On a Tuesday night, Petunia and Vernon Dursley sat in the lounge with their son and nephew listening to the BBC weather report. Following the revelation of the Dursleys lying about receiving financial support to pay for their nephew's care, Harry maintained a cool persona around the adults, but the two cousins had begun a reasonable relationship.
The four could sit in the lounge and watch the news on the telly to maintain the illusion of a family. Tonight, Dudley shivered and complained, "How is it this cold in August?"
Vernon shook his head and said, "Must be a cold front…but the weather report doesn't say anything about it."
Harry frowned and said, "Cooler nights are good for the blooming flowers."
"We do have the most beautiful garden this summer," Petunia agreed, pulling her sweater closer. "Even Mrs Polskis complimented our roses."
Suddenly, the family's quiet evening was interrupted by a loud knock on the front door that was repeated several times.
"Who the bloody hell is banging on my front door after nine o'clock?" growled Vernon as he rose and hurried to the door. He barely turned the doorknob when the door flew open and six Aurors strode into the room, their red robes and attitudes dominating the room.
"What the blazes…" Vernon sputtered. "What do you fre…men want? This is a private…"
"Shut it muggle!" ordered the oldest Auror. "Where's Harry Potter? We're here to arrest him for using magic tonight!"
"My nephew hasn't used any magic the whole summer!" shouted Petunia. "We know the law and no one in this house breaks the law."
One of the Aurors raised her wand and pointed it at the woman. This prompted Harry and Dudley to move in front of Petunia, but the Auror vanished before the witch could cast any spell.
"What the… Merlin! How did you do that Potter?" demanded the Auror leading the group.
"My cousin didn't do nothing!" Dudley argued. "It's the bloody magic that protects the house and family!"
"How do you know about magic, muggle?"
Harry pushed his way forward and explained, "My cousin has known about magic for a long time. I live here with my relatives…my family. And the wards around this house protect us from anyone with bad intentions like Death Eaters – and anyone else."
"Wards around a muggle resident are illegal!" declared one of the Aurors.
"Really? Then go arrest Albus Dumbledore," Harry declared sarcastically. "He's the wizard who placed them here. Remember him, Albus Dumbledore?"
The Auror frowned and asked Potter, "How do you know this kid?"
"Headmaster Dumbledore has explained it to me many times," Harry replied respectfully, working very hard to maintain his composure and control his temper.
Moving around to stand beside Harry and in front of his wife and son, Vernon demanded to know, "Why are you people forcing your way into my home Tuesday night?"
"The Ministry of Magic monitors the use of magic in muggle areas. Tonight, the monitors report that Harry Potter used at least twenty spells about thirty minutes ago. That violates the Statute of Secrecy and the prohibition of underage magic."
Trying to appear intimidating, the lead Auror held out his left hand and demanded, "Hand over your wand Potter! I'll check it for the last twenty spells you have cast."
Vernon glanced at his nephew who frowned but didn't seem to object, "Why do you want his wand? I thought it wasn't normal to allow another…anyone to handle someone else's wand?"
"An Auror can examine the wand when the wizard is suspected of breaking the law."
Vernon frowned but nodded to Harry, seeming to give permission to hand over the magical focus. He added, "We're law-abiding folks and we support that statute of secrets you cited. All the boy's magical things are locked away for the whole summer."
Surprised by the admission, the Auror asked, "Why did you take his wand away from him?"
Petunia snorted, "Not his wand. He has to keep it on his person, but he hasn't used magic this summer! It's the law! Your law! My nephew can't use his wand in the summer!"
"Well, where is it?" the man demanded.
Harry's wand appeared as if magically in his hand and before he offered it to the lead Auror he asked, "What's your name?"
The Lead Auror wanted to growl and refuse to answer but this was the Boy-Who-Lived and Director Bones had chewed out Tonks for aggravating this public figure enough to generate a complaint. As the lawyers predicted in Gringotts, the Ministry for Magic didn't move against Tonks for peeping at the muggles – violating the privacy of muggles wasn't against the law so long as the statue of secrecy wasn't breached. Thus far, the statute was intact but just barely.
"Senior Auror Horace Makepeace," the wizard replied, and he saw Potter's eyes light up, recognizing the name.
"Are you related to Harvey Makepeace?" asked Harry.
Makepeace felt his face reflect his honest surprise and admitted, "He's my son. How do you know him?"
