CHAPTER 7: REVELATIONS

It was two days later after Dumbledore spoke with his friend Chuyat and it was time for the meeting with the rest of the Order of Phoenix. The atmosphere at the headquarters, the home of Sirius Black, was most grim and while the various members walked around the house starting individual conversations, sharing drinks and news, or busied themselves cleaning around - like poor Weasley kids who were conscripted by their furious mother, the owner of the ancient dwelling was not among them. He never cared about the place anyway. Although he was born into this place, he never truly belonged there. The Blacks were old and powerful , open purists and muggle haters, and Slytherins to boot. But Sirius was their so called black sheep of the family, and among the Blacks he was the white lamb, well not a meek one anyway, he openly defied his family and proved himself a trutworthy and loyal Gryffindor.His life was shattered by betrayal and lies, but now he was back, and one of his oldest friends was with him, Remus Lupin. Right now they were in one of small study rooms in the upper left section of the house.

Sirius was seated in the high backed chair, plush and comfortable, right before the burning fireplace. His face was pale, eyes dark and cold. He was in a bad mood, and drinking something purple, Merlin knows what. Lupin was standing on the other side of the room, checking out books lining the shelves. Most were regular books, but some contained forbidden texts and spells, but for the Blacks it obviously did not matter. Lupin broke the silence.

" So, whose room was this ?"

Question seemed to surprise Sirius who looked back at his friend, " Regulus spent most of his time here, so I guess it was his."

" Really, and you?"

" You know I was gone as soon as possible, and frankly I stayed as far from this house as I could, even between terms at Hogwarts. But yeah, when I was little, I'd sometimes come here to escape the other members of my family, mother especially.Little Reggie spent his last days here, Narcissa said so, only Kreacher was allowed in and little monster never speaks about it."

" I heard he was killed by his fellow Death eaters."

" True. I guess mother's approval could not force him to stay with those sickos, Reg was too soft in the end, always protected and coddled by mum. I bet Bella did it."

" Really, so not all of your family was insane or evil. "

" Well, yes, but I believe Reggie simply found out that Voldie was just a filthy half-blood and being a Black, it was a big no no for him to serve the impure Dark Lord, no matter how powerful or evil he was. My brother was stupid that way, yet I still loved little prick."

"You are still blaming yourself for what happened at the Ministry, aren't you?"

" No I just happen to be sitting here, sipping my drinks, enjoying holidays. C'mon Moony, if I were more careful around that little traitorous elf and if I took that fight at the Ministry seriously, not as chance to have some fun, Harry wouldn't have to come there to save me." His voice was filled with sarcasm and selfhatred, tears started trickling down his cheeks. Lupin was now crouched next to him.

" You know that it isn't all your fault. Yes some mistakes were made, but you must admit that Dumbledore and Snape didn't help much, with their treatment of Harry. What was that man thinking, putting Harry with Snivellus was a disaster waiting to happen. Isolated from us, he obviously took his first opportunity to see us. I'm actually glad he did what he did, he saved your life and destroyed that prophecy. And now we also know what Kreacher did, so another security leak was discovered. And Harry will be fine, you'll see. "

" I guess so. But it still makes me sad to see my godson i was supposed to protect sick while I sit here unable to help. If I were more patient and refused to let Snivelly goad me into recklessness, maybe Bella wouldn't have caught me unawares and Harry would be fine now."

"True, but Padfoot you can't let that bring you down. Harry needs you more than ever and hopefully you will be more careful n the future.It not just about you anymore, you are not alone like before. Now, i think it's time to go downstairs, the meeting is about to begin and I certainly don't want to make Dumbledore wait for us."

That statement required no answer and so both Marauders left . Soon they were n the ground floor and at the entrance to the great dining hall. Everybody was already seated around the table.

The Weasleys were all there, minus Percy who was busy sucking up to the Minister Fudge. Even charlie flew to England from Romania to visit Ron who recently was released from St.Mungo's. Ron and Ginny were next to their mother who kept an hawk eye on both of them, swearing to watch them closely all the time. After her came Fred and George, not necessarily in hat order, they were fighting with their dinner utensils, making mock sounds of battle. Their father Arthur was content to observe them and laugh to himself about their antics.

