Note: Well, Knight5946, I told you I was almost there. :D
Everyone else, thank you all for reviewing. To those who have called for the torture/murder/tickling to death of Dolores Umbridge, we're trying to be Jedi here. Not Sith.
Nate: If you don't like it, then go elsewhere!
Wandering Soul: Hopefully Harry answers your question here. But don't worry. There's still coming a tipping point for him. It's just going to be later in the story.
Onward!
Chapter 6: Reaction
Fred and George nodded, and Fred said, "We didn't realize it when we gave it to you, but these spheres broadcast as well as record, so we saw the whole thing on the control sphere."
George then said, "What is your plan, Harry?"
He shook his head. "Not until we're in the infirmary."
It only took them a couple of minutes to reach the hospital wing, and Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse, was not pleased to be wakened at that hour of the night. "Please, Madame Pomfrey. I know this is a horribly odd request, but I need you to examine my hand and draw your own conclusions before I tell you what has happened. If I'm right, you'll understand immediately."
"This had better not be a prank, Mr. Potter, or I'll have you and the two hoodlums behind you scrubbing toilets with your own toothbrushes!"
"It's not a prank, I promise."
Grumbling, the mediwitch waved her wand over his hand and muttered a diagnostic spell, which he quietly memorized for future reference. A ghost of the words, I must not disrespect authority, floated above the spell, along with a few runes and the image of a quill. "A blood quill? Why in the world were you using a blood quill?"
"Detention with Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge. I also recorded the detention, but I have no idea how long it lasted."
Fred piped up. "Seven and a half hours. And he has four more detentions scheduled."
George finished. "We understand that will cause a permanent curse scar."
Now, Madame Pomfrey was virtually growling, but it was no longer aimed at the students in front of her. "You recorded this detention? How?"
Harry pointed to his tie tack. "Shrunken recording sphere in place of the pearl. I knew I didn't deserve the detention, so if something happened, I wanted a record of it. Fred and George decided to use their powers for good and ordered a case of them, as well as figuring out how best to shrink them without disrupting their recording ability."
Nodding to herself, the nurse quickly wrote a couple of notes on Harry's chart, which she had summoned the moment she saw him. "All right, you lads wait here. I'm going to get the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall in here. I assume they knew you had a detention tonight?"
"Professor McGonagall did. Umbridge actually sent me to her office with a note to inform her."
"Then she's a fool. All right, sit tight and I'll be right back."
While she was gone, Harry turned to the twins. "Can we make a copy of the recording? I'd like to have more than one, just in case someone gets handsy."
"Yeah," said George. "There were instructions in the box on how to do that."
Harry nodded, and at that moment, Madame Pomfrey came back in. "All right. We don't want anyone in the halls, so you two need to stay in here as well until there's someone to escort you back to the dorms."
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Professor McGonagall was not any more pleased that Madame Pomfrey to be woken, but she became just as incensed as the mediwitch about one of her lions being tortured in detention. Professor Dumbledore was truly angry, but also thoughtful. "Harry, you could have stopped Madame Umbridge from harming you the moment you knew what she was doing."
The two women were shocked, but he answered. "Yes, I could, but that wouldn't have stopped her permanently. Better it happen to me once than over and over like she was planning, and better me, when I know I can handle it, than some poor firstie with more mouth than sense. Now, am I right that that thing she's using is illegal?"
Eyes twinkling at full power, Dumbledore said, "You are quite right about that. It does have some legal uses, mainly in the signing of certain kinds of contracts, but its use is strictly regulated because of the fact that it is technically a curse, and will result in a curse scar if overused. Also, I know of instances where it was used to steal a person's blood for potions uses, creating targeted love potions and things like that. Madame Pomfrey said you recorded this detention?"
Harry smiled slightly and pulled the tack off of his tie. Then he gently tapped it with his wand and said, "Reverto." The recording sphere grew back to its original size, though of course, the tack was still stuck to it. "This is to be one of the new products that Fred and George will be selling in their joke shop. They're just like the ones the Department of Mysteries uses, but shrunken."
