Chapter 40 – It Begins.
Breath in. . . . breath out. . . breath in. . . . breath out. Harry repeated this thought like a mantra in his mind as he eased into a meditative trance.
He was back at Grimmauld place and was back to his hundredth attempt to learn and master occlumency.
He was practicing the age old method of imagining a blank white wall in front of him but it wasn't working out very well. Every time he thought he was close a multitude of colours would ghost into his vision and ruin his white wall! And now after what he thought was 10 minutes there was a multicoloured wall in front of him . . . again.
But that did not deter the young elemental. He decided to focus on one of the million colours and force the others out of his mind while trying to keep his thoughts at bay. He didn't know how long he stayed focused on a single colour but he knew that it wasn't enough. Earlier he had asked professor Snape for some tips and to Harry's shock the Slytherin head instead of snubbing him, had simply said that to achieve a state of thoughtlessness you needed to sink so deep into your subconscious so that you reach a place where your conscious mind cannot reach. It was terribly confusing, wasn't the subconscious where all the random thoughts came from?
BANG BANG BANG!
Harry nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden intrusion of noise. With rage rumbling behind his eyes he yanked the door open ready to blast whoever it was outside to hyperspace.
It was Ginny.
"What the hell do you want!" he spat out furiously, his eyes smouldering with anger. He felt he had been so close to a revelation and to be disturbed at that point was infuriating.
Looking at the angry Potter, Ginny slowly backed away from him. "Mum's calling us all for dinner," she said warily. "Fred and George came up here about an hour ago but you didn't open up so mum sent me to try again."
Harry's anger slowly ebbed away. He hadn't heard the devil twins at all. "What time is it now?" he demanded.
"It's eight," she replied. "Everyone's downstairs and you're the only one left."
"Eight!" thought Harry in shock. He had begun at six and he thought it had been just about twenty minutes since he had begun while in reality it had been two hours! "This is interesting," he muttered. "How deep in was I? And how much further do I need to go?"
"Harry? Are you coming?" asked Ginny again, looking at Harry curiously. He was acting very strange she thought.
"Huh, yeah, let's go Ginny," he said mustering a smile at the young redhead.
Arriving at the dining table Harry found that nearly everyone was there, Order members and his Gryffindor acquaintances combined. "What joy," Harry grumbled in his mind.
"Mrs Weasley is really pissed off at you Harry," said Lillian.
Harry rolled his eyes and took his place next to Sirius. "What were you doing pup?" he asked.
"Must have been up to some no good as usual," said Remus lightly. Harry didn't miss the playfulness in his voice.
"Yes Remus," said Harry with a sigh, "I was busy studying the darkest of the dark arts in the darkest corner of my room."
Ron gasped! "I knew it!" he shouted.
Hermione, who was sitting next to the redhead whacked the back of his head and said, "Idiot! He's being sarcastic!"
The entire table chuckled at Ron's dimwittedness.
"Why are gathered here like a bunch of hillbillies anyway?" Harry asked Sirius loudly.
"It's Arthur's birthday," Sirius whispered to him and he smiled at the people now glaring at his godson. "Didn't you know?"
Further conversation ceased as Mrs. Weasley entered with a huge chocolate cake with a blue and white Ford Angela perched on top.
Sighs of desire seemed to flow from the table at the sight of that cake. It simply reeked of deliciousness!
"Happy Birthday Arthur," said Molly warmly, looking at her husband lovingly.
Percy put a party hat on his father's head as everybody stood up and started singing for Mr. Weasley. Sirius had to drag Harry up along with everyone else and had to pinch him to force him to sing along which Harry did so very reluctantly. It was only the sight and smell of the cake which compelled the young Potter to sing the happy birthday song. Thankfully for him, no one heard the swear words he kept adding now and then.
Half an hour later Harry was sinking deep in his favourite chair and he was surrounded by half the occupants of the Grimmauld place who were in various positions just trying to keep that wonderful cake from coming back up their food pipes. Only Ron was still at the dining table polishing off whatever scraps of cake he could still find while Ginny stood there eagerly watching Ron stuff himself. She had checked his weight before the meal and wanted to check it after!
"Oh god I am so full!" gasped Lillian who sitting on the floor with her back against the sofa and her legs spread.
