The Chosen Six

by Tribun

Fate is a funny thing; it doesn't have to be set in stone. When Sirius Black makes a different choice at that fateful night, the ripples from that decision affect Harry Potter and his friends. Yet, they didn't know that years earlier something else was also set in motion, which will also affect their lives and the magical world as a whole.

53. MI-X

I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the two main pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them certainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.

Guess who is back! For the now starting Year 5 of Hogwarts, I will again do my normal rythm of publishing every second Saturday, until the year is complete. Then the story will go on hiatus again to give me time to write ahead so I can have a publishing schedule.

I'll try to answer all my reviews, since I do like the feedback for improvement. So please tell me your thoughts on the story in reviews. I would appreciate it. The more feedback I get, the more I can improve the story even further.

This story does have a TvTropes page. You can find the link in my bio. Feel free to visit and contribute to it.

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Chapter 53: MI-X

It was not like there had been a true choice. Yes, they could have rejected those agents and even become 'forceful' in their rejection, but where would that have gotten them? Regardless how emotionally spent they already were, they were smart enough to recognize that saying no would only be to their disadvantage. Some of them felt like they were in one of these American films, only that these government agents were not wearing sunglasses.

They also were quite curious how in all hell the government knew about magic. They knew the Prime Minister was informed, as was the ruling monarch, but in the past they had never spread that information and it was seen as given that they wouldn't, since it would make them sound insane. Considering their current situation, something must have changed and the mere idea frightened the adults on top of the already bad situation.

Thus they had agreed to come with them peacefully. The agents were assuring them of their safety and that this was not like one of those American films where the government was some kind of sinister force that locked up or made people vanish on a whim.

It was like a little convoy, their cars stuck between several black cars that were directing them through London. They did realize they were getting close to Whitehall, which felt a bit weird to be directed to such a place for meeting some sort of secret agency. That was only reinforced when they approached the garage entrance of a Victorian government building.

"This all feels like something out of James Bond," Diane remarked at the sight.

"You would not believe how often we hear that comparison," the agent riding with them in their car said with a slight snort, clearly having heard that way too often.

The journey ended inside a parking garage, where they were already being expected by someone waiting for them. When they left their cars, they were struck with the realization that for some reason their weariness of the man that approached them was getting a bit smaller, like he had some sort of aura of trustworthiness. That of course only made them more alert and they wondered if there was some kind of foul play.

"Oh, pardon. In my line of work that became like second nature to me and sometimes I forget..." the man apologized when seeing them tense up and right then that strange aura disappeared. "Is this better?"

Harry blinked when finally making then connection. "That was like a highly watered-down version of Fleur's allure."

"Oh, you flatter me, but Mademoiselle Delacour's powers are leagues beyond what I can do at my best."The man then pushed his suit jacket to the side to reveal that instead of a gun, he had a wand holstered.

"You are a wizard? No, wait, you are more than just that." Remus found that fact interesting and he was trying to puzzle together what that man was.

"Yes, but questions about myself can wait until later." The man then looked a bit apologetic. "We know all of you already had went through a terrible day, and we normally would not have approached you right after it, but recent events forced our hand."

Jean looked to the sleeping Jonathan, before grumbling "That must be quite urgent that you approach us while we have our young children with us."

"Yes, that certainly complicates things, as we had not wanted it to happen in such a manner, but I hope they can be kept entertained," the man replied.

"I'm not some kind of baby..." Mark grumbled, feeling offended that the adults seemed to think he wouldn't be able to follow. All of this after all was mysterious, which made it exciting.

The man had clearly heard him, giving Mark a knowing look before addressing the adults. "However, the parking garage is not the place for the revelations that will soon come. Please follow me upstairs..."

Instead of less questions, they now only had more of them while they followed him.

"I don't know why, but all of this causes my neck hair to rise," Dora whispered to Remus, her hair having gone quite a bit paler, reflecting her emotional state.

Remus knew Dora maybe was a bit too sensitive about such things after going through Moody's teachings. "Let's hope for the best but keep your wand ready."

The journey ended in a spacious conference room, the big windows allowing in the now orange light of the setting sun. They could also see the buildings of inner London, the sight feeling a bit reassuring. Somehow something to keep Steve and Kathleen entertained had been organized, while Mark had vehemently argued that he was a big boy and refused to be treated like a toddler. His parents had rolled their eyes, but decided to humor him, wondering how much of whatever it was he would understand.

"Explanations will soon come, but first I apologize again for the manner in which we've... invited you. You see, we had planned to do this in a more organized manner, and most certainly not with all of your children and teenagers being present, but after what happened..." the man clearly was uncomfortable how this resulted in all of the adults being there in one go, not to speak of the children and teenagers.

"You mean you only wanted our parents and guardians, but got a lot more of us than you wanted to?" Luna was trying to stay calm while hoping her questions wouldn't go too far, having to put a lid onto her tactless side.

The man sighed. "Yes, it was never planned to be like this. However, then today's events happened and the order came from the very top to get them here as soon as possible regardless who is with them. Sorry that so many of you got pulled into this because leadership went into panic mode."

"Understandable, but I'm more concerned with the fact that knowledge of the magical world has spread so far. From what I've already seen, this would be a nightmare for the Ministry to explain to the ICW," Arthur said, starting to understand the ramifications.

"You will be surprised at the sheer scope. There's an interesting story behind all of that, trust me about that." The man then was scratching the back of his right hand, as if that part was itching a bit.

Hermione, her curiosity roused, looked a bit closer and noticed a few scales on the back of his hands. Seeing that, she made the connection. "Your strange charisma, those scales at the back of your hands... But... Veela are only female?"

The man looked impressed at her having made the connection. Luna looked eager to correct her, but surprisingly, Pandora was faster. "Dear, you are smart, but at times put too much weight into what you read. Think about it, how can a species purely consisting of actual females - not a mono-gendered species - have come to be, and actually still exist nowadays? If their only possible partners would be human men, no more full-blooded Veela would exist by now. Male Veela do exist, but their power set is different. You've encountered the incredible bias of magical society, where the males of that species are categorized as a different one."

So that's a watered-down version of what a bloke feels under the influence of a Veela? I will never again make any jokes about that, Dora thought, having been startled by the feeling.

"Oh..." Hermione had honestly not known that. "Now that you said it... But why would they do that?"

"I can imagine why," Charlie said, having aced creatures in school. "You can bet in the past some wizards didn't want their fantasies of Veela get ruined, so they would rather mess around with the information to hide the facts. Kind of embarrassing."

"To be honest, I was not surprised when I heard of it myself." The man didn't seem offended. "Allow me to finally introduce myself. My name is Sheldon Morden. Indeed, my mother is a Veela, but my father has no magic at all, yet the allure doesn't work on him. And yes, they are still happily married even in their older age. While it is common knowledge that all male children born from a unity of a Veela woman and a human man are fully human, that is not entirely the case at times. My mother's heritage is so strong, some of it seeped into me."

"So that explains the scales - we did see Fleur transform her hands after all. Your charisma is a very much watered-down version of the allure that works on everyone. This is all very interesting," Luna concluded, being fascinated.

"You know, you would have made a good Ravenclaw," Mr. Morden commented. "Got sorted into Hufflepuff, finished Hogwarts in 1974. However, I sincerely doubt any of the teachers will remember me, since I kept much to myself. Work however was not forthcoming, since despite my excellent grades, once employers saw my hands they told me to forget it. I was becoming desperate when I was approached."

"Approached by who?" Percy did feel out of his element with the situation, unable to decide what to think about all of this. However, the man's comments on how he was locked out of the labor market resonated with him, as he would have experienced the same if not for Dumbledore.

"That would be us."

They had not noticed someone enter. There, standing in the door, and flanked by two bodyguards, was a man who had to be in his early fifties, considering the white patches in his blond hair and mustache. The man also sported a rather prominent chin and carried himself like a veteran. Right away it was clear that man had to be in a leadership position.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Harold Wilberforce Clifton, the Chairman of this organization. I'm sure Agent Morden already apologized for the way we've... invited you, but the events of the past 72 hours got us into quite a bind on the matter."

