"Harry, I think it would be best if you went back to Hogwarts. I'm sure that you have homework to take care of," Ella replied. "Plus the conversation we'll be having will probably bore you."
"You're going to do whatever it'll take to resolve the issue peacefully?" Harry asked.
"Mm, you're smarter than I give you credit for, Harry," Ella commented. They smiled to each other.
"Thank you, Mr. Hale for telling me your story," Harry informed him.
"Call me Jasper, and I'm glad that you were able to keep up with the story," Jasper said.
"I better go and catch up on my studies," he replied as he grabbed his cloak and left. As the door closed, Ella turned back to her family and started planning. She couldn't help but worry that something bad will happen while she was away. As soon as Harry heard the door close, he needed to find out the secret that she was holding. He feared that it had something to do with Sirius Black and that was something that he needed to find out. Days went by and he barely noticed that the Cullens were around but he managed to ignore it. He found a secret way to go to Hogsmeade without anyone noticing. When he saw the Minister of Magic there with McGonagall and Hagrid, he knew that something was up. He used his Invisibility cloak and listened to what they were talking about. Fudge spoke up as a woman went up to him, "Rosmerta, my dear. I hope business is good."
"It'd be a lot better if the Ministry wasn't sending Dementors into my pub every other night!"
"We have… we have a killer on the loose."
"Sirius Black in Hogsmeade! And what would bring him here?" she asked.
"Harry Potter," he answered softly.
"Harry Potter?" she asked.
McGonagall looked around and motioned for everyone to follow her inside her bar, "Come."
"Nobody will come to a pub where they'll get scared out of their wits. Professor Dumbledore doesn't want Dementors around this place. Tell me what this is all about," she said as she led them into a private room on the second floor of the pub. Harry managed to sneak in unnoticed and listened to what was being said.
"Years ago, when Harry Potter's parents were marked for death – remember? They hid. Few knew where they were. One who did was Sirius Black. And he told You-Know-Who," McGonagall replied.
"Not only did Black lead him to the Potters that night, he also killed Peter Pettigrew!" Fudge added.
"Peter Pettigrew?" Rosmerta inquired.
"Little lump of a boy. Always following after Black," McGonagall responded.
"I remember. Never let James and Sirius out of his sight. What happened?" Rosmerta asked.
"Peter tried to warn the Potters, and might have, had he not run into an old friend, Sirius Black," McGonagall commented.
"Black was vicious. He didn't kill Pettigrew. He destroyed him! A finger. That's all that was left. A finger. Nothing else," Fudge replied.
"Sirius Black may not have put his hands to the Potters, but he's the reason they're dead," McGonagall informed her.
"He wants to finish things," Fudge added.
"I don't believe it," she said. "What of Ella Cullen? I thought that they were friends of some sort."
"They were friends. He befriended all of them. He betrayed her too. He betrayed everyone," McGonagall said.
"I thought that she and her family had special abilities…" Rosmerta started off.
"That's what we don't know. We don't know how he managed to slip past the Cullens," McGonagall answered.
'That's not the worst of it," Fudge intervened.
"What could be worse?" Rosmerta asked, surprised.
"This," McGonagall started off, "Sirius Black was and remains to this day, Harry Potter's godfather!" Harry was shocked to hear of this. Was this the secret that Ella had kept from him? He couldn't believe it… he wouldn't believe it. He ran out of the room and away from Hogsmeade. Even though Harry was still using the invisibility cloak, he couldn't mask his footprints. Ron and Hermione managed to follow his footsteps.
"Harry?" Hermione asked when she and Ron noticed where the footprints stopped. She went up to him and grabbed the cloak off him. "What's the matter?"
"He was their friend, and he betrayed them. He was their *friend*! I hope he finds me! Cause when he does, I'm gonna be ready. When he does, I'm gonna kill him!" Harry shouted. He wanted to refuse to believe that something like this would happen. He thought that he could trust Ella and finding something like this was far-fetched. Harry wondered if he had kept pressing Ella, then she would be forced to tell him about Sirius. Maybe he could talk to her when she came back, whenever that was. He couldn't help but wonder what has happening to Ella and her family.
