Reposted on 11/8/05

AN: I would like to say that Harry will not receive all his power suddenly like he does in many other stories, including some of my own. What power and knowledge he does gain will be achieved through hard work and practice.

THE NEW ORDER

By

Padfootjr23

Chapter Eight: Friends, Old and New

Immediately after leaving Harry and the others Professor Dumbledore called an emergency meeting of the Order leadership. There had not been a full meeting since Harry and the others had escaped from the Death Eaters and then from Hogwarts. The feelings among the Order were mixed regarding their innocence or guilt. Of those that chose to believe the Ministry's side of the story the most surprising was Ron and Hermione who firmly believed Harry to be guilty. While this in itself was not entirely unexpected the way it came about shocked even those that shared their opinion. Most would have thought that it would be Ron that would first take a stance against his best friend and then press his views on to Hermione. But instead it was the other way around.

Dumbledore looked on a little sadly as everyone entered his office had gathered into two obvious groups as they eyed each other with distrust. He sighed heavily as it became painfully obvious that recent events divided the Order in such a way.

On one side of the room stood Professor McGonagall, Remus, 'Mad eye' Moody, Mundungus Fletcher, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill Weasley, Neville, Luna and Ginny.

On the other side stood Ron, Hermione, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Professor Flitwick, Amos Diggory and several others. After looking around sadly for a moment Dumbledore got to the point.

"As you all know, four of our number disappeared some time ago and then resurfaced here just a few days ago. Unfortunately they are now gone once again and the chances of finding them are slim. Now I know that some of you have very strong feelings about this one way or the other but all I ask is that you hear me out while I try to explain their part of the story before you ask any questions." When everyone nodded in agreement, though some reluctantly, he proceeded to tell everyone present what had been told to him by Tonks and Blaise. As he talked he could tell that most of those who believed Harry and the others to be guilty had no intension of believing a word of it while there were a few that now had their doubts.

"This is ridiculous! Harry is strong for his age granted but there is no way that he could have defeated a dozen highly trained Unspeakables unless he was using the dark arts." Hermione nearly yelled. She was obvious upset that Albus Dumbledore of all people would entertain the idea that someone so evil could be innocent.

"If you recall Granger," McGonagall began with distaste, "Even the surviving Unspeakable admitted that Potter used no such magic. In fact after the examination of their wands it was determined that the only ones using the dark arts were the Unspeakables who were firing a large number of killing curses. While they do have authorization to use such a curse when deemed necessary it seems a bit odd that they would all be so intent on killing all four of them. Unless, of course, they didn't want them to survive for whatever reason." Hermione just turned her nose up at her 'former' favorite professor and turned her back as if her opinion in such a matter was beneath her notice.

"Then of course you have to take their injuries into account. If this event went on as the Ministry claims how would you explain the scaring Harry now has on his face?" Moody growled. Everyone turned to look at him in confusion, even Dumbledore. Apparently they had no idea what he was talking about. "Don't you people teach anything anymore?" He snapped at the professors in annoyance. "With healing the way it is today even an inept witch or wizard can heal such wounds without leaving much, if any, scaring. Madam Pomfrey, however, is not inept and she wasn't able to fix Potter up completely leaving him severely scared. That leaves only one possibility. He received those wounds long before the Unspeakables were 'attacked'. If he truly was a Death Eater he would have had plenty of opportunity to fix himself up and he sure as hell wouldn't have gone running off to take on so many with those injuries so he must have been in a position where he had no opportunity to get healed and no choice but to face them and that brings us to the only conclusion possible."

"And that would be?" Ron asked with a sneer.

"The Ministry is full of shit, just like all of you." He stated firmly as he looked over all those that stood against Harry and the others. Immediately the room erupted in shouts and arguments as each person tried to make their own position known. Dumbledore sighed and placed his head in his hands for a moment before rubbing his eyes and looking back up. With a wave of his wand the room was quickly silenced as he placed a silencing charm on all those present. It was several moments before some realized that they could no longer speak.

