(Grimmauld Place,England, Earth)
The moon was shining high in the dark sky of the night. Apart of the bats or any other nocturnal creatures, everything was asleep and enjoying the world of dream.
Everything ? NO !
Because in the Borough of Islington, in London, a particular meeting was taking place. At Number 12 Grimmauld Place, a group of Wizards and Witches were discussing about multiple things.
Who were those people ?
They were members of an Organization called 'The Order of the Phoenix'. It was a secret society founded by the Headmaster of Hogwarts himself, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, to oppose the Dark Lord Voldemort and his Death-Eaters during his first rise.
After the Dark Lord was 'killed', it was disbanded but then after the disappearance of Harry James Potter, it had been reinstalled… partially. But recently, they had no choice but to reinstall it completely.
Why ?
You will see later…
In a dark room, many people were sitting around a large table and facing the Leader of the Light himself, Albus Dumbledore who had a grave look on his bearded face as his blue eyes looked at everyone present. He could see that everyone present looked tired and ready to fall asleep at any second… not that he could blame them if they do.
"Alastor ? Any news about Tom ? Or any of his Death-Eaters ?" the Old Man asked his longtime friend in a deep tone.
"From what I heard, the Dark Lord locked himself in the Ministry… and his dogs bring terror wherever they go !" Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody answered gruffly to the bearded old fool.
"Even worse… many others laws were voted and there is a price on our heads..." a black skinned man by the name of Kingsley Shacklebolt said from his place with a deep sigh.
"His death-eaters had been ordered to kill any members of the Order on sight..." Nymphadora Tonks said from her seat next to her mentor Alastor.
"So many persecutions… so many deaths..." Remus Lupin, a former friend of James Potter muttered from his seat with sorrow in his voice.
The man sitting beside him, Sirius Orion Black, patted his shoulder in comfort. For a long time, Sirius was believed to be the one who betrayed the Potters but it was discovered that he was innocent ! Later, they managed to capture the true culprit… but he was killed before he reached the shore of Azkaban.
Sirius, after he discovered that his godson was missing (and abused by the Dursleys) had cut all ties with Albus Dumbledore. Remus had followed him in that regard but recently, they had to join the Old Man as a terrible threat rose from the dead to torment them once again : the Dark Lord himself.
Lord Voldemort had used the Triwizard Tournament and the blood of Albus Dumbledore (who had been forced to become a champion somehow) to come back among the livings. Albus almost died due to blood lost but, thanks (or not) to competent Healers, he survived.
Sadly, when he tried to warn everyone that the Dark Lord was back, the Ministry of Magic refused to believe him. Calling him a delusional and senile old fool who was trying to sproot stupid ideas to cause a panic.
Maybe because the Minister was angry that Dumbledore won the Tournament… Who know… it was a possibility. That and maybe because Cornelius was jealous of the Old Fart.
Anyway, Dumbledore's reputation was already bad before the Tournament but it turned worse after it. While he was still the Headmaster of Hogwarts, he had no more powers in the school and Cornelius sent a terrible woman named Dolores Umbridge to become a teacher at the DADA position.
She was, in short, the most terrible teacher the students had ever met. She used Blood-Quills (illegal artifacts) on students to torture them after giving them detention. She was proven to be a racist person as she mostly punished Muggleborns or Half-bloods.
She might not be a Death-Eater but she shared their views. In the end, it was thanks to some students (Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger) that she had been deal with… for a long time.
The year after that one was no better : Voldemort had stay silent… too silent and no move had been done… no attacks… nothing at all. It was as if the Dark Lord had never resurrected from the dead ! But it was thanks to Severus Snape, the Potion Teacher and the Order's Spy that they learned of the Dark Lord's tactic.
Voldemort was gathering his troops and unlike before, he was trying to extend it by recruiting people and creatures from other part of the world ! The Dark Lord had recruited Mercenaries of many nationalities along with Dragons, Giants, Vampires, Werewolves, Dementors…
His army was growing as the time passed… Albus had sent some people to try to counter this but it was futile. Creatures wanted no right for their people but with people like Fudge and Umbridge in the Ministry, it would never happen.
A ministry where prejudice, stupidity and bigotry reigned supreme. Then, two years after the Triwizard Tournament, Voldemort launched an attack directly on the Ministry of Magic and killed everyone on sight. Cornelius Fudge, much to the shock of many, had put an excellent fight against the assailants but in the end, he was killed by the one he trusted the most : Lucius Malfoy.
