Chapter 6: Meeting the Order
OK, I don't know if y'all know this, but these chapters are being dictated, so sometimes there's capital letters where there shouldn't be and commas where there shouldn't be. I try and catch them all when I go over it during my editing, but... So, if you see these mistakes, please forgive them. Also, dictation doesn't always 'dictate' what I say. Again, I try and catch these things, but I don't always get them.
I do listen to my story, as in have the AI read it to me, before I post it. But…
I don't know if you've read my other stories, but if you have, you know I have a problem with my hands and can no longer type my stories, which is one of the reasons why most of my stories are on hiatus. That and I have severe writer's block. That's one of the reasons why I'm writing this story, trying to get over my writer's block. I have not been overly dedicated to this story, as you can tell by the writing style and the times between updates. It's just something that I'm playing with.
Even so, I hope you enjoy it. I have a lot of fun playing with it. If you find something out of place let me know and I will try and correct it.
Also, Dictation doesn't add quotation marks, so I must add those in so if I forget them, please forgive me.
Just to add to this overly long author's note, I also have a very bad memory, so if I off somebody in the first chapter and add them in the 5th chapter, let me know and I will fix that.
Hphphp
Harry never did find the house elves, so he went out into the Forbidden Forest and fired his guns for a few hours there. The centaurs were not happy. He didn't care. He had fun doing it and after about an hour he was hitting the bullseye with every shot fired. He ran out of bullets, though. Now he's going to have to go find Skip and get more bullets. He was not looking forward to that. But that was OK. He had the money for it.
He went back to the castle, determined to find elves. He still needed to get the Horcrux out of his forehead, and he still needed a place to do that where it couldn't be felt. He knew that if he did it in the castle proper that the headmaster would feel it and would interfere. So, he wanted a room that would contain it.
He could probably do it in the Forbidden Forest, but it was an open area and that would be bad. He knew there were such things as ritual rooms, and he knew that the elves knew where one was. So, he was hoping to find those blasted elves, but they were wily characters.
The three days passed, and now it was time for the two groups to meet. Harry had had Hermione send a message out on the coin as to where and when to meet for his group. They all wound up meeting in Grimmauld Place. The place was not under Fidelius Charm, but it was under a Muggle Repellent Charm.
"Ah, Harry, my boy," said the headmaster when his group came up to the house. "Welcome, welcome to Grimmauld place."
"Well, we're here, old man," Harry said, taking in the house with greedy eyes. He looked at the townhouse and liked it. He could completely get behind living there. Even if it was old and crumbly in looking. It was a roof over his head and a warm place to stay, which was more than he had now.
"I can see that, my boy," said the old man with amusement.
"Are you sure this place is big enough to hold all of us? There are 45 of us, as you could see, not including me and Hermione," Harry stated, looking at the large group behind him, with more expected to join them.
"Yes, it is large enough. We have expanded the kitchen just for this occasion," though there was some doubt in his tone and his eyes.
Harry saw that Snape was standing next to Dumbledore and had to hold off the urge to gut the man. He just glared at him, pulled out his knife and started cleaning his fingernails.
Snape sneered.
The two groups went into the house, and it was decided that instead of all of the groups meeting in the kitchen that only the two leaders, with a smaller group of higher ups within the group dynamic. So only twelve people were meeting in the kitchen.
Among Dumbledore's group were Molly and Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin, Mundungus Fletcher, Severus Snape, Mad-Eye Moody, and a few other characters.
Among Harry's group was Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Seamus Finnegan, and many various other people that were new to the group. Also, among Harry's group was one of the Death Eaters from Tom's group. He was there to represent Tom. It was Vincent Crabbe Senior. He was recognized immediately by Severus Snape.
"What is he doing here?" said Snape, from his spot at the right-hand side of the headmaster.
"The same thing you're doing here," said Harry, sneering at the man for all he was worth. "He's here representing Tom."
"I do not represent that man," said Snape. He was supposed to be a spy among the Order of the Phoenix, which meant he had to represent the headmaster at all costs.
"Oh, I thought you did," said Harry innocently. He made his eyes go wide and tried to look as innocent as possible and did not pull it off at all because the scars on his face made him look menacing.
Crabbe looked at him intimidatingly and cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, Snape, I thought you were on the Dark Lord's side," he said in his deep voice. He knew Snape was a spy. He just did not know whose side he played off of. He never likes spies.