"I think now would be a good time to end this meeting as we are getting no where." He said sadly. "It would be best if everyone went back to their duties or training for the time being." He finished as he waved his wand again and released the charm and everyone started making their way out of the office. "Alister, Bill and Mundungus, please remain behind." The three aforementioned wizards stepped up to the Headmaster's desk with confused and curious looks in their eyes. When Professor McGonagall exited and closed the door behind her Albus stood and began casting several complicated privacy charms around the room that only made the three men even more interested and even a little worried about what he had to say. When he had finished he sat back down in his chair and motioned his associates to do the same.

"The reason I have asked the three of you to remain is a matter of great importance and even greater delicacy. As you know the Order is scheduled to begin certain operations that could have serious and long lasting political and legal repercussions if they were to be discovered by certain elements." When all three nodded in understanding he continued. "An opportunity has recently arisen to exploit this operation so that it may reach a far greater potential than we had originally anticipated while keeping prying eyes away from other sensitive assents the Order has at its disposal."

"What exactly are you proposing?" Moody asked with no small amount of suspicion.

"An associate of mine has agreed to take on the responsibility of directing and carrying out any actions that would have brought the Aurors to our doorstep had we carried them out ourselves."

"And what does this have to do with us?" Bill asked with interest while Mundungus was hanging on every word.

"We would like the two of you to join him." He explained while looking directly at Bill and Mundungus. "This 'associate' needs certain assets to be able to carry out this task. First he needs manpower. He would like you, Mundungus, to bring together about a dozen men that have the ability and experience to carry out such tasks. They must have the skills needed to go undetected and be able to handle themselves in a fight. And of course they must be trustworthy and be able to keep their mouths shut." He finished bluntly before turning to Bill.

"He will also need someone to help extensively train his men in dueling and curse breaking. As a master curse breaker and former dueling champion you are quite qualified for such a task. After such training is complete it will be your choice whether you stay or if you come back here. Any questions so far?"

"Who will we be working for exactly?" Bill asked carefully after a few moments of silence. He did not like the idea of committing himself to something without knowing everything about it and the way Dumbledore was talking it was clear that he would not get all the information until he had agreed.

"While he is technically a member of the Order, my associate will have complete control over his group and the actions they take. Though I will inform him of possible targets. While connected to this group you will be placed under a secrecy spell similar to the one used by the Order so that you may not pass on any information to anyone, including me, without his permission. I don't like the idea all that much but for certain reasons I must be kept in the dark and as such I shall have no authority whatsoever over either of you or anyone else brought in on this assignment. Now I apologize but that is all of the information I can give you at this time. If you wish you may have some time to think over this offer before deciding."

"Is this associate of yours trustworthy?" Moody spoke up suddenly, wondering why he was included in this meeting when he wasn't being asked to go as well.

"I assure you Alister that there are very few that I trust more."

"That settles it. I'll do it!" Mundungus said as he stood up.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to have some time to think it over?" Albus asked the man seriously. "After all, this is not something to rush into."

"What is there to think about? We were going to do the same things anyway. The only thing that's changed is instead of taking orders from you I'll be taking orders from someone you obviously trust a great deal."

"If we are to do this it is obvious that we will not be doing things out of Hogwarts so how are you going to explain our absence to the rest of the Order?" Bill asked logically.

"They will be told that you went back to Egypt to gather supporters among the Goblins and the other curse breakers. Because of your employment with Gringotts your absence will not be questioned by the Ministry or by Voldemort's supporters. And I will tell the others that Mundungus is using his peculiar talents to gather information from the least reputable of the magical population."

"Ok, I'll go." Bill said after thinking it over for several minutes.

"Thank you. I would suggest that you start gathering your men and I am not to know who you have chosen." Dumbledore told Mundungus as he pulled a vial from his robes. "They are all to be tested under Veritaserum to make sure they will not betray you. You will all be tested again after you arrive. Tomorrow evening bring your men to the Hogshead pub in Hogsmeade and wait upstairs in room 11. Use the Veritaserum there, there will be someone watching to make sure everyone is loyal before they will take you to your destination. And I must remind you that this requires the utmost secrecy. Do not give them too much information before you test them. That will be all." Both men nodded sharply before exiting the office to prepare.

"Alright now why the hell am I here?" Moody growled in annoyance.

"I was just wondering Alister," Dumbledore began with a sly grin. "Do you by any chance still have your first artificial eye?"