In barely three hours, the Ministry was taken over and the Dark Lord became the Supreme Ruler of Magical Britain. It was at this moment that things turned to the worse… Muggleborns were attacked, tortured and killed, same for the Half-Bloods while the 'Blood Traitors' were tortured and killed.
Many families left Magical People for other countries : the Greengrasses, the Davises, the Longbottoms etc… The only families left on Britain were either Dark Families or dead. The Bones were no more as its Head, Amelia, died during the attack of the Ministry and her niece, Susan, was killed by an unknown being.
The amount of deaths kept growing as the days passed by…
Which bring us back to present… barely a few months after the Dark Lord took over the Ministry.
"What about you Severus, my boy ? Any news ?" Albus asked his spy and Potion Master in a soft tone filled with tiredness.
"The Dark Lord is happier than ever, Albus… With the prophecy being… well… no more, he believes that nothing can stand in his way..." Severus answered gravely with a grim expression on his face.
Hearing this, a deep sigh escaped Dumbledore's mouth as he looked at the table before him.
The Prophecy…
The only one Trelawney made in her career and the one concerning Voldemort and Harry James Potter. It was one of the reasons of why the Dark Lord had launched an attack on the Ministry of Magic : to get his hands on the prophecy.
Why ? Because he only knew the first part of it…
However, the Dark Lord and his Death-Eaters had to fight against, not only members of the Ministry but members of the Order of the Phoenix as well. The fight was intense and many people died… Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Mundungus Fletcher to name a few.
Voldemort then entered the Department of Mysteries where he was shocked to find the orb containing the prophecies… was destroyed. At first, Snake-Face believed that it was destroyed by one of the people present but ,after questioning one of the Unspeakables still alive, it was discovered that the orb had been destroyed for years !
Apparently, it magically destroyed all by itself ! Voldemort had been pleased to hear this become this meant that Harry James Potter was no more ! He had told his Death-Eaters who celebrated it with a huge party at Malfoy's Manor.
Snape, who was present, told Dumbledore who had been horrified by this development but had brushed it aside as being impossible. The prophecy was clear : only Harry Potter could defeat the Dark Lord. In his mind, the Boy-Who-Lived was still alive, somewhere and MUST be found !
So far, the searches for the boy were fruitless and he used every summoning rituals he knew in hope of bringing the boy back to where he should have been in the first place : under his thumb.
But so far, nothing…
Worse, without the boy, the Wizarding World was losing hope...and that was part of the reason why many decided to flee their beloved country instead of standing against the Dark Lord..
That and they were all cowards.
Shaking his head to focus back on the current situation, the Old Wizard turned his blue gaze toward the people present around him as they all waited for him to speak.
"The situation might be terrible but we mustn't lose hope !" he began to say only to be interrupted by someone else.
"And how are we supposed to do that ?!" Sirius hissed at the Old Man with anger.
Some members of the Order started to sermon Sirius for his lack of respect toward the Leader of the Light while others were voicing their agreement.
"SILENCE !" Albus called out loudly while using a Sonorus on his throat.
The cries and shouts died down and soon, silence echoed again in the room.
"Our only hope is to find our Savior : Harry James Potter-" he began to say only to be interrupted by someone sneering at him.
"And why should we find the Potter Brat, Albus ? The Prophecy is no more and had been so for YEARS ! The Brat would be as useless as a chocolate teapot ! That and he will surely be nothing but an annoyance… if his arrogant swine of a father is any indication in that matter..." Severus sneered those words which caused two people to be angry.
"Insult James again, Snivellus and you will see what will happen !" Sirius Black snarled at the Potion Master as he pulled out his wand.
Beside him, Remus Lupin growled threateningly at the man as his eyes turned amber for a moment, his own hands reaching out for his wand.
"Gentlemen enough !" Dumbledore barked out loudly in a commanding tone as he glared at the three men in anger and disappointment.
"Stay out of this, Albus ! Its because of you that we are in this situation : if you had respected James and Lily's wishes in their Will, Harry wouldn't have suffered with those animals and would not have been missing either !" Sirius snarled at the Headmaster with anger, while still pointing his wand at Severus.