"Chairman of what?" Frank asked, starting to be at the end of his patience.

"Chairman of the MI-X, the secret service tasked with preparing the United Kingdom for the day when conflict with the magical world becomes a grim reality and to protect its citizens once that happens," Mr. Clifton told them

There was some silence after that bold declaration, before Harry asked the obvious. "Eh... none of us ever heard of an MI-X."

"I think that's the point of being secret, Mr. Potter." Mr. Clifton then saw Harry realize how stupid that question had been. "I know that declaration sounds a bit hyperbole to you, but please let me explain. Especially after today's events."

"After what we've already heard, I'm quite curious how you know about all of that." Diane had realized that the whole thing had just become a whole lot deeper than expected.

"Though, the Chairman himself talking to us? What exactly gives us that honor?" Remus was mistrustful - not having had the best experiences with authorities in his life.

"Yes, normally that would not be within my duties, but your case is different and very much the highest profile, thus why the Prime Minister wants me to do so personally. Downing Street also had panicked after today's events, which resulted in this not ideal situation," Mr. Clifton told them.

The order comes directly from Downing Street? Ian started to get the feeling this was even bigger than expected.

"I find it concerning that a whole secret service for spying on the magical world sprung up and the Ministry never even suspected. That honestly is a bit concerning and surpasses even the wildest theories in my magazine..." Xenophilius said slowly, starting to understand the true scope and ramifications of what they already had been told.

"Mr. Clifton, perhaps it would be best that you explain from the start. Your 'invitation' has put all of us on the edge and we honestly need you to clear everything up if you plan for our cooperation on whatever you want from us," Thomas said, feeling this was getting a bit out of hand.

"Yes, after what we've already heard, it is up to you now to build trust with us," Ian added, some old experiences with government officials coming back up.

Mr. Clifton knew that things up to that point had been rather chaotic and after being brought in like that, they deserved an explanation from him. "Yes, that would be better. Let me explain from the very start how our agency came into being. Then perhaps you can understand our position better..."

o

It all started in the middle of World War II, the war that also contained Grindelwald's War as a secret component. For both, the non-magical and magical worlds it was a war at a scale like they had never seen before, causing destruction and suffering on an also never-before seen scale. It also was the war that would change everything forever.

Indeed, the involvement of Grindelwald on one side pretty much forced the magical side to eventually get into contact with the leadership of the one important nation in Europe that was still available - puppet governments made poor partners after all - and the matter was important enough. Grindelwald gaining control over all of Magical Europe was something that had to be prevented and the one important nation in Europe still capable of fighting was the United Kingdom.

Reason for that choice also was, that even at this point of being close to losing, they would never trust the Soviet Union. The pacts that Kusnetsov had made with Stalin had scared even the most ignorant of wizards. No way they would seek help from such a nation.

Of course Prime Minister Churchill was not pleased once they finally decided to tell him of the dark pact that Hitler and Grindelwald had forged. He argued he should have been informed about that at the start of the war, not when the magical side was already with the back to the wall. Also, with how secretive and paranoid the magical side was, working together was proving to be difficult.

Yet, still, over time the Prime Minister did manage to get a number of magical allies - individuals who most certainly were not part of the magical establishment and who were more capable of helping to co-ordinate the war effort. It proved to be effective and both, Hitler's and Grindelwald's forces were being beaten back, hope growing this horrible war could come to an end soon enough.

Thus cue Churchill's surprise when in March 1945 he got visited by the Minister for Magic, Leonard Spencer-Moon, and several other high-ranking magical bigwigs. What followed really made Churchill want to curse like a sailor.

The magical side had managed to capture Grindelwald, and with his imprisonment their leadership felt it no longer was necessary to continue any cooperation in the still ongoing war. Instead, concluding they could complete their remaining own goals on their own now, they had decided to already create facts, memory-wiped all of the non-magical operatives that had worked together with them and left their now former non-magical allies out in the rain.

The way the Minister had told Churchill those facts had been condescending to no end. It felt like 'The fool has fulfilled his usefulness. The fool can leave.'. What a contrast to how they had asked for help in Downing Street just a few years prior.

Churchill was angry, but right at the moment there was little he could do about it. Several months later, he lost his elections, but cue his surprise when his successor Clement Attlee visited him weeks after taking over office. Churchill at first had not been happy to see the man, considering how he had failed at the Potsdam Conference.

Attlee was man enough to admit that his inexperience would now have far-reaching consequences that he was well too aware of, but the actually came to talk about the magical side. Some things said by the Minister had made him wonder and he needed to know more.

So Churchill told him everything.

In the end both men were angry that the magical side first had with their politics caused the war to get so much worse, and now these wizards were refusing to take any responsibility for the aftermath on the non-magical side - hiding behind some centuries-old laws to wash their hands off the whole matter. Both men also were concerned that something like that could happen again. Despite their differences, they agreed something had to be done.

Weeks later they finally conferred with the Crown about the matter and King George VI., impressed how two men who normally were political arch-enemies agreed on the matter, agreed that the actions of the magical side had painfully shown that tolerating a secret society that was apathetic towards the laws and well-being of the rest of the nation had proven to be an error.

The problem however laid at least in the United Kingdom in an old and binding magical contract between the Crown and magical society, which regulated the existence of magical society within its borders. Said contract of course had conditions under which it would be considered broken and thus cause a chain reaction of revelations.

The terms of the contract made it clear they could not reveal magic to the public, and some past experiences had proven there was a compulsion to ensure it wouldn't happen. However, like every contract there were gaps, like it only meant a really wide reveal, but slowly letting people in onto it was not forbidden.

That meeting was the spark from which in the end the MI-X grew - the secret government agency tasked to slowly build up the government's answer to their earlier helplessness against the magical side.

At first things were slow-going due to having to start from basically nothing. They had to find allies on the magical side - most often those that were disappointed with magical society and wanted to contribute to a change - as well as build up all their structures. Over the years they did manage to also win allies in other countries, their governments convinced that the status quo was something untenable and sooner or later the next disaster would happen.

It were two events that changed their mission very much.

The first was the toppling of the magical regime in America and the destruction of Rappaport's Law. The horrible deeds of the old regime coming to light shocked MI-X and when the US-President was finally informed about magic by MACUSA, he was outraged at what had been done to his citizens under Rappaport's Law with the excuse of 'secrecy'. The European governments did gain a valuable ally with the Americans.

The other event was the start of Voldemort's war in the UK. The fact that British soil was being used as a battle ground, and with Voldemort's side basically seeing the non-magical population as game animals to be murdered for sport, changed the nature of the mission of MI-X significantly. The war laid it open that Magical Britain was on a slide into disaster. Even the end of the war didn't change the fact that the rot became painfully visible.

The fact that Magical Britain was on its way into either collapse or an outright racist dictatorship could no longer be ignored. The forces that wanted to take over were most certainly magical supremacists and open conflict now seemed very likely. However, they would prepare and no way they would be helpless once things blew up.

They had to be ready and fill their arsenal; prepare for the day when they would give the government of the United Kingdom everything needed to fight back once things would blow up violently.

o

They had listened to all of the explanations about how MI-X came into being and what its objectives were. Having heard it spelled out like that made their position actually understandable. Grindelwald's War and the magical side right after going back into isolation had been a painful lesson. To them, the magical side had shown itself to cause death and destruction, only to then refuse to take responsibility.

Granted, those had been extreme events, but most of the adults present could remember incidents in their lives where the magical side caused damage to the non-magical side and then refused any responsibility, hiding behind memory wipes. It had all built up and the government had said 'never again'.

The silence was surprisingly broken by Ron. "Man, that war always felt so far away and ancient to me..."

"Young man, considering what happened today, you should know that events of the past have the unpleasant habit of influencing our present," Mr. Morden reminded Ron.

"And all of this happened under the Ministry's nose without them being any the wiser..." Arthur was impressed and a bit scared at the same time. That this was going on for fifty years, and no one on the magical side had noticed, was a somewhat scary accomplishment.

