Chapter 39 – Revolution?
The great hall was abuzz with excitement.
Everybody was trying to get their hands on the few copies of the Daily Prophet that had been delivered as everyone wanted to know what the big news was. And those who had seen it had expressions of shock and a select few looked ecstatic.
By the time Lillian and Hermione walked into the great hall the noise being generated was deafening. Everyone seemed to have something to say and heated arguments were breaking out between a few students.
"What is going on here!" said Lillian looking at Hermione with an expression of awe and confusion.
It was chaos, no one was bothering to listen to the other and no one wanted to back down either. It didn't help that some students were instigating others into fighting and it wasn't surprising that most of them seemed to sport silver and green robes.
"Oh no," groaned Hermione suddenly, nudging Lillian.
Ronald Weasley and a group of Gryffindor's had ended up at the Slytherin table and both the girls knew that things were going to get out of hand when the back of Ron's ears started to turn red.
And then things did get out of hand when the pancake in Ron's hand flew out of his hand and onto the face of the smirking Draco Malfoy.
"Attack!" screamed someone from the Slytherin table and all of a sudden curses and hexes were flying all around the room. The Gryffindor's were aiming for the Slytherin's naturally. The Slytherin's in turn were strategically aiming at students around the room while the Ravenclaw's were flinging hexes around in panic. The Hufflepuff's seemed to have taken cover under their table and wait for the fighting to abate.
Lillian, who had no idea what was going on had simply chosen to hex anyone she could see clearly and was smiling broadly.
"Mary GET DOWN!" screamed Hermione who had taken refuge under the table herself.
"Don't be a wimp Hermione!" Lillian shouted back. "Join in!"
"IMMOBULUS MAXIMUS," bellowed the ancient voice of Albus Dumbledore just seconds later.
Professor Snape who was alongside him quickly dispelled the remaining spells which were flying about in an impressive manner and with another grand wave of his wand; he lifted the various hexes some of the students had been hit with.
He had to spare a minute for the Gryffindor's who had been near the Slytherin table for they hexes that had hit them took a little time to get rid of.
It was quite a comical scene when one looked at it humorously but sadly there was no humour in the situation.
Harry, Blaise and a few other students from other houses entered the great hall to this scenario.
"I think it's a good thing you overslept Harry," whispered Blaise. Even though he spoke in a low voice, his voice carried across the great hall with ease and Dumbledore gave him a sharp critical look.
"This is shameful," were the first words that came out of the headmaster's mouth. "I am going to lift the spell now and I want all of you to sit down without any trouble."
Harry and Blaise quietly made their way to the Slytherin table. On the way Harry saw Lillian frozen with her eyes facing him and he gave a smirk. Harry knew she could see him and do nothing.
"Finite," said Dumbledore calmly and movement was restored in the hall again.
Chairs scratched against the floors as the Hogwarts population took their seats and not vocal cord moved as they settled down.
By then the remaining students and teachers had entered the hall too and sensing the sober atmosphere, they quietly took their seats.
Once Dumbledore was sure the entire student population was in the hall he flicked his wand again summoning all copies of the daily prophet to him.
"I suppose this the cause of this ruckus," said the headmaster grimly looking at the headlines.
LORD VOLDEMORT: REVOLUTIONARY?
That was what the headline read.
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10 hours earlier.
"Skeeter! How are you coming along with the story on Bagman?" shouted the editor of the Daily Prophet.
"Beautifully sir," replied Rita Skeeter with a nasty smile.
"And what about you White?"
"Fudge's wife is going to have a fit after reading about her husband's latest affair."
"And do we have ANYTHING that will make people's bones shiver to put up as our headlines!" he asked the room full of his top reporters.
"I've heard rumours about Dumbledore readying an army to take over the ministry Mr. Watts," said another young, short reporter with a squeaky voice.
Watts, the editor of the Prophet sighed. "Anything else?"
"Minister Bones seems to be investing more Galleons in the department of mysteries," said the cool voice of Mr. Brooke, one of the best reporters in the Prophet.
"Anything solid evidence?"
"Nothing concrete yet," said Brooke.
"Come on people! Just because the dark lord has been out of the news and the ministry seems to be performing efficiently means we can't find any other hot topic!"
"O-one of m-m-my sources was talking a-about an at-t-empt on Scrimgeour's life M-mr. Watts."
Just as those words left the short and squeaky reporters' mouth, the door to the office was blown open and three men with silver masks covering their faces walked in.