Many people started to cry out in outrage at the man but it stopped when he glared at them all.
"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO DUMBLEDORE LIKE THAT !" Molly 'Howler' Weasley screeched loudly from her seat and everyone covered their ears in pain while glaring at her in annoyance.
"FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE MOLLY, SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH !" Sirius snarled back angrily which caused the woman to turn red in anger.
She opened her mouth to surely say something unpleasant but was stopped by the Leader of the Order.
"I admit that I did a mistake placing Harry with the Dursleys…I indeed made a poor decision that night… " Albus said in a soft tone even if internally, he didn't regret it at all.
"But the past is in the past… What matter now is to find Harry and bring him back home !" the old man added in a stern tone that invited no argument.
"If he is still alive..." Severus sneered in disgust as he turned his head away to stare elsewhere in the room while Sirius and Remus glared at him hatefully.
"He is… and we will find him… for the sake of the Wizarding World : Harry James Potter must return to us ! Now if there's nothing else to speak about, this meeting is over !" Albus's words echoed in the room as his eyes showed nothing but determination.
However, as they left, many members looked at one another with despair and a bit of suspicion : the Potter boy had been missing for more than a decade now and the Prophecy had been destroyed apparently at the same time he had disappeared.
In their minds, Harry James Potter was no more… and Albus Dumbledore was loosing his mind. However, seeing that he was still the most powerful Wizard alive and the only one Voldemort feared, it was still better to follow him…
Especially as there was no one else to oppose the Dark Lord and this treacherous Death-Eaters. However, there were some of them who were thinking about fleeing the country as well to be as far away from the Dark Lord and his clowns as possible.
As Alastor Moody left with Kingsley, Nymphadora 'Don't-Call-Me-That' Tonks shot a look toward Remus Lupin before following her fellow Aurors. Soon, only a handful of people were still in the room : Sirius, Remus, Severus and Albus.
"Let me tell you one thing Dumbledore : the moment Harry is found and Voldemort is gone for good, we're gonna have a SERIOUS talk about your actions regarding my godson !" Sirius said in a serious expression as he glared at the Old Wizard before leaving the room to go somewhere else with Remus following him.
None of them saw the look of anger Dumbledore sent their ways nor the look of contempt Severus had as he stared at their backs. Once they disappeared, the Old Wizard turned his head to look at his Spy when the latter spoke again
"I don't understand why you still keep them around, Headmaster..."
"Because I NEED their help in feeding Harry… Being the boy's godfather, Sirius can sense him if he is close enough and Remus' senses of smell are sharp thanks to him being a Werewolf…" Albus answered in a calm tone, his blue eyes twinkling again.
"True..." Severus began to say in reluctant agreement before adding
"And yet, the Brat is still missing… Once again, these two had proven to be useless..."
Albus sighed deeply as he rubbed his eyes with a hand "You do have a point here, my boy… but we still need them right now..."
"And what about later ? If we somehow find the brat, what will you do ?" Severus asked him with a raise-brow and a little sneer on his face.
Albus staid silent for a moment, his blue eyes turned cold as they showed nothing but seriousness. The Spy shivered at the look but managed to stay strong.
"When Harry is found, I will make sure Black and Lupin are taken care off… I will not have them corrupt the boy… Harry needs to be what he was supposed to be in the first place: a malleable and frail boy who will listen to anything we say without hesitation... Which won't happen as long as Black and Lupine are still alive !" Dumbledore declared in a strong and cold tone that sent shivers of fear down Severus' spine.
However, at the last part, a nasty grin appeared of the Spy's face as he looked at the Headmaster of Hogwarts with hidden glee
"May I make a request, Albus ?"
"You may, my boy..." the Old Wizard answered with a nod of his head.
"I want to be the one to end Black and Lupin's lives..." Severus' shined with malevolence and dark pleasure as he said those words.
"Very well… When the time will comes, you will do whatever you want with them..." Albus said with a nod and a dark grin on his face which was mirrored by Severus Snape.
"Thank you Headmaster…" the Spy said pleasantly to the Old Wizard before freezing as he felt a soft pain in his left arm.
"The Dark Lord is calling me Albus… I must go..." Severus said to Dumbledore in a serious tone.