"Arthur, I'm a bit frightened about all of this," Molly admitted, being out of her depth with this.

It was Sirius who then finally voiced what the others thought. "Alright, you explained well enough what the MI-X is. However, it does not explain what this has to do with us. Yet..." Sirius' eyes narrowed a bit. "Considering how this was planned, you seem to have known about us for a while."

Mr. Clifton saw that it now was time for the somewhat disturbing revelations. "Would you believe that we've kept tabs on you for years, waiting for the right moment to approach you?"

"Better explain." Sirius now looked like he had sucked a lemon.

"Please don't think we snooped after you constantly, but we did keep informed about your activities. You were flagged very early as a person of interest, especially after the events of 1981. We observed from afar and were quite impressed how you achieved success on your own merits. From all we saw, you are quite the model citizen," Mr. Clifton explained, knowing it had been the right call to keep the distance with the observations.

Veronica had a question after hearing that. "Does that also go for us after we took in Harry?" Seeing the man nod, she tried to process that. "This feels a bit like we are in a bad film."

"What about the rest of us? I sincerely doubt we were on your list of interest." Unlike some of the others, Frank had adapted quickly to this situation and knew they still were lacking in information.

"Indeed. That only happened years later and we were a bit surprised by it. Of course we were notified when the Weasley family started sending their children to public school." Mr. Clifton looked to Ron. "We do have on file how you were almost run over by a car and only your accidental magic saved you."

"Don't remind me..." Ron honestly could live without remembering that incident, as it had gotten him into trouble with his parents.

"Wait a moment!" Diane looked like she had just had a revelation. "That chaos with my employment status; me still being part of the force without me knowing... That was you, wasn't it?!"

Hearing his wife make that connection, Sirius also remembered strangeness in his work life. "When my boss told me I'm pressured to make Sergeant, that was you as well, right? As was me being excused for today, correct?"

"Yes on all accounts." Mr. Clifton knew it was useless to lie about that. "To give you an idea: the orders for the first two points came from high up."

"Unbelievable..." Diane now wondered what else these people had meddled in. Also, her emotions were confused since while she hated that meddling, she also was glad to still have her job.

Seeing how this was a sensitive issue, Mr. Clifton continued "We know well enough that you are not on the side of those who are trying to gain power. We can already guess your side has organized some kind of counter against them, but as a measure to grow trust, we will not ask any questions about that,"

"You are not asking us to reveal any secrets to the government? I find that a bit hard to believe," Jean asked, wondering if there was something going on on the magical side she had no idea about.

"Not a single one," Mr. Clifton confirmed. "This is not a normal situation and things have already gone so far off the rails that Downing Street ordered us to make serious concessions in order to convince you to give us your help."

"You are also not trying to detain us should we refuse to comply and take the risk we could expose you?" Xenophilius was confused they would take that risk.

"It again comes to trust. I know, sounds strange coming from a government agency, but our position is unique," Mr. Clifton explained. "Also, let's say you do decide to tell the Ministry. First off, that will be an uphill battle with Cornelius Fudge in power. And even if they believe you, where should they even start looking? Their usual tactics are useless in this case."

"Your arguments make way too much sense..." Alice hated to admit it, but even if they did decide to rat them out, there was little that could be done against them.

Seeing how they understood, Mr. Clifton spoke again. "Yes, but we honestly hope it won't come to that. I know, for a secret service we are taking a big risk, but after what happened today, Downing Street is willing to do so."

That was quite an amount of trust put into them and made them realize those MI-X people were dead-serious about it.

"Why us? You could have simply found other people to do spying work for you. What is so special about us that you want us? And what do you want from us?" Sirius was in no mind to dance around the issue any longer.

That was it; the elephant in the room. The big question was what kind of special skill they possessed that the MI-X was almost bending over backwards in order to convince them into cooperation. No way after all that a government agency would normally do such a thing just to recruit some spies or agents. It felt strange how they were going about this.

"That is a complicated question. You see, despite a number of successes like apprehending the terrorist Karkaroff..."

"You got Karkaroff?! How?!" Harry then noticed his outburst and felt a bit uncomfortable at the attention.

"We know of your stand-off with him, Mr. Potter," Mr. Morden told Harry, not looking annoyed at all at the interruption. "It took a bit of planning, but we were prepared and apprehended him. He's now enjoying a nice room with bars in front of the window and an anti-apparation field on it - all paid by the government."

"Please tell us you won't let that guy ever out again," Ron asked, having said confrontation in bad memory.

"Don't worry. We have so much evidence against him for things he did in the last war, he'll never see the outside world again," Mr. Morden reassured him.

"Now, where I left off... The problem is, that despite some progress recently, next to all our operatives in the magical world still come from marginalized groups. There is little chance of them getting into any positions to give us deeper insights. Don't get me wrong, we are making progress, but not fast and deep enough that it gives us comfort," Mr. Clifton admitted.

"Are you serious?" None of them honestly felt they would be in a position to be of much help there.

Mr. Clifton saw that perhaps he had to remind them. "I guess most of you are not aware of your position in magical society. While Mrs. Black can be excused due to her wish for privacy, Mr. Black has ascended to being a quite influential politician. Have you honestly not listened to public opinion?"

While Sirius knew he had become important, he honestly had not thought about public opinion. "Eh... actually not."

"The same goes of course for Mr. Longbottom, though together with your wife you also hold significant sway in higher circles as well," Mr. Clifton then said.

"Well, that's true." Alice had never exactly liked that part of their lives, but it was there, despite how much they had become private people after their injuries.

Mr. Clifton then turned to the Weasleys. "While the higher ranks in the Ministry might sabotage you because of your political views, there is no doubt, Mr. Weasely, that you are one of the best networked people there. As for your wife, she might hold no position of power, but her soft skills made her many friends."

Arthur and Molly were reminded how well-informed these people were. "There is no way we can deny that..." Arthur said, starting to realize why they were seen as high priority.

"Mr. Lovegood, while many do look down on your esoteric magazine, you working together with many groups and creatures that magical society disregards as undesirables has opened doors to you that stay tightly locked for normal wizards." Seeing Xenophilius understand, Mr. Clifton looked to Pandora. "Mrs. Lovegood, you essentially are the same as Mrs. Weasley, only in more... unconventional circles."

"Doesn't explain why you approached us as well," Ian wondered, seeing the contradiction. "My wife and myself are not part of magical society - we are just simple dentists. Neither are the Evans part of that society."

"Maybe not to magical society, but have you honestly not noticed?" When seeing their confusion, Mr. Clifton knew he had to explain. "Through discreet inquiry we discovered that many parents of students from non-magical families are very impressed by the four of you. Despite all that happened, all four of you stayed strong. They see you as role-models."

"We, role-models? Eh, that's kind of flattering..." Veronica honestly had not expected that, especially since they didn't have that much contact with other families of students outside of their circle.

"Well, that leaves Dora and me as the odd people out, since I highly doubt you had the Weasley children in mind, despite several of them being adults by now," Remus commented.

"Fact of matter is, Mr. Lupin, that you were in our sight for years now. While you are shunned by big parts of magical society, your activity with the preschool and your actions as a Hogwarts professor and during the Greyback crisis made you a person of high respect especially to the families of muggleborn students."

Remus knew the man had made his point, remembering how he had been greeted at Kings Cross after his year at Hogwarts. "Alright, you've made your point."

"And me? I thought I was just bycatch; being at the wrong place at the wrong time," Dora asked.

"You think that little about yourself, Miss Tonks? Despite what others imply, your apprenticeship under Mr. Moody set you up for a fast career in law enforcement. You are starting to make a name for yourself," Mr. Clifton reminded Dora.

"I.. really? I always thought I'm just one of many newbies..." Dora couldn't help it, her slight blush transferred to her hair.

"Indeed, you have made your point." Sirius had not expected them to actually have the answer to the question and was a bit intimidated. "You do realize however, that all of us do have certain loyalties and if you want to win us over, it won't be easy..."