"Of course I do. You don't think I would simply throw something like that away do you? Now what the hell does that… have…" He trailed off as all the gears in his mind seemed to snap into place. Throwing a sharp look at Dumbledore he realized who his 'associate' must be. "Well I'll be." He muttered to himself as a grin spread across his own face.

XXX

When Harry woke again he felt much better than he had the day before. His body was not nearly as sore and his remaining wounds were nearly healed. It was still dark outside and he didn't know if he had simply woken up before dawn or slept all through the night and all day as well but he really didn't care. Standing up from his bed he glanced around the room. He was a bit overwhelmed to be honest. For the longest time he had believed that everything his parents owned or valued had been destroyed when Voldemort attacked. Now he was standing in the house that they lived their lives in, for however brief a time. He had heard people say that possessions are meaningless, it's the memories of your loved ones that really matters. That belief is what is meaningless to an orphan who had never known 'loved ones'. To Harry the things that surrounded him in that house felt like some connection to his parents that no one, not even Sirius or Remus could give him.

After dressing in a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt, Harry stood before the mirror to comb his hair but froze. Looking in the mirror is one good eye gazed over the scars that now ran across his face. Stepping closer he ripped off the piece of black fabric that covered his useless right eye and flung it to the floor as both hands moved across his face like he was tracing every inch of his scars. Soon his touches became more and more frantic as his eye looked upon himself wildly.

After all he and the others had been through over the last three weeks it appeared that, despite his calm and determined attitude the night before, the severity of the situation had just now caught up with him. Thinking of how he had received those scars made him think of his disadvantages he would now have when facing Death Eaters again and ultimately Voldemort. Tom Riddle is not likely to take it easy on Harry because of his impaired vision. To Harry at least, it seemed that every time he started to catch up with his nemesis to a point where he could POSSIBLY do something constructive, the world seemed to throw him another curve. Half blind seemed to be an insurmountable odd when facing a man as powerful as Voldemort and it pissed him off.

As unnoticed tears ran down his cheek Harry raised his fist and slammed it repeatedly into the mirror in front him as he growled in fury. Surprisingly the sound of the shattering glass seemed to momentarily calm him some until the pain flared up his arm. Suddenly his anger returned to even greater heights as he glared down at the blood running over his right arm. With renewed vigor Harry set about literally destroying the mirror and the dresser it was mounted on.

"POTTER! What are you doing?" Harry whirled around and saw Snape standing in his doorway with Blaise and Tonks right behind him. By the looks of them they had run up the stairs and to his room when they heard Harry's 'redecoration'.

"What the hell does it look like?" Harry snapped back in anger but Snape wasn't impressed.

"It looks like your throwing a temper tantrum just like the spoiled brat you are."

"That's right Snape, I'm a spoiled little prince that has had everything handed to me on a silver platter all my life. Tell me Snape, did you know that I had no idea that magic was real until after my eleventh birthday. That my piece of shit relatives spent ten years telling me that my parents died in a car crash and that they were nothing but good for nothing drunks and freeloaders. That everyday in that sorry excuse for a home I was nothing more than slave labor. You didn't know that, did you? You didn't know because you refuse to listen to anything that contradicts your own little fantasy of what you believe me to be. You despise me simply because I'm James Potter's son and you want to justify that by creating some bullshit image of what you WANT me to be. If you can't grow up and see things as they are instead of what you want them to be then get the fuck out of this house and you can take your chances with the Ministry."

"How dare you speak to me in such a manner." Snape bellowed as he swelled up in anger.

"We are not at Hogwarts anymore Snape, you are not my Professor. You have no authority over me whatsoever so I suggest you keep your mouth in check because I have no problem throwing you out of this house and hanging you out to dry." Harry snarled back, his anger over the loss of his eye temporarily forgotten. Snape merely glared at Harry in fury before turning around and stomping off.

"Wow," Harry turned swiftly towards the new voice and was surprised to see Blaise and Tonks looking at him in surprise and even a little awe. "I've never seen anyone talk that way to him before, except my mother from time to time." Blaise said with wide eyes.

"Your mother?" Harry asked in confusion before he suddenly remembered that Snape and McGonagall were her parents. "Oh I think I'm going to be sick." He muttered to himself as he sat back down on his bed.

