Harry Potter and the Mind Mage
By James Milamber
A/N: The next person who tries to tell me Ginny's real name is Virginia is going to find themselves introduced to the business end of a cricket bat. Once and for all, here's a bloody quote direct from JKR's website:
"Ginny (full name Ginevra, not Virginia), is the first girl to be born into the Weasley clan for several generations."
Do your research, people. Stop wasting my time, and everyone else's.
Stuff it, let's just get into the chapter, shall we?
His wand clenched tightly in his hand, Harry stepped through the doorway, and found himself in the last place on earth he'd expected.
The front hallway of Privet Drive.
He blinked, then glanced behind him. What should have been the front doorway still opened out into the corridor of Hogwarts, and his friends were standing looking anxiously through. Ginny, the only one who had actually seen this part of the house, scowled as she recognised it.
Just then Vernon came through the kitchen doorway, a Muggle newspaper in his hand. Both Harry's and Vernon's mouths dropped open in almost identical expressions of surprise.
'You!' Vernon roared, making to lunge at Harry, his arms outstretched as if he would strangle him. Harry raised his wand, and Vernon stopped in mid-step.
'This is Hogwarts, remember,' Harry said matter-of-factly as Ginny, Ron and Hermione rushed through the doorway, ready to defend him should the need arise. 'I'm perfectly capable of using magic here and getting away with it.'
Vernon's face turned a mottled purple at the mention of the forbidden 'M' word, but with obvious difficulty he held his tongue.
'What the bloody hell are you doing here?' Ron asked coldly. Hermione was fingering her wand nervously, and Ginny was looking downright murderous.
'What the bloody hell am I doing here?' Vernon repeated in a tightly controlled voice. 'Your lot has absolutely no manners, that's what. Some ruddy man in those,' he eyes their school robes in contempt, 'showed up and told us we had to move here. Something about Lord Volde-whatsit was going to attack us.' He snorted disbelievingly.
Harry nodded absently. 'He was probably going to try and break the blood protection.'
'Vernon?' Harry's aunt appeared from the kitchen. 'What's…' She froze and all the blood seemed to drain from her face as she spotted Harry.
'Mum?' Dudley wandered down the stairs, seeing his mother standing stock still like she'd seen a ghost, 'What's wrong?' Then he spotted Harry. With a pathetic squeal he bolted back upstairs, his hands clutching his behind.
'Don't you go using your filthy abnormality on my family,' Vernon growled, eyeing the wand in Harry's hand.
Harry snorted derisively. 'I wouldn't waste the effort,' he said coldly, then turned and swept out through the door and back into Hogwarts. His friends followed him, and the door sealed itself shut again.
'I'm sorry, Harry,' Dumbledore said sadly, his eyes lacking any of their usual twinkle. 'My sources indicated that the Dursley's were being targeted by Voldemort, and for your sake as well as theirs I could not let them perish.'
'Your sources? You mean Snape,' Harry said.
'Professor Snape, Harry,' Dumbledore corrected gently.
'How long have they been here?'
Dumbledore sighed heavily before answering. 'A little over a month.'
'A month?' Harry repeated incredulously. 'They've been here a month and you didn't tell me? Why the bloody hell not?'
To Harry's surprise, Dumbledore smiled. 'You know, you're even more like your father than I thought. He said exactly the same thing to me on many occasions.' The Headmaster's blue eyes locked onto Harry's, and something deep within that time-worn gaze disturbed Harry greatly. In that moment it hit him just exactly what the old wizard in front of him had been through in his many years of life, and Harry found himself respecting the Headmaster more than ever. It was a peculiar feeling, after the almost-anger of a moment ago.
'A few days ago, Professor Milton pointed a few things out to me and other high ranking Order members,' Dumbledore said, his gaze now encompassing the three students standing behind Harry as well. 'At the time I was inclined to disagree with him, but after the events of the last few days I am forced to concede his point.'
'James proposed, and I now agree, that you, Harry, as well as Ginevra, Ronald, Hermione, Alexander, Cassandra and Isabelle, be inducted into the Order.'
Once again, Harry found himself staring at the Headmaster incredulously.
'But sir, we're all underage,' Hermione pointed out.
Dumbledore chuckled. 'True enough, Miss Granger, but I hardly think that matters at this point. I sincerely doubt I could stop you from doing what you think is right, and if you are part of the Order you will have access to information that may assist you to make the correct choices. I would not like to see a repeat of last year's incident.'
'Neither would I,' Harry said surely.