Things then started to get increasingly wordy between the adults, causing the others to quietly relocate to the far end of the table - Jean telling Hermione to take care of her sleeping brother for a while before handing him over to her. While discussion was raging, they tried to process what had all been revealed to them. After all the stress they had already gone through, this, while not dangerous, was not helping their nerves.

"When did our lives get so complicated?" Neville wondered, trying to come to terms with things like a secret government agency and them having been observed for a long time.

"They never stopped being complicated, we just never noticed or tried to ignore it. Ignorance after all is bliss." Luna had to admit that what they were experiencing right now would have fit right into the Quibbler, but she knew her father would never be allowed to print it.

"I honestly feel out of my depth here. Good thing they left Fred and me out of it." George looked to where Bill, Charlie and Percy were giving their parents support in the talks. "This is like finding ourselves in a weird dream. All those revelations are downright surreal."

"How do you think we feel?" Ginny told her brother. "I honestly want this day to be over. I'm so tired I'm right now unable to process all of this properly. I feel a bit disconnected from all of this."

"I'm more concerned with what the adults are talking about," Hermione said while looking to the other end of the table, where discussion had become quite heated. Words like 'loyalties', 'doubts' and 'compromise' were being heard. "Regardless what they ask of our parents, it seems to be controversial."

"I think in this situation, everything is controversial. Hopefully they don't mess it up. Just imagine pissing off the government..." Harry honestly hoped that the adults would keep their cool and come to a mutual agreement.

"Thing is, even if talks do break down, who do they want to tell about them? They are correct about that. Even if the Ministry does believe them, they would have no idea where to even start. And Dumbledore has other problems than this," Hermione analyzed.

Mark meanwhile, after having been silent and only understanding half of everything, looked excited and disappointed at the same time. "While a lot of stuff is like in the films, it's also so BORING. I honestly thought a big conspiracy would be more exciting."

"Welcome to reality, Mark," Harry told him. "A lot of the stuff that looks exciting in films is actually rather boring in reality. Not to speak of all the boring stuff they never show."

"Still kind of disappointing." It was only now that Mark started to think about the implications "Though, kind of scary how much they know about us."

You are not alone with that... That was the thought many shared at how uncomfortable they felt with the sudden exposure to people who knew so much about them.

---

...at the same time, the Riddle House...

The atmosphere in the Riddle House, if anything, was downright frightening. Voldemort had demanded to be left alone right after their return from the failed murdering of Harry Potter and everyone was way too frightened at Voldemort's bad mood to even think about questioning that order. The only person Voldemort still tolerated in his presence right at the moment was Nagini, who herself had yet to comment on his very bad mood.

However, the atmosphere was not frightening due to Voldemort throwing a tantrum, throwing around things or anything like that. It was quite the opposite; Voldemort silently sat on his throne, also entirely unmoving, with an expression of silent rage on his face while the anger boiled inside him. The sheer aura of anger and danger he right now was radiating was intense and even Nagini was a bit intimidated at seeing him like that. And that had been going on for hours.

Watching him stew in an impotent, silent rage for some longer, Nagini finally had enough. "Voldemort, just sitting there won't solve your problems."

"I KNOW THAT!" Voldemort finally exploded, his voice echoing in the large room, which sounded weird when it was the hissing of Parseltongue. "I had him right before me! I had his protection stripped off him. He should have been dead!"

Nagini was unimpressed. "I was not there to see it, but right now you are acting like a little boy that did not get his way. Stop acting like a child."

No one else could have talked to him like that, at least without being sent to the morgue, but Nagini was allowed to do so, and as loathe as Voldemort was to admit so, what he was doing right now was not very constructive. Trying to get a grip on himself, he finally managed to get his burning anger under control and began to go through the whole incident.

"He was there with those friends of his. They have an annoying tendency to turn up where Potter is. He managed to throw off the Imperius Curse, which already is an almost impossible feat, but still in the realm of the possible. But that barrier... Reflected the Killing Curse right into the sky. How is that possible?!"

Hearing Voldemort think aloud - and funny enough still in Parseltongue - Nagini added her own thoughts. "From all that I know, the Killing Curse was only reflected one time before in history, and that was right back into your face. However, since you neutralized that one..."

"Yes, that only leaves the conclusion that Potter somehow gained an additional protection. One that I have no idea how it works or what the source is," Voldemort concluded, trying to understand how that was possible.

"Right now you have, as you said, no idea what it is, so it's not like you can do much about it. You have other things on your plate however," Nagini reminded him.

Voldemort hated to admit it, but he was lacking so much information that he could not even start to speculate how Potter had pulled that feat off. He would try to puzzle it together at a later date, since right now he honestly had other priorities. He knew that Dumbledore was not spreading word about his return. Even after the confrontation near the Express, Dumbledore was bound to still stand by his story that it had to be someone dark without going into specifics.

Truth to be told, that was a smart move, Voldemort had to give that to Dumbledore, since it gave the Ministry much less opportunity to discredit him. After all, those events were irrefutable and Dumbledore was not claiming someone had returned from the dead. Of course, as Voldemort had planned, Fudge and those that cling onto him would try anyway to go against Dumbledore and thus cause division and chaos, weakening the opposition further.

Voldemort had calmed down enough to make the decision. "Yes... yes, there is so much else to do."

For the time being had would have other priorities - like him wanting to finally get his hands on that damn prophecy that started it all. As well as planning ahead for when he would free those who had never renounced him, like his faithful Bellatrix. He wanted her especially, since he wanted her as the one to start his dynasty with. She would feel honored and do exactly as he would tell her. That, and he selfishly knew he would get a lot out of it as well, apart from his dynasty.

Of course after getting her out, Bellatrix first would have to go through serious physical rehabilitation before she would be fit to do so, but he had patience and could wait.

---

...June 29th, Little Whinging...

Harry sighed while looking down onto the street from his window, trying to understand how much things had changed in the span of less than a week. That was on top of what had happened to him and his friends on the way back to London.

So much had happened and only now did he have time to process all of it. Almost getting killed by Karkaroff, Cedric being murdered and the Dark Mark rising, Voldemort ambushing the train and also almost murdering them and then the revelation that the government and many more knew about the magical world and how they were preparing as well for the inevitable conflict with the forces that want to take it over. Not to speak about the adults mentioning there was something else they would be shown soon enough.

It felt like there was a lack of breathing room.

And on top of that was the mental burden of what had happened. Almost getting killed twice as well as being confronted with a murderous madman and his sadism had left their mark. Worse was, neither a magical nor a non-magical therapist would be of use due to the circumstances. Thomas and Veronica were doing their best to help him, but right at the moment he was still mostly closed off.

He didn't know how his friends were taking it, since they had agreed to take some days to calm down first before getting in contact with each other. However, he could imagine easily that his friends were dealing with similar thoughts and trying to come to terms with how they had almost found a horrible end twice. Clearly not how they had imagined their summer to start.

And then there's the war. Sure, Voldemort won't be stupid enough to go fully active right now, but after his demonstrations of power it would be stupid to ignore the threat... Harry thought.

Harry honestly felt really unsure about the future, and that was going way beyond normal teenage angst.

Sirius also had told him that Dumbledore, after hearing that Voldemort had used his blood in the resurrection, had warned that it would weaken the protection over Little Whinging that kept out Voldemort and those that got marked by him. Dumbledore sadly had no idea yet how much it had been weakened, but the thought alone was causing Harry to stress out a bit.

All in all, this was already not a relaxing summer.

Sitting at the window and looking outside, Harry sighed. "Way too much in one go..."

There also was the whole thing with the MI-X. It was a small wonder that an agreement had been made.

It had taken a lot of talking, arguing and even some shouting, but the adults had managed to make an agreement with the MI-X. Perhaps it had helped it had slipped that Voldemort was alive and he was behind the recent events. That one most certainly had caused many more questions - proving that what Karkaroff had said had been the truth - and hectic activity. Those news had clearly caused MI-X much stress.

The adults wanted to keep the teenagers out of the entire thing, and considering how much they already got on their plates, Harry couldn't fault them for that decision.

