CHAPTER 14- VICTORY OF THE CLICKER
The kids continued to discuss and plan their offensive maneuvers through the afternoon. They finally decided that having ten kids out and about at the same time was not a wise thing to do, at least not all bunched together.
The Twins came up with an idea that finally solved the problem of 'no one wanting to be left behind'. "We picked up these muggle clickers a few weeks ago. They were cheap and we didn't know if there might be something we could do with them in the Wizard world."
They pulled them out for everyone to look at. They were simple little metal pieces made to look like bugs and they fit into your hand. When you squeezed them they made a clicking sound.
"We could use these to warn each other instead of talking out loud," said Ginny. "They might know it was a weird sound but they really wouldn't know what it was."
"So instead of all of us walking around I suggest we go out now and position people in places where they can see people enter the castle and enter the passage that goes to the lower levels" Ginny continued.
"We know that a few of them alluded to the room being in the bowels of the castle so they will be going down. If we are following someone then someone else comes to the meeting we could get caught between them. This way we can warn each other if someone is coming."
Later found Ginny and Luna hidden behind a vase in front of Professor Dumbledore's office entrance until they overheard the password. Then, at supper time, they waited until the Professor left the office and they scurried up and left the dung bomb, then hurried down to the Great Hall to sit with their friends hoping no one noticed that they came late.
When eight thirty rolled around they were all in place. Draco and Harry were under the cloak, following Bill and Charlie down a very deep passage way in the castle. They decided to follow the brothers because they were always arguing about something and would most likely not hear any sounds that the boys might inadvertently make.
Every turn they made Draco would mark the wall with an arrow so that they could find their way out. They also checked doors on the way down finding most of them locked. They did not want to take the time to try and unlock them so they just continued on, trying to open doors as they went.
It felt like they were going to be walking forever when they had heard a clicker going off. This meant someone was coming up behind them. They had to watch where the brothers were going and also watch to see who was coming up behind them.
The brothers finally came to an intersection of hallways. In the center of the intersection was a large painting of The Founders, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The brothers uttered some phrase and a doorway opened in the center of the painting allowing the brothers to enter.
"Well now we know where the room is" said Harry, "Lets find somewhere for the twins to hide with their 'ears' and Hermonie."
They tried the doors on both sides of the painting and one of them was open. When they looked inside it was perfect. The room was empty so according to plan they set up shop, waiting for whoever was behind them to arrive.
Alice arrived not long after that then Draco left under the cloak to guide down the next group. He had to bring one of the Twins, who knew how to work the ears and Hermonie, who was going to take notes. They would then wait until the meeting was over, and everyone left, then follow the arrows back to the Common Room.
When Draco was halfway to the next group he heard a clicker. This told him he was about to see someone coming down the hall on their way to the meeting. Instead of continuing on he decided to hunker down in a recess in the wall and allow whoever it was to pass on by.
Soon Snape came billowing up the hallway and Draco literally held his breath until he had passed on by. Draco just knew that Snape would sense him but it would seem he had not. It was a good thing it wasn't Lupin or he would have been dead. They had not given much thought to the fact that Lupin could probably hear them or smell them.
Draco continued on until he came to George and Hermonie's hiding place. He gave them the cloak and took their place. He would hide here until they thought everyone had arrived then he would join the other watchers in the common room and wait for the key people to arrive and let them know what was going on.
Soon the clicks became very infrequent and everyone started pealing off and heading back to the common room. Harry had it the hardest as he had to come the whole distance without the cloak, leaving it with George and Hermonie.
They all arrived safely back and were now sitting by the fire, to wait the long wait for the two spies.
"There must be a Floo in that room" said Ginny. "There are a lot more people in the Order that we know about that didn't come down the hallway."
"You're probably right and that is something we can check out later when no one is watching" said Fred.
George and Hermonie didn't return until almost midnight. When they arrived they told everyone to get into their beds quick as Professor McGonagall was on her way. They all ran to their beds and covered up. McGonagall made the rounds and seemed very pleased that everyone was in bed. They must have played hard today as they all appeared to be tuckered out.
After she left they all joined up in the common room, and were all in shock that they had pulled it off. It was finally hitting them just how dangerous it had been for them. Not dangerous, in that they could have been killed, but dangerous in that they probably would have wished they were dead if they were caught.
Next they turned to George and Hermonie, "So, what's the news" they asked?
Hermonie, always so organized, pulled out her little notebook and began from the beginning. "They are expanding the Order and all of them were talking about who they wanted to ask and who was reliable and so on. I didn't write down all the names as I figured that we would find out later at another meeting, who was chosen. They feel like all the deaths are connected but they can't figure out the pattern or the connection. They talked about that for a long time. The Burrow will definitely not be finished until the start of school so you guys will be here all summer. The rest was just a bunch of financial stuff except for talking about the guardianship of Cassy and Harry."
