December 20th, 1998
Great Hall, Hogwarts School
"Fred, I need you to tell me what you know about Chimera. Now."
The Order of the Phoenix gaped at Arthur, shocked at the accusation.
"I- what- I-"
"It is vital that you tell me everything you know about Chimera, Fredrick Weasley, immediately. Chimera are dangerous, just as if not more so than Voldemort! Who knows what they might be planning? Who knows their next objective? What if they aim to take over our society, and Voldemort is just in the way? You need to tell me everything you may have heard."
"I can't," Fred stated, tears of frustration pouring down his cheeks. The oath he had sworn, they had all sworn, forbade him from telling anyone anything about Chimera unless-"
"I, Nathaniel Charlus Potter, acting commander of the organization known as Chimera, do hereby grant clearance to the members of the Order of the Phoenix present here to be read in on the Chimera project, and all information deemed necessary for them to know."
As the flash of light faded, signalling the acceptance of the modified oath, the Order looked shocked. James and Lily looked horrified. "You- you-"
"I was the acting leader of our organization, yes," Nathan said with a sad smile.
"What do you mean, was? You modified the oath and it was accepted, and you called yourself acting commander there, and you can't lie when swearing or modifying an oath, so why do you say you were acting commander of Chimera?" Lily Potter asked.
"I was acting commander of Chimera because Chimera no longer exists, as of early January."
- o -
Videum, Ancient Outpost
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Harry said to himself as the sensors panel started beeping rapidly.
In orbit, seven spheres began to fade in, and then folded open to reveal tunnels to nowhere. Circles rapidly spun in place, fading from green to blue to purple to green. Spiralling funnels exploded outwards from each tunnel, and an unearthly glow obscured the funnels themselves. A ship exploded out of each tear in space, and the rips sealed themselves once more. The glow faded to oblivion, leaving behind only seven pyramidal spacecraft with armored scaffolding around their base.
Deep inside the facility on the planet's surface, Harry Potter armed the defensive plasma casters, cursing the lack of a Potentia to activate the drone platform. As he did so, the orbiting Goa'uld motherships deployed their full compliment of fighter craft. Cursing loudly, Harry grabbed his staff and retreated to the repository.
- o -
Great Hall, Hogwarts School
"In our first year at Hogwarts, as you know, Quirinus Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort. As you also know, none of the Hogwarts staff believed my brother's and my warnings." A collective wince from the Hogwarts faculty accompanied this statement. "Because the professors refused to act, Harry and I were forced to do so instead. We nearly died as a result.
"The following year, the Hogwarts faculty again showed a refusal to defend the student body against a major threat when a basilisk was unleashed upon the students. Again, Harry and I ultimately had to step in. This time, though, Harry brought together five other students to help us make a plan. We would reconvene the following year when Pettigrew escaped from Azkaban, and we realized that the adults would once again do nothing after Dumbledore ignored the obvious.
"We investigated, and came to an unsurprising, but disheartening, conclusion. Voldemort was on the rise, and no-one would listen. When Harry disappeared at the end of our fourth year, I became acting commander. We started hunting down Voldemort's greatest secret, while also hiring hit wizards to thin Voldemort's numbers."
"What changed?"
"Two of our members were killed, and the group became nonfunctional." Nathan would not elaborate.
"All this time, you did more to fight Voldemort than the Order in its entire history," James whispered, shocked and ashamed. Maybe if he had listened, even once heard them out, his children would not have had to become fighters so very young. Maybe, Harry wouldn't be gone. Similar thoughts echoed through Arthur and Molly Weasley's heads, as well, and a fear that it was too late to repair any damage that might have been done to their relationship with their children.
- o -
ICW News Report, February 2nd
Scandinavia Falls!
After a lightning campaign through the Scandinavian peninsula, Voldemort's forces have destroyed one of the last holdouts for the ICW. All resistance efforts throughout what remains of free Europe, as well as all members of the ICW military, have gone into hiding, presumably to regroup for a push against the Dark Lord's legion. This will be the last publication from the ICW presses. Farewell.
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