"Stay in your places and don't move," came a smooth and silky voice from the man in the centre.
The three moved to a separate side of the room with their wands hanging loosely from their hands and at that moment in walked the most wanted man in the wizarding world, Lord Voldemort.
The atmosphere in the office suddenly became heavy and the terror and fear was easily visible on every face in that room.
"Do not fear me," whispered Lord Voldemort calmly. "I am here for an interview," he said, stunning the crowd of reporters.
"I-I-interview?" stammered the editor, his voice ripe with dread and panic.
"That is correct. You may ask me questions and I shall answer them," replied Voldemort.
He then drew his wand and instantly everyone dived to the ground. But Voldemort simply conjured a silver chair embedded with emeralds and sat down with a smile.
He then flicked his wand and all the reporters were yanked to their feet.
"Take your seats," he whispered. And each one of them sat so fast that it seemed that gravity had tripled and pulled them to their seats.
"Now I am here for an interview and I am sure you have questions. I will wait for ten seconds after which I will leave and you would have lost a great opportunity."
Rita Skeeter was the first gather her wits. "Why do you look so different... err... l-lord," she ended faltering, not knowing what to call Voldemort. "Your facial structure and eyes have changed."
Voldemort smirked. "I am finally myself," he said cryptically. "And you may call me Lord."
Now that Rita had started the rest of the group were recovering from their initial shock and their reporting instincts were kicking in.
"D-do you mean physically or me-mentally?" asked Rogers, the man with the squeaky voice.
Voldemort glared at the little man with anger threatening to spill but controlled himself and the reporters let out a breath they hadn't realized they were holding.
"Mentally," replied Voldemort coldly. "When I was reborn my mind was... it was cloudy and I wasn't thinking clearly before I acted. All I wanted was blood."
An audible gulp was heard but now that Voldemort hadn't killed them they were beginning to gather their wits and courage.
"Is that why you haven't conducted any attacks? Because you were trying to regain your lost sanity?" asked Brooke tentatively.
"Yes," replied Voldemort shortly. He was here for one purpose and one purpose only; Recruitment.
He was here to inspire wizards and witches to join him and what better place to spread an invitation than the press.
"So what is it you want my lord?" asked Rita Skeeter. "Is your goal to take over the wizarding world?"
'Finally,' thought Voldemort. The question he was waiting for. "In the past, before Harry Potter managed to hurt me, yes," he said playing down his defeat to Harry Potter. "But now that I have regained my sanity as one of you put it. My goal is to save our world."
A few looked confused.
"What do we need saving from?" asked Hodge, the Quidditch reporter.
"From extinction," he whispered. "We are humans who have been gifted with power and yet we live in hiding, yet we fear those who do not have such a power, yet we cannot live freely. We have to live in specific places and we always have to be careful where we do what is natural to us, magic."
"Even in the past, muggles have feared us and killed us because of what we are, remember the witch hunts? We wizards and witches have suffered at the hands of these animals and because of our soft nature we have let them be and gone into hiding ourselves without putting up a fight."
Voldemort could see he had had won over a few in the room already. And once they printed his words he knew there would be hundreds more who would look past his image as a murderer and look towards him as a leader towards change.
"I am here to lead a moment to take our rightful place in this world."
There was silence for a while as the people in the room swallowed what Voldemort had just said.
"Why should anyone believe what you say My Lord," asked Brooke. "No disrespect," he added. "You have killed so many good people in the past. Are you going to own up to your crimes?"
"No I am not," replied Voldemort sharply. "The past is the past Mr Brooke. I have made mistakes in my approach before but I do not regret it. That is why I wish for us to look to a greater future."
"So do you still support pureblood domination?"
"I now support the domination of magic," retorted Voldemort coolly.
"And how do plan to do this?" asked Watts.
"I want and need the support of the ministry of magic and every magical person all over the world as we attempt to bring down the walls we hide behind."
"And if they don't? asked Skeeter.
"I expect them not to stand in my way or else good people will be hurt when they need not," he said cruelly.
"How do you plan to expose our world? The muggles out number us greatly and they have dangerous weapons too. If we reveal ourselves then we could really face our end!"
"That is why we need the help and support of our kind," he said with a smile. "I would not have come here if I thought this was impossible."
"Are you going to use violent methods?" asked Watts.
"Do you believe we can change the world peacefully? But to prove that I have changed for the better and wish only for the betterment of our race, I have taken a pledge to give up using dark magic," said Voldemort dropping a massive bombshell.