He knew that an agreement had been reached and that all of them were sworn to secrecy until things would degenerate to the point where the MI-X would decide it wouldn't make a difference anymore. In turn the adults were not reduced to spies. No, they would be individually called at times for support in special cases or help keep MI-X in the loop aboput certain developments. At least until things would get really bad.

Nonetheless, things had gotten controversial enough during the path to said agreement that they had overheard the adults saying such a decision was above their paygrade and the Chairman actually phoning the Prime Minister and in turn Dumbledore himself had gotten into contact with him in Downing Street after a message from Sirius. The Chairman had clearly disliked having someone that high profile get involved, especially considering the position Dumbledore held in Magical Britain, but it had helped to get the ball rolling.

Being on speaker, both men had managed to smooth things over and after averting a breakdown of the talks had finally made things be constructive. The Prime Minister also had no been too happy to have Dumbledore be in the know about their secrets, but in the end accepted it was a needed concession. That had given the adults the needed reassurance to agree.

Dumbledore had even commented how despite differences in philosophy, they did have a common goal - after all MI-X was not about exposing the magical world - and had even offered a magical oath that he would keep his silence. Thankfully, his word on the matter was enough.

I don't really want to imagine things getting bad enough that the secrecy is dispersed with, Harry thought.

Besides these thoughts, Harry also had to think about Ginny.

Ginny kissing him like that and saying that life was too short and she didn't want to have regrets was something he was dwelling on a lot. He wondered how she was doing right at the moment and if he could bring up the courage to repay her for that moment properly. It was a typical teenage thing, which considering all the other things going on was kind of a bit of relief.

He honestly wondered if Ginny was wondering the same and if she could repeat the feat. After all, that kiss had been directly after them barely escaping death. He knew things probably wouldn't change drastically right away, but he got feeling that there was no return to how things between them had been before that day.

He at first mindlessly continued to observe the street, but after some time his curiosity was roused when he started to notice something. "Hm, strange. I could have sworn..."

Harry had noticed something that had escaped his attention before: a few strange people that clearly were not part of the neighborhood. He had seen them before during previous days while looking out of the window but hadn't paid much attention to it. But after several days it became noticeable. No way those were MI-X agents, since they would never be this obvious, and after some time of silent observation, Harry realized they had to be wizards and witches.

The disguises are good, but not good enough that one who knows what to look for wouldn't notice... Harry thought, now becoming interested and nervous at the same time.

After observing them a bit longer, Harry concluded they couldn't be Death Eaters, since those getting so close would have meant them doing something like setting the house ablaze to burn him alive. They also didn't look like Ministry, since he had seen examples of how bad many Ministry officials were at blending into the non-magical world. That left the question who those people were.

Now concerned, Harry went downstairs, where he found Veronica being busy with a crossword puzzle. "Uhm, Aunt Verni?"

"Yes, Harry...?" She saw his expression. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. Sitting at the window the past few days I noticed strange people in the neighborhood, but only today I realized they have to be wizards. They don't look like Death Eaters or Ministry and I don't like the sight of that and wanted to warn you," Harry explained what was on his mind.

After having listened to Harry, Veronica sighed. "Of course they would be obvious enough one would notice..."

"You know what's going on?" Harry asked, surprised by that development.

"Not fully, but Sirius warned us that Dumbledore is doing something of his own. Since he's concerned for you and your friends after what happened..." Veronica started to explain.

Harry recoiled a bit. "You mean he has set up guards?!"

"Harry, can you honestly say you feel safe after what happened? Especially when you know that the protection you give your home has weakened?" Veronica asked Harry and then saw that he understood. "We honestly didn't want to put even more things onto your plate to worry about."

For a moment Harry's teenage brain wanted to protest harshly that keeping things from him was not helping, but then reason won out, knowing they would have told him soon enough. "Nothing is the same anymore. So much changed in just a week... I'm only now starting to understand some of it. And... and..."

Veronica understood what Harry couldn't put into words. "You hate that feeling of constant danger looming over you?"

"Yes, I hate it!" it finally exploded out of Harry. "It was in the background before, but now I constantly have to think about it! I... I now have nightmares about Voldemort and what he did... and could do..."

Seeing how Harry was having a small breakdown, Veronica gave Harry something many teenagers would be embarrassed about: a hug. "You know there is nothing wrong with being afraid of him?"

"I do... But I also don't want to give him the win of having a hold over me like that," Harry admitted.

"Oh, Harry... You think you would deny him a win by hurting your own emotions?" Veronica knew Harry really needed someone to talk with about it. Carefully, she guided him to the chairs. "You can really defy him in other ways than that. Please talk with me Harry. Tell me how you really feel."

Veronica, his mother in everything but blood - though she would refuse to ever take Lily's place - had said the right words. Harry could no longer keep it down and, slowly at first, he started to tell her how he truly felt after all the horrible things that happened and the changes all of them now had to endure. He even managed to confess his confusion in regards to Ginny and she gave him some good advice how to proceed with that.

Yes, Veronica was not Harry's mother by blood, but she loved him like one and that was what counted.

o

While Harry and Veronica had a heartfelt conversation where he would finally open up about how he felt, Little Whinging was having a rather unwelcome visitor. A fat beetle was flying in front of the name sign next to the doorbell of the Black home, then looked through the window, spotting a family photo of the Black family, before flying off towards a secluded place, where said beetle suddenly turned into Rita Skeeter.

"I can't believe that in the end it took that to find him..." she said to herself, feeling mighty proud of herself.

After Umbridge had given her the job of snooping into the life of Sirius Black, Skeeter had brooded over how to locate her target. She knew right away that anything in the magical world would be useless, since no one there had any idea where Sirius Black lived. However she'd also had little idea how to find the needed information in the non-magical world.

She had brooded over her dilemma in the streets of London, until accidentally running into a phone booth. While she'd cursed over her sore nose, she also had spotted someone consulting the phone books in the booth and speak aloud the address while writing it down. All of a sudden Skeeter had felt like an idiot. She had not even known such books to exist, being mostly ignorant of Muggle technology and the things surrounding it, and thus had not even considered those as a source for information.

Just to check she had quickly consulted said phone books as well after that other person was gone, and indeed found quite a number of Blacks in London complete with address, but none that were named Sirius, and those that just had used an S. had proven to be false leads.

However, that had not been a problem. Instead, she had decided to systematically comb through phone books of the area surrounding London, knowing from a few clues that Black couldn't live too far from it. So she had found a place where all those phone books were easily accessible and then she had started reading and writing down addresses.

Then, finally, after a lot of hard work, she had found a Sirius Black in the phone book of Little Whinging. Having just done the confirmation, she felt a deep satisfaction.

"You've hidden for a long time, but not for much longer..." Skeeter was eager to make his life as difficult as possible without getting caught in when Black would strike back.

Of course she had to be careful.

There was no telling what kind of protections Black in his paranoia had installed and even in her - very much illegal - Animagus form she had to be careful, since she was very vulnerable while being transformed. Also, there was no way she would observe him all the time, since she had a feeling most of it would be highly boring.

Alone the fact that his marriage with that Muggle spawned children will be worth a lot to Umbridge. Oh, how deep the House of Black has sunk, Skeeter thought with glee.

She honestly felt a certain satisfaction knowing Umbridge would use all the information to make Black's life hell. She knew of Umbridge's reputation and that underneath the exterior of a Ministry flunky a ruthless person was lurking. The best thing about it was, that she even would get paid for it, which would take care of her monetary problems.

Never once did Skeeter stop to wonder that if Umbridge was such a ruthless woman, were her normal ways to insure herself against clients who tried to stiff her really enough? After all, that woman was willing to walk over dead bodies to get what she wanted. No, she really forgot that little fact in her excitement.

An oversight she would come to regret - though not for long for all the wrong reasons.

---

...July 3rd, Black mansion in Essex...

"I hope this will be less nerve-wrecking than our last experience with getting a big surprise," Ginny remarked while they waited inside the mansion in Essex that Sirius owned.

