You know, before the previous chapter I had never before pissed someone off enough (unintentionally) that they send me a PM and then block me from PMing them… without thinking about the fact that when you block someone from contacting you using private messages, they can't read any you sent them. I think I like making people do stupid stuff, it's a nice feeling.

April 19th, 2002

Entrance Hall, Hogwarts School

With a flash of light, three people appeared on the first floor landing. Harry immediately pulled himself away from James' grasp, drawing the zat'nik'tel he had foolishly holstered as he got up from his chair. Almost as an afterthought, he drew his power into his palm, forming a glowing cyan shield. As several people thundered down the stairs, Harry searched for his staff. He cursed aloud when he could not find it.

Harry turned to face the group forming behind him, keeping his weapon trained on James. "Where am I?" He demanded.

"Y-you're at Hogwarts," Lily said.

"Why?"

"Because we need you to help us," James said, "and you refused."

"You dumb fuck! How in the name of Ganos Lal do you think I can help you defeat a Dark Lord who has been running roughshod over magical Europe for seven fucking years? Well? How?"

"T-the prophecy," Lily stammered, "it said…"

"The prophecy says that only you can end the Dark Lord's reign," Professor McGonagall said. "Usually I do not put stock in the words of self-proclaimed 'seers,' but You-Know-Who is indestructible, to all means we know, just as the prophecy itself states! Only you can kill him, Harry Potter. Do you want the deaths of everyone he kills to be on your conscience?"

"It won't be," Harry proclaimed. "You saw to that." Coiled bolts of lightning arced through the air towards the onlookers as Harry turned a snake statuette towards the crowd. McGonagall's eyes widened when one of the bolts bypassed her shield, and she slumped to the ground with the rest.

Harry, satisfied, ran towards the doors to the grounds. He growled in aggravation when the behemoth door refused to budge. He diverted energy from the shield in an effort to override the locking spell. Nothing. He raised the serpentine handgun once again. Before he could fire on the door, a jet of red light struck him in the back, and he fell into a magically-induced slumber.

- o -

"I'm glad you were willing to meet with me on such short notice, Prime Minister," Major Paul Davis said solemnly.

"I understand it's a matter of some importance?"

"Indeed. A little over twenty-four hours ago, British ambassadors representing a classified branch of your government kidnapped an Air Force officer from a secure facility. They managed to escape with their prisoner, bypassing all security measures, before an alarm could even be sounded."

"I see," Prime Minister Tony Blair said, disturbed. "I can assure you, my people had no part in this… attack."

"That's all well and good, Prime Minister, but what are you going to do about it?"

"The only thing I can do," he responded with an irritated sigh.

- o -

Hospital Wing, Hogwarts School

Harry awoke with a groan to the sight of the white walls of the Hogwarts Hospital Wing. As he tried to get up, he noticed that he was strapped down. Remembering why he was there made his blood boil, and he decided to be as difficult a prisoner as he could until he was let go or he escaped.

Several minutes passed before his awakening was noticed by his captors.

"Harry? You're awake?"

"Draco?" Harry asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here," the former Slytherin admitted. The man waved his wand at the bed, releasing the bindings. "How have you been?"

"Much better before I was kidnapped."

Draco winced. "Yeah… Nathan reamed the both of them for that. It was… not pretty. He questioned the Order's sanity for sending them, of all people."

"What do you mean, Nathan did?"

"Didn't they tell you? He became the leader of the Order of the Phoenix after Kingsley stepped down."

"Why was Kingsley in charge of this… Order?"

"Oh, the Order is an organization Dumbledore started in the first war against the Dark Lord. Dumbledore was driven out of Britain, and Moody was his replacement. He was killed in… one of several attacks leading up to the takeover"

A smirk grew on Harry's face. "Who drove Dumbles out?"

"The general public, for how he handled… the events at the end of the Tournament."

"Good. Bastard deserved it."

"I can't say I disagree," Draco admitted. "And, get this, you know how everyone kept saying he was the only one the Dark Lord ever feared?"

"I heard something to that effect," Harry confirmed.

"Well, turns out, Dumbledore actually enabled Voldemort! When he was driven out, the Ministry was able to put several pieces of legislation, that Dumbledore had actively blocked in the previous war, that delayed the takeover for a little over six years!"

"Sadly, I can't say I'm surprised," Harry said with a sigh.

"Yeah. Hey, how much did they actually tell you before kidnapping you?"

"Apparently, not nearly enough."

- o -

Harry was mulling over what Draco had told him. 'Why didn't they tell me these things? What else am I being kept in the dark about?' Harry sighed with irritation. 'At least I'm not strapped down anymore.' A creak from the other end of the hospital wing snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, little bro," he heard as a figure approached.

"Nathan?"

"Yeah. Draco told me you weren't actually told what's really going on." He sighed. "
They couldn't even do that right."

"Why did you send them to talk to me?"

Nathan laughed bitterly. "I didn't." He sighed. "The Order was pissing me off, more than they usually do. I… foolishly left it up to them to decide the ambassadors, and left the room to calm down. By the time I learned who they were sending, they had been listed officially as our representatives.

"For the record, I explicitly told them to not use force, I even made it a direct order."

"What are you going to do to them for violating it?"

"I'm stripping them of their rank, and demoting them to the bottom tier of the Order," Nathan responded. "I can't have people who disobey direct orders just because they don't like them. Kingsley's getting demoted, too, for that matter."

"What'd he do?" Harry asked.

"He gave them the portkeys they used to kidnap you."

"That isn't too bad, is it? I mean, as much as I don't like being kidnapped, you can't blame the gunmaker for a shooting."

"The portkeys he gave them were unauthorized, both by their commanding officer and the American governments."

Harry whistled. "I'd hate to be him right now. Hey, if they weren't supposed to have portkeys, how were they supposed to get back here? Apparating?"

"No, all major United States cities apparently have anti-apparation wards to prevent 'unwanted persons' from getting in, and to stop criminals from escaping. There was an international floo connection they were to take, due to open a few hours after the last meeting was supposed to end. The three of you appeared as we were setting up some traps for any Death Eaters to enter the castle."

"So much has changed for the worse," Harry mused aloud.

"Yeah. I miss the old days," Nathan said sadly. "Everything was… peaceful, pleasant… no risk of imminent death every day. I'm sorry they forced you into this. Brought you into a warzone."

Harry chortled despite himself. "I was already in one."

"What in the bloody hell are you smoking? We found you literally under a mountain, Harry. That's about as far from a war zone as you can get."

"My assignment… takes me places." Harry outright grinned. "I can't tell you nearly everything, but I might be able to let a few things slip. Sit down, we'll catch up."