"I don't believe it," Harry gasped, gaping at Professor McGonagall. "There has to be some mistake."
"No mistake," McGonagall said with a sigh as she settled herself at the kitchen table. "I was rather taken aback myself."
"How could they do this?" Ron asked with a shake of his head. "How could people willingly go to a school controlled by You-Know-Who?"
"All I know is that the expected absentees didn't materialise," McGonagall said. "There must have been no more than a dozen students missing."
"Well there goes our plan for an army," Harry snorted. "Our plan was to contact those who failed to return to Hogwarts, but it seems those people are few and far between."
"I suppose we could still contact Neville and his gran," Ron suggested feebly, even though like Harry his high hopes had been severely dented by the news McGonagall had delivered.
"What good is one rather cowardly boy and an old woman going to do us?" Harry scoffed. He felt bad for insulting Neville, but it had to be said that he was hardly the bravest of souls.
"Every person on our side is one less on the dark," Remus said wisely. "And let's not automatically dismiss contacting the people who returned to Hogwarts. You could at least write to your friends and find out why they choose to return. You never know, it could be handy to have extra knowledge of what is going on at Hogwarts."
"Yeah, kids often know things the Professors don't," Sirius added. "Or at the very least can offer you a different perspective," he amended when McGonagall glared at him and looked as though she was going to argue that the Professors knew everything that went on at Hogwarts.
"I don't suppose it will hurt to contact Dean and Seamus," Harry conceded. "But if they refuse to pledge their allegiance to us, then I'm done with them."
Remus opened his mouth to caution Harry about being so rash, but Sirius caught his eye and shook his head at his best friend. Like Remus, he agreed that Harry needed to keep his cool and not cut off potential support if they didn't immediately do as he wished, but he knew how stubborn his godson could be and he knew raising the topic now would only lead to an argument. Instead it was better to let the matter drop, and speak to Harry once he'd had the chance to calm down.
"How did the new Professor go down with the students?" Bill asked, noticing the exchange between Sirius and Remus and guessing it was a good time to turn their discussion in another direction.
"It was hard to tell at the feast, but then again, I think most people were prepared for it," McGonagall said. "Word had leaked out about the appointment days ago. Anyone with serious doubts about the appointment would have kept their children away from Hogwarts. But it would appear our new Minister is more alluring than we'd hoped. More people than I thought are buying his charm and smooth words."
"It is rather worrying how he's able to manipulate so many people," Charlie said with a frown.
"How do you think he got his Death Eaters in the first place?" Sirius scoffed. "I know some of them would have joined him for the hell of it, but for others it was his charm that drew them in."
"Sirius is right," McGonagall said with a solemn nod. "As he's proving, he is a very charming and alluring wizard when he wants to be. He would have to be to have drawn the likes of Lucius Malfoy into his fold."
"Surely it was the dark arts that lured Malfoy into becoming a Death Eater?" Bill queried.
"I'm sure that held some appeal, but Lucius could have still indulged in the Dark Arts without vowing to serve You-Know-Who," McGonagall pointed out. "Lucius was still at Hogwarts when I first began teaching, and one thing I noticed very quickly is that he's a leader, not a follower. The Slytherins all danced to his tune when he was in school, so it would take a rather persuasive person to convince Lucius to serve rather than lead. Yet that is exactly what he's managed to do."
"Like father, like daughter," Harry snorted. "The same thing could be said of Malfoy and Hermione. Malfoy was king of the dungeons before Hermione transferred into Slytherin. Yet the moment she moved down there, her word became law and Malfoy was happy to do as he was told."
"I'm sure the fact she was spreading her legs for him had something to do with that," Ron sneered crudely.
"Ron," Bill scolded when McGonagall pulled a disturbed face.
"I'm only telling it like it is," Ron retorted with an unconcerned shrug. "We all know she's shagging Malfoy."
"Even so, I rather think her father has a lot to do with the power she wields down in the dungeons," Charlie remarked. "But Professor McGonagall is right about the allure You-Know-Who possesses. Right now people are believing every little thing that is coming out of his mouth, and we need to try and find a way to get him to show his true colours. People will be less likely to sit back and let him do as he pleases if they see what sort of monster he truly is."