"Of course I'm not on the Dark Lord side," said Snape, glancing at the headmaster. "I am on the side of the light." He knew he was in deep trouble. He was going to have to do some fast talking the next time he stood in front of Tom Riddle Junior. Then again, he was doing just what he was supposed to do if ever faced with one of the Death Eaters.
"Severus is my spy," said Dumbledore.
"You know I can go back to my master and let him know this, don't you?" said Crabbe.
"But we are all on the same side now," said Albus as if that were a foregone conclusion and they should all just get along. And when it be nice if the Death Eaters would just turn to the side of the light.
"That we are, that we are," said Harry in a condescending tone. "So, let's just drop this line of conversation and move on. What are we here to talk about? You're the one who wants to join these two groups. Well, now I'm joining all three of them. Hence, Crabbe is staying." He knew Crabbe was there also as a spy. Even if it was such a blatant one. They wouldn't be discussing anything they didn't want Tom to know.
"Very well then," said Dumbledore, running his hand down his beard as if he were the most important person there. "What have you discovered so far?"
"Ah, that's not the way this works," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head. "I need to know what you know. And then I can tell you what we know, and then Crabbe can tell you what they know. And then the three of us can get together and we'll figure out what we all know together." He said that all in one breath as if to get it out faster. That way the old man didn't interrupt him and try and stop him from saying what he needed to say. The old man had a bad habit of doing that.
"Why must we go first?" asked Snape, looking down his long-hooked nose at the boy.
"Because you're the one who invited us to join," Harry said with a flip of his hand. It seemed obvious to him he didn't want to be here. They asked him to come. He knew Crabbe didn't wanna be there, but he was there anyway. If they were going to share information, Dumbledore was gonna go first.
"I see no problem with this," said Dumbledore, adjusting his glasses on his face, looking at his cohorts with a glare as if telling them to be quiet and let him do the talking. "We know that there is a prophecy," he said, causing many people at the table to start mumbling. He had no problem giving out this tidbit of information. It was a small price to pay. That and it might give the boy something to think about, that perhaps he might not want to receive pay if he knew that it was his prophesized destiny.
"A prophecy, you say? Do you know what it says?" Harry asked. Not that it changed anything. Prophecies were sheer hooey. It was probably given by that hack Trelawney. Which was probably why Dumbledore wanted him to take her class. It all made sense now. Harry chuckled to himself.
"It says that you are the one who must finish the Dark Lord. And that you have a power that he knows not," The old man said, searching the boy's face for any type of hidden power.
"Does it say which Dark Lord?" said Harry with a chuckle. Wouldn't that be a hoot if it meant the first Dark Lord that he had now become sort of friends with?
"No, it does not. It just says that you must vanquish him. That you were born as a 7th month dies. That your parents thrice defied him and that you have a power that he knows not," Albus said, making Remus and Moody sit up straighter. They knew that the Longbottom's also fit this bill.
"I see," said Harry, still chuckling. "Well. I do have a power that he knows not, and I'm gonna keep that to myself for now. There're too many spies at this table. Let's just say it's a muggle power and move on from there." He of course was thinking of his guns, but then again, the Dark Lord was raised muggle, so he might know about guns. Therefore, it might not be the power he knows not. But then, who knows?
"How can a muggle power take on one of the most feared Dark Lords?" asked Mundungus Fletcher.
"You'd be surprised with the muggles have come up with," said Hermione Granger as she scribbled down many notes from what was going on in this meeting.
"I wouldn't," said quite a few people at the table, mostly from Harry's side.
"So, there's a prophecy," said Hermione scribbling down more notes. "Is there anything else you can tell us?" she asked.
"No, that's all I have for you for now," said the headmaster, he'd keep the Horcruxes to himself for now. They didn't need to know that tidbit of information. It was dangerous for people to know.
"I can tell you that the Dark Lord has made at least one Horcrux," said Harry, making many people wince and the headmaster's jaw drop. "And I hear he will be coming before this year ends, according to Anyanka."
"I did not know about the Horcrux," said Snape, glancing at Dumbledore to see if he knew. And he could see from the shocked look on his face that the man did know. But judging from Mad-Eye Moody and Remus Lupin, they did not know and were just as shocked as he is.
