Author's note: Here's chapter 2! I worked quite a bit on this one, and took an alternative POV that I thought was interesting. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and please leave any reviews! ~experimentation (1/8/2024)

Never before had such a large gathering of members of the Order of the Phoenix taken place at the Burrow. Around the cramped kitchen table sat a collection of witches and wizards, most of them quiet, and some of them re-reading the Sunday Prophet. Among them was Professor McGonagall, the ex-auror Mad-eye Moody, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks (whose hair was an alarming shade of purple this morning), Kingsley Shacklebolt, Fred, George, and Bill Weasley, Fleur Delacour, Rubeus Hagrid, and Mundungus Fletcher. Under normal circumstances such a large crowd would inevitably invite conversation, but today, they were quiet.

Uncertain glances were thrown from one to the next. Most of those present seemed confused, albeit a little curious, having only received an emergency message from Dumbledore thirty minutes ago to cease all activities and meet at the Burrow. Some were still dressed in their nighttime attire, with Fred sporting a bright red set of pajamas and McGonagall not having bothered to change out of her nightgown. The view out of the kitchen window revealed a dark sky, with a tiny sliver of orange just barely peeking over the horizon.

A small handful of them had already heard the news about what happened at the Ministry. By tomorrow morning it would be all over the Daily Prophet and every other news source in the magical community. Ministry security would likely be having a field day. Mad-eye couldn't help but smile to himself - the events seemed so repetitive they appeared almost comical. Only one month after the break-in at the Department of Mysteries, the Ministry now had a second major infiltration to deal with, and at the hands of the same person too. If the rumors were true, the head of the Magical Law Enforcement office would be resigning as a result of this newest development.

Took them long enough too, Mad-eye thought to himself, as his magical eye whizzed over everyone present at the table. Personally, he held little regard for those at the Ministry. Being hoodwinked by a child once is quite embarrassing, sure - but twice? Now that was just criminal negligence.

Mad-eye's thoughts were interrupted by a loud crack as someone apparated right outside the front door. All heads turned to meet the newcomer, and a collective sigh of relief was heard when Albus Dumbledore walked through the doorway and into the Kitchen, followed closely by Severus Snape, and behind him, Ron Weasley. Molly and Arthur Weasley trailed the three of them. Their expressions differed greatly - while Arthur had a concerned look on his face, Molly's expression was one of abject anger - her cheeks were sickly pale in color, and her eyes had narrowed into slits, tracking her youngest son with obvious disapproval.

These arrivals seemed to break the stasis that held those around the kitchen table in silence. Hagrid shifted in his seat, Fred and George whispered to each other, and Lupin raised his voice. "What's the news?"

"I will explain everything in a moment, Remus," replied Dumbledore calmly. He swept to the head of the kitchen table, his face stoic and cold - there was no twinkle behind his eyes, no more smile in his mouth. Ron walked forward too - now that he was in the kitchen, everyone present could see a light silver thread that had tied itself around his arms and legs, giving him just enough room to walk but not enough room to run. Some sort of immobilizing enchantment, cast by Dumbledore himself.

"Let us begin," said Dumbledore, now sitting down. "Those of you who received my letter a few hours ago already know the purpose for this meeting. For those of you who have not yet heard, early this morning, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger broke into the Ministry of Magic, again."

Several people around the table shifted in their seats. Tonks leaned forward, Hagrid spilled the beer he was drinking, and Fred and George muttered beneath their breaths, "wicked." Dumbledore continued.

"The reasons for this break-in were, until recently, unknown to me. Fortunately for us, Ron Weasley had been attempting to join Harry Potter, but was stopped by Molly before leaving the Burrow. With his parent's consent, Severus here prepared for us a sample of veritaserum, which I used to extract the truth from young Mr. Weasley."

Now standing next to Dumbledore, Ron became aware of everyone staring at him - all these members of the Order of the Phoenix, most of whom were veterans of the previous wizarding war, appeared to have fully concentrated their attention on him, and him alone. He stared back coldly, trying his hardest not to betray any semblance of fear.

"I do not wish to collude the truth with my own words," continued Dumbledore, "and so - once again, with the permission of Ron's parents - I have decided to give him another dosage of veritaserum, so that he can recount his plans with Harry Potter to us all. Severus, if you will."