They were at their private jet, ready to fly to the States. Alice has been watching Victoria's decision and so far, the supposed war hasn't started yet. It appears that Victoria had picked a somewhat isolated city. From what Alice could see, Victoria is building an army in Seattle but she could see a battle being taken place somewhere near Forks, Washington. "Carlisle?" Ella called out.
"What is it, Ella?" he responded.
"Do we still have the treaty with the werewolves? If I recall, the treaty line is near Forks," she pointed out.
Carlisle thought about what she said, "Yes, we still do have a treaty with them. I wonder if they sense a threat coming? That's something we need to address as well."
"What should we do?" Rosalie asked. "It's not like they trust us."
"Is there a way where we can call on them without violence?" Esme asked.
"I think there is," Ella said. She was thinking of a plan but wasn't sure as to how to voice it.
"Ella, what are you thinking? I can't see your future anymore," Alice was frustrated because as soon as Ella started to decide on something, she couldn't see Ella anymore. Ella opened her mind and Edward saw what she was thinking and smiled.
"I think your plan is ingenious. They'll be on guard, but they'll come for sure," Edward said. "She just thought of a surefire way to have the wolves agree to come see us without breaking the treaty."
Harry was wandering around, using the map that the Weasley twins gave him. He was looking for something, or rather someone, but once he was there, there was no one there until he saw Snape coming his way and removed all of the suspicious items away. Out of nowhere, Snape pulled out his wand and permitted some light, he saw Harry standing here in a state of surprise. "Potter," Snape acknowledged. "What are you doing wandering the corridors at night?"
"I was sleepwalking," he quickly answered.
"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter. He, too, was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle," Snape remarked.
"My dad didn't strut, And nor do I," Harry retorted. Snape drew his wand closer to Harry's face. "Now, if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you could lower your wand."
Snape looked over him once and said, "Turn out your pockets. Turn out your pockets!" Harry drew out a piece of parchment and showed it to Snape. "What's this?"
"Spare bit of parchment," Harry answered.
"Really? Open it," he commanded. Harry opened the parchment. Snape pointed his wand to the parchment and said, "Reveal your secrets. Read it."
Some writing had appeared on the parchment and read what was on it, "'Messrs. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, offer their compliments to Professor Snape and... '"
"Go on," Snape encouraged as he saw Harry pause.
""... and request that he keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.'"
"You insolent little –" he said as he took the parchment out of Harry's hands and was ready to strike Harry.
"Professor!" a voice called out.
Snape looked over his shoulder and saw Lupin there, "Well, well, Lupin. Out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?"
Lupin ignored Snape's comment and looked at Harry, "Harry, are you all right?"
"That remains to be seen," Snape responded before Harry could put in a word. "I have now just confiscated a rather curious artifact. Take a look, Lupin. Supposed to be your area of expertise. Clearly, it's full of dark magic." He gave the parchment to Lupin
He looked at what was written and smiled, "I seriously doubt it, Severus. It looks as thought it's a parchment designed to insult anyone who tries to read it. I suspect it's a Zonko product. Nevertheless, I shall investigate any hidden qualities it may possess. It is, after all, as you say, my area of expertise. Harry, would you come with me, please? Professor, good night," he said as he led Harry away and into his office. "Come in. I haven't the faintest idea how this map came to be in your possession but quite frankly, I am astounded that you didn't hand it in. Did it never occur to you that this, in the hands of Sirius Black is a map to you?"
"No, sir," Harry was tired but he wasn't sure as to what he was tired about.
"No. You know, your father never set much store by the rules either. But he and your mother gave their lives to save yours. And gambling their sacrifice by wandering around the castle, unprotected, with a killer on the loose seems to me to be a pretty poor way to repay them. Now, I will not cover for you again, Harry, do you hear me? I want you to return to your dormitory and stay there. And don't take any detours. If you do, I shall know. I shall know."