"We were in Gryffindor House together for three years before he graduated," Harry answered. "Of course, I knew who he is."
Makepeace was surprised that the Boy-Who-Lived knew his son. For three years, Harvey complained that the Weasley brothers kept the Potter boy isolated and ignorant of everything and everyone around him. Harvey wasn't powerful magically or mentally and Horace hoped the new blood would rekindle the Makepeace family magics. His new wife would accept her duty soon enough and they could stop giving her potions – she'd never fall pregnant while under the influence of calming potions.
A second witch in the group reported, "There are very powerful wards around the house sir. Two more Aurors stationed outside have vanished."
"Go outside the wards and cast spells to locate them but don't throw any spells at the house! Make certain the Notice-Me-Not spells are in place and strong."
"Why are you accusing my nephew of using magic tonight, sir?" Petunia asked. "He's been quiet and studying his books all summer."
"The Ministry for Magic has been watching him…he's notorious for being a troublemaker," Makepeace replied. "He's caught the minister's attention."
"Troublemaker?" asked Petunia. "Didn't Minister Fudge announce in your newspaper last week that my nephew was the victim of poisoning during that contest he was forced into…the poison caused him to have terrible hallucinations about that wizard that killed his parents?"
Makepeace admitted, "Minister Fudge did say that, but some officials think your nephew is not being truthful."
Petunia frowned at Makepeace and Harry before she replied, "Harry never goes looking for trouble, but you people always make certain it finds him."
Makepeace cast a spell on Harry's wand, and a list of spells appeared in the air above the wand. Dudley Dursley asked, "Cool! What's it say?"
Vernon echoed his son's question, "Yes Mr Auror, what does the magical spell report about my nephew's wand?"
Makepeace was slow to reply but finally he admitted, "The last spell cast with this wand was the packing spell back on 29 June. Mr Potter was at Hogwarts when he cast the spell to pack his trunk. And it doesn't register any other spells being cast since then."
"Wait! Does he have another magical focus?" asked one of the Aurors in the room. "That's illegal too!"
Before Makepeace could say anything, the same wizard cast a spell that spread throughout the house and then generated a piece of parchment. The wizard read it before handing the page to Makepeace. The Lead Auror frowned dangerously at the wizard who refused to meet his commander's eyes.
"There are multiple wands in the house – Mr Potter's single wand and then the wands for each Auror," Makepeace announced, his frown growing darker.
"Do any of you have more than one wand?" asked Harry.
Makepeace frowned and said, "That's not relevant…"
"It is!" Vernon replied. "You fellows just said that more than one wand per wizard and witch is illegal. Each of you with two or more wands is breaking your own law!"
With that statement, every Auror in the house vanished – including Horace Makepeace. Left behind by the magic that pulled Horace Makepeace from No. 4 Privet Drive, Harry's wand dropped to the floor where the young wizard retrieved it. The Aurors had been recognized as a danger to Harry Potter and the Dursleys and were removed by the wards.
"That's so cool!" Dudley stated, earning a mild smack on his arm from his mother.
Uncle Vernon frowned and said, "I don't suppose that's the end of the matter. Keep your wand on you Harry and let's go see if we can find these police fellows."
&&& CHANGE SCENE
Harry and Vernon walked to the sidewalk and looked around for the missing wizards. Vernon didn't see anything out of place, but Harry did. He grabbed his uncle's arm and pointed toward the vacant lot beside No. 7 across the street. With his nephew touching him, Vernon could see the thirteen men and women in the red robes of Aurors hanging in the air as if petrified. He asked, "Think they're dead?"
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "We better go check."
Dudley had escaped from his mother's clutches by this time, joined them and asked, "What's going on?"
Harry grabbed his cousin's arm, and once he had time to digest what he saw, the other teenager snickered, "They're hung up like pinatas at a party."
"Dud, don't let them hear you say things like that. They're all bullies and used to getting their own way about everything," Harry insisted. "They wouldn't think twice about giving you another pig's tail – or a snout."
When they were close enough to notice, Harry and his uncle could see that the men and women were breathing and could even move but only very slowly.
Dudley commented, "It's like they're stuck in molasses so something else thick and sticky."
"Huh…so that's what wards do," Harry stated, tilting his head to one side and studying the trapped Aurors. He saw several of them moving their wands toward the wrist of their other arm and he figured they had some type of emergency signal there to signal for help.