The silence that engulfed the room after that was eerie. Was what they just heard correct! They all were wondering; his deatheaters included.
"I have realised that there is some magic that should not be approached. I have changed for the better and my resolve to change our world has never been stronger."
"Y-you have s-stopped using dark ma-ma-gic?" asked Rogers in disbelief. How could a dark lord say that he would not use dark magic anymore! Was he not a dark lord anymore then!
"It was what was clouding my judgement but no more. Now my purpose and belief's have never been clearer," said Voldemort passionately.
He then stood up.
"If there are any wizards and witches who want what I want, then all they have to do is come 10 miles east of Hogsmeade three days from now," he said softly and then he was simply gone.
"Everything should be printed in tomorrow's edition or else you our lord would be most displeased," said one of the deatheaters before they disapparated.
It was only after Voldemort left that the reporters wondered why they were so subdued. Why did they not ask more questions, why did they not grill him further! The answer was simple, they feared for their lives.
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The Great Hall
"Do not believe him," said Dumbledore fiercely. "All he wants is power and now his ambitions have gone beyond our world! His past has proven what he is capable of and this changes nothing! When he first came to power he dreamed of controlling the wizarding world so be began to preach about pureblood domination and now he dreams of controlling the world so he has changed his agenda to the survival of our kind! The muggle world and our world are too different and to reveal ourselves will result in a clash of ideals and a way of living which will inevitably result in war which is exactly what Voldemort wants!"
"A war which will cost both sides great damage," he said, his old voice reverberating throughout the hall. A voice filled with reason and wisdom.
"Remember, he needs followers so that he can manipulate them to his own purpose and then he will kill you. What we need to do is to stand up and refuse to give this man what he wants so that we can live in peace."
"Do not be influenced by his words and I hope when the time comes all of you will make the right decision," he said, ending softly.
He waited for a few moments as his words sank into the heads of all around him. "And on another note I will not tolerate violence between any students and any such act will attract a severe punishment. Have a nice day," he said and took his seat.
All of a sudden the entire dynamics of this war against Lord Voldemort had changed. It was no longer one against pureblood domination or at least it seemed to be that way, but now had become a war of freedom! With just a few words from the self styled lord, people were forgetting his past horrific crimes and were beginning to have trust in him. But this was true only for the youth who had not experienced the first war.
People who had experienced the past war and had witnessed his cruelty first hand knew, they knew what kind of a monster this man was and their determination to stop him had risen to another level.
Suddenly nobody knew what the future could hold, not even Dumbledore.
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After Dumbledore had sat the noise levels in the great hall gradually began to rise again and some of the senior students who had early classes began to filter out of the hall and most of them had troubled looks on their faces. Most were wondering if Voldemort was right for once or was the righteous leader of good who could do no wrong right again.
"This is unreal," said Tracey who had finally acquired a newspaper.
"Oh it's real alright," replied Harry with a snort. "Voldemort has officially lost his mind and decided to become a crusader of sorts instead of keeping it simple and keeping his title of being a dark lord!"
That remark brought a few laughs and lots of dirty looks from the Slytherin table.
"The one's giving me the death stares won't be here three days from now," Harry whispered to Blaise.
"Think Malfoy will be going?" asked Blaise.
"Well he just smiled so I guess he's undecided," replied Harry. "And I doubt Dumbledore will allow anyone to sneak out of the castle so easily. The ones who are of age might be able to leave but the rest will not be given permission to leave the castle."
"Are you going to go Harry?" asked Nott and Harry just stared at him like he had just been stabbed through the heart!
"What!" said Nott defensively, "If it was someone other than the dark lord would you have considered it?"
Harry wanted to outright say that he would never consider it but the thought of doing magic anywhere at anytime without the fear of reprisals was attractive.
As soon as that thought went through him he wacked his head. "Voldemort knows how to sway the minds of people and instil doubt in our hearts," said Harry letting taking a deep breath. "And if it were someone else, I might have given it some thought but Dumbledore is right, such a dream would only result in death and destruction on both sides."
Tracey sighed, "But it's not going to stop some in our house from leaving and by the looks of it some in the other three houses look intrigued too."
Daphne raised her eyebrow, "The Gryffindorks too?" she asked in surprise.
"One or two by the looks of things," said Blaise looking closely at the lions table.
"Anyway I think we should head to class," said Nott, "Professor Snape won't spare us too if we were more than five minutes late!"