"Good luck with getting him to show his true colours," McGonagall said with a sigh as she rose to her feet. "I need to be getting back. I don't like to leave the castle for too long in case I'm needed. I hate to think of how many bad influences there are in that castle at the moment."
While McGonagall headed back to the castle, those who remained at Grimmauld Place digested the news she'd delivered. It wasn't at all what they'd wanted to hear, but it was the way things were and they had to adapt. Firstly, they had to find out if they had the support of anyone still attending Hogwarts, and then they had to find a way to get Voldemort and his daughter to show their true colours. Only then could they truly fight the dark without coming off as the ones causing trouble.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A couple of days after learning that attendance at Hogwarts hadn't dropped as drastically as they'd hoped, Harry was reading an interview in The Daily Prophet with the new Minister, which touched on the topic of students not returning to Hogwarts. According to Voldemort, he was thrilled that so many people had been reasonable and hadn't acted rashly by staying away and risking their own futures. He then went on to remind people that official qualifications could only be received by exams set by Hogwarts, and those without exam results were jeopardising their own future employment.
"Surely he can't do that," Harry said to Remus, quickly filling him in on what he was reading. "Surely some kids are home schooled."
"There will be some out there," Remus confirmed. "But they still need to be registered with the education authorities. As far as I'm aware, in this country exams are laid out by Hogwarts, but can be implemented by Ministry officials to those who don't attend mainstream school."
"So does that mean we have to register for home schooling?" Harry asked with a frown. "Because from what I'm reading here, he's pretty much saying that we won't get jobs, or at least not decent ones without qualifications. There's a whole list of jobs and employees that apparently require N.E.W.T qualifications."
"We probably should look into registering the kids for home schooling," Sirius remarked with a sigh.
"We can look into it, but I think we might hit a stumbling block," Remus admitted. "From what I picked up about home schooling when I was at Hogwarts, there needs to be a valid reason for the home schooling."
"And having the school run by one Death Eater, and having another one teaching Dark Arts isn't a good enough reason?" Harry scoffed.
"Not when The Minister of Magic is The Dark Lord himself," Remus retorted with a shrug.
"So we're screwed," Harry muttered in annoyance. "Unless we do as he suggests and return to school within the next week. Apparently any student who didn't return at the right time, can return within the next week and will be treated as if the incident never occurred. But those who stay away risk not gaining the necessary exam results to progress as adults in the wizarding world."
"I know it sounds bad, Harry, but just remember he isn't going to be in charge forever," Sirius reminded his godson. "When we bring him down, you, Ron and Ginny can take the exams you missed and gain your qualifications."
"What's that about taking exams?" Ron asked as he entered the kitchen with Bill and Charlie.
The trio had been at the hospital visiting their father and brother, and had left Ginny and the twins with Molly, while they returned to check of there was anything happening that they needed to know about.
"We're just discussing today's papers," Harry said, throwing The Daily Prophet across the table in annoyance.
"Yeah, we saw that in he hospital," Ron remarked with a grimace. "Bloody bastard, threatening our futures."
"But yet again, he comes across so reasonable," Charlie sighed. "Even though he is pretty much saying that anyone who doesn't return to Hogwarts has no future, he still comes across as being the good guy by implying the students not returning are the ones in the wrong. Nowhere does he address the fact that he's the reason people are staying away."
"I guess it's easier to hide when there's so few of us," Ron said. "If more people had stayed away, he would have had a harder time explaining why. But as it is, we're a small group and we just look like stubborn rebels."
"It's going to carry on like this, unless we can break him," Remus said dejectedly. "Until we can get him to mess up in public, we're pretty much on our own. Even those who don't believe his sweetness and light act, are too scared to stir up trouble. They'd rather go along with how things are and survive under his rule."
"What are the chances of breaking him?" Bill asked. "He's done a bloody good job of fooling the world and getting them onside since his return. How do we get him to show his true colours?"