Harry called out to the trapped Aurors, "Don't do anything to aggravate the wards. No one is dead but if you push the limits, the wards might squash you like a bug."
Makepeace found that his head was released from the thick ward, and he shouted, "Stand down! Do nothing to threaten the muggles protected by these wards!"
Slowly the captive wizards dropped to the ground and began to move normally again. Vernon ordered Dudley back to the house and when the boy wanted to protest, Harry whispered, "Go upstairs and get the camera with the zoom lens. You can see everything from the bedroom window and get some photos."
Dudley ran back to the house and up the stairs. Petunia stood on the stoop, watching everything across the street. Vernon cleared his throat and asked, "Are any of your officers injured?"
"What?" asked Makepeace with a nasty tone in his voice.
But Vernon remained calm and polite when he repeated, "Did the wards that protect my home and nephew harm any of your men and women?"
Grimacing, Makepeace took a headcount and verbally admitted that no one had been injured.
"And you agree that my nephew didn't cast any spells this evening?" continued Vernon.
Frowning and nodding his head, Makepeace agreed but Harry insisted, "You must say it aloud Auror Makepeace. Magic doesn't recognize a nod of the head."
"I agree that Harry Potter didn't cast any spells this evening," Makepeace replied through clinched teeth.
Then Vernon asked, "Then, who did? Are there other wizards lurking about again?"
The Lead Auror's face appeared shocked at the notion, and he quickly ordered three pairs of Aurors to begin casting detection spells while two other pairs renewed the notice-me-not spells that kept the muggles in the neighbourhood away.
"Go back to the house," Makepeace ordered the muggle and half-blood. "Since you're innocent, this no longer concerns you."
Harry wanted to protest but Uncle Vernon took his nephew's arm and turned him toward the house. As they walked away, Vernon advised, "You're innocent. Everyone's memory will state so. Now, back at the house, go upstairs and get the binoculars. You can stay there with Dudley and watch 'em search the neighbourhood. Your aunt and I will bring chairs out on the stoop and keep watch."
Pleased by the notion, Harry ran ahead of Vernon and brought out two of the yard chairs that he set up on the stoop. Then Harry ran up the stairs to join his cousin in the bedroom on the front of the house. There the two teenage boys spied on the magical policemen. Petunia and her husband held hands as they sat in the chairs and waited for the inevitable arrival of more freaks to disturb their Tuesday evening.
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Owls Visit Privet DriveThe gloom and cold vanished from Privet Drive. After ten minutes of watching the Aurors running around the neighbourhood, Vernon snorted with supressed laughter. Smiling as well, Petunia looked over and asked, "What?"
"Remember the Monty Python skits from when we were younger?" he asked, motioning toward the men and women in red robes running about. "If anyone sees anything and asks, we'll just tell them it is a sketch troupe from the BBC practicing."
Petunia couldn't deny the idea was entertaining. Then, Harry appeared at the door behind them and stepped around his aunt and uncle to meet an owl bearing a letter. He had spotted the owl with the binoculars and came to intercept the bird. Harry detached the parchment, and the owl took off before a second owl appeared with a second letter.
The first letter was from the Ministry for Magic, written by a witch named Mafalda Hopkirk who worked for the Improper Use of Magic Department. The letter declared that the young wizard would be expelled from Hogwarts for using magic during the summer.
"Would that solve our problem?" Vernon asked in a quiet whisper.
Harry shook his head, "They'd wipe our memories and we'd be sitting ducks for every wizard in Britain."
Before he could open the second letter, Auror Makepeace walked up and stated, "Mr Potter, Mr Dursley, there are several bodies in the park. Would you come and see if you can identify them?"
Petunia sat back down and gasped, "Bodies? Were they murdered?"
"It's difficult to explain," Makepeace said. "Mr Potter have you heard of Dementors?"
"Yeah, they were all around Hogwarts during my third year – that would have been your son's last year. Didn't he ever tell you?"
"Around Hogwarts? No, Harvey never said anything about Dementors."
"Dementors? My sister told me about them!" Petunia exclaimed. "Is it safe here?"
"The Dementors are long gone. We have sent several Patronus spells around the neighbourhood," Auror Makepeace explained. "You should feel much happier now."
"And I've been blamed for that," Harry said handing over the letter he'd just received.