"Tell me about it," said Hermione. "My parents are going to have a fit if they find out how much sugar I've consumed today!"
"I'll be sure to let them know then," muttered Harry.
Hermione looked horrified at the thought.
"Oh stuff it Harry," said Lillian with a yawn.
"Oh I'm quite stuffed if you must know freckles," sneered Harry.
Lillian's eye twitched at the name and she started a conversation with Hermione ignoring Harry. After a good fifteen minutes of letting their stomachs settle, Mrs. Weasley came bumbling into the room and started shooing all her kids out and to bed.
Harry snorted. "Looks the kids are past their sleeping time."
Mrs Weasley heard that and turned sharply towards him. "That includes you too young man," she said.
"Bite me," replied Harry rudely.
The Weasley kids erupted as usual much to Harry's amusement and were ready to curse him into oblivion but their mother forcefully ushered them out of the room after glaring darkly at Harry.
"Always a piece of cake to antagonize them," he said and then laughed at his own joke.
"Would it kill you to be nice to Molly and her kids once it a while," asked a smiling Sirius.
"Yes," replied Harry, deadpanned. "I don't like them and they don't like me."
"They don't like you because you haven't given them a reason too," said his dogfather sternly.
"Neither have they," shot back Harry. "The only one I tolerate is Ginny and that's only because she's in my house! Anyways, I'm off to bed," he said not wanting to pursue the topic.
Sirius shook his head ruefully as his Harry trudged up the stairs and out of sight. "He really needs to lighten up," he muttered.
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Harry could not sleep.
He was going to turn fourteen in an hour and he was bemoaning the fact that there were no major improvements in his quest to learn occlumency. It had been more than six months and Harry still felt he was nowhere to close to even beginning to understand how one shields his mind. He was weighing the pros and cons of forgetting about learning the stupid art of protecting your mind.
It was with thoughts like these running through his mind Harry made his way to the kitchen hoping to find something to eat.
THUD
Harry froze. It sounded like something fell against the front door. He stood still for a few seconds and then heard the sound of the front door being opened slowly.
Harry drew his wand. The house was under the fidelius charm but it didn't hurt to be safe.
Casting a non verbal silencing spell on his feet Harry stealthily made his way to the front door. When he entered the hall way he found the door half open. Frowning, he moved to close the door when suddenly his foot came in contact with something warm and he jumped back in shock.
"Lumos," he said sharply and the light from his wand illuminated the body of a man halfway inside the house.
He rushed over to him and helped the man up.
"Potter?" mumbled Severus Snape.
Harry's eyes slowly widened in horror as the light showed the professor's condition. There was blood dripping all over and his body was trembling as he tried to move.
"Professor what happened?" said Harry, dismayed.
"Dark lord... danger ...," he whispered and Harry was barely able to hear him. "Albus... where...?"
"Stop talking professor," said Harry as he, with great effort dragged said man to the living room. "You're going to be alright," he said confidently even as he felt the man's blood begin to drench his clothes.
Somehow he managed to get the man to the couch and Harry then made a stabbing moment with his wand forward emitting a loud bang from it. Another wave followed by a whispered incantation and the lamps and fireplace in the room flared to life.
Then Harry saw the extent of the professor's injuries and he resisted the urge to look away.
His left forearm was missing. There were multiple deep cuts throughout his torso visible through the shredded robes. His right leg was broken and the bone visible in places. His body was shivering terribly his black eyes found Harry's green ones.
Harry didn't even hear the noise of people rumbling down the stairs.
"Don't ... put me to sleep," muttered Snape through a haze of pain as he began to flicker in and out of consciousness.
"Harry? What's going ... Oh dear merlin!"
Harry felt himself being pushed away by Molly Weasley as she snapped into action putting to use all the medical knowledge she had.
"Remus, floo Hogwarts and get Pomfrey here now!" Sirius barked.
"Harry, are you alright!" Tonks asked Harry taking in his blood soaked appearance.
"Y-yea, I'm fine," Harry stammered.
"Good, then go up to your room and stay there until we call you," she said.
Those words jolted Harry out the daze he realized he was in. "What? No!" he said firmly and pushed the metamorphagus aside. "Mrs Weasley, is it possible to wake the professor up!" he said urgently.