"I think that we ought to give them that note that Draco found. I really think it is the piece of the puzzle that they need. Now that we know where they meet we can keep track of what they are going to do with it and if they plan to take action on it," said Hermonie.
The kids all looked at each other realizing that even if they kept the note there was little they could do with it and perhaps the Order could.
"The only problem" added Draco, "Is that I got it out of a book I swiped from my Fathers library. If I have to return home he is going to know and will kill me I'm sure."
Ron looked at Draco, then at Harry and said, "Mate, you won't be going back, we will find a way even if we have to break into your house and get evidence against your Father ourselves."
Draco and the rest of the kids knew that a milestone had been reached. For Ron to say such a thing meant that the world had shifted and a new day was dawning. After expressing silent shock they all joined in and agreed.
Then they, all at the same time, got a funny look on their faces. It was for sure they were all thinking the same thing; They had just pulled off finding out where the Order was meeting, could it be such a far reach to go to the Malfoy house and collect evidence?
Hermonie spoke for them all when she said, "Another day, another project, we have time."
With that they discussed how to give the message to the Order. They finally agreed that the best course of action would be for Draco to give the message to Professor Snape. He would probably ask for the book too so Hermonie did a spell which copied the book. Draco could keep the copy and read it and turn the original over to Snape when he made Draco give it up.
"Just don't be too willing Draco" said Harry, he is not stupid.
"Don't I know it" replied Draco.
And with that they all decided they had best get to bed and try to look rested for class tomorrow.
The next day at breakfast they found out that they had been most fortunate the previous day. It would appear that two of the visitors that met with the Head Master were not in friendly moods. The Professor would not give into their demands to allow their sons to take classes they didn't qualify for. When they left they were not happy campers.
It was these two unhappy parents that the adults blamed the Dung Bomb incident on. They talked forever about how terrible it was and how disrespectful to the Head Master and what should happen to the person or persons doing it.
The kids really had to work hard to keep from laughing and right when Draco thought they were going to lose the battle he decided to start talking to Snape.
"Professor Snape, I really have to talk to you, it's important."
Severus looked at the boy and could tell that it was indeed important, at least to Draco. He had just finished his breakfast and Draco looked like he had finished his so he motioned Draco to follow him.
In the Hallway, Draco handed Severus the note, telling him he found it in one of his Father's books.
Severus looked at the note and his eyebrows created a new hairline. He looked back at Draco and asked, "Which book?"
"Just a book I found in his library," replied Draco.
"Do you still have it?" asked Severus.
Draco looked down at his shoes, trying to play this part up so that Severus would not ask too many questions. "Yes sir, it's in my trunk".
"Please go and retrieve the book for me Draco" ordered Severus.
Draco quickly went to the Dorm and came back with the book, handing it to Severus. "Your Father would not have approved you reading this book would he?" asked Severus.
Still looking at his shoes, Draco responded, "No sir, but it looked really interesting!"
"I think I will keep the book Draco, it is definitely Dark. Thank you very much for bringing the note to our attention, you may have helped us more than you will ever know."
OH, Draco knew, but he was just glad that Severus put more emphasis on confiscating a dark book than he did trying to find out how long Draco had known about the note.
Draco scurried back to the Great Hall, to meet up with his friends and then go with them to class. It was over, they did not get caught, they turned in the note, they had helped, and they got away with it all. That was one for the record books.
They were all very quiet, and breathing better as they walked off to class. None of them realized just how nervous they had been during this project of theirs. They also knew that the next project was to find enough information on Malfoy Senior to get him in trouble and Draco released from his custody.
Severus wasn't scheduled to teach today so he headed directly up to Dumbledore's office. Once he arrived he handed Albus the note saying, "I think we have just found our link for all these attacks".
"Where did you get this?" Albus asked.
"Draco swiped a book from his Fathers library and he says that the note was inside" answered Severus. "Dad, the handwriting doesn't belong to Lucius, I would recognize his anywhere".
Albus thought for a moment then added, "I know he is very much involved but this is not enough evidence to make the ministry investagate him. He just has his money in too many pockets over there, and Fudge is not about to cut off one of his biggest contributor. No, we are going to need a lot more."
"Severus" asked Albus, "did Narcissa go with Lucius on his trip or did she stay home?"
"I know she didn't go with him but I don't think she stayed home either. I went over there the other day to visit with her and see what she might have to say but the mansion was closed up tight. She probably went to stay with friends, I know she hated to be left alone in that place."
"This might be a good time for us to scope out the place and see if we might be able to gather information" mused Albus.
"Yes," replied Severus, "But we would need a lot more information about his wards and where he kept things. I could casually talk to Draco or better yet, I think that House Elf Dobby needs looking into. It is highly unusual for a House Elf to work against their master but he has done so twice now for Harry. Perhaps he might be willing to help us?"