Snape nodded. From beneath his cloak he produced a small vial of clear liquid, identical in appearance to water. Seeing this, Ron immediately closed his mouth in a futile effort to prevent himself from taking the potion; the remedy for this was simple. With a casual flick of Snape's wand, Ron's arms and legs were fully immobilized, and his mouth was forced open by an unseen force. Snape walked up to him, uncapped the bottle, quickly tipped a few droplets of the clear liquid into Ron's mouth, before flicking his wand again and undoing the immobilizing spell.

Ron's legs relaxed. He looked around fearfully, suddenly aware of how vulnerable he was. The expressions of those around the table varied greatly. While Alastor and Molly didn't seem fazed in the slightest, Arthur Weasley was staring intently at the kitchen floor in an apparent attempt to ignore the scene that was unfolding in front of him. Professor McGonagall had similarly taken up an intense interest towards the knitting patterns on her robes, her eyes refusing to meet Ron's. It was well known that veritaserum was an exceptionally powerful potion, and the use of it on a minor was, in any situation, considered extreme.

Dumbledore now spoke, and when he did, his voice seemed to echo in Ron's ears. "Ron Weasley, can you hear me right now?"

Ron blinked. "Yes," he replied.

"What is your name?"

"Ron Weasley."

"Do you know anything about Harry Potter's break-in at the Ministry of Magic last night?"

Ron tried his hardest not to speak, but found his mouth opening anyways. "Yes. I planned it out with him and Hermione Granger."

"When and where did you make these plans?"

"We began drafting plans the night after the battle at the Department of Mysteries, in the Prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor of Hogwarts."

"And what were the contents of these plans?" asked Dumbledore.

"Our goal was to destroy the trace-keeper," said Ron, now speaking monotonically. The potion seemed to have robbed him of his ability to inflect words properly. "Hermione read about it in a book she borrowed from the library. She told us that there is a machine in the Ministry's Office of Misuse of Magic that maintains the trace enchantment over all underage witches and wizards in Britain. This machine is called the trace-keeper."

"And why," asked Dumbledore, "did you feel the need to destroy it?"

"Because it would allow Harry, Hermione, and I to run away without risk of having the spells we cast be tracked by the Ministry."

A great deal of whispers and muttering burst out around the table at the sound of this. Molly's face seemed to swell to ever greater heights of fury, her cheeks becoming a rather unpleasant shade of tomato-red. Dumbledore silenced them all with a stare, before continuing.

"Please elaborate," he said. "What do you mean, 'run away?'"

"After the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore revealed to Harry the contents of the prophecy," said Ron, his eyes now completely glazed over as the effects of the potion washed over him. "Harry felt that Dumbledore had betrayed him because of the contents of the prophecy, and that the Order of the Phoenix had become just as much of a threat to him as the death eaters. He felt that his best chance at surviving against You-Know-Who came not from continuing his education at Hogwarts, but from learning on his own while traveling abroad."

Professor McGonagall glanced up sharply from her side of the table, tilting her head as if unsure if she had misheard something. Lupin frowned, scratching his chin. Fred and George appeared more in awe than anything else, their mouths hanging wide open as they leaned forward in their seats.

"So you planned on running away," said Dumbledore, more as an affirmation than a question, before adding, "tell me about the specific plan you had to break into the Ministry."

"We planned to use polyjuice potion. With the help of a house-elf named Dobby, we stole boomslang skin and lacewing flies from Snape's pantry, alongside several other tools that were necessary to make the potion. Hermione agreed to brew it over summer at her home. She told us that her house has an attic, in which she could conceal the potion from her parents. While still at Hogwarts we searched through a catalog of staff members at the Office of Misuse of Magic, and chose three people to disguise as - Patricia Helbert, David Crowhurst, and Donald McKinsey. These three were chosen because their times of entry at the Ministry of Magic were on public file, and were all close together. We saw that they worked as obliviators, and were each due to enter the Ministry at 9:00 p.m every day. We inferred from their jobs that, under disguise, we would be able to enter the Office of Misuse of Magic and have direct access to the trace-keeper, since obliviators were the ones who monitored it."

Dumbledore nodded. "A bold plan," he said. "And what happened on the day of the infiltration?"

