Author's note: Yes, I know it's been a week since I last updated but I had my exams this week and I had to start revision early. Hope I didn't make you wait for long.
Reishin Amara: Thank you for the review. Minister…death eater? Well you are in for a surprise.
Maesde: Well you'll have to wait for the war chapter. Spoiler – It's the 24 chapter. Thank you for the review.
Starzinmieyez: They are going to work like magic. Thank you for the review. Hope you like this chapter as well.
Legionary Prime: Rita Skeeter basically woks of the Minister and he has her shut up about Hogwarts or other things happening in Hogwarts. Thank you for the review.
Ihaveasandbox: thank you for the review. Glad that you are enjoying the story.
Christmas vacations went in frenzy. Majority of the student body had returned back home for the festive. The Gryffindor DA Core and Luna had stayed behind to continue with the DA research and to keep an eye on Umbridge and The Slytherin DA Core had stayed back basically because they had nowhere to go. They all had received letters from their parents when their children failed to appear from the Hogwarts Express at London station. None of the Slytherins had bothered to reply back, knowing well the threat their parents were going to give them.
They had all tensed when the letters came and the environment was silent for a few days, no doubt about that but they all had decided to ignore the threat in the letters. They had all knew what they were all signing up for, the danger, the threat was evident since the beginning and now when the time came to face it they had stumbled but gathered their courage in time and faced it with a brave face.
Umbridge had gone over the board with her rules and disciplinary motives and that were one of the reasons DA Core had behind, to know what her upcoming scheme was so that they could prepare the student body for it when they came back without wasting too much time. Umbridge had framed some more rules and regulation during the Christmas break most of them were worthy of being ignored but some crossed the thin line between absurdity and common sense.
She had given some extra powers to her IS which extended to banning Quidditch players without proper investigation, giving out month's long detention, banning people from going out on the grounds etc. She had taken to openly threatening Harry and banned him from all extra-curricular activates which included a life time ban on Quidditch merely out of frustration on lack of information about the DA.
Harry was going under a lot of pressure as well. The entire DA was dependent on him, so was the IS Squad, and the study project. The dreams had been frequent and had taken its toll on his health as well. He had spent sleepless nights and if sleep was ever possible it was for not more than three hours which left him very exhausted the next day. He had tried finding a solution to stop the dreams but it had not worked out and Harry had to spend the night reading or staring fixedly out of a window in the middle of the night.
At the end of first week of January, the student body had returned and classes had commenced for the second term. Everything went back as per schedule except for Harry, he got exhausted even more with no energy remaining in him to sit and research after dinner. Ginny had to drag Harry away from the books to keep him getting even more drained. He had taken to sleeping in the Room of Requirement, merely to be present with the Core while they researched and studied.
January and February passed without much trouble, even Umbridge was silent letting the students free sometimes, and Harry knew it was the usual silence before the storm. He had utilised that time to gain more knowledge and expanded his powers even more.
He was able to control not only fire but wind as well. Hermione had run from Arithmancy class to the other part of castle looking for Harry as she found some more information regarding Harry's powers. The power to control fire and wind was a part of Elemental Magic, a very rare and powerful magic, only five wizards in the history were recorded to have such power. Out of these five, the four had possessed one elemental magic each and they were the Hogwarts founders. Godric Gryffindor had fire element, Salazar Slytherin – the water, Rowena Ravenclaw – wind and Helga Hufflepuff – The earth. The fifth was recorded to have control over all these four elements and he was Merlin himself. Harry was shocked with the information but he knew somehow that he wouldn't be able to control all four elements together.
It was in the middle of March that marked the beginning of the war. The Daily Prophet had reported murders of fifteen people, kidnappings of twenty and a six death eater attacks that the ministry was neither able to control nor stop. Sixteen Aurors were lost in those attacks and in all only three death eaters were killed. Harry knew this was the beginning of the upcoming war.
The morning of March 28, dawned as usual. The DA Core left the Room of Requirement early in the morning to get ready for their usual classes. The breakfast was a quiet affair in the Great Hall, as all the students either preferred reading the disruptive news the Daily Prophet bought them every morning or sit silently and think about how much more disastrous the situation was going to be.
Divination was the class that set things off for the day. Hermione was in the other part of the castle, in her Arithmancy class. Ginny was probably in her Defence class with Umbridge and Luna was in her Ghoul class. Apart from these three the entire DA Core was in the Divination class room listening to Professor Trelawney drawl.
Harry was propped up on his elbow and he was staring fixedly out of the window. It was a warm day and Harry found solace in looking at the beautiful view from the tower. He knew things were getting pretty bad and he was supposed to be ready for whatever might come, but he wasn't. He didn't know why, but he felt, whatever he might do he'll get ready for the war. Part of this was the fact of Dumbledore's absence from his life and so was Sirius, Remus and others who he counted on as his family. He was not angry with Sirius and Remus for not writing to him as Ron had gotten a letter from his mother warning them that letters won't be written again. That one letter was a mixture of letters from Molly, Aurther, Sirius, Remus, Kingsley and Nymphadora. They had all written their worries and best wishes for the entire year. Dumbledore must have warned them not to write, Harry had though.
But the continuous disappearance of his mentor from his life was making Harry doubt himself more than he ever did. He was not ashamed to say that he depended a lot on Dumbledore, but was rather proud that if the world turned its back on him, Dumbledore would still be there for him. But in that moment Harry felt like Dumbledore had never been a part of his life. He caught himself numerous times that year, running in the direction of the headmaster's office, to hear those words of reassurance and that everything will be alright in the end. He had halted half way down the corridor which led to the stone gargoyle only to turn his back on it and feeling more miserable than before.
