A/N: Hello and welcome to chapter 13! Let's see what Dumbledore and the Order are up to, shall we?
Enjoy!
Dumbledore looked through the room, taking note of a few of their members still missing. Once Severus swept into the room, he started.
"Welcome. I realise this is a rather impromptu meeting but we have a great problem on our hands. Yesterday morning, Harry potter fled Hogwarts and has been missing ever since."
Instantly the room filled with worried chatter, though Molly's voice was the sharpest and loudest as usual.
"What do you mean, missing? Explain yourself Albus! What could have happened to cause such a thing?"
Ah yes, the parents hadn't been informed of the changes in Harry just yet, he had altered the children's letters accordingly once he intercepted them. It wouldn't do to have such a thing come to the attention of the public or even the Ministry and the Dark Lord. Certainly having Tom know that Harry had been performing obscure rituals was not a good thing. He would have had many fiasco's on his hands had he not taken to filtering the children's letters to contain only innocent things, not related to the large incidents in Hogwarts that had been occurring even since Harry's first year. The troll and the basilisk were excellent examples of that.
"Harry has been found baring the results of an unknown but quite possibly very shady ritual, causing changes on his face and hiding his scar as well. As you all know I cannot condone Dark magic to be cast within Hogwarts. He had been missing from the Gryffindor dorms for several days as well and was found hiding in the Room of Requirement. The professors and myself tried to reason with him and have him return in the dorms but he refused and ran away."
"Nothing more than a foolish and stressed child's temper tantrum." Severus scoffed, earning a stern look from the headmaster. He knew the potions professor didn't believe Harry had done anything Dark but the way things were it was obvious Harry was guilty. He had even run away for Merlin's sake!
Molly was about to lash out vocally again but Arthur stopped her, sparing everyone's ears. Meanwhile several of their members eyed Snape suspiciously. Never had the man admitted to Potter being anything more than a brat and while he had said something similar, he also spoke of Harry being stressed; which was something the potions master would never had said under such circumstances. There was something the headmaster wasn't saying here… Tonks, Remus and Mad-eye shared a look across the room, they were definitely going to find out what was going on.
"Now, now Severus, this is something serious. We need to find Harry as soon as possible. I will keep the information from leaving the school, it is essential that Voldemort and the Ministry do not learn of this. If they do there will be dire consequences. For those of us working in the Ministry, if you can track Harry somehow then I want it done. Mudgundus, keep an ear open. If Harry truly is going Dark he will visit Knockturn Alley eventually. Molly, Arthur, if you can discover anything through your children I would be very grateful. If Harry writes them then I want you to tell me."
Everyone agreed readily and the meeting veered off into the different topics such as how to deal with the Death Eaters and Voldemort now that the Ministry finally acknowledged his return. Once everything was said and done, everyone returned home. Everyone but three whom cornered Severus in a nearby abandoned classroom.
"What happened to my cub?" Was the first thing out of Moony's mouth once the door was closed and charmed against prying eyes or ears.
"None of us know, Lupin so calm down. What I do know is that there is no chance Potter would be capable of casting Dark magic, especially the performance of a ritual. Not only did he not give off the general air of a beginner in Dark magic but according to what Draco told me, he didn't even know what was happening to himself and hadn't noticed."
"What're you talking about?" Tonks cut in confused about what changes Snape could be referring to.
"A sort of mask appeared under his skin recently, covering his eye and a part of his face as well. It's also what obstructed Potter's scar, which is what the headmaster referred to. Those fools simply refuse to see what's right in front of them. Potter didn't do this to himself."
The confidence with which he was defending Harry had several of those present snorting with amusement.
"Never thought I'd see the day where you defended Harry, Snape." Remus finally said, chuckling softly behind his hand only to be met with a harsh glare.
"I am not defending him. He is still an incurable brat just like his father but this is sheer idiocy and those who don't see it are blind." He sighed and uncrossed his arms, summoning a vial and holding his wand to his temple, extracting the memories he had of Potter gaining that mask. It had even been gradual… Dark rituals were almost always instantaneous.
"Watch this privately later. His reactions are nothing like how someone guilty would behave, not to mention even Potter would know not to leave behind such an obvious trace." He duplicated the memories and handed a vial to all three.
"We'll see Snape." Moody huffed, storing the vial away in his robes immediately. I agree something fishy is going on here but we'll have to wait and see."
With that the man turned and left, cueing the other two to follow as well, leaving Severus to his thoughts.
One could only wonder just where this mess was going to lead.