"When Hermione finished brewing the polyjuice potion, she sent an owl to both Harry and I with a date and time to meet. I received the letter a week ago, and it specified to meet at the entrance of the Ministry of Magic on July 18th, at 7:30 p.m. Hermione has what muggles call a 'driver's license,' so she took a car. Harry sneaked out of his house without informing his aunt or uncle and took a muggle taxi. The two of them would first go to Diagon Alley three hours in advance to make a withdrawal from Harry's Gringotts account. They would then visit some shops in the area, and cache their luggage in a hidden location near the Ministry of Magic. My plan was to meet them at a specified rendezvous point via broomstick after they made their purchases, but my mother intercepted me while I was trying to sneak out of the house. She noticed how much luggage I was carrying and demanded to know what I was doing. Upon seeing what was inside my trunks, she became more suspicious and told me to explain myself. I stalled for as long as possible, but when it became clear that my mother would not let me leave, I panicked and fired a patronus charm in an attempt to warn Harry and Hermione."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "You were able to use a patronus charm for long-distance communication? Where did you learn this?"

"Harry taught the group known as Dumbledore's army how to produce a patronus charm," said Ron, apparently not registering the new speaker. "He taught us how to control them, and mentioned that they could be used for long-range communication. He taught us that the difficulty of maintaining a patronus did not vary with its distance to the user."

Remus didn't say anything else, but sat back in his chair. A fraction of a smile appeared on his face. It had been him, after all, who taught Harry how to cast a patronus charm.

"And I presume you succeeded?" asked Dumbledore. "Harry and Hermione did enter the Ministry without you."

"I would assume so," agreed Ron. "I have never actually accomplished long-range communication with a patronus before, but given that they went ahead without me, I think it worked."

A small pause ensued, after which Dumbledore said, "Very well. And what do you think happened once Harry and Hermione realized you weren't joining?"

"The plan was for me to stun Patricia Helbert, David Crowhurst, and Donald McKinsey outside the entrance of the Ministry of Magic, using the invisibility cloak as cover," said Ron. "Since I come from a wizarding family, the trace is not as heavily monitored for me. I would then use a body-bind curse to immobilize them, and hide them in a locked stall of a nearby bathroom. Using their hair with our polyjuice potion, we would disguise ourselves and enter the Ministry of Magic. I assume that, upon realizing that I wasn't able to join, Harry and Hermione simply stunned two of the original three targets themselves, and rushed the break-in in hopes of destroying the trace-keeper before anyone could react. They entered the Ministry of Magic, likely meeting little to no security - we anticipated that the Office of Misuse of Magic would be underguarded as compared to other, more important branches of the Ministry. Sometime between nine and eleven, they must have found the trace-keeper and destroyed it before those operating the machine could piece together what they were trying to do."

"And where did Harry and Hermione go after destroying the trace-keeper?" asked Dumbledore. His face had grown ever stormier, and Professor McGonagall thought she saw sparks fly from his eyes.

"I don't know," replied Ron. "Our plan was to use the invisibility cloak to get out of the Ministry, retrieve our belongings from where we hid them, and disapparate to an isolated location in England. Shortly afterwards, we would flee to another country. Harry thought it would be safer not to tell Hermione or I where he was planning on disapparating to, in case any one of us got caught."

The effectiveness of this strategy was not lost on those sitting around the table. Tonks gave a small chuckle, while Lupin tried his hardest to suppress a smile. Mad-eye, from his corner of the kitchen, grinned sinisterly to himself. Well, the boy isn't as stupid as those at the Ministry, he thought to himself. He's vigilant, at the very least…

"Which countries did you plan on visiting?" asked Dumbledore, who hadn't reacted in the slightest. "That is, the ones you planned on visiting after leaving England?"

"Harry mentioned America, Canada, Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa, and Egypt. We planned on deciding exactly where to go after destroying the trace-keeper," said Ron. A collective groan was heard around the table as many members of the Order glanced at each other alarmedly. Those locations weren't exactly specific. For all they knew, Harry could be planning on going to any region in the world.

Dumbledore did not react. He sat motionless in his chair, seemingly lost in thought, before saying softly, "Thank you, Ron," and waving his wand. The silver thread that bound Ron's arms and legs disappeared, his eyes slowly closed, and the youngest Weasley boy fell backwards and crashed into a sofa that had been conjured out of thin air by Dumbledore. "It's merely a sleeping charm," he informed Arthur Weasley, who seemed alarmed at his son's sudden loss of consciousness. "He will be fine."