"Considering all the secrecy, I would not bet on it." Harry honestly had his fill of secrets and held little wish for more, though he also knew that was just wishful thinking.

Harry and Ginny had both had just a few moments ever since arriving and both of them had barely managed to convey to each other that they should wait until they had more time and privacy before they would resolve what to do about what happened between them. Harry had openly admited that Veronica had suggested to go slow about this.

However, they were bad at trying to act like nothing had happened.

Ron for his part took one look how Harry and Ginny were acting around each other, then sighed. "Look, I'm not good with emotional stuff, but both of you don't get all awkward around each other now. If both of you want to snog, please don't do that in front of me, that's all I ask for."

Harry and Ginny blushed a little. Hermione shook her head and sighed "Ronald, at times you really have the emotional range of a teaspoon..."

"Are you disappointed because neither Ronald nor yourself have yet gotten the courage for a kiss?" Luna asked, then saw Hermione and Ron gave her a look like their darkest secret had been spelled out. "I thought it was obvious."

"Luna, despite all your progress, you still slip at times," Neville reminded the girl, playing at her still at times not gauging correctly what to say and what not. It still was a work in progress.

They then by silent agreement decided to drop this embarrassing topic and instead focused and what was going on right now.

All of them were waiting inside a mansion they had until today not even known was owned by Sirius. On the other hand, considering his wealth, that was little wonder. Earlier this day they had been escorted here and were then told to wait while their parents and guardians had went on ahead. That had been twenty minutes ago and not one sound had gotten out of the door - it most likely was magically silenced. They had been told they would get answers today, so the wait was starting to feel longer than it was.

Of course they had not been told what would be revealed to them, which felt like the adults were very reluctant to involve them into whatever it was. To be honest, after the whole revelation of what the government was doing in secret to prepare for a conflict with the magical side should things go south, it would take a lot to top that.

"We had no time yet... but how did all of you fare? I was literally bottling all of it in until Aunt Verni helped me," Harry then said, wondering how his friends were doing.

Ron looked like he didn't want to say anything, so Ginny sighed. "Right the next day our parents took us aside. I don't know what Dad said to Ron, but Mum was really patient while I explained to her how I felt. Though it felt really awkward when I admitted the kiss."

"Wonderful. I hope your mother won't get the wrong idea and get pushy." Harry honestly didn't want interference while they were exploring how to go from where they were now.

If anything, that felt more awkward for Ron, so he broke his silence. "I talked with Dad in his hobby shed. He saw it as a man.-to-man talk and told me being a man doesn't mean not showing how you feel. I talked a lot with him since about what happened. That actually felt really good."

"I feel my parents needed talking to me as much as I did after all what happened," Hermione said, remembering how her parents had felt overwhelmed by all what had happened. "They took the whole week off to be there for me."

Neville for his part blushed a little. "My parents talked a lot with me, but they were also giving me a bit too much attention. Gran had to remind them not to smother me with attention and respect my space."

"Your parents are wonderful people." Luna then became reluctant. "I had... difficulties processing all of it. You know I have difficulties expressing my emotions..."

"It was that hard on you?" Neville asked, giving Luna concerned looks.

Luna looked conflicted, but then answered "I'm not used to such emotional turmoil. The fear from facing Voldemort... Could you please hold my hand? ... Please?" Neville was a bit nervous at the request, but then did so anyway. He saw that this little gesture seemed to help Luna.

Hermione sighed. "We are most certainly not all right. It's also depressing to realize that it did get easier after all the previous horrible things that happened to us."

The minutes then went by silently, all six of them being occupied with thinking about how they most likely would need the entire summer to come to terms with what had happened. Interestingly, all of them being together made them feel a bit better already. Perhaps shared suffering was easier to shoulder.

Finally, the door opened and Remus walked out. "Sorry for the wait, you can now come in."

"Why did whatever it was take so long?" Harry asked while they all stood up.

"Eh, let's say some revelations caused some heated emotions. Secrets have the bad habit of causing friction if they were kept for too long," Remus tried to explain while ushering them in.

Inside they saw an interesting sight. Sitting at a long table were their parents and guardians. Diane was giving Sirius some hard looks which meant he had ticked her off and he could expect several nights on the couch as a result before she would forgive him. The Lovegoods radiated a general feeling of disappointment, not making any secret of that they felt hurt about something.

Thomas and Veronica were discussing something, looking annoyed while doing so, at times shooting looks to the other side of the table. The Grangers meanwhile were in a heated discussion with the other side of the table, both of them being vocal about feeling there should have been more trust..

On the other side of the table sat several people. Dumbledore they had pretty much expected. McGonagall was present as well, as was Moody. The latter was giving annoyed looks to Dumbledore while constantly checking the room with his magical eye.

Their entrance stopped the dispute the Grangers had with Dumbledore.

"Ah, there you are. We are sorry for the wait, but we first had to reveal several... let's say facts to some of your guardians. Let me welcome all of you to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore greeted them.

"Eh, and what is that?" Ginny asked, wondering about the fancy title.

Moody rolled his natural eye. "To make it short, it's an organization to coordinate the battle against Voldemort. Many of us already were members in the first war, but we of course recruited as well - like Lupin's girlfriend for example."

"Alastor, please leave my private life with Dora out of it," Remus told Moody while sitting down next to him.

The Six sat down at empty seats and Hermione right away had a question. "So it already existed during the first war? When did it get reactivated?"

"Long enough ago," Diane said while giving her husband a piercing look. "While I understand the need for secrecy, you knew we are trustworthy and can contribute in our own way."

"Ah... so that was what ticked you off." Ron realized, now starting to understand why some of the adults looked upset. "Guess you took the whole secrecy thing a bit too far, didn't you?"

McGonagall sighed when realizing that Ron was right about that. "It's like the old wisdom 'we are always wiser after the fact'. We honestly forgot to involve the Lovegoods. Also, to our own embarrassment, despite us knowing better, deep inside we concluded not having magic automatically means being vulnerable."

"Well, hopefully you won't repeat that mistake," Thomas said. Despite knowing it had not been intentional on their part, it still hurt.

There was an added irony in that there now was the secret of the MI-X, which they were keeping from the Order. While Dumbledore was in the know, the man had promised to keep silent. If there was one thing the man was good at, then it was keeping something secret. They wondered how the members of the Order would react once that comes out.

"Now, what exactly does this Order do? I know you probably won't go into detail, but some information would be nice - beyond just saying it's to fight against Voldemort," Harry asked, eager to finally understand why they were here.

"Right now? Mainly gathering more strength by recruiting and preparing for the worst. Voldemort right at the moment is not openly active," Remus explained.

"Really? I thought after what he did..." Neville didn't dare to continue.

Thankfully, his mother knew what he was playing at. "Despite that, he still is not in an optimal position yet. He wants to gather his strength as well. That surely will include breaking out his followers from Azkaban... Including her."

Neville knew exactly who his mother was talking about. "Lestange... But, isn't Azkaban really difficult to get to and very dangerous?"

"Maybe, but you can never know with dementors. Last I heard there are rumors they were getting dissatisfied with the deal the Ministry gave them. Damn it that we can't do anything about Azkaban." Frank clearly was unhappy with the situation. "The situation with the Ministry is already bad enough."

"What happened? I no longer read the Daily Prophet at home due to it being junk," Harry asked.

"That moron Fudge is what happened," Moody snorted. "Despite all what happened - and that includes an attack on the Hogwarts Express - he still doesn't want to see the threat for what it really is and instead started to smear Dumbledore in the press as a panic-monger."

"I try to not take the attacks personally, but some of it comes close." Despite Dumbledore trying to appear unaffected, it was obvious that the smearing was taking a toll on him. "He even tried to remove me as Chief Warlock, but that failed. Instead due to recent events and me never claiming a dead man returned to the living, the social climate is becoming increasingly polarized between those that think we have to take action and those that are in denial."

Moody snorted at that. "It's impressive and frightening how many people in Magical Britain are still trying to play down the danger despite first what happened to Diggory and then the attack on the Express."