"Absolutely not!" she cried out as she began to conjure bandages to stop the bleeding. The normal spells she knew weren't working.
"Sirius, we must wake him up and get him into a state where he can talk coherently," shouted Harry.
Sirius who was holding down Snape as he began to trash and moan when Molly began to fix his bones yelled out. "I don't think it's quite possible at the moment Harry!"
"Tonks where is Remus?" shouted Molly. There was only so much she could do.
"Listen to me," said Harry moving closer to Sirius while trying to ignore the mutilated body of his head of house and ignoring the furiousand panicking Weasley. "Professor Snape said something about danger, the dark lord and the headmaster. He also ordered me not to let anyone put him to sleep so please find a way to ease his pain and wake him up!" Harry's voice had steadily increased and now all the occupants of Grimmauld place number 12 were downstairs trying to see what was going on and why was there so much noise.
"Move aside, move aside" came the commanding voice of Madam Pomfrey much to Mrs. Weasley's relief. "And I'll take your concerns into consideration too Mr Potter but his life comes first," she added as she began to work on Snape.
"In the meantime I want all of you out!" she said. "Molly, remove the vial labelled cursed wounds and start pouring it one drop at a time on his chest."
"Come on Harry," whispered Remus gently, pulling Harry out of the room. "Let them do their work. Tonks, get all the other kids out of here. Sirius, call an emergency meeting immediately."
Tonks began to usher the Weasley kids and Hermione out of the room and up the stairs ignoring their protests and questions.
Sirius, Remus and Harry headed into the dining hall where Sirius quickly conjured a patronus and sent a message to Kingsley.
Harry leaned against the wall and took a deep shuddering breath. Memories were flashing in his mind, memories of his time with Perenelle.
"Kill him Harry," he could hear her voice resounding in his head. "A simple diffindo to his neck!"
Harry smiled ruefully. He didn't think the sight of such a severely injured person would have shaken him up this much. Not after his time with Perenelle Flamel.
"People die in battle Harry," said Penny coldly as she watched the elemental empty his stomach after watching her blow a hole through the man's chest. "If you can't stomach the sight of blood and gore and can't kill then how to you expect to fight!"
"You shouldn't have had to see that Harry," said Remus suddenly looking weary. "How are you doing?" he asked.
Little too late for that, thought Harry. He had seen cold blooded murder and then had been forced to commit murder himself. And it wasn't just once. Penny had made sure he could kill without hesitating. It was her way of making him ready for war.
"I'm fine Professor," said Harry with a smile and took a seat next to Sirius. "What do you think could have happened to professor Snape?" he asked, desperate change the topic from his wellbeing.
"Either he got into a fight or his cover was blown," said Sirius solemnly. "But what's most important is what did he hear or discover that warranted such an attack on him."
"Must be something big for him ask for Albus," said Remus worriedly. "I'm surprised he didn't go to Hogwarts."
"It's a long distance from the gates to the castle," said Harry.
"True," said Sirius. "He would have probably died before he made it to Hagrid's hut."
"How come you didn't send me up along with the rest?" Harry asked Sirius. Every time there's any order business going on or anything to do with Voldemort his godfather had always sent him away albeit reluctantly.
Sirius smiled while Remus looked on curiously. "You are the one who found Snape and probably saved his life by acting quickly instead of freaking out. I always wanted you to be aware of what's going on and now you just gave me a reason to defy Albus and Molly's prattling about how young you are and how you should simply be sheltered from everything."
Harry felt something stir in him as he listened to Sirius. With a start he realized it was affection.
"Plus I think something big is going to happen soon and you all are going to be involved no matter what we do," he added.
The three lapsed into silence after Sirius's surprisingly serious words. Each in buried in their own thoughts until there was a loud crack and Albus Dumbledore made his entrance. His blue eyes were devoid of warmth.
"Where is Severus?" he asked, his soft voice resonating in their ears.
Remus pointed to the living room. Dumbledore nodded his thanks and made his way to the side of the potions master. The remaining three glanced and each other before hurrying after the old headmaster.
Molly was nowhere to be seen and madam Pomfrey was lightly running her wand over the potions master, probably monitoring his condition.
