Of Wizards, Akuma, and Exorcists

Fifteen: Percy's Letter

Disclaimers: I do not own any D. Gray-Man or Harry Potter characters/settings. They rightfully belong to Mr. Hoshino (D. Gray-Man) and Ms. Rowling (Harry Potter). Also, some conversations between the Harry Potter characters are direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and that also does not belong to me!
"You know, we probably should try and get more homework done in the week," Harry muttered, placing his Transfiguration essay in a safe place on the table.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, taking out another parchment and scribbling out the beginning of his Astronomy essay "Listen...shall we just ask Hermione if we can have a look at what she's done?"

"No, you know she won't let us."

"She won't let you what?"

Harry and Ron jumped at the sudden question, not noticing Lenalee standing behind them. "H-hi Lenalee," Ron stuttered, his ears turning red.

Lenalee smiled at him and turned to Harry, "So, what won't Hermione let you do?"

"Ask to see her essay for help," Harry answered glumly, mumbling, but his heart was racing. She was just like Cho Chang...

The Chinese Exorcist looked over at where Hermione was chatting away animately with Ginny and Lavi, Allen sitting on the arm of her chair reading a book. Crookshanks, Hermione's big orange cat, was slumbering his her lap. She didn't seem to be paying any attention to Lenalee or the two studying boys. Lenalee leaned down and placed a rolled up parchment on the table.

"I don't know why I carry my bookbag around all the time," she said, "but you were lucky I did. Just don't get it ruined, okay? Tata..."

As the girl walked away, Harry and Ron stared at the parchment on the table. "Did she just lend us her essay?" Harry asked.

"I think, and she's a lifesaver," Ron said, holding the parchment like a holy scroll. He opened it carefully and layed it out in the middle of the table. "She's just as smart as Hermione, too. Hallelujah."

During the day, Hermione didn't wander over to them once, but the Exorcists passed as they went: Lenalee to gently point out minor mistakes every once in a while, or to offer them a copy of her notes; Allen to bring them food and sit with them, skimming through textbooks and explaining difficult passages and information, pointing out tips on how to get a good score; Lavi to sometimes relieve the boys' sore eyes and tired minds with a short story of the going on's in the corridors outside. But Harry and Ron noticed that all three of them, despite the fact that they had no need to do so, had finished their homework responsible -unlike them- and had also done quality work. Along with Hermione, Lenalee and Allen were the smartest students in class. Were Exorcists all this smart? Harry and Ron, however, were just about average and, despite the help their three friends were giving them, didn't make any significant progress in their load of work

"Nearly done?" Hermione asked at half past eleven o'clock. It was nearly midnight; the common room was mostly empty except for Harry and Ron and Hermione and the Exorcists. Fred and George, followed by Lee Jordan, were waving good night to Lavi as they disappeared into the boys' dormitory after a wobbling crowd of first years.

Ron grimly looked up from his half-finished Astronomy essay. "No," he said.

Hermione raised an eyebrow and read whatever was on Ron's parchment. "Jupiter's biggest moon is Ganymede, not Callisto," she said, "and it's Io that's got the volcanoes."

"Thanks," Ron scratched out the sentences, and his voice was clipped and came out in a snarl.

"Sorry, I only-"

"Yeah, well, if you've just come over here to criticize-"

Which is basically what Lenalee was doing, but you never minded her, Harry thought.

"Ron-" Hermione began.

"I haven't got time to listen to a sermon, all right, Hermione, I'm up to my neck in it here-"

"No-look!"

Harry and Ron both looked up. Hermione was pointing to the nearest window, and the boys followed her gaze. Their eyes landed on the shadow of a handsome screech owl that was gazing intently at Ron.

There was a pause, then Hermione said, "Isn't that Hermes?" snapping Ron and Harry out of their stupor.

"Blimey, it is!" Ron whispered, and dashed over to the owl. "What's Percy writing to me for?"

From their place on the floor, playing a card game, the three Exorcists looked up as Ron passed by them, and they followed the red haired boy as Ron walked back to Harry and Hermione.

"Did I hear the name of Percy Weasley?" Lavi asked. "Fred and George've told me about him, the only one in your family against good ol' Dumbledore, isn't he? Siding with the stubborn Minister, or so they say."

"Precise information they gave you," Hermione answered. "Is it from Percy, Ron, for sure?"