A bit further down the hall Molly and Arthur were discussing similar things, though from what they had seen from Harry until now, nothing could lead them to believe the boy had done something Dark. But what if he had? The headmaster wouldn't just lie like that and to cause Dumbledore to suspect Harry had performed Dark magic… The proof had to be pretty strong.
"Oh I hope Harry's alright. Who knows where he could be right now?" Molly said with slight desperation. She just wished Harry would have come to her during these troubling times. Even if Harry had changed, she loathed to believe she would have reacted so negatively without hearing him out.
Arthur was of a similar mind-set. Not to mention they owed Dumbledore the help in the tuition for their children as well as support throughout the years. If Dumbledore believed so strongly Harry had done some thing wrong, was it truly up to them to doubt him? No, he didn't think so.
Dumbledore was the leader of the Light; surely he wouldn't be wrong about something like this?
"Looks like Potter finally ran away." Malfoy said with a smirk when word spread from the Gryffindor table through the four houses. Considerate hums of agreement followed around him but it was easy to see that while most didn't care, the people he frequented were thinking into this a little more. Draco himself had eased up on bullying Potter when he realised just how shocked Potter had been to have that mask thing appearing through his skin. He had persevered with the taunts purely because it was expected of him, really. But in private, he thought something was wrong as well. Like a missing puzzle piece just waiting to complete the puzzle, but he couldn't grasp it.
His classmates' thoughtful expressions told him they had similar thoughts. Though really, they all wondered what it was that had happened to Gryffindor's 'Golden Boy' to cause the whole school to turn on him like that. As usual the Gryffindors were the first to turn tail, Weasley and Granger especially. Either they knew something or they were acting exactly the same way they had two years ago during the Triwizard Tournament. Really, why Potter had let them return to his good graces was beyond him.
When the two Gryffindors finally left the Great Hall, Draco and his friends followed after them. The two looked almost lost without Potter there to chaperone them, not to mention they were fighting again. How they ever became friends was just as large a mystery but really, if they wanted to go that route then why should he question that? A silencing charm or two and no one would have to suffer from it either.
"Finally lost your leader, have you; Granger, Weasley? Not that you were ever of much use, with or without him." He sneered at the two, who immediately turned to face Draco. Weasley already had his wand out while Granger was at least attempting to be diplomatic.
"Get lost Malfoy." Weasley shot at him, having lowered his wand like the pitiful dog he was, obeying his mistress. Actually ew, no, gross!
"Truly, I thought that was more your forte Weasel. Especially since you look the part now." He chuckled at the glares he was being given. Really, riling up Gryffindors was such fun. Riling up Harry Potter was a lot more amusing though, since he knew how to piss the other boy off. After a pathetic growl from the redhead, he continued.
"Really, one could wonder if you actually even know what Potter was up to. You were some of the first to cut him off after all, weren't you? And here I thought Gryffindors protected their own." The Slytherins did a much better job of that. Even the Ravenclaws had someone they cast out and bullied and while Slytherin did have its differences in members and such, problems were always resolved in the privacy of their common room.
"Shut up, this has nothing to do with you! For all we know you smuggled him stuff about dark rituals or whatever." Once again Weasley opened his trap and only idiocy spewed from it. Did that moron ever use his brain? Draco truly doubted it.
"Oh of course, and I opened the Chamber of Secrets as well, did I? While you're busy making up idiotic claims, we have classes to attend to. Not that they'd be of much use for you, eh Weasel?" He turned away and headed to his next lesson, there was no fun in this. It was more aggravating than anything else to have to soil his day with their presence. Perhaps it was time to cut ties with Gryffindor entirely…
Potter was bound to come back and the truth would be brought to light then, without a doubt.
Ron and Hermione fumed as Malfoy left, glaring at him as if that would bore a hole through the blond.
That particular Slytherin had always been good at riling them up, Ron more easily than the others considering he leapt before he looked. Hermione had remarkably been spared this time, not that she had really gotten a chance to say anything at all. They didn't know what had happened to Harry but for all they know he had been in cahoots with Malfoy. Or more likely, the room had provided him with the knowledge he needed.
Of course doing a ritual to end up with something like that on his face made little to no sense at all but she was positive he had done something, had it been a ritual or something else. She was offended he hadn't come to her for information or to simply tell her his worries. They were supposed to be the golden trio, always standing strong for each other but then Harry would go off and do something like this, tearing them apart.
Now only the duo remained but the way they saw it, having Harry along with them only dragged them down.
A/N: Well, such loyal friends eh? At least we now know not everyone is against Harry, they're just easily influenced by Dumbledore. Funny how this causes the Slytherins to be the ones to believe in the 'Dark Magic' excuse the least.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Love,
~Lumina