"Then go…"
With a final nod, the Spy disappeared to go to the Dark Lord. Now alone, Dumbledore slowly rose from the ground before leaving the room toward the fireplace. Then he pulled out a bit of Floo Powder into the fire. The flame turned green instead of orange and Dumbledore lazily entered the fireplace as if ignoring the flames
"Headmaster's office !" the Old Wizard said loudly before vanished in a crack of fire.
It was one of the most favorite methods of travel Wizard-kind use alongside Portkeys, Apparition, Broomsticks and some more.
However, what the Old Wizard didn't know was that someone had heard everything that was said between him and Severus. Someone who was greatly horrified with what she heard. She was a 18 years old young woman with bushy brown hair and brown eyes. She had a nice figure but was nowhere as good-looking than the Mamonos of Mysteria (not that she knew of them).
What was her name ? Hermione Granger.
She was known as the Brightest Witch of her Age and was a Ravenclaw Student. She wanted to go to Gryffindor but the Hat had warned her that she would not be well appreciated if she goes as apparently, the House of Lions was not filled with intelligent beings (even if there were so exceptions). In the end, she became a Ravenclaw of the House of Eagles.
Her years at Hogwarts were… well, pretty much eventful. In first year, she was mocked for her intellect by Ronald Weasley but was comforted by an indian girl named Padma Patil who became her best friend alongside her Gryffindor sister, Parvati. She also befriended more people in her house such as Penelope Clearwater, Cho Chang and Sue Li.
Her second year was disastrous as she had been petrified by the Beast of Slytherin who was revealed to be a Basilisk all along. She had been saddened by the death of her head of House, Flitwick and honored him by working even harder.
Third year, her cat, Crookshanks (imagine a cat similar to a pug) caught the Betrayer of the Potters, Peter Pettigrew and she had received an Order of Merlin for his capture. She became really popular because of that. In addition, she became a good friend of Remus Lupin
In her fourth year, she had supported both Cedric and Dumbledore as Champions of Hogwarts and had believed the Headmaster when he said that the Dark Lord was back from the grave.
The following years were worse… She had been one of the victims of Umbitch's detentions due to her statue as 'Mudblood' and was among the ones who managed to put a stop to her reign of terror. Afterwards, she joined the Order of the Phoenix alongside several other people to oppose the Dark Lord after he attacked the Ministry and took control of the country.
She managed to befriend some of her fellow members (Nymphadora for example) but as the time passed, her view over Dumbledore over declining.
Years ago, when she first entered the Wizarding World, she would have followed him to the end of the world because he was Albus Dumbledore, the Vanquisher of Gellert Grindelwald, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengament.
But things changed as the time passed.
Her view over authority changed as she went through her education at Hogwarts, the finest magical school of the world they said… but it was nothing but an illusion. She had to face bigotry, prejudice and stupidity and not once did the Professors tried to stop the bullying at school.
Professor Snape, her Potion Teacher, was a tyrant in class who would take points or give detentions whenever he wanted and to whoever he wanted… except when they were from Slytherin. Hermione hated the Snakes as they were nothing but antagonistic toward her and any Muggle-borns.
It was worse when she learned that Slytherin was filled with Pureblood Heirs and the future heads of the Society. Seeing how they behaved at school, it was easy to guess what would happen once they reached adulthood.
No wonder, magical creatures hated Wizard-kind.
Back to topic, Hermione Granger had grown to slowly distrust the Headmaster… but what she just heard completely broke it. She was horrified that the Leader of the Light would order someone to KILL people ! Especially nice people like Sirius Black and Remus were !
Sure, Sirius could be annoying with his jokes and childish behavior from time to time but he was still a nice guy. And Remus… he might be a werewolf but he was a not a Dark Beast like everyone thought he was.
They don't deserve to die like this… She had already lost friends in this forsaken war (Parvati, Padma, Cho, Cedric…) and she WON'T lost another one… less two ! But then her thought went to another thing that the Headmaster said : ' will not have them corrupt the boy… Harry needs to be what he was supposed to be in the first place: a malleable and frail boy who will listen to anything we say without hesitation'.
She knew, like many other members of the Order that Dumbledore was obsessed with the Missing Boy-Who-Lived but Hermione never thought that the Old Wizard would want to CONTROL the boy !
With a determined face, the bushy haired young woman rushed away to find her targets and warn them of Dumbledore's true nature.
(To be continue…)