'Then will you all accept my offer of membership in the Order?'
'Of course we will,' Ron said, his face lit up with eager anticipation. 'Right, Harry?'
Harry only hesitated a moment. 'Yeah, I think we will.'
Dumbledore smiled, and the twinkle reappeared in his eyes. 'Excellent! And what of Miss Lestrange and the Milton twins?'
'We'll find them and let them know,' Harry said. 'I doubt they'll refuse membership.'
'Very well then, I leave the matter in your capable hands,' Dumbledore nodded. 'I trust you will let me know of their decisions?'
Harry returned the nod. 'We'll go find them now.'
They found Cassie in the empty common room, staring moodily into the fire. Alex and Isabelle were still nowhere to be found.
They quickly informed her of Dumbledore's offer, but she didn't seem to be very interested.
'I'll join if Alex does,' she said shortly, and went back to staring into the fire. Harry and Ginny exchanged a worried glance, and then took a seat on one of the free couches. Ron and Hermione took another.
They sat in silence for about twenty minutes, at which point the Fat Lady swung open, admitting Alex and Isabelle. Alex took one look at the rather sombre group and raised an eyebrow. 'What, something we missed?'
Without a word Cassie stood, walked around the couch, drew back her arm and punched Alex in the jaw. He went down like a sack of potatoes.
'What the hell was that for?' Isabelle demanded, kneeling next to Alex, who was blinking at the ceiling.
'Bloody hell, woman!' he said, sitting up and shaking his head to clear it. He touched his jaw gingerly with his fingertips. 'What was that for?'
'Because you're a stupid, moronic, arrogant male!' Cassie shot back, then dropped to her knees and engulfed the startled Alex in a hug. 'If you ever do that again, I'll give you a lot more than a punch, I'll tell you that!'
'Fair enough,' Alex said, wrapping his arms around his sister. 'Now would you kindly tell me just exactly what it was I did? Ow!' he yelped as Cassie slapped the back of his head. 'What?'
'I'm sure you can work it out,' Cassie said, pulling away from him and standing up again, then reaching down to pull her twin to his feet. 'Now I think Harry has something to say.'
'Yeah, I do,' Harry nodded, waiting until everyone was seated to begin. He briefly told the story of finding the Dursley's, then finished with, 'Dumbledore offered to let us all join the Order.'
Alex's eyebrow shot up again, and Isabelle's eyes narrowed. 'What's the catch?' she asked bluntly.
'We don't think there is one,' Harry assured her. 'Dumbledore said that James spoke to him, and pointed out that it would be better to have us in the Order than out. Probably thinks we'll run off and do something stupid if we're not.' The last was said with a note of bitterness.
'Stop blaming yourself for what happened at the Department of Mysteries,' Ginny said, laying a hand on his arm. 'I'll tell you right now that I'd do exactly the same if I thought you were in danger, and I doubt anyone in this room can honestly say otherwise.'
'Why now?' Cassie asked thoughtfully. With the return of her twin she seemed far more aware and energetic than she had even a few minutes ago, and the difference was rather profound. 'Why not at the start of the year, or the end? Something pretty serious must have changed that we don't know about.'
'She's right,' Hermione agreed. 'I wonder what it is? Professor Dumbledore seemed almost anxious to have us in the Order, when always before he's insisted that we were too young. He wouldn't even let Fred and George join last year, remember? And they were of age, even if they were still at school.'
There was a thoughtful silence. Finally Harry glanced around the common room. 'Tonks?'
There was silence for a moment, then with heavy sigh Tonks pulled the hood of her invisibility cloak off. 'What?' she asked crossly. 'It's bad enough that you know I'm here, you can't keep calling me out of the bushes this way.'
'What do you think?' Harry asked, unperturbed. 'Do you think we should join?'
'Of course I do,' Tonks said immediately, glancing around at the group. 'Look, I know the Order has done all of you wrong in the past, but we were only trying to protect you until you were ready to carry on the fight yourselves. If Dumbledore has decided that now is the right time, then he's probably right.'
'Come on, I don't see what we're waiting for,' Ron said. 'If we join the Order then we can help fight!'
'I doubt Dumbledore's going to let us fight any battles yet,' Alex said dryly.
Tonks chuckled. 'From what I've seen of you seven, I highly doubt he could stop you from doing anything if you really set your minds to it.'
'I still don't know,' Isabelle said dubiously. 'Something seems…wrong, somehow. I don't know what it is.'
'Maybe you're just being paranoid,' Ron suggested. Isabelle shrugged.
