Harry stepped out into the almost barren streets near the Leaky Cauldron. There were only a few witches and wizards outside, all of whom were hidden by long and dark robes, and the Weasleys, along with Hermione and Harry, standing in front of the intersection near the Leaky Cauldron.
The scene was desolate. Steam rose from a few of the buildings, but the rest were either abandoned or dark inside. All along the windows were signs saying: WANTED: LORD VOLDEMORT. Harry wished he could capture Voldemort, he wished so badly, but it felt like the past six year had been wasted, and any attempt to cease Voldemort would be rubbish.
Everybody began walking into the Leaky Cauldron. The scene inside was almost abandoned, except for Tom, the barman, and Tonks, sitting with Lupin at an almost empty table. There was no one else to be seen.
"Hello," greeted Mrs. Weasley, as she walked in.
"Hello, Molly," Lupin greeted back. "I'm terribly sorry to hear about Arthur. Such a good man."
Harry swore he saw one little tear droplet run down her eye. "Well, he was...quite the man, he was..."
Harry noticed that Tonks's hair was set to blue, probably because of the unfortunate scene that had happened several hours ago.
"Harry," said Tonks, "long time, no see."
Harry simply nodded in return. It seemed like he had a loss for words, and felt like saying nothing, nothing at all, the whole day.
"Where's the rest of the Order?" asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Upstairs, having a meeting," replied Lupin. "They're wanting you up there."
Mrs. Weasley rushed up the stairs and vanished out of sight.
"Why aren't you two in the meeting?" asked Harry.
"We were excused, for some unknown reason," said Tonks.
"According to dad...," began Ron, but seemed to have a sudden pain of losing his father, and looked down towards the ground.
"Yes, we're having an affair," said Lupin.
"You are?" asked Hermione.
"Surely, yes," said Lupin. "A werewolf can't live alone forever, not a loving one, no."
Harry suddenly felt something grab his hand, and looked across his shoulder rapidly. He saw Ginny, welding her hand inside of his. It was a powerful grip, about as powerful as the pain Harry sometimes received in his scar, and decided to grip in return, letting her know he was there for here, wherever, whenever.
"Sorry to hear about your joke shop, Fred and George," said Tonks.
"What?" asked Fred.
"Joke shop?" said George. "What about it?"
"Why, haven't you been reading the Prophet lately?" said Lupin, grabbing what seemed like an issue from the table. "The Ministry says they're suing you."
"What?" said Fred, with an outraged face, along with his twin brother. "That's absurd! Why would they do such a thing?"
"Scrimgeour resigned as Minister," said Tonks. "Well, I guess you could say he was fired, but some old hag took his place with the name of Henrietta Klutzo."
"Sounds like an old hag," muttered George.
Fred and George took a look at the paper, and read the article aloud, underneath the headline "Twins' Joke Shop Sued":
"It's been the dream of every uptight and downright normal parent for about two year now, but it is finally happening. The kid-famous Weasley joke shop is being sued for preposterous and sometimes hospital-engaging magical products.
"Miss Henrietta Klutzo, the new Minister of Magic, said the Frightening Platypus, the twins' new product, has caused numerous hazards to children around the country, including her own nephew.
"'I will put up with none of this nonsense,' said Klutzo. 'Their products has landed many children in hospitals, and is annoying Hogwarts professors to the point of transferring them to an insane asylum. The craziness shall stop here.'
"Klutzo said she will be suing the twins for over five hundred thousand galleons. The outgoing and silly children are praying the twins may hopefully find a chance to win the case, but my thoughts say no. The case is set for the second Thursday of August.
"Parents, the annoying toys and other things may be stopped at once when the two twins will lose the case. STORY CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE."
The Weasley twins looked outraged even more.
"How could this hag do this?" yelled George.
"I'd say there's nothing wrong with it, although I am concerned why she is coming to people so close to the Order," said Lupin. "As the story continues, it says Klutzo also has some inside information about Dumbledore, and will be writing an article about his life, and she knows the entire Tonks family tree."
"Strange," said Hermione.
"How are we supposed to pay five hundred thousand galleons?" raged George.