McGonagall sighed. "However, there are also many who feel what the Ministry is doing is irresponsible. That includes many parents who got a nasty wake-up call when the Express got attacked. This is bound to cause an increasingly explosive atmosphere, with both sides feeling the other has lost their minds."

"That however does not explain our presence. Or are we to become part of the Order?" Luna asked bluntly, starting to wonder what this was about.

"No." McGonagall's words were a bit louder than needed. "We do not expect any of you to become a member. Right at the moment that would be the height of irresponsibility. We also don't want to put even more of a burden onto your shoulders than what is already there."

That caused attention. "Is there something you have not told us?" Molly asked, suddenly getting an idea how the other parents and guardians had felt when being told things had been kept secret from them.

Dumbledore sighed. "Harry, back at the end of your first year in Hogwarts, you asked me why Voldemort is targeting you specifically. I told you that the truth can be a beautiful and yet terrible thing, but when you are older and more mature, it would be revealed to you."

"Yes, I remember... Does this mean now is the time?" Harry now started to understand all the preparations. He was about to get the answer to a question that he had asked himself many times.

"Indeed, gathered here are those who already know, namely Sirius, Remus, Minerva and myself, and all those who are closely connected to you and thus also deserve the truth." Reaching under the table, Dumbledore put his pensive in front of himself. "There is a bit of backstory to this revelation, thus please everyone, have a little patience."

"It was in 1980 when I was interviewing an applicant for the post of Divination teacher in a room above the Hog's Head. I was not very inclined to continue that course, feeling I was wasting the time of my students, but the applicant was the great-great-granddaughter of a very famous and gifted seer, so politeness dictated I at least give her the benefit of the doubt," Dumbledore started to explain.

"Oh, you mean Professor Trelawney." Luna had recognized it had to be her Divination teacher. "Since she right now is a teacher, you must have hired her."

"Yes, it was her, but actually what I saw was not all that impressive. She seemed to not have the gift at all and her behavior at the time made her a poor fit for a teaching position. Thus I politely declined her offer and was about to leave when me thinking she does not have the gift was proven wrong," Dumbledore continued his explanation.

Dumbledore used his wand to pull a memory from his mind and poured it into the pensive. "I was highly reluctant for a long time, but in light of recent events, you all need to know." From the pensive a ghostly image of a much younger Trelawney rose, her expression strangely vacant when she started to speak in an emotionless, weird voice.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power that the Dark Lord knows not. ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. ... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

The recording ended and there was silence when Dumbledore reclaimed his memory. "She had no memory of this, but for her own safety I saw no other way than to hire her. In the castle she was safe from those who would nonetheless try to get information out of her."

"What does that exactly mean? I understand enough to realize this damn prophecy is why Harry's life was never normal, but better give us details now." Veronica's protective instincts were flaring up after hearing the prophecy.

"I will explain. The prophecy of course refers to a boy to be born on July 31st of that year to magical parents who have defied Lord Voldemort thrice and lived to talk about it. The interesting thing is, that besides Harry, another possible candidate, Frank, Alice, would have been your son."

"Neville? We always wondered why we had to go into hiding, you never told us. So it was because of that prophecy?" Frank wondered.

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed. Both of you fulfill those criteria and your son was born on July 31st. The same went for the Potters."

"So it very well could have been me?" Neville wondered, feeling ashamed that he felt relieved to not be in Harry's shoes.

"It could have been you, but Voldemort's prejudices made him target Harry first due to his blood status being the the same as his own. I however have no doubt he would have targeted you next to make sure." Dumbledore then looked to Harry. "Prophecies are a tricky thing. They only predict the most possible outcome, but can be made invalid. Had he done nothing, the prophecy would have been proven a dud. Sadly, Voldemort's strong belief in the prophecy ensured it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Harry touched his faded scar. He didn't often think about it after learning how he got it, feeling uncomfortable about the matter. "And so he marked me as his equal... But how did he even know in the first place?"

"Sadly, one of Voldemort's men was spying on me that day. He overheard the first part of the prophecy before my brother, who owns the Hog's Head, chased him away. Thus Voldemort acted on incomplete information, but what he was told was enough to spur him into action," Dumbledore explained to Harry.

"So he only heard half of it? What is that power Voldemort does not know about?" Pandora honestly could not make any sense of that.

"I honestly took a long time to understand that part, but everything considered, I feel it is the power of heart." Seeing the looks he was getting, Dumbledore knew he had to explain. "The power of the heart can be tremendous. It was the love of Harry's mother that gave him the protection which saved his life and kept him safe for years. It also is something that Voldemort in his cruel ways is incapable of understanding. There is another reason why I'm sure about it, but that will be revealed shortly."

Hermione meanwhile looked a bit frustrated. "Sir, I honestly can't make sense of the final part before the prophecy repeats. I know it could be read as a final showdown since there can be only one, but there clearly is more to it."

"You have good observational skills, Miss Granger. Indeed, that final part was the most tricky, but in light of recent revelations, the puzzle now fits." Dumbledore then looked to Harry. "Harry, my boy, you remember me telling you how a piece of Voldemort's soul on that night had broken off and got stuck in your scar?"

"Oh yes, I do remember! As terrifying as that dementor was, in a bizarre way I'm thankful for it removing that thing from my skull." Harry still got the occasional nightmare of Voldemort bursting out of his skull.

"I've read the prophecy in the way, that with the fragment in your head and him taking your blood, it would have required highly unusual means to destroy the ways both of you would have been connected by that point. With the removal of the fragment years before that could happen, the prophecy was essentially defused and is no longer valid," Dumbledore explained.

"Perhaps, but Voldemort doesn't know that," Ginny remarked, being in a strange way fascinated by the whole thing.

"And that is a sad truth. Not that it would matter, since by now it has become a matter of principle for him," Dumbledore added.

Harry tried to process all of that. "So, it was that stupid prophecy that caused all of this?! And thanks to Voldemort firmly believing in it he won't stop coming after me until he finally bites the dust? Crap... that's why he wants to personally murder me."

"Yes, though surely a good part of it by now also is hurt pride. Being bested by a one-year old boy had most certainly not been good for his ego." Dumbledore knew that Voldemort by now had multiple reasons for wanting to murder Harry.

Harry for his part tried to come to grips with the reality that Voldemort had murdered his parents over some prophecy; that Voldemort wanted him dead because he was some kind of foretold messiah. "All of that because of a prophecy... This is so messed up."

Dumbledore, seeing how badly Harry was taking this, then knew he had to make the second revelation. "However, there is more. Back in 1988 I was visiting Trelawney in the Divination tower, when she made another prophecy. Please listen carefully." After pouring the memory into the pensive, another memory was shown.

"The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers - but not all of them. In the year when the three canines clash, the rat-faced man and those with him finally harvest the fruits of their long search. ... With their help, the Dark Lord will rise again and unleash untold terrors. ... Yet all is not lost, for the Chosen Six will arise as well. Six close friends ... to fight back ... the flood of darkness..."

"Uhm, that talks about us, doesn't it?" Ron asked, though he already knew that it was the case.

"It does. I remember my face when I realized me and Moony fighting against Greyback in the castle meant Voldemort would be found by Peter the traitor in that year..." Sirius had that revelation in bad memory.

"We did already conclude that we somehow entered some kind of magical contract, though the 'how' eludes us. Everything was adding up to that." Even Luna seemed a bit stunned that it had been foretold that they would make that pact.

"Oh yes. However, we concluded that you made that pact before you first arrived at Hogwarts," McGonagall added. "The way you and Ms. Weasley were demanded by the Sorting Hat to attend Hogwarts together with your friends in retrospect clearly is a result of that pact."

"We're honestly trying to remember when we made that pact. So any idea when that could have happened?" Ron wondered aloud.

"Magical contracts are tricky. At times powerful magic takes something you would not consider as such as proof that the pact is being made," Remus explained. "I know, it's been years, but does anything come to mind where all of you were together and you made any kind of declaration about support or the future?"