Harry was about to leave but stopped abruptly before turning around and said, "Professor, just so you know I don't think that map always works. Earlier it showed someone in the castle... someone I know to be dead."
"Oh really, and who might that be?" Lupin asked.
"Peter Pettigrew," he answered.
"That's not possible," Lupin said, barely maintaining his surprise.
"It's just what I saw. Good night, professor," Harry informed him and then left to his room.
They managed to get into their house that they had in Forks, Washington without much trouble. They had discussed on how to draw out the wolves without breaking the treaty. Since they had arrived to Forks in the evening, they decided to wait until mid-morning to draw them out. "Carlisle, maybe we should grab the opportunity to do some hunting," Ella suggested.
"You're right, we should. We will be needing our strength tomorrow," Carlisle responded. "I was able to watch some news recently and found out that there's some lion problem surrounding the Washington-Canadian border. I'm not entirely sure as to where because the reports have been shady as of late."
"That shouldn't stop us from figuring out where it'll be," Esme commented. Carlisle nodded. "Let's go get ready then. Be ready in two minutes." Everyone sped to their respective rooms and changed into their hunting clothes and met back in the living room. Once everyone was there, they had gone through the front door and headed towards the borderline and split into two groups: Edward, Ella, Esme and Jasper in one, Carlisle, Alice, Rosalie and Emmett in the other. Alice and Edward were the two key people for communication purposes. Once they figured out a game plan, it wasn't all that hard to resolve. They drank more than they should and disposed of the bodies. They had ran back home just in time to see the sunrise hit their home. Ella couldn't help but worry about what's happening with Harry. Even though, she had been part of what's been happening with her family, she was thinking of Harry and how to approach him when the time came for her to talk.
"Love, what's going on in that gorgeous head of yours?"
"Harry," she said simply.
"I know that you're worried about him," he said.
"I know but he's going to be doing a lot of self-discovery this year and I won't be there to help him all because of Victoria. I'm not too sure as to how to handle this situation," she explained.
"We'll both figure something out once the army and Victoria had paid for their trouble," Edward told her.
"I still worry, you know," Ella said.
"I know. You wouldn't be you if you didn't worry," Edward replied.
Everyone gathered in the living room, "Jasper, do you think it would be okay for us to go now?" Ella asked.
He thought about it before replying, "We'd be early."
"Well, maybe we could practice a bit before we met with them," Ella said.
Jasper didn't think about that, "We should do that. Why don't we go now?"
"Let's change into other hunting clothes. I'm sure that the wolves would smell the blood from our clothes," Carlisle suggested. Everyone agreed to change. Everyone met in the garage once they've changed. "Emmett, take your jeep. Rosalie, Alice and Jasper can join you. Edward can take his Volvo, with Ella, Esme and myself. There's a place about ten miles due north of the Hoh Forest ranger station. That's the best place to meet the wolves and it's in neutral territory."
"That seems like a simple plan," Esme chimed in. Everyone felt the tension in the room but didn't bother saying anything out loud. No one wanting to move but managed to start getting into the cars and drive to the area. Within 5 minutes of driving, they parked the cars next to each other respectively. They walked to the area the rest of the way. Once they were there, they began spreading out and to spread their scents, so that the wolves knew where to go. The motion had been set once they were in the jet. They didn't start making calls not until after they had landed. Ella was thinking about Victoria and trying to find some kind of weakness of hers that they could use to their advantage. Victoria had always seemed like a force of nature, like a hurricane moving toward the coast in a straight line, unavoidable, implacable but predictable. Maybe it was wrong to limit her that way. She had to be capable of adaption. She was also capable of making the army because she made sure that the Volturi knew what she was doing. It was in her personality to make new friends. She's shown a remarkable gift for self-preservation from the start, maybe it's a talent of hers.