"If we pay the hag that amount of money," said Fred, "which we have, we'll have to close down the joke shop for good."
"Not unless you two boys come up with a good plan," said Lupin. "If you defend your case correctly, you could keep the joke shop."
"Huh, sounds good to me," said George.
"We should go think of a plan," said Fred, and the two walked up the staircase.
"I'm going to go study," said Tonks and left the room.
"I have to use the bathroom," said Ron, and left the room.
Ginny suddenly walked outside through the door without saying anything. Harry felt somewhat concerned, but decided he should let her have her space.
Harry looked on the front cover where the joke shop article was. There were two pictures: one where the twins were waving and used the Frightening Platypus on the camera, and another where a short, plump woman, with a large, frizzly hairdo, and large spectacles, was pointing a stick towards the camera, and pounding it on her hand like a judge. She was wearing a blue, fuzzy outfit, with purple and pink poke-a-dots, and made Harry almost sick. The woman reminded him of Umbridge. Harry looked at the caption, and saw that it was Henrietta Klutzo.
"Is Henrietta Klutzo..." began Harry.
"...related to Dolores Umbridge?" Lupin finished for him. "She is certainly indeed related to her."
Harry had the feeling in the pit of his stomach that the Ministry would never be the same with those two working there.
"She was married to the now dead Larry Klutzo," continued on Lupin, "which changed Umbridge to Klutzo. Umbridge was never married, which isn't surprising, but what is is how Klutzo was able to steal a man's heart. These things amaze me sometimes."
"Is the Ministry being run by Voldemort now?" asked Hermione.
"No," replied Lupin, "but many wizards and witches predict that he could someday control the Ministry and the wizarding world. Terrible thoughts, I know, but it could happen. All I can say now is just be prepared."
Harry just then remembered his confusing situation on if he should continue his final year at Hogwarts, or search of the Horcruxes. Since there was basically no bit of advice anywhere else out there, since Mr. Weasley, Dumbledore, and Sirius were all dead, he decided to ask Lupin.
"I was wondering... Well, last year, Dumbledore explained to me about Voldemort's...Horcruxes..."
Lupin gave a sudden look of horror, but it suddenly fell on him, and began listening again.
"He wanted me to destroy all of them, not exactly all in this year maybe, but I was wondering if I should go back to Hogwarts."
"Harry, of course you should go back," said Lupin. "The more time you spend at Hogwarts, the wiser you'll be out in the world where there is magic you've never even imagined possible. And besides, who knows what you may find at Hogwarts..." At that, Lupin stood up. "I should go see what the Order's up to..." And he walked up the stairs and left.
Harry turned to Hermione. "Was that last sentence supposed to be a clue?"
"Why not? I mean, look at all of Hogwart's secrets: the Sorcerer's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, and more. Why wouldn't a Horcrux end up somewhere in some abandoned hidden dungeon?"
The thought went across Harry and he thought he might as well return. He may search for a Horcrux around the school, and when done with this year, he could venture around the world, attempting to destroy Voldemort.
Suddenly, a sharp pain began tearing into Harry's scar. It felt like it was cutting open, almost beginning to bleed. He put his hand to his head suddenly, and began falling to the ground.
"Harry," came a far away, echoing voice. "Harry...what happened?"
Harry fell down completely onto the floor, and blackness swarmed into him like it never had before.
He was falling, falling. He knew he was going to die. He knew he would be destroyed someday, no matter if he hid his Horcruxes or not. That Potter boy would find them eventually, and everything would end: his reign, his power, his control. He began thinking if he just kept the Poisonous Grasp at Hogwarts, everything would turn okay. Maybe he could slip by and steal some Felix Felicis while there. Nobody would see him, not a soul. He may drop down to the bottom and rebuild the Chamber of Secrets like he did several year ago. He had a plan, a plan that would work, a plan that would bring deaths around the country, around the world, even to Muggles, and nobody would stop him and his Death Eaters. Nobody. He felt like shouting out in rage, but just for pure happiness. He was going to posses the Potter boy, and nobody would be there to stop him.
"Harry...Harry," came in a faint voice, that kept getting lower and lower... "Harry...don't do this...Harry..."