"Now," continued Dumbledore, his eyes sweeping across the kitchen table, "you must all have many questions. I will begin by saying that Harry Potter's plan was successful - the trace-keeper was destroyed last night a little before midnight. I have also done a cross-check with Gringotts and the shopkeepers at Diagon Alley, and can confirm that Harry Potter did indeed make a massive withdrawal from his Gringotts account, consisting of nearly all of the gold in his savings. The managers of Flourish and Blotts and the owner of the Apothecary also confirmed that Harry Potter made purchases last night in the presence of another witch, who we now know to be Hermione Granger. I have since contacted the parents of Ms. Granger, whom I found in a rather distressed state. They told me that she has been missing since last night, which agrees with Ron Weasley's story."

"What about the Ministry?" questioned Kingsley. "Have they provided any information?"

Dumbledore nodded. "The few witnesses I spoke to informed me that, shortly after midnight, a pair of Ministry-employed security guards attempted to question a young man and woman who were exiting a bathroom stall after a large explosion was reported at the Office of Misuse of Magic. With what Mr. Weasley has told us, I think it is reasonable to believe that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had entered the bathroom when they began to feel the effects of the polyjuice potion wearing off. Regardless, the security guards immediately recognized the man as Harry Potter. According to one of them - who is currently recovering from his injuries in St. Mungo's - the witch was the first to strike, and a fight quickly broke out. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were able to overpower the two security guards and flee with the help of an invisibility cloak. By the time more security arrived, the two were long gone."

Dumbledore paused, surveying the rest of the members of the Order. "I cannot emphasize enough," he continued, "the importance of Harry Potter. He is essential to our battle against Lord Voldemort, and every moment he spends outside our protection is another moment in which he is vulnerable to capture by death eaters. He is immensely gifted for his age, and has survived many encounters that would have gotten the better of older and more experienced wizards. The same goes for Ms. Granger, whose hunger for knowledge is legendary among her teachers just as much as it is among her peers. If their intention is to hide from us, I fear that it will not be an easy task to track them down - but we must try."

Professor McGonagall interjected here. "Albus, I'm sure we all agree that finding Harry should be our highest priority - but perhaps it would be best if you could tell us the contents of the prophecy. Given the circumstances, it might prove valuable in finding the boy."

"I think I agree with Minerva," said Lupin, "the prophecy appears to be the motivation behind their fleeing. Knowing its contents might-"

"I'm afraid," interrupted Dumbledore, "that that information must wait. I see now that it was a mistake to tell Harry what it said. I will not be repeating that mistake again."

Lupin fell quiet, and Professor McGonagall looked a little miffed, but neither of them argued. It was Snape who ultimately broke the silence, his low voice causing those around the kitchen to jump out of their seats; up until this point, he hadn't done so much as spoken a word.

"What is your plan, Albus?"

Dumbledore was silent at first, but then stood up suddenly. "We must move quickly," he murmured. "Alastor, you will go to London. Try to retrace Harry's steps, and report back with any findings. Nymphadora, Remus - you two will go to the United States. Make rounds at all of the major sites of magic - the Sierra Nevadas, Yoesemite, and the Ilvermorny Academy, for starters. If Harry and Ms. Granger decide to enter America, then you two will be the first to make contact. Minerva, I need you to return to Hogwarts and interrogate the house-elf named Dobby. Get as much information out of him as you can. Kingsley, you will go to the editors of the Daily Prophet and ensure that none of this makes it into tomorrow's headlines. If they argue, contact me. Molly, Arthur, please do keep an eye on young Mr. Weasley, and make sure that he will not endanger himself any further. I will go speak to the Minister of Magic personally and enlist his support…I doubt he'll refuse, given what happened at the Department of Mysteries. As for everyone else, I need you all to be on high alert. When the boy is found we will need to act swiftly. Is that understood?"

A great deal of nodding was seen around the table, before Dumbledore said, "Good. Severus, I need a word…"

With that, Dumbledore swept out of the kitchen and into the front yard of the Burrow, followed quickly by Snape. A loud crack marked the two of them disapparating, leaving the rest of the members of the Order of the Phoenix sitting around the kitchen table in silence.