"Love, what are you thinking about?" Edward asked. He hated the fact that he couldn't read her minds. He could only get bits and pieces of what she allowed him to see.
"Victoria and her army," she replied.
"What about her?"
"I was thinking how making this army is a gift of hers. She went out of the way to make sure that the Volturi knew what she was doing but the one thing I don't get is how she convinced the Volturi to have us fight the army and not them."
Edward wrinkled his brow in concentration. She was right and he knew it. "You're right. Your theory suits her. This plot would put her in no danger at all from the Volturi, if she sits safely behind and lets the newborns wreak havoc. It means less danger for and from the Volturi."
"The one thing that I don't understand is why the Volturi is so willing for us to fight. Aren't you, Alice and I the ones that the Volturi wants? I mean, they've been asking us to join them ever since they found out of our abilities. So why would they want us to fight against Victoria? I understand that they blame someone for what happened to James, but if they value the three of us, why tell us to fight them?" Ella explained. They met with Carlisle and the rest of the family. Edward and Ella both explained to everyone what they had discussed.
"You're right, Ella, it doesn't make sense. They've seen first hand what your abilities do and it would be worthless to send us into battle," Carlisle commented.
"Maybe they believe that we can defeat them, that's why they're sending us to remove the threat," Alice replied.
"They believe that we can destroy them? Right!" Rosalie said sarcastically. "Think about it… they have better ammunition than we do."
Everyone became quiet when Rosalie said that. They knew that she was right. "You're right, Rosalie. I mean, they have Jane and Alec and the guards," Ella remarked.
"They didn't mention anything about it while you were speaking with the Volturi?" Jasper asked.
"No, not during our visit. Besides if they decided something, Alice would have seen it," Carlisle commented.
"Aro knows Alice's gift, therefore he wouldn't have made that decision. But someone else could have. Do you think that Victoria and the Volturi are working together?" Esme asked.
"That's a possibility," Jasper replied.
"They're almost here," Edward said. "Alice, can you see anything?"
"No, it was gone as soon as you spoke," she answered.
"How long?" Carlisle asked.
"A minute and a half, but I'm going to have to translate. They don't trust us enough to use their human forms."
Carlisle nodded. "This is hard for them. I'm grateful they're coming at all."
"Prepare yourselves, they've been holding out on us."
"What do you mean?" Alice demanded. Edward looked towards the west and the Cullens made an informal circle which widened out into a loose line with Jasper and Emmett at the spear point.
"Damn," Emmett muttered under his breath. "Did you ever see anything like it?" Esme and Rosalie exchanged a wide-eyed glance. The wolves slowly came out of their hiding places but not fully stepping out into the sun.
Carlisle took a slow, deliberate step forward. It was a careful movement, designed to reassure. "Welcome," he greeted.
"Thank you," Edward responded in a strange, flat tone. "We will watch and listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self-control."
"That is more than enough," Carlisle answered. "My son, Jasper," he gestured to where Jasper stood, tensed and ready, "has experience in this area. He will teach us how they fight, how they are to be defeated. I'm sure you can apply this to your own hunting style."
"They are different from you?" Edward asked for the alpha wolf.
Carlisle nodded. "They are all very new – only months old to this life. Children, in a way. They will have no skill or strategy, only brute strength." Carlisle turned slowly to Alice. "Alice, is there a number of newborns that Victoria has in her army?"
"So far, I can only see twenty, but the number is dropping by the day," she answered.
Carlisle turned back to face the wolves, "The reason why Alice said that the number is dropping is because the new ones fight amongst themselves. There is six of us, but we're willing to take on more if necessary." A rumble passed down the shadowy lines of wolves, a low growling mutter that somehow managed to sound enthusiastic.
"Do you know when and how they'll arrive?"
"They'll come across the mountains in four days, in the late morning. As they approach, Alice will help us intercept their path."
"Thank you for the information. We will watch." With a sighing sound, the eyes sank closer to the ground one set at a time.