"Excellent." Dumbledore touched the sphere with his wand and said, "Triplicare." Three new spheres split off from the one in Harry's hand. One went to Dumbledore, one to McGonagall, and the other to Madame Pomfrey. "Professors, if you will please put those somewhere innocuous where you can easily retrieve them if my copy is somehow lost. Harry, you put yours in your trunk. I will be taking this to the Minister personally, and if he refuses to see reason regarding Umbridge, we will have to resort to more drastic measures."
Harry said, "When you speak to him, please pass on my offer to let him view my memories of the night in the graveyard. Perhaps if he was given that kind of direct evidence, he would not be so quick to dismiss it. All he has right now is Rita Skeeter's foul reporting and his desire to not believe in the resurgence of Voldemort." He paused. "What would the penalty be for not taking the course?"
"Under the current law, she can prevent you from taking your OWL exams. I do not expect her to leave it at that. But neither will we. I will visit the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the morning. Madame Umbridge's class is canceled for the rest of the week regardless. When you go to your detention tomorrow, it will be interrupted by me, and perhaps an Auror or two."
With that, Professor Dumbledore left the infirmary. Professor McGonagall said, "Is Mr. Potter free to go, Madame Pomfrey?"
"Yes. For now the quill has done its work properly and healed the cuts."
"Then you three come with me, and I'll get you back to the tower."
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Harry was met in the common room by Ron and Hermione, both of them having been very worried about him. "I'm okay. I've already been to Madame Pomfrey, and both Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore know what's going on."
Hermione said, "What did she do?"
Fred and George did not go to their dorm, but stayed in the common room with the three younger teens. Fred said, "She made him write lines for seven hours with a blood quill!"
They blew up, but Harry quickly hushed them. "Peace. It's being dealt with, and if things go well we should be able to get her thrown out of the school. I'm hoping that the Minister will accept my offer to let him view my memories, but we can't count on his support here."
Ron said, "What about this new way of using magic, Harry? Why don't we all learn that and help you?"
"I'd love for you to help me, Ron, but as far as becoming a Jedi, there are a few things standing in your way. For one, you don't know what a Jedi is, not really. You'd certainly have to read all the same books I have, and learn the same spells. I'm not using anything new, just changing the way I use it, like the Patronus. If you can't cast a full Patronus, you won't be able to conjure a lightsaber with it. Second, you don't like to study, Ron. I never really did, either, of course, but since I started this, studying has become essential to it, and you can't become a Jedi without study. And even though I was joking with Snape the other day, I wasn't kidding about it being unusual for a Gryffindor to learn patience. We've all got that brash streak in us, and I've had to learn how to calm down and think before acting. That's hard for anyone to do. The main character in those books, Luke, had the same problem, and I'm not saying you can't overcome it, just that it's hard.
"Then there's the physical stuff. There's no such thing as a lazy Jedi. You'd have to start a physical fitness routine, and you'd need to learn how to fight with your body, not just your wand. In fact, I started with simple things that any Muggle could learn; physical fitness and meditation. You'd have to start there, too.
"I had motivation, and it wasn't so I could learn some cool new tricks. I was trying to get over the death of Cedric, and I was trying to get ready for Voldemort. And I'm no Jedi, not yet. There's a lot I don't know yet. I'm still evolving. In a way, I'm building the way of the Jedi here on Earth, sorting through the parts and pieces between wizardry and fantasy and mysticism to find a solid path.
"And there are dangers on that path for anyone trying to walk it. Not dangers like mixing Neville and Potions, but dangers like becoming the thing you're fighting."
"The dark side," whispered Hermione, trying not to break the mood Harry had set with his monologue. "You're afraid of falling to the dark side."
"I am. The night before we left for school, your mum was trying to deal with that boggart in the drawing room at the place we're staying. It kept turning into all of you, but you were dead. Your dad, and me and all your brothers, too. So Remus and I went in to help her get rid of it. Of course it became a full moon for Remus. But for me, it became me, only a me that was evil. That's my greatest fear, that I will fail and fall as Tom Riddle and Anakin Skywalker failed. Of course Tom did it on purpose, and Anakin was fictional. But there is nothing in the world that says I'm too good to fall just as far. I'm very careful of my emotions, and if I'm angry or scared, I don't touch my magic, or the force."