"How is he Poppy?" asked Dumbledore.
"Stable," she replied.
"Can he be woken?"
Pomfrey bit her lip clearly not approving of the idea, but under the stare of Dumbledore she relented and nodded. "But I do not approve," she said anyway. "He shouldn't be straining himself at all, even if it's just to talk."
"Ennervate," whispered Dumbledore. Harry, Sirius and Remus looked on with baited breaths.
Snape's eyes slowly flickered open as he returned to consciousness. His eyes shifted from side to side in confusion before they settled on Dumbledore.
"Albus," he rasped.
"I'm glad to see you well Severus," said Dumbledore smiling.
Snape glared at him. "I shudder to think what the term unwell means to you Dumbledore," he whispered weakly.
Dumbledore looked at him expectantly waiting for the man to explain.
The other three moved in closer while madam Pomfrey left the room. She had no interest in anything apart from fixing people.
Once the mediwitch and closed the door behind her Snape began. He didn't even bother to ask why Harry was still there.
"We only have a few hours before the dark lord initiates his plan so listen to me carefully," said Snape and at once the mood became more serious.
"For months now the dark lord has been working on some plan and only a few in the inner circle have been involved in it. Also the dark lord has been ordering me to make half made potions which he completes by himself to avoid my knowing what they are for."
Pain raced through his body once more and he fought to get it under control. Dumbledore and the others looked on as they waited for Snape to continue.
"For a few weeks now I have been trying to figure out what could the potion be based on the ingredients I used and earlier today after observing the behaviour of the new recruits that the potion the dark lord was brewing is a mild mind control potion."
Dumbledore inhaled sharply. "Didn't you realize that from the ingredients you used?" asked Remus.
"The dark lord was smarter," replied Snape. Usually he would have retorted to that but today was different. "Using the ingredients he gave me it's not possible but if you add the hair of a unicorn, the hellbore in the potion will be neutralized without which it is possible."
"So basically he's now controlling all the idiots who decided to go to him thinking he was a reformed man," said Harry snorting.
A look from the professors silenced him.
"Realizing this I decided that I had to do more to find out what was going on," continued Snape. "I knew those the dark lord has confided in have sworn an unbreakable oath and I knew that whatever the plan was it was soon to be executed so I used those listening devices you gave me Albus."
Snape's eyes bored into Dumbledore's.
"He plans to release dragons over London at dawn."
Everyone's heart stopped for a moment.
"No way," said Harry horrified.
"And by dragons I don't mean the ones we have in the dragon reserves," he added.
Dumbledore's eyes widened. "You don't mean..."
"I do," said Snape, while Harry, Sirius and Remus looked on in confusion. "What do you mean?" asked Remus.
"He means that Voldemort has managed to capture a free dragon," said Dumbledore. "A free dragon is ten times larger than the ones we know of and is a hundred times harder to capture. They reside in the highest peaks in the world and are highly intelligent creatures. There have been barely ten sightings of them by wizards and muggles alike."
"How come we've never heard of them before?" asked Sirius. "And what about the dragons we know of?"
"The ones that we know of are like baby monkeys and the free dragons are the giants," said Snape. "And Albus, it's just one, it's three."
Four faces lost colour.
"But the dragon attack is simply going to be a distraction. Before I was discovered I heard that the true reason behind this attack is to seize control of the ministry. Subduing the dragons is not going to be an easy task and it will be a piece of cake for the dark lord to take control," finished Severus.
"But it's likely that's not the end of it right?" asked Harry, keeping the fear rising in him at bay. "How did you end up like this?"
"Potter's right," said Snape. "I didn't hear the entire plan before the dark lord found me and the charmed devices."
Remus gasped. "You escaped from Voldemort himself!" Even Sirius looked amazed.
"That's not important right now. What's important is Voldemort might have modified his plans knowing that part of his secret is out," said Dumbledore calmly.
"No," said Snape at once. "I found out that the dragons cannot be released before dawn as a result of the methods the dark lord used to capture them so we have time to counter him but there's no doubt that he would have certain safe guards in place to prevent us from ruining his plans."