Hagrid was the first one to break the stasis. "Gotto' admit, Harry Potter go' some nerve…but runnin' away from Dumbledore? The boy's mad. He won' last fer more than a few days a' most."

"It honestly sounds quite fun," said Fred. "If it wasn't Dumbledore who was hunting me down, I might've been offended at him not inviting me to the party."

"Fred, how can you say that?" snapped Mrs. Weasley. "The poor boy is going to get himself killed! What on earth is he thinking, running off like that? He is safest here, under our protection. Once You-Know-Who gets wind of this, he'll be sending his death eaters all over the globe in search of Harry. He'll be in constant danger."

"You heard Dumbledore - it's best not to underestimate the boy," growled Mad-eye, who now stepped forward from his corner of the kitchen, his wooden leg giving off a loud thunk as he did so. "He's done incredible magic for his age, and has experience dealing with dark wizards. Look at how much caution he took when planning out his escape. He chose not to tell his two best friends where he was planning on disapparating because he anticipated the possibility of capture for at least one of them. That's some good vigilance, if you ask me - some damn good vigilance. The boy seems to have put a great deal of thought into this, and I daresay he'll make it far…"

Molly Weasley frowned at the ex-auror's input. "Alastor, don't be silly. Harry is a boy. He's no more fit to be running around the countryside than Ron."

"Have you not heard the stories," growled Mad-eye, "about what that boy has done in the past? He retrieved the Sorcerer's stone in his first year at Hogwarts - his first year. He faced a basilisk in his second year, and dueled the Dark Lord in his fourth. Duelled, Molly. If we are to believe Albus, the boy held his ground for nearly a minute against the most feared dark wizard of all time! Rumor has it that he repelled over a hundred dementors with a single patronus charm in his third year as well. If half the stories I've been told about this kid are true, then that makes him more qualified for an aurorship than most of those who are applying for one right now!"

"So that's it, then?" fumed Molly, her voice growing more exasperated. "You think Harry and Hermione are experienced enough to throw away their education and their futures, for what? A fun little adventure? They have no idea what they're doing, just look at what happened at the Department of Mysteries! Harry's own godfather is dead as a result of his hot-headedness! And if Ron had joined up with them, he would be somewhere out there too, being hunted by death eaters and who knows what else! If something were to happen-"

"I'm not saying that Harry's actions are justified, Molly, only that we shouldn't underestimate his abilities!" barked Mad-eye in reply. "He's proven himself to be a very capable wizard, and we would do well to remember that."

Molly opened her mouth, her face white with fury, but before she could speak Professor McGonagall interrupted. "Obviously, Harry Potter must be brought back into our protection as soon as possible. That is out of the question. What I am more interested in is the prophecy. What exactly did the boy hear that convinced him to run away?"

"Musta' been a misunderstandin'," grunted Hagrid, as he took another massive gulp from his oversized mug. "Dumbledore has always looked out fer Harry. He musta' told 'im a bit more n' he could chew, an' ended up scaring 'im off."

"Harry is not someone who would run at any sign of danger," said Lupin. "Remember what Ron said? He didn't say that Harry was running because he was frightened of what the prophecy said. He said that Harry was running because he felt that the order had betrayed him."

A long silence fell upon those still present, during which everyone was thinking the same thing. What did Harry Potter hear? He was not an insane person, and yet whatever the prophecy said had clearly shaken him. What if something sinister about the order - or indeed, about Dumbledore - had actually been revealed through it? Dumbledore himself, after all, had refused to divulge the contents of the prophecy. Professor McGonagall felt a twinge of suspicion at this fact, but quickly shook her head. "No," she said firmly, more to herself than to anyone else, "Dumbledore has always protected the boy. He has been his first advocate time and time again. We have to trust him."

"Ain' any way Dumbledore has gone 'gainst Harry," muttered Hagrid, his voice low. "I s'pose the boy misunderstood a par' of the prophecy and took it ter mean somethin' it didn'. An' besides, it's Dumbledore. If we don' trust 'im, then who can we trust?"

A round of nodding was seen across the table. Kingsley raised his glass to Hagrid.