That night, after the kids had finished their homework, they were sitting around the fireplace talking about their next excursion.
"We need to get into the Malfoy manner and find enough stuff to get Draco's Father in trouble so that they have to change his guardianship over to Snape," said Harry.
He had not forgotten his promise, and Ron's promise to Draco, that they would work to do something so that he didn't have to go back home when his Father returned. Since they really didn't know when Lucius was coming back they probably should work fast just in case.
With the glow of success still motivating them they gladly started their planning sessions.
"Draco, where would your Father keep stuff that the ministry could use to bring charges against him, do you have any idea?" asked Hermonie.
"He always works in his library when he is doing the Dark Lord stuff" replied Draco. "When he meets with his friends or when he is writing, it's always in that room."
"Then we have to figure out how to get into that room without getting caught" said Neville. "Is your Mother still at home?"
"No, she is off visiting someone, she never stays home when Father is not there, she hates the place," said Draco. "I know how to floo into that room. I was eavesdropping one day and heard the password that Father uses. He would never let his Dark friends come to the front door, they always had to floo into his library."
"What about the House Elves" asked Hermonie, "Won't they notice us coming into the house?"
"No" replied Draco, "If we go directly to the library, they are not allowed in there unless directly order to go in and clean and even then it's to clean a very restricted area. Father didn't want anyone, not even the House Elves to know who was coming and going, or what he was doing."
"You found the note in one of his books, so it's fair to say that he might keep some documents in other books. He could also keep them in a secret place or in his desk" said Ginny.
"You're right" said the Twins, "It will mean that more than a couple of us need to go over since we have to check out so many places. It also means we have to floo over and that is not going to be easy to do".
"You do know that during the summer months the floo system in the room right off the Great Hall is activated so they can bring in supplies and such. No one knows about it but we overheard the Elves talking one day when we were on detention in the kitchens" said the Twins, with a gleam in their eye. "The destination signature is 'Hogwarts Loading Dock'."
"Wicked" they all responded. "Now we just have to swipe some floo powder and we will have that problem covered" added Ginny.
"Not a problem" said the Twins, "We always have a supply on hand that we use to sneak out of the Burrow when needed. If you ever tell Mom and Dad we will surely hex you for years," they promised.
Nobody doubted that they would keep their word.
"So all we need to figure out is when to go" said Harry.
"What about tomorrow night?" asked Neville. "It's Friday and nobody will think twice about us sleeping in on Saturday morning."
"Good idea" said Luna. "Now, who is going to tackle what area?"
Their planning went on until they felt like they had all the loose ends tied down and were ready to go.
Friday was a normal day of classes and play, with everyone looking forward to the weekend. Some of the adults had talked about going to Hogsmeade on Sunday and if they did then the kids could go also, but no final word had been given on that yet. They would usually go on a Saturday but Arthur wanted to work on the Burrow and Saturday he could usually get some friends to help out.
Friday night they all quietly snuck down to the room behind the Great Hall. Each had a bag in their hands to collect stuff and each had some floo powder. One by one they floo'd over to Malfoy Manor Library. Once they were all there they began searching their assigned areas.
Back at Hogwarts, Albus and Severus had assembled a limited group of the Order. They then called Dobby to see if he would come to them. The next thing they knew they heard a POP and there he was. They explained that they needed his help to keep Harry Potter safe and could he please go over to Malfoy Manor and make sure that it was empty before they attempted to go there and search.
Dobby spent a couple minutes pulling his ears and making a lot of weird noises. It was obvious there was a battle going on inside him. Then he looked at Albus and said, "Yes, Dobby will help The Great Harry Potter" and with that said he was gone.
Dobby was only gone about thirty seconds before he arrived back acting all up-set. "They are there, they are there, they shouldn't be there, they will die, they will be killed, it is not safe, oh, oh...oh please do something".
It took Albus a couple minutes to calm him down enough so that he could share with them what he was upset about. "The Great Harry Potter and his friends are there, they are in the library, the library is bad...bad...bad. The wards will go off and they will be killed, oh do something."
They all just stood there looking at Dobby for a minute before it clicked what he was saying. The students had gone to Malfoy Manor and they were in great danger.
"What in the world were they thinking?" asked Severus.
"Are you sure Dobby?" asked Albus.
"Yes, yes, yes Oh great Head Master please save them!" cried Dobby. "Dobby cannot bring them back, they are tooooo many, Dobby is bound to his master." With that Dobby started hitting his head against the door as punishment. Lupin stopped him and ordered him not to punish himself but to go back to his master and they would take care of it.
Dobby didn't stop pulling his ears but while he pulled he also wrote down the password for the library and handed it to Albus. Then Dobby disappeared.