us, with your brilliant mind for strategy."
That was unexpected. Ron had suspicions that Harry and Hermione had joined the Order during the summer because of the rather cryptic descriptions they gave him about the summer, but he didn't think that they'd try to get him in as well. That was part of the reason he had not spent much time with them this school year. The other reason was Lavender Brown, of course.
"However," Dumbledore continued, "Several of our members were opposed to someone so young joining us. So, in the end, we decided to give you a test to see whether or not you can handle being in the Order."
"I'm ready to be in the Order, Professor. I'll take whatever test you want." Ron was excited. His friends were in the Order, and there was no way he was going to let them leave him behind.
"Good, Ronald. The test is simple enough, and won't even require you to miss school. All you need to do I gather some information. Harry and Hermione were trained by a few people over the summer." Professor Dumbledore said. "They have been instructed not to reveal their identities to anyone. It's your job to get that information."
"I have to spy on my friends, Professor?" Ron asked, dumbfounded. "Why my friends?"
"Simply put, Ronald, there is nobody else in the school that would be able to be here all the time. Harry and Hermione are students, and stay at the castle. They are the perfect ones to enact the scenario." Dumbledore answered. Ron's eyes were sparkling. All he had to do was ask Harry for the information, and he would be in the Order. Dumbledore, however, knew what he was thinking, and stopped that train of thought before it even left the station. "Ronald, Harry will no doubt inform me if you cheat on your test. If you let him know that your interest in his summer studies is anything related to the Order, you will automatically fail."
Ron left the Headmaster's office that day in a daze. His mind was spinning with ideas as to how to get that information. He had to play it right, but he was already plotting. He was the best chess player in Hogwarts, and he was not going to lose this game.
**
"So Throckmorton, anything to report about your current assignment?" Dumbledore asked, later that evening.
"It was strange." The portrait replied. "He walked in, and looked at me in shock for a moment. Then he looked angry for just a moment. Then, his face went blank."
"He's become quite good at masking his emotions, Throckmorton" Said Dumbledore. "It makes it hard to know what he's thinking. What happened after that?"
"He went over to his bookshelf, and pulled a book out. I'm not sure what book it was, since I'm not at a very good angle to see his shelf." The portrait reported. "I assume it was a spell book of some kind, because he started leafing through the pages quickly. He found the page he was looking for and read it carefully. I sort of expected him to practice the spell, but he just went and sat at his desk, and pulled out a parchment and quill."
"An essay for one of his classes, perhaps?" Dumbledore prompted.
"That's what I thought at first too, Albus, but he finished it very quickly, and put it into an envelope." The painting said. "I realized that it was a letter, and was waiting for him to leave to head to the Owlery to send it, so I could tell you. I never got the chance, however. He went to the window, and whistled. A few moments later, his owl flew in the window. He tied the letter to her leg, and gave her a different parchment in her beak. He whispered something to her, and she took off."
"Very resourceful of him, wasn't it?" Albus asked. "He knew you might alert me to the fact he was sending a letter, and didn't want it intercepted. Very resourceful, indeed.
"Then," The painting continued, "he walked over to me, looked straight into my face, and said 'don't get comfortable.' I was quite confused. He then left the room, and went into the other prefect's room. There is no portrait in that room, so I don't know what went on."
"Thank you, Throckmorton. Continue to watch him, and report to me daily." Albus said. The painted man bowed slightly, and left the frame that he was in.
Albus Dumbledore was an intelligent man, who was almost always prepared for whatever might happen. So, naturally, it came as quite a shock when a Ministry of Magic owl swooped in and landed on the desk. It wasn't so much the shock of the owl, but the fact that Ministry owls usually came in the morning. Curious, Albus opened the letter.
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster
Headmaster, it has been brought to our attention recently that you are invading the privacy of one of your students. Mr. Harry Potter wrote us a letter this afternoon, telling us of a portrait that has been placed in his private dorm room. According to Article Seventy-Two of the school bylaws, Human portraits are not to be placed into any private quarters. This includes common dorms, prefect quarters, and head student quarters.
This is a notice of probation. You are to remove the portrait from Mr. Potter's room immediately, and write him a formal apology. Since this is the first breach of a students privacy on your record, the Board of Governors has decided not to take any further action. Be warned, however, that if you do not respect the students' privacy, we will consider removing you from Hogwarts.
James Thompson
Vice-President
Board of Governors
The Headmaster looked at the letter, after he re-read it for the fourth time. A slow smile made its way across his face. "Touché, Harry."
**
"You what?" Snape asked. He couldn't believe it.
"I must remove the portait from Harry's room. It was against the school rules to position it there in the first place." Albus said, still smiling.
"There are extenuating circumstances!" Snape snapped. He needed that information. "If Potter would just tell us what we need to know, then it wouldn't be necessary!"
"Calm yourself, Severus. If Ronald Weasley is unsuccessful in four days, then we will persue your course of action." Albus said. He was not a supporter of the idea of Harry submitting to Veritaserum, but the information was vital.
"Good." Snape sneered. "There are a good deal of questions I'd like to ask him." It was going to be a glorious day for Slytherin House
"Now Severus, behave yourself. I will only allow questions that deal with his summer studies." Albus said. He would not allow Severus to make a fool out of Harry.
"As you say, Headmaster." Snape said, and left the office
**
"He's what?" Hermione asked. She couldn't believe it.
"He's spying on us, Hermione." Harry said. "He put a portrait in my room. The portrait of a former Headmaster, no less."
"What are we going to do, Harry? If he's watching us, how are we going to feed?" Hermione was in a panic. Her awakening was in four days, and she was going to require satisfaction after the transformation.
"Don't worry, Hermione. I took care of the portrait issue. Just be on the lookout for anyone, even our friends trying to get details about this last summer. We need to be careful." Harry said, hugging her close for reassurance. "We'll do our thing next after your awakening."
"Ok Harry, it's bedtime. Are you staying?" She asked, with a flirtatious smile.
"Sure, my love."
**
A/N: Ok, ok, ok. I know this chapter is short, but a lot of stuff happened in it. Alright people, I have a big announcement to make. I recently got an idea for another Harry Potter fan fiction. It's an Alternate Universe First year story. I wrote two chapters, and I think it will be pretty good. What I want to know is this. Would you, as my readers, prefer that I finished this story, then posted the new one, or post the new one and continue both of them? Tell me in a review. Alright, before I sign off for this chapter, I would like you all to know that the next chapter is going to contain H/Hr fluff. I'm not much of a romance writer, but Hermione's awakening is very special.
A/N 2: My good friend Noctem has been posting his story, The False Mage, for almost a month now, and nobody has reviewed it, except for myself, and Raven Dragonclaw. It is a very good story, and Noctem has been serving as my idea scratching post, so I figure the least I could do is try and spread word of his story. Read it, people. I promise you won't hate it!
VB: I'm getting there, just be patient.
Bellatrix: There was some Ron action in this one, and there will be more in the next one.
Ryusuken: Next chapter on the assassin fluff! It's really hard to write romance for Demons!
Hermionegreen: Wait and see!