Don't own it.

You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant- Harian Ellison

That Morning- the Daily Prophet Headline

Is the world really as we see it?

Last week, Lord Sirius Orion of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black was declared free and innocent of all non-existent charges. Bartemius Crouch Senior, former Head of DMLE, allegedly placed him in a high security cell in Azkaban without a trial, on the 2nd of November 1981, two days after the defeat of Lord V*** at the hands of an infant, recently emancipated Lord Harry James Potter, godson of Lord Black.

This raises some troubling questions about the status of our world and its security. Is corruption taking over the Ministry? What is the status of Azkaban security? Is Hogwarts really as safe as it's said to be?

Our law system is seriously flawed, and has been for a while now. For years, skilled wizards and witches have been turned down several jobs due to their blood status, and have been pushed over in favour of less skilled purebloods. Halfbloods don't fare much better. A record of those who hold any sort of job at the ministry, no matter how minor, can be found in the building itself. They are available for public reference. You will find that every single one of the most important jobs is held by a pureblood, save a few.

To get a job at the ministry, a form has to be filled out by the applicant, stating their name, address, NEWTs, training, institution and blood status. Below the box that says 'muggleborn', in minute text, there is a single line. 'Muggleborns may not apply'. In fact, it is next to impossible for one of purely muggle heritage to find a job higher than a clerk. Don't believe me? It's all there in the Records Office, in black and yellow. This prejudice is no less petty than the muggle discrimination of 'blacks'. What does blood have to do with skill anyway? If you cut open the skin of people of different blood statuses, their blood will all be red. And magical. It tells us nothing of their skill. So, are we putting our trust in the minds of mediocre wizards? Or does the fact that they are 'pureblood' make up for that injustice?

Both Azkaban prison, and Hogwarts have had their security breached by an (at the time) escaped convict. Had Lord Black been an actual serial killer, our children would have been in serious danger. Dementors did not help at all. In fact, according to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and school Mediwitch, Madame Poppy Pomphrey, there have been far too many close calls and cases of children collapsing due to their gloomy and nightmarish effects.

One of these victims was none other than the 'Boy-Who-Lived', Lord Harry Potter, who is rumoured to have lost a Quidditch match for the first time in his time as seeker, because he was attacked by a dementor. Losing his balance on his broomstick, Lord Potter fell nearly fifty feet before his descent was slowed by Headmaster Dumbledore. The latter was always against the idea of placing those foul creatures anywhere near the school he is responsible for. It appears that his doubts were most certainly not baseless.

So are we going to keep following the Ministry and let them round us up like sheep, or are we going to take matters into our own hands and solve them to create a better world for the next generation?

By Emily Walters

At Grimmauld Place

"What happened?"

"I don't know!"

"What do we do?"

"I don't know!"

"How is he still alive?"

"I don't know!"

"Is there anything you do know?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"Jesus, Sirius... you're in such a mess now. And thanks to you, so am I"

"Remus, you're supposed to be helping me! Regulus is freaking dying over here, when he's supposed to be dead, and Kreacher's gone mad, and I'm trying not to go hysterical!"

"Okay, okay we'll figure something out. Calm down."

"I'M PERFECTLY CALM!"

Unknown Location- same time

Adonis walked quickly towards the house where their training was supposed to take place, his charges lagging behind him, not used to the speed. With a quick mutter of foreign sounding words, the door swung open and he stood aside to let Harry and Hermione in. The girl narrowed her eyes at him. He tried not to look amused.

"What language was that?"

"Was what?"

"The spell you just used. It wasn't Latin"

"No. Surely you don't think that the same language is used for spells universally?"

Hermione stopped her questioning abruptly, a strange look on her face. "I- never really thought about it..."

Adonis inclined his head. Harry had now taken interest in the conversation and was watching curiously.

"Britain, Australia and the USA use mostly Latin and Old English for spells. The Irish use Gaelic. China has several different dialects and as such, no 'official' language is there for their spells. Thailand and Indonesia use a mixture of Thai, Indonesian and Chinese while the Japanese use- well- Japanese. India and Pakistan both use Hindi and Sanskrit as the main spell languages, but Pakistanis also use Urdu, while India sets the record for having the most number of dialects and languages used in spell creation. Not surprising, seeing as it has 122 major languages and 1599 minor languages, and god knows how many dialects."

"So if the Patil twins went back to India, wouldn't they find it a bit difficult to pass their exams or get jobs?"