Makepeace cursed and dispatched a message Patronus to Hopkirk blasting her interference in a DMLE investigation. "Delete the report – it wasn't Potter! And when I get back to the ministry, expect to be called before the Head Auror and the Director of the DMLE to explain yourself!"
Petunia returned inside the house and closed the door, while Vernon and Harry followed Makepeace back to the park. Vernon was confused about where he was until Harry took his uncle's arm; this allowed the muggle to see through the powerful Notice-Me-Not charms around the area – there were three bodies lying on their backs. There were marks like terrible burns around their faces.
Harry looked away, repulsed. After staring for a moment, Vernon exclaimed, "They're breathing! They're alive. What's wrong with them?"
Makepeace explained, "Their souls are gone. Dementors suck out the soul and leave a husk behind that stops breathing after about an hour."
There was silence for another moment and then Makepeace asked, "Do you know these people?"
Pointing at one woman, Vernon replied, "She's Arabella Figg who lives one street over. I've seen the other two individuals sculking around the neighbourhood this summer. The man is always drunk, and the woman walks around pretending to be a regular person but with those clothes, everyone thinks she is an advertisement for a group that's reenacting life from the age of Queen Elizabeth I."
Harry asked Makepeace for the names of the other two individuals and the Auror replied, "The man is Mundungus Fletcher, a thief. And the witch is Emmaline Vance, an Auror with the DMLE."
"I've seen both around the neighbourhood this summer. The wizard is always drunk and passed out underneath the shrubbery at the edge of the park or someone's house. The witch walked around sometimes, and I guess she thinks her robes look enough like muggle dresses to pass."
While they watched the body of Arabella Figg stopped breathing. And there was a subdued pop in a shadowy area where no one could see people. Another crew of Aurors appeared, a grey-haired woman wearing a monocle in the centre. Makepeace and his Aurors all came to attention as the witch stepped forward and her face grew dark and angry seeing the three bodies on the ground.
"Scrimgeour said there was a dead Auror! Report!" she commanded.
"Three individuals with characteristics of being kissed by Dementors."
"I can see that Makepeace!" the witch growled. "Start at the beginning."
"The Improper Use of Magic Department reported that multiple offensive spells and several attempts at the Patronus occurred in this neighbourhood about 45 minutes ago. This is the street where Harry Potter lives with his family. Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour dispatched my coven to investigate."
Bones nodded and Makepeace continued, "Upon apparating into the neighbourhood, we immediately went to…to check on Potter and determined that he was not the guilty party."
Glancing at the boy and his uncle, Amelia asked, "Will I be receiving another letter from you, Mr Potter?"
"From his muggle guardian this time. I am Mr Vernon Dursley," the man said. "Your officers were discourteous and less than professional inside our home."
Bones eyes glared at Auror Makepeace, and the wizard felt sweat breaking out on his forehead. "So, after harassing Mr Potter and his relatives needlessly, what did you do?"
"We…uh…"
"They were ejected from the house by the wards that protect us," Harry stated. "Each of them is carrying at least one additional wand and the wards judged them to be threat to our family."
Bones scowled and Makepeace felt the sweat running down his back, when the director asked, "Mr Potter, how did you learn the Aurors were carrying extra wands?
"When Mr Potter's wand proved to be… the boy hadn't used his wand since leaving Hogwarts at the end of June. Auror Jennings showed the initiative to cast the Auror spell searching for all magical foci inside a residence."
"And?"
"The parchment reported that the coven each carried a second wand but there were no other wands in Mr Potter's home."
"That spell is forbidden to be used in front of suspects!" Bones shouted angrily.
Auror Jennings spoke up, "But Dolores told me that Potter is a liar! We couldn't believe anything Potter said."
Now, Amelia Bones turned toward the Auror, smiled and asked, "And exactly when did you speak with Undersecretary Umbridge, Auror Jennings?"
Makepeace closed his eyes and hoped his career survived the debacle that was about to descend upon his coven of Aurors. Jennings took a half step backwards before a flick of Amelia's wand petrified the man in place.
"Tell me Auror Jennings, when did the undersecretary speak to you?"
"A couple hours ago…she said there'd be trouble with Potter tonight. Even though, the minister ordered everyone to leave the boy alone, she knew the boy was lying about everything. And when spells were fired off tonight here in muggleland, he'd be behind it. We could arrest him, and she'd make certain he was expelled."