"That's definetly Percy's handwriting," Ron answered, slinking in his chair and holding a scroll in his hand. He stared at the words for a moment, looked up, and said, "What d'you reckon?"

"Open it!" Hermione urged, and Harry nodded. Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee stood back in silence and waited, although all thre of them were interested in what Ron's older brother had written.

Ron was reading the letter for himself in silence, but the three Exorcists backed up and half hid behind Harry, feeling an eerie feeling of irritation and anger radiating off of Ron. When he was finished reading, the boy threw down the parchment. Harry grabbed it; Hermione and the others leaned over his shoulder to read the letter.

Dear Ron,

I have only just heard (from no less a person that the Minister of Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect.

I was most pleasantly pleased when I heard this news and must firmly 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 five 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.

"Awkward questions my foot," Lavi muttered, "I'll be it's awkward having a brother who hasn't used one contraction in three paragraphs."

"Freedom, Lavi, he has every right to talk and write the way he wants to," Lenalee replied, "now shush."

Allen rolled his eyes and continued reading:

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 fanger 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 chage 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. Ad you must be aware, given that our father escorted him to court, Potter had a disciplinary hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizangamot and he did not come out of it looking too good. He got off on a mere technicality if you ask me and many of the people I've spoken to remain convinced of his guilt.

" 'Seriously, Ron,'" Lavi mimicked.

"Shh!"

It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter- I know that he can be unbalanced and, for I know, violent- but if you have any worried about this, or have spotted anything in Potter's behavior that is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a really delightful woman, who I know will be only too have 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 so far Professor Umbridge is encountering very little cooperation from staff as she strives to make those necessary changes within Hogwarts that the Minstry so ardently desires (although she should find this easier from next week- again, see the Prophet tomorrow!). I shall say only this- a student who shows himself willing to help Profesor Umbridge may be very weell placed for Head Boyship in a couple of years!

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 mized up with the dangeroud 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 allowe family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of your parent's beliefs and actions either. I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realize how mistaken they were and I shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes.

Please think over what I have said carefully, particulary the bit about Harry Potter, and congratulations again on becoming prefect.

Your brother,

Percy

Allen and Lenalee exhanged glances upoon finishing reading the letter. Lavi was looking thoughful when Harry and Hermione looked up at Ron.

"Well," Harry said lightly with a shrug, but Allen swore he saw a vein pop in the boy's temple, "if you want to- er- what is it? Oh yeah- 'sever ties' with me, I sweat I won't get violent."

Ron seethed. "Give it back," he snapped. "He is the world's biggest git," he said, ripping the letter with every other word, then threw the pieces in to the fireplace. Allen's golem, Timcampy, swooped down and played with the stray strips that had missed the flames.

Lavi put his arms around Lenalee and Allen's shoulder and muttered wisely in their ears, "'What is right isn't always' popular; what is popular isn't always right.' You don't know how many times I've heard people say that."

Allen agreed silently, still watching as Harry leaned down over his essay again, insisting he finish it before dawn. Allen caughet Hermione's gaze and rolled his eyes. The girl sighed, nodded, and said, "Oh, give them here."

"What?" Ron said.

"Give them to me, I'll look through them and correct them," Hermione said.

"Are you serious? Ah, Hermione, you're a lifesavor," Ron sighed in happiness. "What can I-?

"What you can say is," Hermione said, "'We promise we'll never leave our homework this late again.'"

"Thanks a million, Hermione," Harry said, handing her his essay and dropping his head on the table, rubbing his eyes. Allen winked at Hermione, who smiled back.

"Let's go back to our game," Allen suggested.

"It's quite obvious me and Lenalee aren't going to win against you," Lavi said, "let's just make a card tower by the fireplace." Without waiting for a reply, the red haired boy gathered up Allen's deck of cards and promptly sat down by the warm glow of the fire, grinning.

At the table where they were rejoicing in Hermione's kindness, Ron was saying to the girl," Hermione, you are honestly the most wonderful person I've ever met, and if I'm ever ude to you again-"

"-I'll know you're you back to normal," the girl finished. "Harry, yours is okay except for this bit at the end, I think you must have misheard Professor Sinistra, Europa's covered in ice, not mice- Harry?"

"Arrrg!" Lavi exclaimed, for Harry had just crawled over to the fireplace in a daze and knocked over Lavi's beautifully made tower. "No, Harry! How could you?"