"Aye, we've got more than enough enemies to worry about," growled Mad-eye. "I haven't seen eye-to-eye with Dumbledore for many of his decisions…the man's too forgiving, if you ask me…but right now, with Voldemort on the rise and Harry Potter on the loose, we need to stick together."

He took a quick drink out of his flask, before a grin split across his scarred face. "Either way, this'll be a good one," he said. "Potter on the run…you can all tell me that he's not ready, or that he's 'just a boy,' or that he won't be able to flee from us for long. He has talent, vigilance, and more experience than most his age. More experience than most my age, now that I think about it. He'll be a difficult one to catch, especially with the Granger girl."

A hint of pride could be heard in Mad-eye's voice. His gnarled hands were clasped together in a businesslike fashion, and for once, his magical eye had stopped whizzing around, and was focused unblinkingly on the wooden floor of the kitchen. It was rare to see the famously fidgety and paranoid ex-auror be so focused on anything.

At this moment, Ron gave a loud snore and mumbled something in his sleep. Everyone in the vicinity aside from Mad-eye jumped. Molly glanced at her youngest son, a cold expression appearing on her face. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she gripped her bottle of butterbeer with so much force that Lupin was afraid it might shatter.

"Molly, I wouldn't worry about Ron," said Lupin softly. "He won't try to escape again, I am certain of it."

"I'm not worried about him escaping anymore," snapped Molly, her eyes flaring up. "How could he even consider it, running away? From not just his education, but his family too! He never asked me for my approval, never even hinted at doing something of the sort. Figured he could just walk out the door one day and n-never come back!"

At the end of her tirade, Molly gave a little hiccup. Her eyes were beginning to water, and Arthur patted her on the back. "Ron's with us now," he said. "He won't be going anywhere."

Fred and George were quiet during this ordeal. They glanced at each other and wordlessly agreed that it was probably best for Ron's own safety that he stay, but at the same time, a part of them was slightly disappointed that their youngest brother wasn't able to join Harry on his most recent - and indeed, his most extreme - escapade…

A length of silence followed, broken only by Professor McGonagall standing up from her seat. "Well, if you would all excuse me, I do need to return to Hogwarts now…"

The crowd around the table began to disintegrate; Mundungus Fletcher disapparated on the spot without saying a word. Fleur approached Mrs. Weasley and attempted to comfort her, before disapparating with Bill. Professor McGonagall, Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley, and Hagrid all followed suit, until the only ones left in the kitchen were Mad-eye and Arthur. Molly had taken advantage of the temporary chaos of everyone leaving to levitate Ron up the stairs, and was at that moment tucking her youngest son into bed, while also performing a number of security enchantments on his room to ensure he wouldn't escape.

"Well, Arthur?" said Mad-eye, once Hagrid had finished squeezing his way through the front door, which was far too small for him. "You've been awfully quiet this morning."

Arthur glanced at the ex-auror. There was a hard expression on his face, as if he had just witnessed something unsavory. "What of it?" he asked, his voice uncharacteristically cool.

"Given that it was your son who just tried to run away, I'd expect more of a reaction," murmured Mad-eye. Both of his eyes were fixed on Arthur's face, which made him feel oddly exposed. "You disapprove of Dumbledore's use of veritaserum, don't you?"

Arthur hesitated. "Yes, I do," he muttered grudgingly after a few seconds. "And I know I approved of its use, but that was honestly more for Molly than for Ron. Veritaserum is not something that should ever be used on a child. It's the same potion they use to force convicted murderers and death eaters to admit to their crimes, for crying out loud! And to think that Dumbledore out of all people proposed it…"

"Aye, I'll admit I was surprised when hearing that he wanted to use veritaserum," growled Mad-eye. "Dumbledore has always played it soft with his enemies, but now that Harry Potter is on the line…" he gave a crude, grizzly laugh, "he's taking extreme measures."

"Yes, and how extreme are they going to get?" asked Arthur, his voice now barely more than a whisper. "I worry about the Order. If we sacrifice our morals in the name of the greater good, then we're no better than the death eaters."

Mad-eye nodded thoughtfully. "That's something to keep in mind," he growled. "But remember the stakes, Arthur. This is Harry Potter we're talking about - if the rumors are true, then the boy holds the key to destroying Voldemort. If we lose him, we lose the war. It's not extreme measures that we're taking - it's necessary ones. If they want to play like adults, then we should treat them like adults."