"Makepeace? "
"I didn't know anything about the undersecretary, ma'am, but there's a letter from Hopkirk expelling the boy…Mr Potter."
Holding out her hand for the letter, Bones took it and read it. She called over one Auror and dispatched the witch to arrest Hopkirk and place her in a secure cell.
"Anyone else from your coven who is on Umbridge's payroll, Makepeace?
Jennings turned four shades of white at the implication while Horace sputtered and looked over his other Aurors. "No ma'am! No one!"
"Any sign of the Dementors?"
"None. We cast a dozen Patronus spells to make certain and to remove the gloom and cold."
"And that's what Hopkirk used to issue the expulsion?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Very good. Walk with me as we escort Mr Potter and his uncle home. Then return and get everything cleaned up. Then take the victims to the DMLE infirmary and tell Easterly to use his team to make the notifications. Your coven is confined to the DMLE situation room until I release them. And Makepeace collect everyone's wands – all of them. Don't let anyone talk to them. If you see Umbridge, tell her that everything is under control," Bones ordered.
"Yes ma'am."
The witch pulled her wand and cast a Patronus to carry a message, "Rufus Scrimgeour, call Auror Harris to get back to the ministry," Bones ordered. "We must know how many Aurors are following our esteemed Chief Warlock's personal agenda or dear Dolores' plots and plans."
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Arthur Weasley Visits Privet Drive August 10Amelia Bones, Lead Auror Makepeace and her guards escorted Vernon and his nephew back to No. 4 Privet Drive and on the short walk, the witch apologised for the attitude of the Aurors. She didn't attempt to explain it, simply stated that Makepeace and his coven would be raked over the coals and Auror Jennings would be demoted. "Magic leaves us with a feeling of…of being different from the muggle people."
Vernon was diplomatic when he replied, "I have learned to expect nothing less from the magical people my nephew interacts with."
Remembering the second letter, Harry pulled it from his pocket, read it and then informed the others, "Dumbledore knows about these events. He's sending Arthur Weasley to collect me 'for my own safety.' I must leave tonight."
Vernon frowned and asked Madam Bones, "Is this legal? Kidnapping my nephew?"
"I believe Dumbledore is Mr Potter's magical guardian."
"And that gives him the right to take Harry away before September?
"Only because of the special circumstances of the Dementors being here."
Harry asked, "Will the Dementors come back?"
"No!" Director Bones replied. "They were sent. It was an attempt to assassinate Mr Potter or get him expelled. With the testimony of Auror Jennings and Matilda Hopkirk, I can arrest the Undersecretary."
"Won't Minister Fudge let her off?" asked Harry, worried that his deal with Fudge was done. He'd wait a couple days to do anything about releasing the information on Fudge's parentage.
"Not if I can get my hands on the work order for the Dementors! Once I have it, Umbridge's spell is broken."
When they reached the house, Arthur Weasley was waiting – locked out by Petunia and forced to remain standing on the stoop. He was shocked to find his boss, her guards and Lead Auror Makepeace escorting Harry and his uncle back. Seeing a dozen questions flash across Arthur's face, Bones frowned again. First ,she asked, "Where are you taking him, Arthur?"
"I can't tell you where. But it's a safe house…I just can't tell you," replied the wizard and watched the director's face turn sour.
"That spell never works for long," she stated. After a moment weighing her options, Amelia said, "Very well. Mr Potter you probably will be safe with this wizard until the first of September when you return to Hogwarts. However, between now and then, I require you to provide me with a freely composed letter delivered by your personal owl every other day. You should inform me of the books you're reading."
Turning to Weasley, Madam Bones firmly asked, "Arthur, do you understand what I have told Mr Potter? He's to be able to freely send and receive letters for the rest of August. If some bearded old wizard has a problem with that requirement, tell him he will answer some difficult questions in the well of the Wizengamot."
"I understand Director Bones," Arthur replied.
Waving her wand to remove any listening charms (Arthur had cast three on the house earning him a rebuke from Director Bones), and then directing the young wizard to gather his belongings so that he could depart from No. 4 Privet Drive, Amelia 'suggested' that Arthur visit her office for a chat the next morning.
Harry stepped inside the house with Vernon. They locked the door and before Harry ran up the stairs to retrieve his trunk, there was a whispered conversation with Dudley (and his parents) about sending a letter at least once a fortnight with his news and he hoped they would reply with their news.