"Boo hoo hoo," Allen mocked, suppressing a laugh, but he was worried about how close Harry's nose was to the flames.

"Er- Harry?" Ron said. "Why are you down there?"

"Because I've just seen Sirius's head in the fire," Harry answered.

"What- who?" Lavi and Lenalee said, the former snapping out of his dramatic grieving.

Allen was next to Harry in a flash, on his knees and looking for telltale signs of a man's head in the sea of flames. "He's Harry's godfather," Allen explained.

"Sirius's head?" Hermione said, sounding skeptical. "You mean like when he wanted to talk to you during the Triwizard Tournament? But he wouldn't do that now, it would be too- Sirius!"

Allen gasped and jumped away from the fireplace, crashing into Lavi and sending them both on their backs. Lenalee yelped in surprise, seeing a thin, handsome face of a young man peering out at them from the fire, his long dark hair framing his grin.

"I'm sorry for the fright there, you guys," Sirius Black greeted good-naturedly. "You're the Exorcists Dumbledore's told us about last time, aren't you? I really appreciate what you're doing for us..."

"Well," Lavi said, sitting up and pulling Allen up with him, "fighting this Voldy-mort for you is necessary for us too."

"It's Voldemort," Lenalee corrected.

"Right, well," Sirius said, turning to Harry, "I was starting to think you'd go to bed before everyone else had disappeared. I've been checking every hour."

"You've popping into the fire every hour?" Harry asked, sounding torn between laughing and getting angry.

"Just for a few seconds to check if the coast was clear yet."

"But what if you'd been seen?" Hermione demanded anxiously.

Sirius looked thoughtful for a second. "Well, I think a gir- first year by the look of her- might've got a glimpse of me earlier, but don't worry," he said, "I was gone the moment she looked back at me and I'll bet she thought I was an oddly shaped log or something."

"But Sirius, this is taking an awful risk-"

"You sound like Molly," Sirius said, pouting slightly. "This was the only way I could come up with of answering Harry's letter without resorting to a code- and codes are breakable."

"You didn't say you'd written to Sirius!" Hermione said accusingly. Ron was staring at his best friend in shock.

"I forgot," Harry answered honestly. Allen, hearing that, rolled his eyes. Hermione was still glaring at Harry. "Don't look at me like that, Hermione, there was no way anyone would have got secret information out of it, was there, Sirius?"

"No, it was very good. Anyway, we'd better be quick, just in case we're disturbed, your scar."

"What about-?" Ron began, but was cut off my sharp looks form Hermone and Allen alike. Hermione said quickly, "We'll tell you afterward, go on, Sirius."

"Well, I know it can't be fun when it hurts," Sirius told Harry, "but we don't think it's anything to really worry about. It kept aching all last year, didn't it?"

"Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever Voldemort was feeling a poweful emotion," Harry said, ignoring Hermione and Ron as they flinched. "So maybe he was just, I dunno, really angry or something the night I had that detention."

"Well, now that he's back it's bound to hurt more often," Sirius said.

"So you don't think it had anything to do with Umbridge touching me when I was in detention with her?" Harry asked.

"I doubt it," Sirius said. "I know her reputation and I'm sure she's no Death Eater-"

"She's foul enough to be one," Harry and Lavi said at once, and they were supported enthusiastically by Ron and Hermione.

"Yes, but the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters," the man said. "I know she's a nasty piece of work, though- you should hear Remus talk about her."

"Does Lupin know her?" Harry asked.

"No," Sirius said," but she drafted a bit of anti-werewolf legislation two years ago that made it almost impossible for him to get a job."

"Does she have anything against cursed people?" Allen asked irritably, and Lenalee shot him a look. "What?"

Hermione looked vivid and angry. "What's she got against werewolves?" she snarled.

"Scared of them, i expect," Sirius answered. "Appeanretly she loathes part-humans; she campaigned to have merpeople rounded up and tagged last year too. Imagine wasting your time and energy persecuting merpeople when there are little toerags like Kreacher on the loose-"

Ron burst out laughing, and Allen leaned in and whispered to Harry, "What's Kreacher?"

"The house elf at Sirius's house that everyone but Hermione doesn't like," Harry muttered back, "honestly, he's a burden to everyone, what we wouldn't do to-"

Allen looked upset. "That's cruel," he said.