He remembered the time in his second year when he had come out of the Chamber in one piece. He still remembered that proud twinkling in Dumbledore's blue eyes as he stood there in front of him, gazing into those superb eyes of his mentor. Harry sat up straighter in his chair. No I would do it. He thought. I would prove to Dumbledore that I'm capable of this responsibility. I'll do it for him, I'll never let him down, even if he is not here today I'll make sure I hear him praising me at the year end, like always.
A dark corridor….pitch black….lumos…a faint light erupted from the tip of the wand…hissing…Harry blinked a couple of times and looked around. Ron was resting his head on the table top throwing draggers at Professor Trelawney. Draco and Theo were scribbling something on their parchments. Daphne and Blaise were talking in hushed whispers; to his right Dean and Seamus were talking about the new additions to their group study project. He shook his head, in an attempt to clear his mind and he went back to his thoughts.
Yes, he would do it for him. Dumbledore had been with him though everything. Every insult, every harsh word, every glare thrown at him by the public was taken up by Dumbledore too, like an equal share in a plan and never once in these four years did Harry see accuse in the old man's eyes. Instead he saw, 'I'll take the blame with you' inscribed in them and whatever guilt he would have in that moment would disappear into thin air.
Hissing…an undefined feeling of happiness…that dark corridor…a faint light from the tip of a wand…Harry tried jerking himself back to the present, but he couldn't. It was like someone was forcing him to watch the scenes that were playing in front of him, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't shake those images off.
"Tell me…where is it Sirius?" Lord Voldemort's voice vibrated off the black chamber they were in.
"I…I won't." Sirius said through clenched teeth as he tried pulling at his wrists which were tied behind his back.
"Crucio." Voldemort said in an almost bored voice.
Sirius withered in pain but did not utter a single word. No screams left his mouth but the haunting of those twelve years he had spent in Azkaban was back in his eyes.
"Now Black tell me where is it? Wither in pain and die, unless you want your godson to come and take it for me."
"You'll not touch Harry." Sirius whispered, his voice breaking at Harry's name.
"Then tell me." Voldemort was now close to Sirius as he forced his red slits to penetrate the brown ones.
"Ministry…" Sirius whispered so low that he almost mouthed it.
"Very good…" Voldemort said backing away from Sirius, a cruel grin plastered on his snake like face.
"Mate? Hello? Can you hear me?" Harry?" Harry heard Ron calling him form a faraway distance. He jerked himself again and this time he could see Ron looking at him worriedly, the images flashing in front of him were gone.
"Harry what's wrong? You look pale and terrified." Ron had inched a bit closer to Harry and was whispering frantically to avoid Professor Trelawney from hearing them.
Harry swept his hand across his forehead and was surprised to see it covered in sweat. He hastily rubbed it off with the back of his hand and looked around himself once again. The DA Slytherins were staring at him worriedly and he quickly turned to look back at Ron.
"Ron." Harry said slowly and his voice cracked.
"What happened mate?" Ron asked again.
And the realisation of what he just saw sank in him for real. Panic enveloped him as he switched his gaze between Ron and the Slytherins who were all leaning forward on the tables worriedly.
"He has him." Harry at last managed to speak.
"Who has who?" Ron asked, thoroughly confused by his friend's behaviour.
"Voldemort has Sirius. I just saw." Harry said and his hands clenched tightly in a fist.
Ron gasped and backed away in his chair. The DA Slytherins who were watching Harry closely lip read what he said and a horrifying look crossed their faces.
The distant sound of bell ringing echoed through the castle and the students hurried out of their classroom for lunch. Draco nodded minutely at Ron and left with the Slytherins.
Half an hour later, Harry lay slumped on the sofa in the Room of Requirement. Creases covered his forehead; his eyes were watered but he did not let a single tear down.
"Harry, are you sure about this?" Hermione asked.
"Yes." He said in a whisper. "He has Sirius and I'm going to get him."
"You are sounding ridiculous." Blaise said and rolled his eyes.
"I have to go." Harry said, sitting up straighter in his chair and stared angrily at him.
"Oh! Sure, why not? And how the fuck are you going to do this alone?" Blaise shouted.
"I'll find a way. But I'll." Harry shouted back. "I'm going after Sirius."
"Harry, he is not saying you shouldn't go. All he is saying is you shouldn't go alone." Ginny said, taking his hand in hers.
"Exactly my point, you dunderhead." Blaise said slumping back in his place.
"So what do you want me to do?" Harry said taking his hand away from Ginny. "Risk you all?"
"My point." Theo said slipping his hand across Neville's shoulders.
"No." Harry said and got up. "It's dangerous."
"Oh! C'mon Potter. We have come this far we are not backing off. None of us are. That was the point of all this, wasn't it? Or did you start it to just dump us all and go alone?" Draco roared losing his patience.
"It's going to do no good if we just keep on shouting at each other like this." Luna said before Harry could shout back.
"Malfoy is right Harry, we are not stepping back, not when you need our help and even you know it, you won't be able to do it alone." Neville said looking straight into Harry's eyes.
"This is what DA was for." Daphne said. "We are coming with you."
Harry knew that none of them were going to back off, so he did want he should have done. "Alright but we can't just leave like this. We need a plan for Hogwarts, we can't leave it unguarded."
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Hope you all liked it.
Next chapter: Ministry.