"Oh no, no time to be sick now. You have guests to greet." Tonks announced in a cheery voice as she pulled Harry back to his feet.

"What, what guests?" He asked in confusion. Both Tonks and Blaise rolled their eyes.

"Bill, Mundungus and the people they managed to scrape together."

"Oh goody." Harry moaned. "Do they know that we're here yet?" He asked suddenly.

"No, twinkle brought them directly to the entrance hall and had each tested there. She's making sure none of them wander off before you get there."

"Well we better go then. Where's my wand? I have no intention of getting cursed because someone gets jumpy."

"Oh, I forgot." Tonks said as she began digging through her pockets. "Dumbledore picked your new up from Ollivander's while we were still being held by the Death Eaters. He also sent this over with Fawkes for you. He said to open it when you were alone." She said as she handed him his wand and a bulky envelope.

"Alright thanks. Now will you two lovely ladies be so kind as to give me some privacy as I get dressed?" When both women had left Harry quickly got dressed and after admiring his new wand for a few moments he placed it in a wrist holster he had found in the closet. On his way out the door he glanced back and saw the envelope Dumbledore had sent. Deciding that he might as well find out what it was he turned back and picked it up off the bed. Ripping it open a small box fell out as he pulled out a single piece of parchment. When he picked it up and opened it he was surprised to find what looked like a glass eye. He was a bit disturbed by how lifelike it looked. Looking closer he noticed that it was made with the same green color his eyes carried. Suddenly a thought struck his mind and he quickly unfolded the parchment and began to read.

Harry

I am writing this to inform you of some added precautions that I have decided on. Firstly, to reduce chances of messages being intercepted no member of your team will be reporting directly to me and vice versa. Every evening Fawkes will come by for a visit and if you have any messages he will bring them to me. If you absolutely must get in contact with me and cannot wait send Twinkle to fetch me. And as per your instructions no other Order member is aware of your plans with the exception of Alister. Since you are no doubt reeling over the loss of your eye he has been kind enough to donate a replacement. We have changed the color to match your unique shape of green so that it looks natural. It is not as advanced as the one he is currently using but will be very useful. While you will only have the field of vision you would normally have with two eyes it responds to thoughts and will allow you to see through many types of objects when needed. I trust you will not abuse this ability. It will no doubt take some time to get used to but I am sure you will manage. For security reasons you may want to keep this a secret for as long as possible. The spells needed are on the back of this parchment. They are relatively easy so you should have no problem with them even with the temperamental nature of your new wand. Good luck and happy hunting.

Albus

Harry read over the letter several times and looked between it and the eye in excitement. He quickly read over the spells on the back of the page before sitting down on his bed and picking up a piece of the broken mirror.

"Good of you to join us." Snape said with a sneer as Harry descended the stairs to join the others. Tonks and Blaise braced themselves for another verbal explosion but were surprised when Harry merely smiled widely. Though he had a pounding headache he felt much better than he did moments before.

"Let's go." He said simply in a friendly tone as he walked by. The other three merely stood staring after the boy in shock before shaking it off and following after him.

XXX

"How long are we supposed to just stand around doing nothing Dung?" A gruff looking man asked irritably as he paced around the entrance hall where they had all been left to wait nearly half an hour ago.

"I don't know, but I'm seriously thinking about leaving already." Another replied. Mundungus was about to respond when the doors opened and the most unlikely people entered the room.

Harry Potter strolled into the room with the three other suspected Death Eaters right behind him. Though they believed Harry was innocent both Mundungus and Bill drew their wands with everyone else. No sense taking chances after all. Without warning their wands were ripped from their hands. Looking around quickly to see where they had gone they were all surprised to see the fourteen missing wands clutched in the hands of the house elf that hand brought them here.

"Now that wont get us off to a good start now would it?" Harry asked sarcastically while he threw Twinkle a grateful look. "Now this is how it is going to be. We are going to sit down and talk like civilized people. If we are going to work together we first have to clear the air of any misinformation you may have gotten recently so follow me." Everyone looked between each other with a bit of uncertainty until Bill followed after them with Dung on his heels. When everyone was gathered together in the formal dining room that had been set aside for meetings Harry began.