Ron said, "I don't get it."
Harry smiled. "I know. Let me put it this way. I could have killed Dolores Umbridge tonight." The three Weasleys flinched back. "Yes. She was torturing me by my own hand. I could have become full of righteous anger, taken that bloody quill and caused it to imbed itself in her throat." He paused to make them think about that. "Tom Riddle, if he were the student, would certainly have done something like that, though he would probably have been more subtle about it. But what I chose to do instead was sink myself into the force, allow it to keep me from feeling the pain, and focus on being calm and getting through it. I must never allow myself to become drunk on the power I wield. It's that sort of thing I'm fighting; I don't need to add myself to it."
There was absolute quiet for a moment. Then Ron nodded. "I think I understand, Harry. But I don't want to sit on the sidelines, either."
He grinned at him. "Good." Everyone relaxed at his joviality. "Ron you're one of the best chess players this school has ever seen. You beat a chess set charmed by Professor McGonagall in your first year, and you've only gotten better since. What you should do to help in the coming fight is learn all you can about strategy and tactics. I don't know if there are any wizarding books on the strategies of war, but I know there are a lot of Muggle ones. Strategies and tactics are about concepts involved battle, not specific techniques, so they apply to magical battles as well as to Muggle ones, and if you can learn that sort of thing, you'll be of great help as Voldemort steps up the fighting. And study what he did last time, so we can figure out what he'll do this time."
"What about us?" Fred and George asked in chorus.
"I think you two would be best suited to arming the Order. Your abilities with Charms and Potions would allow you to come up with all sorts of weapons and trap spells. If we know where a fight is going to happen, we could mine the battlefield. But even if we don't, we could do spell grenades, or something like that. You could make armor to protect people from spellfire. I'm sure you two are much more imaginative than me when it comes to that kind of thing." The twins looked at one another, and matching slow, evil grins came across their faces. "Weapons are not pranks. They should be able to incapacitate or end an enemy. We're not involved in a police action but a war, and there are going to be casualties on both sides. Personally, I'd rather it were more of them than us." That made the twins drop their grins, but they both nodded.
Finally, Harry said, "Hermione, you are the most organized person I have ever met, and I grew up with a woman who was pathologically neat. You're smarter than all of Ravenclaw, and you also tend to think of the little things that everyone else is in too much of a hurry to remember, noticing the tiniest details, like what was under Fluffy's feet. So I think you should be involved in logistics and research."
In a quiet voice, Hermione said, "Do you think it is going to come to war?"
Harry sighed. "Yes. Other than his obsession with killing me, Voldemort wants to take over the world. You don't do that without an army. Honestly, I don't think he has any idea how hard it would be to take over the whole world, but with the state of magical Britain, I think he could take over here."
George said, "What do you mean?"
"You might have noticed how easily manipulated the average witch or wizard is in this country. They believe whatever the paper tells them. If the paper tells them to hate me, they do. If the paper tells them I'm the only one who can save them, they'll believe that, too, and try to find a hole to pull over their heads. They're far too trusting of authority, and when, not if, he gains a foothold in the Ministry, he'll have the wizarding population of Britain."
With a grin on his face, Ron said, "Are you sure you need a strategist?"
Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I do. I can see the board, but you're much better at playing the game, mate." Then he sobered. "All right. Everyone get some rest. We have Defense in the morning."
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Harry got back from his run the next morning just in time to grab a high-protein breakfast and get to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Kang paired everyone up, but since there was an odd number of students, he kept Harry up at the front with himself. He began teaching basic shielding charms, using Harry to help him demonstrate by firing first-year hexes at him. His shield was perfect, as one would expect from the instructor, and he also moved among the students, helping them where it was needed.