"Well, I know he made at least one. We don't know if he made more or not." The would-be hero was looking at everybody's faces to see how they were reacting. It was funny as hell. At least in his eyes. Dumbledore looked like somebody had hit him upside the head with a dead fish. Everybody else looked shocked, too. But there is something different about the way Dumbledore looked. It looked like somebody had taken his best kept secret and aired it to the public.
"Blast and damnation," said Moody, slamming his fists on the table, causing the dishes to rattle. "Do you know what they are?" he asked.
"No, we don't. We have some inkling that they might be relics from the Founders, but we don't know what they are. Or if there is more than one. Tom is going over in his mind, what he might have used. And we're thinking of places that he might have hidden them, but we don't know as of yet," Harry said, explaining what Tom's thinking might have been.
"We might have to get Tom Riddle here and pick his mind," said Alastor, thinking that it might be the best idea if they had the Junior Dark Lord in their midst. Rather than this 'he said, he said' bullshit.
"I don't think that would be a good idea," said Harry, chuckling at the man's suggestion. "He might just kill Snape on principle. Lord knows I want to. Then again, there's times I wanna gut half of you." He looked around the room and saw everybody looking at him as if he was just going to get out his guns and shoot everybody, just for the hell of it.
"Whatever do you mean?" asked Molly, affronted that the boy would say such a thing in a room full of people. Then again, she was still miffed that this boy had something to do with the disappearance of her son. She knew it was Ron's fault. He's the one who made the wish. The wish was that Harry Potter had never come to Hogwarts. And if Harry Potter had never come to Hogwarts, then Ron would have never disappeared. However, Harry Potter had come to Hogwarts. And Ron had disappeared. Therefore, it was Harry Potter's fault in a roundabout way.
"You're all such goody goodies that you just make me wanna see blood," Harry said with the shit-eating grin. He looked like a demented puppy with those scars on his face.
"How dare you?" she screeched, standing up so fast that her chair clattered against the wall. Arthur, her husband, reached out and grabbed her arm to keep her from choking him. He too was upset with the boy that he had something to do with the vanishing of his son.
"Oh, keep your britches on," he said, laughing at her overreaction. "I'm keeping it to myself." Yeah, he hadn't even moved from his chair because he felt no threat from this woman.
"Now, Harry, there is no need to disturb the good folks here with such fanciful tales," the headmaster said with a sigh. He knew Molly and Arthur didn't like the boy. However, he didn't think that they would react so strongly to his joking around. They were, after all, the parents of prankster twins.
"You're right. I'm sorry," Harry said, trying to look contrite and failing. "I didn't mean that. I just wanted to get up your nose," he stated, looking at Molly.
She didn't look impressed, but she righted her chair and sat back at the table.
"Why ever would you want to provoke such a reaction from people?" asked Remus, like he had room to talk give in the stories Harry had heard from his younger years. After hearing that the man wanted to meet him, he had asked around about him and heard about the Marauders and what they had gotten up to. This man had no room to talk. The Weasley twins had some great stories about what that group had gotten up to, though they left a lot of things a mystery.
"Just to see how you all would react, mostly," said Harry, glaring at the man. "You're all looking at me as if I'm the next coming of Voldemort. I wanted to see how you would react if I acted like him. And you acted predictably so. I mean, come on, I'm supposed to be your boy hero and you're treating me as if I'm the next coming of the Dark Lord. Why is that anyway?" They had been glancing at him ever since he sat down as if he was going to get up and gut them.
"I think it's because you want to be paid for it," said Mad-Eye Moody, his false eye whirling around his head as if it was looking for the enemy in every corner.
"Well, that's a bunch of bullshit," said Harry, throwing up his hands in the air as if he couldn't believe they were thinking that. "Of course I want to be paid for it. I don't know you people from Jack. Why the hell would I want to fight for you?" He looked at each and every one of their faces, so they understood what he was saying.
"Because that's what heroes are supposed to do," said Molly as if she were speaking to one of her children.
"I don't know where you guys get your demented view of heroes, but that's not the way it's supposed to work," said Harry, knowing they probably got it from books or something. He knew he got his twisted version from television, movies and such. Comic books and things like that. But they didn't have those types of things in the wizarding world, so he had no idea where they got their version from.
"From the books, of course," said Fletcher, waving his hand in the air as if to indicate the library was behind him.