"Just what I needed first thing in the morning," grumbled Daphne. "Potions with Gryffindorks."
Groaning the Slytherin third years slowly and unwillingly made their way to the dark, cold and gloomy dungeons which the rest of the school thought they loved.
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The potions class was done with without any accidents except for one incident where Daphne had tried to dump Grangers head into her shrinking potion and Harry had stopped her just in time even though he was tempted to let her do it. The Hermione's constant need to answer every question with a prefect textbook answer got on everybody's nerves.
"Her arms must get quite the work out," thought Harry, imagining the number of times they went up and down.
"Hey Harry," called out a voice Harry knew all too well.
"What is it?" he asked Lillian.
"Nothing, just haven't spoken to you in a while so I thought I'd just catch up," she said smiling.
"Oh, well what's up with you then?" said Harry.
Lillian shrugged, "Nothing much, just been busy with school work and practice."
"Practice?" he asked frowning. "What practice? You're not on the Quidditch team are you?"
"No that idiot, practice as in improving my magic practice," she replied rolling her eyes. "And after today's developments I think it's a really good idea if I step it up a notch."
Harry raised his eyebrow, "You think you're going to be fighting soon?"
"I have a feeling that something terrible is going to happen soon," she said in a matter of fact tone. "And hell, have you forgotten what we are and what the Flamel's had told us?"
Harry stopped walking. "I haven't forgotten," he replied quietly, "And I've been doing the same. But somehow I can't imagine things going as bad as people say they will and for all the training that I have done, I can't imagine actually fighting like that."
"Me too," whispered Lillian, "Ever since we've got back all I've been doing is imagining what it would be like if war does break out."
Harry sighed, "Do you think anyone is going to leave from your house?"
"A few," admitted Lillian. "What about yours?"
Harry snorted, "Definitely more than a few. I think we're going to loose about half the house!"
The pair resumed walking in silence with no particular destination in mind.
"Harry," said Lillian suddenly. "After today's news Hermione had this idea of starting a self defence club."
Harry laughed. "Really! And who's going to teach them!"
Lillian went a little red, "Well they want me to do it, but I was wondering if you'd want to join and you know... help me?" she said with her voice becoming smaller and smaller.
Harry looked at her in shock! "Are you seriously asking me to help you teach magic to bunch of Gryffindor pricks who'd want nothing more than to see my head fall from my body!"
"Yes?" replied Lillian.
Harry blinked twice and then laughed out loud. "Well the answer is no. I have too much to do and I certainly don't want to interact with your loser friends."
Lillian's temper rose sharply. "They are not losers," she said angrily. "They have their hearts in the right places and that's more than I can say for the people you hang out with."
"My friends are better than yours thank you very much," shot back Harry. "They have their hearts in the correct place too and they have much better brains and know how to talk to people without having to try and shove their wands up others noses!"
"My friends," growled Lillian, "Are worth ten times more than yours. Other people like them and talk to them whereas yours simply alienate themselves from the rest of the school!"
"Which is because of your dumbass friends who love to spread rumours about other people and drag their names through dirt," said Harry, his voice and temper rising too.
"They are a little immature sure, but they're better than yours!"
"Well mine aren't immature like yours and that proves that they're better," retorted Harry.
When the two would reflect on this argument they would realize how childish their argument was!
"Whatever," snapped Lillian. "We'll find out soon enough who's friends are better! I'm leaving and maybe you should go find Susan and stick your tongue down her throat instead of sprouting crap!" she yelled and walked away briskly.
"I'll be sure to do that," Harry yelled back. "She's a fantastic kisser!" By then Lillian had already disappeared and Harry was left wondering why he had even said that!
"Stupid idiot," grumbled Harry and headed towards his common room in anger.
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Three days later Hogwarts seemed to have lost a quarter of its seventh years and from the news that they were getting, it seemed that more than half of the wizarding population had made their way to Hogsmeade.
It was a massive victory for Voldemort and everybody knew that. The question that remained on everybody's mind was what was going to happen next.
The ministry aurors had tried to locate the area where Voldemort had asked the witches and wizards to come to but had no luck whatsoever. No matter what they tried they did not succeed and had to give up in the end. It seemed Voldemort had put up some really powerful and clever wards up in that area to keep those not wanted out.
The days that followed were filled with tension. Everyday there seemed to be a new speech by Voldemort in the papers and true to his word there had been no magic related deaths in both worlds yet. Occasionally a group of Voldemorts latest followers would hold a demonstration in public areas. Some were about the lack of freedom magical beings had as compared to muggles. Some were all about recruitment and most were about Voldemort taking the seat of minister of magic.