"Before we proceed we must all get our facts straight so…" Harry held out his hand and Twinkle handed him the same vial of Veritaserum that had been used to test those present. "Ask me your questions." He said as he put three drops, the maximum safe dosage, on his tongue. For the next thirty minutes they all took turns asking Harry different questions about his supposed turn to the dark and of his capture. There were several times that Snape or the others had to prevent them from asking about things that would be embarrassing to others such as what the Death Eaters were doing to Tonks and Blaise before Harry got loose. In the end they were all satisfied that while he did kill those men he was no Death Eater. After administering the antiserum Snape took his seat once again.

"Now that the trivialities are out of the way lets get down to business…"

"Wait just a moment. Since you asked Dung here to get us all together you obviously know what kind of men we are. I mean while it is true that none of us would serve who-know-who what's preventing any one of us from running to the Ministry with information about you in exchange for a clear record?" A man by the name of John Addams asked seriously.

"Simple really. Security spells!" Harry answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And besides that, when our names are eventually cleared Fudge will be finished. After everyone believed me to ally myself with the man who killed my parents they will be singing a different tune later on. I will become nearly untouchable as long as I don't do anything to distasteful. When that happens I will be in a far better position to help you then ANY Minister ever could." As much as he hated it Snape could do nothing but agree with Harry on this point.

"And just how do you know you will be able to prove your innocence?"

"I could prove that right now and our names would be cleared tomorrow morning but for the time being everyone believing that we are bloodthirsty psychopaths actually works in our favor." He explained and everyone could see the logic in both sides fearing them for the time being. Over the next few hours Harry detailed the kind of operations they would be conducting. Though they were all surprised that Harry Potter of all people would be planning such crimes they all agreed that to be rid of Voldemort forever they needed to take out his powerbase. And that was his followers, a task the Ministry has been unable to accomplish since they seemed to refuse to take the steps necessary to do so. It was decided that after a week training together they would make their first move. They would raid Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley to 'confiscate' many dark arts texts and equipment that would then be used to plant evidence in the homes and on suspected Death Eaters.

"Harry there is something you should know." Bill began in an uneasy voice. "While there are those that strongly believe that you are all innocent, we seem to be in the minority, even among the Order members." Harry sighed heavily as he realized where Bill was going with this.

"Ron and Hermione?" He asked quietly. When Bill and Dung nodded in confirmation he continued. "Let me guess. Ron strongly believes I'm guilty and he pressured Hermione into accepting his views."

"Um… Actually it was the other way around." Harry could not help the shocked look that came over his face when he heard this. Since they had been friends Ron was always the one to jump to conclusions while Hermione always looked at things logically, not taking things at face value. Apparently things had changed.

"I must say that that is surprising. Oh well," He said quietly as he lowered his head. "With them believing me guilty it will only confirm it in the eyes of the general public. With everyone believing us to be mass murderers most people will stay away from us if we are recognized outside of these walls." Looking around the dining room while everyone was in their own thoughts Harry noticed a large grandfather clock sitting against the opposite wall. He was rather surprised to see that it was nearly one thirty in the morning. Standing up he drew everyone's attention back to himself before he began.

"It's been a long night for all of us so I suggest that we all turn in. Twinkle here will show you to your rooms." Twinkle nodded and began to lead the men out of the room and up the stairs when Harry stopped them as a thought struck his mind. "Just one moment please. I have one more thing to mention. As you now know this house was built by my parents. Unfortunately I was unaware that it even existed until yesterday and as such I have been unable to see much of it. So I'm sure you can imagine the sentimental value it holds to me. Now I know that for some, if not all of you, it is your instinct to see what price you can fetch for something that may be worth a great deal, but I warn you now. If things start disappearing from this house, people will start disappearing. Do I make myself clear?" He finished in a cold and determined voice that left room for no opposition. Many of the men before him suddenly went pale at the implications behind his words and the look in his eyes told them that he would have no problem making good on his promise. They all readily agreed and quickly mounted the stairs to head off to bed.

"Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" Tonks asked when everyone else was gone.

"No, I don't think it was." He said simply before heading to bed himself. Tonks watched him go for a moment before shrugging to herself and going to her room.

TBC