"You do know that most books are fiction, right?" Harry said, looking at him, tilting his head to the side.
"Well, of course we know that. But there are history books," Fletcher said, rubbing his chin in a knowing manner.
"And what history book can you point me to say that there is a hero that fights for nothing?" asked Harry. "Every single history book that I've ever read, they're either in the army, for which they are getting paid, or they're in the government; again, getting paid. Or they're in some other form of service; again, getting paid. I am in none of those things. I am going to be paid," he said empathetically.
"I have already had this debate with the young man, and I agreed with him, and he will be compensated for his actions," Albus Dumbledore said as if he was the last authority on the argument. He was rubbing his forehead tiredly as if he was completely done with the entire discussion.
"I have an addendum to add," said Hermione, reaching for a piece of paper and reading from it to make sure she got what she wanted to say correct.
"Oh, and what is that young lady?" the old man asked, thinking that she couldn't say anything important. She was, after all, only a 15-year-old little girl. Even if she was the top of her class.
"I feel that he should be pardoned for any deaths that might occur against the enemy," Hermione said primly as if she wasn't asking for a blanket pardon. Something like this could have great repercussions if not used carefully.
"I do not have that authority or power," Albus said, lying through his teeth. He did have this kind of authority; he just didn't want to invoke it.
"Then find somebody that does. Besides, are you not the Chief Warlock?" She asked, glaring at him. She knew he was lying; she just didn't know why.
"I am."
"Then you do have the authority and the power," she said, tapping her quill on the table in front of her, causing the ink to leave a splotch on the paper.
"It is a ceremonial office," he hedged, hoping that she bought that because it was a ceremonial office, when he was in front of the Wizengamot. However, it did hold a lot of power, as in the power to veto and the power to pardon.
"That holds the power to give pardons. I've looked it up. Don't try and bullshit me, Headmaster," Granger stated, giving him her best glare. Since she had been shunned starting her first year, her glares had gone up to the point where she could cut glass with just her eyes. If she tried. Dumbledore was now meeting the full force of that glare.
"Oh, she told you," said Harry, making wiggly motions with his hands. "I wouldn't try and hide things from her. She is a research genius." He was very proud of his second in command. Hermione could research the hell out of anything. If it could be found. She would find it, no matter how obscure it was.
"Very well. I will issue a pardon for any deaths that may occur against the enemy side as long as they are justifiable," Dumbledore said, trying to edge something in there that he could use in the end. If so, there would be a way to throw these miscreants into Azkaban if he thought that they stepped out of line.
"Not good enough," said Hermione.
"Excuse me," said Dumbledore, his eyes widening. He was shocked that somebody would deny him anything.
"Who is going to decide what is justifiable? I want a pardon straight across the board for any enemy deaths," she stated once again, tapping her quill and leaving another splash on her paper. It was a good thing she wasn't using parchment because that stuff was expensive.
"I'm not sure that that's viable," said the old man said, not wanting to lose that wiggle room. He wanted to catch these children and young people dead to rights if they had done something wrong. A blanket pardon would not be able to do that.
"I don't care what you think," she said primly. "You either give me this pardon or we walk. I want it for Harry, myself and everybody in our party. You should have one for your side, your party too." She looked around at the people at the table as if they were not expendable.
"I will not allow my followers to kill. You should not allow your followers to kill either," he said to her in a grandfatherly fashion, stroking his beard in such a way that it came off as a kind old man.
"I thought you wanted the death of the Dark Lord," said Harry, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
"I do," said Dumbledore.
"Then you're going to give me that pardon," said Harry, tapping his finger on his chin.
"I will have to put it in front of the Wizengamot," Dumbledore said, sighing and rubbing his hand down his face.
"You do what you must do. Until then, these talks are off the table. You've given what you have. We've given what we have. Crabbe, what does Tom have to share?" Harry asked, turning to the overweight man on his left-hand side.
"My master thinks that the older Dark Lord will use the blood of the enemy," Vincent said as if imparting great knowledge.
"Oh dear, that's not good," said Dumbledore with a morose look on his face.
"Why is that not good?" asked Harry.
"Because that means he's going to try and kidnap you and use your blood," the old man said with the somewhat gleeful tone.
"I'd bloody well like to see him try," Harry said, punching one hand into the other.