Adonis had no idea who the Patil twins were but answered anyway.

"Not necessarily. As long as the result is accurate and they have the right intent, they should be fine"

Harry then spoke up. "So... when do we start training?"

Sirius rushed madly through the Department of Mysteries, heading straight towards Croaker's office and nearly forgetting to don his uniform. The memories of seeing Regulus' pale, still breathing body and feeling his weak pulse were still fresh in his mind. He didn't think they'd ever fade.

He'd been convinced he was out of his mind when he pushed open his 'dead' brother's door and walked in, expecting dust and broken furniture and instead seeing a clean, well kept room, an arrangement of different potions on the bedside table, and a person in the bed, being tended to by his hated house elf! It took many hyperventilation attacks, pleading from his house elf and the feel of his brother's cool skin to snap out of it.

He'd called up Remus, who, understandably, asked him if he was feeling alright, and later freaked out when he realised his friend was telling the truth. Sirius had left him there, to take care of the situation at the old house, while he left for the Ministry.

Of course, he couldn't take him to Saint Mungo's. He had no idea what had happened to his brother, his Death Eater brother, and all he had was the incoherent babble that Kreacher had forced out as 'explanation'. Not only that, he was supposed to be dead. The Ministry would just screw things up, as they always did, and from what he gathered, the rest of Voldemort's followers wouldn't be very happy with him right now. Not to mention that Fudge was a low-down, bootlicking thief and was in the pocket of Lucius Malfoy. No, this had to be handled very delicately and in utmost secrecy.

He had reached the office. Taking a deep breath in, he closed his eyes and knocked on the door.

"As soon as Ronald joins us," said Adonis. "Which will be next week." He chuckled as their faces sagged in disappointment. "The Weasleys have to be told that their youngest son and daughter are going into Unspeakable training, as do Dr. and Dr. Granger. William, I believe, has already started. Being a legal adult and all, he doesn't need his parents' permission."

Harry and Hermione's mouths fell open. "You mean..."

"Ginny's going to come as well!"

"Well, of course, she is the seventh child and the first girl to be born into the Weasley family in seven generations. The number seven is the most powerful magical number, as I'm sure you're aware"

Before either of them could reply to that, he continued, "Now tell me what you know about the previous war. Or, more specifically, tell me what you know about how it was fought from both sides"

Normally, Hermione would have promptly repeated anything she'd read, but something about the way he'd worded that made her pause. Harry carefully answered, his eyes focused inwards, as though in deep thought.

"Well... it wasn't a direct, face-to-face war like muggle World War 1, was it? It was basically the Death Eaters launching terrorist attacks and... the 'other side'"- he made air quotes in the air with his fingers making Adonis raise his brows- "trying to counter-act it".

Adonis cocked his head to the side. "That was an interesting way of wording your answer, Harry". He conjured some chairs wordlessly and bade them sit down.

"The Death Eaters and Voldemort were very cunning. Before coming out to the world, they slowly, but steadily brought down the economy and attacked the main resources and industries of the UK. At the same time, politicians who were the followers of Voldemort quickly gained influence through bribes and other means and managed to pass the corrupt laws we have today. By the time the Ministry reacted to what was going on, it was almost too late"

"But, didn't anyone else notice and fight back?" asked Hermione, aghast.

Adonis shrugged and made the same gesture as Harry had earlier. "'The Ministry had it under control'"

Hermione scowled and Harry said, "What about Dumbledore?"

Adonis looked disdainful. "Does it seem like he did anything about it?"

Harry paused and said slowly, "Well... no. But have you heard about the Order of the Phoenix?"

The young man had a strange look on his face. "Oh. That"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean- that?

Adonis seemed to be thinking of the best way to answer her question. "Well... they didn't do much," he said bluntly. "I mean, you have to fight fire with fire. Otherwise you get burnt. That's war"

Hermione would have asked what he meant by that but the pain in his eyes was enough to dissuade her. Harry knew all too well what he meant.

Just then, Adonis stiffened and to the friends' shock, his eyes flashed light brown for a few seconds before returning to normal. The man got up quickly and vanished his chair. "We have to go. Now" His voice was deathly calm. Harry and Hermione glanced at each other before following the Unspeakable out of the room.

The poll results have been posted on my profile, and go check out 'How we met', which I'll try and update soon. I'll post the next chapter to this story in a few days. Hope you enjoy,

Maya

P.S. Please review! You have no idea how much they speed me up in updating! This chapter was supposed to be posted on Saturday!