At Hogwarts things went about as normal except for Quidditch being cancelled due to students in the team leaving the school. Lillian and Hermione had successfully started up a defence club and many students from all houses had joined in, a few even from the Slytherin house. In each meeting they learnt something new and usually had a senior student teach them and guide them.
Harry on the other hand had devoted his time to mastering occlumency. He thought he had made some progress and even Dumbledore thought so too but it was still not enough. The year was close to its end and more than six months had passed since Harry first started to try and master the art. He now realized why occlumency was a lost art. It simply took too much time to learn and there was no guide to learning it too.
They ministry on the other hand had come down hard on these self styled revolutionaries and had banned any such demonstrations but it was near impossible to stop them when their resources were running so low. This new approach by Voldemort seemed to be having massive dividends and they knew it wouldn't be long before Voldemort had enough strength and support to take over the ministry and launch his war against the muggles.
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Malfoy Manor
Lord Voldemort was surrounded by five of his most loyal followers. Lucius, Yaxley, Nott and Bellatrix and Barty Crouch Jr. Snape too would have been in on this secret plan but his position as spy made Voldemort reconsider.
"Are the men in position?" asked Voldemort quietly. The last few months had been incredibly taxing but he knew it was worth it.
"Yes my lord," said Nott.
"Did the wizards we exposed to radiation have any harmful reactions?" he asked Bellatrix.
"No my lord, we are immune to their harmful effects unlike the muggles."
"Excellent," hissed the newly christened leader of the magical revolution, his eyes gleaming. "And I trust you were successful in locating and taking control of all the nuclear facilities around the globe Barty?"
"It was difficult," answered Crouch, with an air of self importance. "It seems most of these facilities had very good magical protection as well. But thanks to our new found followers and some well placed impervious curses those weapons are in our hands now. We really must thank Severus for all the polyjuice that he supplied."
"And how were your talks with the magical creatures of our world," Voldemort asked Lucius and Yaxley.
"They will not stand in our way as promised but if we succeed in our plan then they have promised to make an alliance with us," said Lucius.
"Except for the giants my lord," added Yaxley. "They just do not care anymore. Their numbers have dwindled to less than a hundred and they do not wish to loose more of their kind now."
"Good enough," muttered Voldemort rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"But my lord," said Lucius hesitantly. This was a point that had been brought up numerous times in the last few months. "Are we really going to do this? Is this really necessary?"
After Voldemort had come out of his meditation and stopped using dark magic his followers had found a new faith in their leader and didn't have to fear for their lives when they had doubts in his plans.
They had spent a lot of time gathering knowledge about muggles and their way of life and how their governments functioned and what would be the best way to take them out.
"We will give then a chance but if the muggles resist our first charge and refuse our existence then we will destroy them with their own weapons," said Voldemort calmly. "But once they are gone we will have the entire world to ourselves. Just for us to rebuild in the manner we want to. Doesn't that sound beautiful?"
All five murmured their agreement. They did not feel guilty about the millions of lives they were going to destroy because of their vision. They did not want to co-exist, they wanted it all.
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Hogwarts
It was the end of the year feast and the great hall was decorated in the colours of the house of the Ravens. Since Quidditch had been cancelled it gave both the Hufflepuff's and the Ravenclaw's a great opportunity to take the house cup since the other two usually relied on their Quidditch to win points.
"The end of another year," said Dumbledore his eyes warmly watching all his students. "A year filled with highs and lows. A year we must remember."
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"The coming days are going to be hard but remember, remember that we must have faith in each other and remember that Hogwarts is always open to those who are in need of assistance."
He smiled and then took his seat signalling the start of the feast.
"Enjoy your lives to the fullest!" he shouted as mouth watering delicious food magically appeared before them all.
"What do you plan to do now Blaise?" Harry asked his best friend.
"We're moving to Italy," he replied uncomfortably. "But I think this time our family will have no choice but to take a side."
"And which side do you think that is?" asked Harry quietly.
"Hopefully the right one," muttered Blaise. He then turned towards Harry with his eyes blazing with emotion. "And if not will I have the chance to take shelter at your home?"
Harry placed his hands on Baise's shoulder, "My house is always open to you and anyone you wish to bring along," he whispered.
For the first time in the history of Hogwarts, a feast had taken place with barely any sound being made. If only they knew what plans Voldemort had in mind.