Then Neville and his grandmother Augusta Longbottom came. She was exceptionally proud of him for fighting like his father used to. It was about time that their family was recognized for their bravery again, not because of pity. She was talking to Mrs. McGonnagall, probably about Neville's grades and career. And finally a dark individual no one talked to, of course, it was Severus "Snivellus" Snape. No need to describe him, scowl adorned his face in usual fashion , he was not a happy man, well never. Probably even more so because Nymphadora Tonks took her fun in mocking him with her metamorphomagus abilities, making herself look like him, with chewing gum and pink hair. No one else seemed to notice this, but they will probably laugh themselves silly. That thought made Snape look even more sour than usual. Moody was of course guarding Harry, and others in the room were not that important, mostly because they rarely came to these meetings.

Sirius and Remus took their seats opposite of the Snape and Tonks, and waited for Dumbledore. It did not take a lot of time, a few minutes later there was a large flash of fire and out of it emerged Dumbledore with Fawkes perched on his right shoulder. He took his seat immediately, " Good evening my friends. I thank you for coming tonight for I have good news to share with he Order.", and was immediately interrupted by Molly Weasley.

" Wait Dumbledore, shouldn't we send my children and young Neville out of the room.? After all they are not members."

Albus merely shrugged, " I don't think so Molly, they certainly showed their courage in the last year and most of all it concerns their friend. And I'm sure they would find out what was this all about from their brothers anyway. So let's continue." These words brought a cheer among the Weasley children, and Neville sat straighter in his chair, all attention on Headmaster. "Where was I? Oh yes I have found help for Harry's condition. That's good news. The bad news is that there is no guarantee of success and most likely Harry won't be back before the next year at Hogwarts has begun."

"Explain." Sharp words erupted from Sirius's mouth, his voice grim and dangerous.It was very rare to see him being so openly hostile towards Dumbledore, but everybody knew where he was coming from. He was just told that his godchild will not be back for months from god knows where and spend time with whom no one could even begin to guess.

" Yes, you are right Sirius, I should explain. As you all know Harry suffered bad aftereffects of being partially pushed through the Veil at the Department of Mysteries. He was supposed to die instantly , yet he did not. Instead he ended in coma of sorts, his magic gone wild. Poppy examined him and said there was nothing she could do. But she made it obvious that something must be done soon or else he would perish. In the light of my suspicions as to what is going on with Harry I contacted an old friend who has much experience in matters of mind and magic. He confirmed my theory, and added some new information that even I did not think of."

The other people in the room were rather curious by that statement, it was not an everyday occurence that Albus Dumbledore did not know something. Lupin was impatient, yet calmly asked of him to explain himself.

Dumbledore took a sip of his tea, and then did as asked.

" My contact examined Harry immediately upon arrival, while Moody and myself were present and he confirmed my theory about Voldemorts essence being gone from harry and throwing his magic in imbalanced state. But the real reason Harry did not wake up was that he also was spiritually absent so to speak."

That information was met with group frown, and murmur of some individuals. They were rather hesitant on this matter of spirits, because many did not believe in such phenomenons. Yes, they knew of ghosts and the undead, and similar categories of magical beings, or entities, but spitituality was not high on their list of daily concerns.

On the other hand, Lupin was not so sceptical- spiritual side of life held an important place in his life because he was werewolf. And every werewolf was a host to the spirit of that animal-and all of the weres were bound by it's qualities even as humans. The packs of werecreatures were often led by spiritual guides, talented members of the pack who could have visions and unite the pack. So he was not so unfamiliar with the concept.

So he asked Dumbledore to clarify.

" Headmaster, are you implying that Harry has some kind of spiritual power? I'm asking because he never showed any signs of such abilities in the past, neither his parents."

" Are you so sure of that Remus? Think of Harry's visions this year, while is true that they were result of his connection with Voldemort, it is also true that his abilities were awakened as result of that link-by forcing his link to Harry, Voldemort also helped strenghten Harry's spiritual abilities. Thus, when the link was gone, Harry was left in the void of spirit realm."

" I see. Your friend can bring him back in his body again, can't he? "

" He should be able to."

Sirius asked the other question, sounding quite worried. " If that works, why would Harry have to stay away that long? Why not have him back immediately after you wake him up?"

Dumbledore had an apologetic look on him when answering, " Because my friends asked to.

Before further questioning, they explained the necessity of their demand. Harry has unvillingly developed spiritualabilities that may cause him harm in the future if he doesn't learn how to control them. I agreed, it's for his own good, and while there he will be safe from Voldemort and they agreed to teach him more about self defense, including Occlumency."