At the end of class, he demonstrated the most sophisticated of shielding charms, the Patronus Charm. "The Patronus is the highest form of shield charm," he said, "not because it is the most powerful against spellfire, but because it depends on pure emotion for its strength. You must feel a strong, pure, and positive emotion to create it, emotions like happiness or love. And if the emotion or the memory is strong enough, you can produce a corporeal Patronus, one which is not only mist or smoke, but appears in the form of an animal which represents your most protective instincts. I will demonstrate."
He drew his wand, and pointing at the opposite wall, he said, "Expecto Patronum." Out of his wand came a silver crane, which proceeded to flit about the room for a moment before landing back in front of the Aikido Master.
"The corporeal Patronus has many uses. It can provide light in the dark without fear of lighting a fire. It can be sent as a messenger over long distances. And it can protect against, drive off, or even kill dementors, if one knows how."
When class let out, Master Kang kept Harry back for a moment. "I have found us a training ground. A house elf named Dobby, who is apparently very attached to you, knew of a place that could be completely hidden and which would provide any training materials which we might require. It is called the Room of Requirement, and it provides whatever one may require at the time he requires it." He handed Harry a small bit of parchment. "Be at this location at six in the morning tomorrow, and we'll decide on a schedule at that time."
"Thank you, M—Professor." Harry colored at having almost called him Master. He couldn't let that get out.
But Professor Kang just smiled. "See you then, Mr. Potter."
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Harry took his lunch outside that afternoon, just wanting to enjoy what was left of the warm weather before winter set in. Dobby brought him a picnic basket with some ham sandwiches and a small flask of pumpkin juice, and he took it out to a spot on the banks of the lake. Hedwig joined him, and he gave her part of his sandwich, which she shredded happily.
"She's really quite fond of you," said a voice behind him. It was Luna Lovegood.
Harry smiled at her. "I don't deserve her. But she's still among my first friends, and I wouldn't trade her for the world."
"Why are you out here today?"
"Because it'll soon be winter. Care to join me?"
"Thank you, I will." She transfigured a leaf into a checkered blanket and sat down on it in front of a large rock. Harry handed her one of the sandwiches. "This is quite nice." They ate for a moment in companionable silence, and then Luna asked, "What is Professor Umbridge doing to you?"
Harry looked at her, focusing his senses on her presence in the force. He found genuine concern, not morbid curiosity, so he answered her, "She's having me write lines with a blood quill. But don't worry. I've informed Madame Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. The Headmaster went to the Minister and the DMLE with the evidence I got for him. She won't have the opportunity to do it again, to me or anyone else."
"You have a much higher opinion of the Ministry than I have."
"No. I know what they are. But there are four copies of the recording I made that day. If she isn't removed from the castle, I'll be going to the Quibbler and the Daily Prophet both with it. And if she's allowed to continue, she'll quickly find that quill using her own blood instead of mine."
Luna smiled at him. "That sounds fair."
Harry continued looking at her, noticing that she was quite pretty, despite her unusual fashion sense, and that he realized was simply her way of being individual. He took a deep breath, then said, "I'd like to get to know you better. How would you feel about going to Hogsmeade with me the first weekend?"
"I feel that would be wonderful," she said in her light, airy voice. "You will have to ask me to go with you when it is closer, and I will definitely have to tell you yes."
Harry smiled. "That would make me very happy."
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That night's detention began just as the first, with Harry walking into Umbridge's office. Knowing what was coming, at least on her end, Harry opened himself fully to the force, letting it keep his consciousness away from the pain that would soon come from the quill.
But no sooner than he had written a single line, the door to the office was knocked on, and she bade him stop a moment. Harry did so, and she went to answer the door. "Yes, who is it?"
"It is the Headmaster, Dolores. I need to speak with you."
Irritated, she said, "Can't it wait? I'm conducting a detention."
"I'm afraid it cannot wait. The matter is of utmost importance."
Huffing with annoyance, Umbridge opened the door. But Dumbledore was not alone. Behind him stood the Minister and three Aurors, one of them Senior by the mark of rank on his scarlet robe. "What is this!?" she cried. Then she spotted the Minister himself behind them. "Cornelius, what—"
"I told you to find out what he knew, Dolores," said the Minister with a scowl. "I did not tell you to torture the boy!"