Hermione was looking at Sirius repoachfully. "Sirius!" she said. "Honestly, if you made a bit of an effort with Kreacher, I'm sure he'd respond, after all, you are the only member the family he's got left, and Professor Dumbledore said-"

"So what are Umbridge's lessons like?" Sirius asked, ignoring Hermione's preaching. "Is she teaching you all to kill hald-breeds?"

"No," Harry answered. "She's not letting us use magic at all!"

"All we do is read the stupid textbooks," Ron added.

"Ah, well, that figures," Sirius said. "Out information from inside the Ministry is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat."

"Trained in combat? What does he think we're doing here, forming some sort of wizard army?" Harry said in exasperation.

"That's ridiculous," Lavi said, "but judging from whatever we've learned about the Ministry so far, it's understandable if he does think that way." Lenalee and Allen nodded in agreement.

"But-" Hermione and Ron gasped.

"That's exactly what he thinks you're doing."

The Exorcists choked on thir breath, not being able to believe that the Minister of Magic was that scared of Dumbeldore. "That's just rubbish, he's a scaredy-cat," Lavi muttered, suppressing a laugh.

"Or rather, that's what he's afraid of Dumbledore doing- forming his own pribate army, with which he will be able to take on the Ministry of Magic," Sirius said.

Eveyone fell silent for a moment before Ron said, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, including all the stuff that Luna Lovegood come out with."

"So we're being prevented from learning Defense Against the Dark Arts because Fudge is scared we'll use spells against the Ministry?" Hermione demanded furiously.

"Yep. Fudge thinks Dumbledore will stop at nothing to seize power. He's getting more paranoid about Dumbledore by the day. It's a matter of time before he has Dumbledore arrested on some trumped-up charge," Sirius said, and everyone was reminded grimly of the letter from Ron's brother, Percy.

"Do you know if there's going to be anything about Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet tomorrow?" Lenalee asked. "Only Ron's brother Percy reckons there will be-"

Sirius shook his head. "I don't know," he said, "I haven't seen anyone form the Order all weekend, they're all busy. It's just been Kreacher and me here..."

"So you haven't had any news about Hagrid, either?" Lavi asked.

"Ah...well, he was supposed to be back by now, no one's sure what's happened to him," Sirius said. He took one look at Harry, Ron, and Hermione's faces and added hastily, "But Dumbledore's not worried, so don't you three get yourselves in a state; I'm sure Hagrid's fine."

"But if he was supposed to be back by now..." Hermione said weakly, quietly.

"Madame Maxime was with him, we've been in touch with her and she says they got separated on the journey home- but there's nothing to suggest he's hurt or- well, nothing to suggest he's not perfectly okay."

"Who's Madame Maxime?" Allen asked.

"The headmistress of the French school, Beaxbatons," Lenalee answered. "She was at Hogwarts last year for the Triwizard Tournament, during which Voldemort came back."

"Precisely," Sirius said, nodding. He looked at Harry, who was looking back with worry. "Listen, don't go asking too many questions about Hagrid, it'll just draw even more attention to the fact that he's not back, and I know Dumbledore doesn't want that. Hagrid's tough, he'll be okay...When's your next Hogsmeade weekend anyway? I was thinking, we got away with the dog disguise at the station, didn't we? I thought we could-"

"NO!" Harry and Hermione said in unison, loudly, making Allen jump into Lavi again.

"Sirius, didn't you see the Daily Prophet?" Hermione asked, osunding hurried and panicked.

"Oh that, they're always guessing where I am, they haven't got a clue-"

"Yeah, but we think this time they have," Harry said. "Something Malfoy said on teh train made us think he knew it was you, and his father was on the platform, Sirius- you know, Lucius Malfoy- so don't come up here, whatever you do, if Malfoy recognizes you again-"

"Alright, alright, I got the point," Sirius said, his eyes dark. "Just an idea, thought you might like to get together-"

"I would, I just don't want you chucked back in Azkaban!"

Sirius didn't meet Harry's eyes. "The risk would've been what made it fun for James."

"Look-"

"Well," Sirius said, interrupting Harry, "I'd better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs." Allen got the distinct feeling that Sirius was lying, and from the look on Harry's face, he did as well. "I'll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to risk it?"

With a final, longing glance at his godson and a tiny pop, Sirius Black disappeared into the flames.