"Its two thirty right now," said Harry. "That means we have about three hours come with something to prevent the statue of secrecy from being permanently broken and from preventing magical Britain from coming under the thumb of the dark lord."
"There no we Harry," said Sirius at once. "You and the rest of the kids are going to Hogwarts where you will be safe!"
"No!" said Harry outraged. "You said it yourself that I could be a part of this."
"Harry..." began Dumbledore.
"You know what I'm capable of professor and you know that I could wipe all your order members of the floor with ease," Harry said firmly. He ignored the amused look Remus was giving him.
"Harry, I do not have the time to convince you why you cannot be involved in this but trust my judgement," said Dumbledore. "Sirius, have the members gathered yet?"
"I sent a message to Tonks to gather everyone in the meeting area," replied Sirius, while looking at Harry apologetically. He didn't have a problem with Harry knowing what was going on but he certainly wasn't ready to let his godson right into the middle of a dangerous battle.
Harry frowned. When did Sirius manage to send a message to Tonks? He wondered. All he had seen him do was send a patronus to Kingsley. And didn't they always meet in the dining hall?
"Let's go then," said Dumbledore levitating Snape ahead of him and a very, very angry Harry was left watching their backs as they walked away from him without another word.
The four made their way to the dining room and Sirius locked the door behind him. Remus softly incanted a spell which began to echo a few order member's voices around randomly and it seemed like an actual discussion was taking place in the dining room. It would continue until their meeting got over. Dumbledore in the mean time pressed a button which was under the table and it opened up a hole in the ground.
"When do you think the kids will realize all they hear with those extendable ears is bullshit?" Sirius asked Remus with a grin.
"Never," replied Remus, "Unless we dropped them a hint of course."
Sirius kept grinned as they reached the bottom.
"So how long until Harry realises the hint you gave him," asked Remus giving Sirius a disapproving look.
"If I know the kid he'll figure it out soon enough," laughed Sirius.
At the bottom was a large well lit room with a table in the middle surrounded with the members of the order of the phoenix. The room was painted in stripes of green, red, yellow and bronze and there was a large picture of a phoenix taking flight from an inferno on the ceiling.
There were neither doors nor any windows except for the bright orange lanterns floating about.
Albus helped Snape into his seat at the table and then took his seat at the head of the table. "Speak the oath," he said softly.
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Harry went up the stairs, furious at Dumbledore. What was the point of training so hard if you weren't allowed to use the power at your disposal! Also the headmaster knew that Harry was an elemental and he knew how useful that power was!
But no matter, thought Harry as his temper came down. He knew the dragons were due to attack at dawn and when they would come, he would be ready.
When he reached the top of the stairs he found his way blocked by, well everybody under the age of seventeen in the house.
"What's going on Harry?" asked Lillian first.
"How come they let you stay when we were sent back?" demanded Hermione.
"Is the professor going to be alright?" whispered Ginny fearfully.
"Is there a meeting going on downstairs?" question Fred and George while Ron just glared at him.
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and wondered whether he should tell them part of the truth or just ignore them and leave.
He chose to tell them.
"Professor Snape's duties as a spy have come to an end," he said coolly.
Everybody gasped.
"Is he still alive?"
"He'll be fine and London is going to be attacked by dragons at dawn."
"No way!"
"Now that I've told you what the little I know, may I go to my room," he said acidly.
"But what are we going to do?" cried Hermione.
"You can do nothing," sneered Harry. "The order is having a meeting to figure something out and you can help by staying out of the way."
"But you're not going to stay away are you Harry?" said Lillian. Harry knew what she meant. She was going to go with him and there was no way he could stop her. He also knew that her power would be a huge advantage over those so called free dragons. Their fire would do no harm to her...probably.
"You know what we can do Lillian," he said softly. "And you know why I can't just sit back and watch."
Lillian looked at him piercingly before sighing and looking away. "I know," she said.
Harry closed the gap between them and whispered in her ear, "This is the beginning. Get some rest if you're going to join me," he murmured before going back to his room leaving her just standing there with a pained look on her face.
"What the hell was that all about," burst out Ron. "What did he tell you Mary!"
"The war has begun," was all she said ignoring the cacophony of questions that had erupted around her. Dawn was going to mark the beginning of a world she didn't think they were ready for.