Realizing that she was being thrown under the bus, as the Muggles said, Umbridge snarled, "Codswallop! You gave me the quill, and told me to use any means necessary!"
Harry was careful not to let any emotion show on his face, but he was wearing a new recording sphere. The Minister might incriminate himself right here and now so long as he didn't reveal himself.
But the man wasn't quite that stupid, seeing as he was surrounded by Aurors. "A lie, of course, scrambling at straws. Senior Auror Shacklebolt, place Madame Umbridge under arrest."
The tall, dark man approached Madame Umbridge and said, "Dolores Jane Umbridge, you are under arrest for forcing the use of a blood quill on a minor. Please hand over your wand." Glaring at him, she did so, placing it in the evidence bag that he was holding out to her. He sealed the bag and wrote on it what Harry assumed was documentation for evidentiary purposes. Then he said, "Please put your hands behind your back." She did so, and he produced a pair of iron manacles from inside his robes and locked them onto her wrists. Then he started to pull her out of the class room.
"Now, are you all right, Mr. Potter?" asked the Minister. Harry examined the feelings coming from him, and found on top of the pile irritation with Umbridge and a desire for damage control.
"I'm fine today, Minister. I'd only written one line when you all came in. Thank you for acting so promptly against her. Do the Aurors also need the quill?"
"Not a bad idea. Dawlish, take the quill into evidence."
"Yes, Minister," said the other Auror. The man walked over to Harry, who put the quill into another evidence bag at his request.
"Minister Fudge," said Harry, "This all started because you wanted to know the truth. I told Madame Umbridge that I would not tell her, but I asked her to tell you that I was willing to tell you personally. Did she ever convey that to you?"
Fudge's eyebrows shot into his hairline, and that was quite a feat. "No, she didn't."
"You could not hear my testimony on the night of the Third Task. Fear is a powerful thing, and it may take even the best of us time to defeat it. If you are ready, I will allow you to view my memory of that night. If you are not, then please know that this is an open invitation. You may see it whenever you wish."
Fudge opened and closed his mouth a few times. Harry had very carefully not called him a coward, and was being quite gracious, not blaming Fudge for what had occurred here and offering him the very information he wanted. But it was equally clear that Harry still believed Voldemort had returned. "I realize that you believe this, young man. I'm sure that the memory would be quite convincing."
Harry shook his head. "Then why send Madame Umbridge?" He knew that he could probably influence the Minister through the force, but he didn't feel it would be right to do so. This had to be his own decision.
For a moment it looked as though the man would fold, but then he shook his head, his stubbornness reasserting itself. "He can't be back!" he whispered.
Harry shook his head in disappointment. "All right, if that is your decision, I will abide by it. But I must also do what I feel is right, and letting him win is not right. Only please be assured that nothing I do is against you, it is against him. For now, that means becoming prepared. It means learning, and I'm a student anyway. I might research things I wouldn't in peacetime, but I'm still just learning. Isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing in any case?"
Fudge stared at him. Professor Dumbledore was smiling at him with pride, but Harry tried to ignore that, needing to focus on the Minister. He said, "Well, I can't disagree with that. It's a student's job to learn. Very well. Good luck in your OWL year, Mr. Potter." Then he turned and left the room, the Aurors and Madame Umbridge in tow.
Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Dumbledore said, "Let's get you out of here, shall we?" He nodded and picked up his book bag, and they left the office together. "It is sad that the Minister won't be working with us on this."
"Yes, but at least now he won't be working against us. I'll settle for him staying out of the way."
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The next morning, Harry resumed his individual instruction with Master Kang. He began to learn how to properly use the sword against an opponent, which was the factor he'd been missing while learning on his own, and he showed Master Kang how he was able to touch the ambient magic, which he was calling the force of magic. They decided that they should meet every weekday morning, leaving the weekend for rest and meditation.
Master Kang said, "I would also like you to consider writing a book of your own."