'Maybe…but then again, maybe not. I'm just saying we should keep our wits about us. At the very least, I'm sure not all the Order members are going to accept us as fast as Tonks and Dumbledore – Snape, for instance. In most eyes I'm still a Slytherin who somehow managed to trick the hat into putting me in Gryffindor, and after the battle, I'm sure nothing's changed.' She didn't mention the specific event she referred to, but everyone got her point.
'Well, I'm going to join,' Harry interjected. 'I'm not going to force anyone else to join if they don't want to, and we won't think any less of anyone who doesn't.'
'Harry,' Alex said in a pained voice. 'Are you sure you're not a Slytherin in disguise? That's the biggest guilt trip in the book.' He thought a moment, then sighed. 'Okay, I'm in.'
'Ditto,' Cassie affirmed.
All eyes turned to Isabelle. 'Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?' she muttered, then caught Harry's eyes. 'Fine, you've talked me into it. But I'm still going to warn everyone to be careful. There's something going on here that we can't see.'
'Granted,' Harry nodded. 'So we're all joining, then?'
'Looks that way,' Alex said, making a face. 'I wonder what dad's going to say? He refused to join the Order when Dumbledore offered, although he never said why.'
Hermione rolled her eyes. 'It's obvious, isn't it? He was fighting for both sides in the last war, which means he was fighting against the Order at some stage, and probably fought directly against some of the members still left over from last time. I don't think they'd be too happy about him being a member, in case he decided to turn on them again and go work for Voldemort if he paid more.'
'But he'd never do that,' Cassie objected.
'We know that,' Hermione answered. 'But some of the other Order members don't know him as well.'
Harry stood up. 'I'll go tell Dumbledore that we're all joining,' he said, then headed for the portrait hole. Tonks flipped her hood back up and followed.
In small groups, the students left. Ron and Hermione disappeared after Harry, Ginny went up to her dorm muttering about homework, while Alex and Cassie sat in a corner with their heads together, talking quietly. Only Isabelle stayed by the fire, scowling into the flames.
A/N: Huzzah! Finally finished. I find it mildly amusing that one person guessed what was really behind the door. Everyone seemed to assume that it was Harry who spoke. :)
Review Responses:
sunni07: Mate, I was kidding. Besides, if you want to get technical, Geelong is part of Melbourne...
Retrieve the Melon: Cliffies are evil, I agree, but every now and again my muses come over inexplicably evil. Take it up with them.
C.H.I.C.K: Now now, no need to get homicidal. You can stop looking for more storage space.
gpotter: That's interesting, I didn't get an Author Alert for the new one. Hmm…bloody ff .net. Grr…
vire: A little of both.
Riina: Erm…yes, the Live Journal comment was a joke. Never mind. RE: Human stupidity, my favourite quote (from Albert Einstein himself) is, "Only two things are infinite: the Universe and Human Stupidity. And I'm not convinced about the Universe."
Whimsical Firefly: Yep. Happy now. ;)
Cobalt45: Congratulations for being one of only two people to even mention the Dursleys. Honestly, it wasn't that hard, was it? I thought it'd be really obvious. Meh.
Lourdes: Thanks, you really have no idea how much that means to me.
Melindaleo: I doubt Dumbles will ever really learn. If you're ever looking for some really wacky spells to use in your fics, check out the Guide. I'm sure Saerry wouldn't mind…
Ice Maiden: Oh Gods, not another Queenslander! :) A plague of Barney's? That's going a bit far, don't you think? There'll be a bit more Snape in the next few chapters (so long as my muses cooperate, of course). Avoid the bang stick at all costs.
Saerry "Too Lazy to Login" Snape: Probably safer with the scabbards on. That sounds like a good name for a fic! "James Milton and the Evil Cliffhanger of Doom"…lol
CreativeQuill: Glad you liked it! Milamber's still got this unwholesome love of trees, he seems to be under the delusion he's safe if he's up a tree. And yes, Isabelle isn't one to let something go THAT easily…
siriusblack08: Heh, don't feel too bad. You should have seen MY first attempt at a fic, it was awful! No, before you ask, you can't read it. I burned it. Oh yeah, I got the Werewolf too. Maybe you should change your pen name…
Merusa: Heh…congratulations, the interaction between Cassie and Alex was inspired by your last review. Aren't you proud? :p
Treck: Harry spanking Draco in the Great Hall would be disturbing both for Harry and the other students, I think.
harryptaxd204: Stuff it. (runs)