That was enough for everbody apparently so Dumbledore rose, " I guess this is enough for now and I must depart to see if Harry is ready. You all know what to do meanwhile, stay alert and watch for Voldemort or Death Eaters. Now, I bid you good night and farewell.", then he left via Fawkes's firetransport.

Most of the Order left as well, only Weasleys and the last Marauders stayed . They had dinner together, discussing various topics, mostly avoiding talk about Harry. Soon the Weasley family went home, and Lupin stayed with Sirius talking and planning till late. There was nothing they could do but wait and pray for Harry.

Later, The Burrow

Weasley family was back from the meeting at the Grimmauld's Place after helping Sirius and Remus to clean up. Everybody was a bit down after the events of this summer and Molly Weasley especially so. She was always very protective of her children, including Harry. But now, her protective streak was in overdrive, she begun working them hard this summer. Her logic was simple, if they work hard, they won' have time to go away and put themselves in danger. It was a wonder she didn't figure out this before.

On the other hand, her kids weren't happy with her methods of keeping them safe. Especially the twins. Fred and George were actually eager to go back at Hogwarts. Ron and Ginny too, but mostly they wantd to meet Harry again, alive and well. Ron was a bit apprehensive, he was imaginng Harry becoming unhinged like that batty Trelawney. Visions never appealed to him, particularily after those brain things –that was a living nightmare, because he was partially still selfaware at the time, despite hallucinations, but unable to control himself. He still woke in the middle of the night, a silent scream on his lips. At St. Mungo's they told him about posttraumatic flashbacks he would be experiencing, but was assured they would fade in time. Wizards did not believe in psychiatric counseling, since magic was able to fix almost anything. Ron was beginning to think that Hermionemight have been right about closemindedness of magical society.

Ginny was helping her mother in the kitchen, aware of her idea of constant supervision, and her mother obviously thought that she needed even more protection than her brothers. She also resented her mothers accusation that she followed Harry only because of her crush towards him. She went with him because she believed in the rightness of his actions and also she really hated that hag of High Inquisitor. It was great pleasure to hear she was driven mad by Centaurs. She was frightened at the Ministry, but also she felt the rush of battle and enjojed it- it was her chance to prove herself, as powerful, of pure blood, and she did held her own for a while

Soon, all of the kids were upstairs, joined by their brother Charlie. They were in the room that belonged to twins, since it was the biggest.It was Ron who spoke first.

" Hey, do you really belive that Harry will be fine? I reckon he will, buit that visin thing gives me creeps, I still have not forgotten what those brains did to me! "

The twins took their opportunity, " Poor little Ronnie, he was so happy and giddy, even denonced his love for Chudley Cannons! ", and burst in laughter.

Ron's face went deep red. " Shut up, I wasn't myself , it was those things! "

" We know Ronnie, it's just so easy to tease you. But you shouldn't worry about Harrykins, he was in the worse situations and got out in one piece." It was Fred, or George, well whoever it was, it was the right thing to say.

Ginny took the opportunity to ask Charlie if he ever heard of similar stuff. Charlie merely shrugged, grinning.

" Well, kids, I am not that much older than you, but, yeah, when you work with dragons you hear stuff. In Romania they have a lots of folk stories, most aren't much different from our legends but they all say the same-it's a rare thing to delve in the spiritual real and for the untrained people even deadly or worse. Some things there just wait for the fool to come to use him , and you can never be really sure whom you are dealing with. It's easy to conceal your true nature ther, at least from the inexperienced people. Even magic is present ther, shortly it is a distorted reflection of our world., which is a weird place to start with anyway."

Ron was not thrilled. " Blimey, Harry could be driven bonkers out there. I wish we could do something. Mom is going to work us till death, I can't believe it, but I am actually barely waiting to go back to school."

Ginny teased him some more. " You actually want to go back to school already ? Hermione must be rubbing onto you, or is it the fact that you want her to rubb you?"

Ron couldn't take it and jumped on her to teac her a lesson, while twins egged them on, to fight. Charlie just watched.

It was good to be home again.

Later, Hogwarts Castle

Dumbledore was finally ready to go. He sent message to Chuyat confirming his arrival and was informed in return that everything was ready for ritual. Minerva was away on some business , most of the teachers were actually sent on various tasks so that they would not be here to witness his leaving with Harry.

When he reached the main entrance, Moody was already there watching over Harry. A short not exchaned between them, and Dumbledore was off, Harry's body levitating after him. Soon they reached the edge of the protective barrier and were able to portkey away, and Dumbledore did not hesitate since every second counted.