Harry's eyebrows went up with surprise. "Me? Write a book?"
"You have, through very simple techniques of experimentation and reasoning, developed an entirely new theory of magic. You should document it, and perhaps eventually pass on what you are learning. That is one of the major tenets of the Jedi, is it not?"
Harry nodded, thinking. There had been many Star Wars books written after Return of the Jedi, books that continued to follow Luke Skywalker and his family, and he had read all that the library had. But Master Kang wasn't asking him to write a new fiction. He was asking him to write down the reality that he'd found in the fiction, a book detailing the ways of the force, a Jedi Bible, as it were. He didn't think he'd name it that, though. "It's not a bad idea. But I have not begun to know everything to know there is to know about the force. I'm by no means an expert!"
Master Kang smiled at him. "I did not say or think that you were. Nor is it time to write this volume. But I would suggest that you start a notebook, a journal, and begin documenting your observations of the force and the techniques you discover. Then, when it is time for you to begin writing, you will have your research on hand, and when you have finished your writing, you will have a firm foundation upon which to teach. You will also need to write the rules for being a Jedi Knight. I would even go so far as to write Mr. Lucas and ask him what those rules are for the Jedi that he wrote about, and use them for a starting point."
"It sounds like the work of a lifetime." And Harry wasn't sure that he had that kind of time left. To be honest, though he was going to give his very best effort to rid the world of Voldemort, he had no assurance that he would be successful. There was every chance that he would die in the attempt.
"Harry, you must believe that you will be successful, or you surely will not be."
The young man looked up at his teacher and slowly smiled. " 'There is no try.' "
Master Kang grinned at him. "Exactly."
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The class that Madame Umbridge had taught was not wiped off the books, but instead turned into an introductory course for first years only. A new teacher was brought in and he actually brought the new students, especially the Muggleborns, up to speed on the culture of the wizarding Britain. Being a Muggleborn himself, Professor Cisco understood what those youngest students needed to know.
With the distraction of Umbridge removed, the whole school breathed a sigh of relief and moved on. Of course, it was still Harry and his friends' OWL year, so they were being murdered by homework, but now they didn't have to worry about being murdered by a teacher.
Master Kang had everyone practicing hex avoidance, which ended up working like a game of dodge ball. He would stand on one side of the classroom and the students would all stand on the other side, then he would shoot low-powered stinging hexes at them. He did this with Harry during sword practice as well, only he had him using the lightsaber charm and blocking them rather than dodging. Master Kang's own connection to the force was steadily increasing, and he marveled at the new world of perception that it had opened up.
Quidditch tryouts went off without a hitch, and Ron made Keeper. Harry had a little talk with him about keeping a balance between Quidditch, study, and down time, and Ron took the advice as a way of becoming a great Quidditch player, but it was Harry's way of getting his best mate to study without Hermione having to fuss at him. The rest of the team looked like it would be a good one, and Harry was able to concentrate on his studies as well. Of course, he also had a fourth thing to add to his mix thanks to his studies with Master Kang, but it wasn't as difficult as it could be thanks to his new meditation skills and the fact that his abilities with the force were increasing his skills with wizarding magic as well. They really increased his retention to boot, and that made all of his studying easier, no matter the subject.
Of course, Draco was still making himself a nuisance. He and his mates tried to disrupt the Gryffindor practices often, especially trying to upset Ron so that he'd play badly. Harry set up a Silencing Charm on Ron's robes, and expanded the size of the effect so that Ron could still hear the other players, but he couldn't hear anything from people on the ground. Then he said, "Until you learn to ignore him, he'll always be able to get at you. You need to stop worrying about what he thinks and says, because they don't matter. Concentrate on your goal posts and the Quaffle, all right?"
That night as they all worked on their homework, Hermione was helping Ron with Astronomy because he kept mixing up Jupiter's moons, and Harry was finishing up his essay on the nature of dream prediction for Professor Trelawney when Ron received a letter from his brother Percy. Given the attitude that Percy had toward his family lately, Harry had a bad feeling about it.