"The obvious answer is to target the person he loves more than anything," Sirius replied. "But that's been tried, and has failed each time. Every time Hermione has been targeted, he's retaliated, but justified himself by saying he was provoked."
"And the worst thing is that he's right," Remus admitted with a sigh. "I'm sure he had something planned, but he was content to sit back quietly and keep under the radar. He's only ever struck out following an attack on Hermione."
"So we need to ensure that he's the one to strike first," Bill mused.
"Which he won't do," Sirius predicted with a shake of his head. "He's too clever for that. He's in the position of power now, and he won't do anything to rock the boat."
"So what, we just give up?" Charlie questioned.
"No, we just need another angle," Remus said.
"What about Hermione?" Bill asked.
"We've just explained, hurting her to get to You-Know-Who only makes us look bad, and lends them sympathy," Sirius said, sounding rather annoyed that Bill hadn't listened to word they'd said.
"I didn't mean that," Bill informed the older wizard. "I meant what about using her to break the act they've got going on. You-Know-Who is far too clever to risk exposing his true nature and having people turn against him. But what about getting Hermione to show her true colours. She's only a child, so it'll be much harder for her to contain herself."
"We tried that in school when the truth about her first came out and it failed miserably," Ron reminded his brother.
"You never got her to crack?" Bill asked. "Not even once?"
"Not once," Harry confirmed. "We came close several times, but whenever we thought she was going to lose it, Malfoy or one of his friends would step in and calm her down."
"Interesting," Bill mused thoughtfully. "So if they hadn't been around, you think she would have cracked?"
"Yeah," Harry answered with a nod. "She would have shown her true colours long ago if it wasn't for the Slytherins. Malfoy especially, he was really good at getting her to turn the other cheek."
"If You-Know-Who's weakness is Hermione, would you say hers is Malfoy?" Bill asked.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked with a frown.
"Hermione was targeted to get a reaction from her father," Bill said. "Would the same thing happen if we targeted Malfoy? Would it get a reaction from Hermione?"
"Most definitely," Harry replied with a grin, rather liking the idea of getting at Malfoy in some way.
"But doesn't that leave us with the same problem?" Remus interrupted with a concerned frown. "If we do anything to Draco, we're the ones starting the fighting. We won't gain any support doing that."
"Not to mention the fact we'll have to contend with Lucius Malfoy," Charlie added. "If something happens to his son, it won't just be Hermione we provoke, it'll be Lucius as well."
"I know that," Bill assured the gathered group. "Which is why we need to be sneaky. We need to find a way to get to the Malfoy boy, but yet make it seem like it was nothing more than an accident of some sort. What we need is for something to happen to him, and no-one, not even the dark, suspect it was out doing."
"But how would that draw Hermione out?" Ron asked. "If she thinks it's a genuine accident, she won't strike back. Don't we want her to be the one attacking us?"
"That involves more sneakiness," Bill said. "Once Malfoy has had his accident, we need to find a way of letting Hermione know it was our doing. Only we have to do it in a way which she can't prove. It'll be her word against ours."
"But her father will believe her," Harry pointed out.
"It's not him that matters," Bill replied with a wicked smirk. "It's the public that counts. If we can provoke her into attacking us, without proof we've done anything, they'll lose face. Those who are too afraid to go against the grain, will be more likely to join us once they've seen how easily their so called Minister and his family can turn on people."
"It all sounds good, but how are we going to achieve all this?" Sirius asked.
"That I don't know," Bill admitted with a sheepish shrug. "But we have the bare bones of a plan, now all we need is a bit of flesh on them. It'll just need some patience. Let's take the time to come up with a plan that isn't going to backfire on us."
With nods all round, the group of wizards settled down to brainstorm some ideas. No-one quite knew how they were going to do it, but they all knew that using Draco was the key. They were going to use him to provoke Hermione into making the first move against them. They were going to insight her to start a war, and with it, they were going to ensure she lost the dark side any public support they might have had. They were going to turn her, and her father, back into the bad guys they truly were.