A gasp from Hermione gave her their attention. "Now I remember... People, the day before our first journey to Hogwarts! Remember, we made the oath of the Three Musketeers when we thought we would be in different years and houses. We thought we got a static shock when our hands touched."

Her friends finally remembered and paled when realizing that this simple promise thanks to a prophecy had become a magical pact. Granted, they already had known they had made some sort of pact, but to now know for sure was something else.

"This connects to the power of the heart being a tremendous force. All what you experienced, like feeling when the others are in danger, the combined Patronus, your loyal pets knowing they had to look out for you and the protection against Voldemort during the confrontation. Those are all aspects of the pact you made," Dumbledore explained.

Harry and Ginny blushed a bit, remembering how Harry finally understood how to make his Patronus after holding Ginny's hand.

Neville gulped hard. "So without us giving Harry our support, the Killing Curse would have worked?"

"Yes, it would have. That it didn't is because of the power of heart again, like the first time. However, thanks to five more people protecting Harry, the spell was fully deflected and did no damage at all. Fascinating to learn how this is the only power capable of deflecting the Killing Curse," Dumbledore mused.

Ginny also wondered about something. "But when will that pact end? And what actually IS the final power of all of this?"

"It most likely will end once the conflict is over. But as for how powerful it could become..." Dumbledore stopping at that point actually was answer enough. He had no idea where the limit was.

Harry then realized something. "Sir... you said we won't be part of the Order, but with that prophecy..."

The Headmaster knew this would be the tricky part. "I will not justify recruiting child soldiers. However, this also is why your parents and guardians are present. Since it truly seems to be inevitable that you will be drawn into this conflict sooner or later, it would be irresponsible of us adults if we would not prepare you as best as possible."

The teenagers had fallen silent, their thoughts circling around all those revelations, while the adults started another heated discussion. Since that involved the future and safety of their children, it was quite fierce.

---

...at the same time in Little Whinging...

"I'll get you now, better believe it!" Millicent told her boyfriend, giving him a hard look.

"Hah, in your dreams! Remember I socked you into the kisser last time," Dudley returned, looking more amused than determined.

If anything, that made Millicent only more determined. "That was a fluke. Are you ready?"

"If you want to lose that badly..." Dudley agreed.

Both teens stood in front of the Mortal Kombat 3 arcade cabinet - no one even bothering to control if anyone is old enough for certain games - ready for the next fight. On the screen, Kano and Sonya were told to fight, so Dudley and Millicent wasted no time and the blood was flying on the screen. Sitting some distance away, Daphne couldn't help but to chuckle when seeing how much her friends had gotten into it.

"They already do boxing in real life, so why do they see the reason to beat each other up in a game?" Daphne wondered aloud while sitting at a table and enjoying a cold soda.

"Maybe that's how they show they like each other?" Astoria wondered before putting her concentration fully on the crane machine game she was just using.

Daphne tried to imagine Dudley and Millicent getting turned on by beating up each other, then dismissed the idea outright due to the uncomfortable implications. "No, I think it's simply a competitive streak in both of them."

It was a sight of sheer normality to an outside spectator, seeing four teenagers - Astoria now was 13 - hanging out in the arcade located at the center of Little Whinging and generally having a good time. Nothing was even hinting at the fact the all four of them were capable of doing magic. Right now they simply were that: teenagers.

The arcade of Little Whinging was not as spectacular as the ones in big cities, but it still was well-stocked with the newest games and also had an area to just hang out between games. It was quite a popular place with the youth of Little Whinging and at this time of the year, a climate-controlled indoors for many also was a better choice than the strong summer heat outside.

"Oh, come on! Flawless victory on top of fatality?" Dudley cried out, looking in disbelief at the screen.

Millicent chuckled at his disbelief. "I'm learning fast..."

"Seriously, you know all of that had looked more like some sort of bizarre mating ritual, right?" Daphne needled her friends, finding the whole thing more amusing than anything.

Whatever they wanted to answer, it was drowned out by a squeal from Astoria. Looking, they saw she had managed to win big in the crane machine and got one of the main prizes: a nice plushie looking like a rabbit. "Look, that one will make its way onto my bed!"

"Aren't you too old for that?" Millicent wondered.

"You are never too old for this!" Astoria defended herself, holding the rabbit plushie closer.

Watching the antics of her younger sister, Daphne couldn't help but smile. "I would have never thought four years ago I would spend my summers in the non-magical world. All of this is quite the eye-opener how insular our society is and how much we missed out on."

"Well, I'm GLAD you decided to take me along!" Astoria said while holding her plushie closer.

Dudley couldn't help but chuckle while getting several more sodas from a vending machine and soon enough they all sat at the table and enjoyed their cool drinks. "I'm just relieved I have good friends like all of you... and one being a little more."

They all knew that by now Dudley's home life had degenerated to the point where Dudley was trying to be out of the house for most of the day, his mother even encouraging it. That was despite the fact that Vernon was not home for most of the day. Dudley no longer was taking his meals at the kitchen table as well after how uncomfortable that had felt at the first day. Instead, his mother always ensured he could take his food upstairs and eat in peace in his room.

Dudley also had gotten into the habit of locking his room whenever he was not in the house, so that his things, and especially his trunk, would not be tampered with should his father come home early and get the idea. It might sound paranoid at first, but considering how cold Vernon had grown towards him, it didn't look so paranoid anymore.

And that was on top of what had happened with the train just a week ago. They all had honestly thought Harry was dead, until the news made the round that he did survive - they had not yet asked Harry how that had happened. The terror of the whole situation - and they didn't even want to imagine what Harry and his friends had gone through - was something still weighing on them.

They had no illusions and knew that the future didn't look bright at the moment and were using the time available to them to make the best of it - and to distract themselves from these depressing thoughts. It worked for the most part. However, Dudley's personal situation was something they were unable to ignore.

"It's getting worse?" Millicent asked, giving her boyfriend a look of concern.

"I'm staying out of the house most of the time and even take my meals in my room - Mum felt that was better after the first day - and yet it feels like I'm walking through a minefield. Made me wonder again how it could have come to this," Dudley lamented, the summer not bringing him much of a stress-relief.

"You know, Millicent's offer is still standing," Daphne reminded Dudley.

"Besides the fact that my old man would never allow it - and he still has that power - to me it would feel like running away from the problem. I know, sounds macho, but it's a matter of pride," Dudley tried to explain why that was not an option.

"Sounds rather dumb, if you ask me," Astoria chimed in. "Making yourself miserable just because of your pride? How is that situation different from when you escaped that horrible aunt of yours?"

Dudley honestly had no answer to that, now that it was spelled out like that.

He had a feeling however, that something was bound to happen before he could get himself to make a hard decision.

to be continued...

Next Episode:

"Trouble in Little Whinging"

---

Notes:

Here the notes.

Yep, as I said at the top, I'm back. I will repeat here that there will be a hiatus between the Hogwarts years to give me time to write ahead. The next one will be between Years 5 and 6 and the final one between Years 6 and 7.

Now, finally you get the answer to what MI-X is and how is came to be in the first place - and the moment where the timeline splits from canon. I have to admit that really long scene took a lot of time and several rewrites, since I wanted to portray it realistically. There of course is no instant trust (no way considering the scope) and things start small as well.

Both, Mr. Clifton and Mr. Morden are shout-outs to other works. Can you find out, which ones? (one is a comic series i Europe, the other a TV series)

I couldn't resist to model part of the scene between Voldemort and Nagini after a scene in Disney's Robin Hood between Prince John and Sir Hiss.

I'm not glossing over the fact what the events of the previous chapter caused to the Six, but it mostly will be in the background, since it otherwise will cause the story to drag tremendously (other writers who did write it out are a cautionary tale). Meanwhile, Skeeter is actually making progress, while still being short-sighted.

Yep, even more revelations in a revelation-heavy chapter. Now that everything is finally in the open with the prophecies we do get some conclusions about all of those things. In my mind, there was no reason to keep it secret, now that Voldemort is back.

And we see Dudley. Soon enough things will go really south for him.