Ron read the letter and slowly turned red. Then he tossed it down and got up in disgust, mumbling, "I need the loo."
With Ron away from the table, Harry and Hermione read the letter together.
Dear Ron,
I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister of Magic himself, who has it from your former teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect.
I was most pleasantly surprised when I heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must admit that I have always been afraid that you would take what we might call the "Fred and George" route, rather than following in my footsteps, so you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and have decided to shoulder some real responsibility.
But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron, I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than by the usual morning post. Hopefully you will be able to read this away from prying eyes and avoid awkward questions.
From something the Minister let slip when telling me you are now a prefect, I gather that you are still seeing a lot of Harry Potter. I must tell you, Ron, that nothing could put you in danger of losing your badge more than continued fraternization with that boy. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this — no doubt you will say that Potter has always been Dumbledore's favorite — but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who count have a very different — and probably more accurate — view of Potters behavior. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing — and see if you can spot yours truly!
Seriously, Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the same brush as Potter, it could be very damaging to your future prospects, and I am talking here about life after school too. It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with him — I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent — but if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything else in Potter's behavior that is troubling you, I urge you to owl me and I will be only too happy to advise you.
This leads me to my other bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to hear that Professor Umbridge was so horribly misunderstood when she tried to correct Potter's behavior that he had her arrested on charges of abuse. Of course she only had his best interests and those of the school at heart, but though she most certainly became too enthusiastic in her approach, even her most reasonable ideas were not even considered!
I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over the summer. It pains me to criticize our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore (if you are writing to Mother at any point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, who is a great friend of Dumbledore's, has recently been sent to Azkaban for trespass at the Ministry. Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty criminals with whom they are currently rubbing shoulders). I count myself very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people — the Minister really could not be more gracious to me — and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions either. I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realize how mistaken hey were and I shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes.
Please think over what I have said most carefully, particularly the bit about Harry Potter, and congratulations again on becoming prefect.
Your brother,
Percy
Harry shook his head. "Well I guess that answers any question we had about the Minister." Then he sighed. "I'm writing him a letter. He shouldn't abandon his family like this."
Ron came back to the table said, "Give it back," said Ron, holding out his hand. "He is —" Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy's letter in half, "the world's" — he tore it into quarters — "biggest" — he tore it into eighths — git." He threw the pieces into the fire.
Harry said, "He's still your brother. Hopefully he'll come around soon enough." He abandoned his homework for about fifteen minutes and wrote a letter for Percy. He'd walk up to the owlry in the morning and have Hedwig deliver it for him. It said,
Percy Weasley,
I know you think I'm dangerous. But I'm not writing you about me. I'm writing you about your family. I think it's wrong of you to abandon them just because you've had a disagreement.
I never got to know my parents, never got a chance to have any siblings. I can't imagine having those things. But you can. And you're willing to let that slip away.
I had the misfortune of watching your Mum try to deal with a boggart this summer. It kept turning into various members of the family, dead. It had her in tears until Professor Lupin got between her and it. Whether you believe in the thing she's afraid of or not, there's still the element of chance in everyday life that you might never have the chance to see her again.
All I'm saying is that you should contact her. Don't talk politics, just talk to your Mum. Talk to your Dad. Don't lose your family because you disagree with them.
I know you don't believe me about Voldemort. But do you know that the reason I'm fighting him isn't for me? It's not for fun, it's not even to survive. It's for my friends and family. Like it or not, I count you among them, along with all your family. I think that is something that we can both agree on.
Sincerely hopeful,
Harry Potter
Harry read it one last time, then nodded to himself and sealed it with wax. Then he went back to his homework.
~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~
Notes: The letter from Harry to Percy is somewhat poignant for me. It's a combination of circumstances. My husband's family are having issues, and we lost both my mother and his stepfather in the last year or so. It makes me want to scream at times that they're all being so foolish when they know just how short life can be, and as I go through this story and I see Percy making the same mistakes, I couldn't help myself but to say something. It also seemed in character for this calmer, more thoughtful Harry to give Percy something to think about.