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Harry Arrives at Grimmauld Place August 10The Boy-Who-Lived's first experience with wizard's side-apparition was not pleasant for Harry Potter. Arthur Weasley was very experienced with apparition, and he often travelled with two or more of his children with him. Carrying only one boy this time, Arthur overpowered the spell and left the Boy-Who-Lived barfing up his supper on a rough street in London.
"Come along, Harry," Arthur said. "We have to get off the street quickly."
Wiping his mouth, Harry stood and looked around. He asked, "And go where?"
Drawing a scrape of parchment from his pocket, he handed it to Harry and said, "Memorise this!"
Harry read, 'The Order of the Phoenix has a secret location at No. 12 Grimmauld Place in London.'
"What's the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry asked before a house appeared from between the townhouses at No. 10 and No. 14. The house was certainly rundown but fit right in with the neighbourhood. Arthur collected the parchment back from the teenager, opened the door, and led Harry inside, shutting the door behind them.
The interior of the house was filthy and looked as if an excentric muggle doing psychedelic drugs had decorated it. There were cherubs with horns, an elephant foot for an umbrella stand, and there were paintings of grisly rituals on the walls depicting wizards ripped the entrails from muggles, centaurs, or goblins.
"Harry, do you know why Remus can't get through wards to pick you up?" asked Mr Weasley once they were inside the house.
"Remus?" asked Harry. "No idea. I haven't seen Lupin since…"
Then the teenager briefly paused before he continued, "Since the day we arrived back in London. I had to speak rather sharply to him about harassing my aunt and uncle, and the Grangers."
"Remus?" asked Arthur, not hiding the surprise in his tone.
"Yeah, surprised me too," Harry replied sincerely.
"Well, Sirius wanted Remus to go get you this evening but then Lupin revealed that he can't get through your wards anymore."
Looking shocked, Harry explained, "Those wards protect me from anyone who means me harm. I wonder what Remus did to turn them against him?"
From the kitchen door, came Molly Weasley followed by Ron, Ginny, Fred and George. Mrs Weasley commented on how thin Harry looked (he didn't). Ginny tried twice to say something but simply stared, Fred and George promised a prank war starting the next day. Ron frowned and asked, "Potter, have you heard about Hermione?"
"Fred, George, help Harry get his trunk up the stairs and into Ron's room," Mrs Weasley commanded, after ordering Ron to remain silent. "Then you kids stay up there. A meeting is about to begin in the kitchen, and you can't be in there."
The twins made a production of lugging the school trunk up the steps, while Ginny followed, with Ron and Harry slowly climbing the stairs. Ron complained about not hearing from Harry the whole of the summer.
"Ron, I haven't had any letters from Hermione or you for that matter. I tried to send you a letter, but Hedwig couldn't find you."
"We can't send or get letters here in Sirius Black's house."
"Sirius Black's house? Is Sirius here?" asked Harry, knowing this was a Black family property that had vanished from the records at Gringotts.
"Yeah, this is his family home," Fred replied once they were inside the room with Chutney Cannons orange walls. .
Seeing Harry squint from the brightness of the paint, George laughed, "The house ain't much to look at with the dirt and animal heads on the walls."
"The dining room has mounted heads of hippogriff, chupacabra, erumpent, hippocampus and nundu."
"That's a scary looking beast, let me tell you," George said. Harry noticed that Ginny ran out of the room while her three brothers laughed.
Ron added, "Mum refuses to eat let us eat in there because of the eyes in the stuffed heads following you around the room."
"So, where is Sirius?"
"He's down in the kitchen," Ron replied.
Harry rose from where he'd sat on a narrow bed and headed for the door. Ron called out, "Don't try it mate. Mum gets angry if we try to listen to the meetings for the Order."
"What's this thing, this order?" asked Harry, pausing on the stairs.
Fred explained, "The Order of the Phoenix is a group of witches and wizards who fight against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters."
"Does Faulks know about them using the Phoenix symbol?"
"Whut…that bird is just a bird…it ain't got no brain!" insisted Ron.
Harry looked quickly at Fred and George who refused to look at the dark-haired wizard before he said, "Okay, Ron."
Then he turned and hurried down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, he noticed that none of the Weasleys had followed him.
"Wow, they're really scared of their mother about this," he muttered. "Hmmm…I can use tears and being afraid to get close to Sirius."
However, before he could bang on the door, the kitchen door opened, and Sirius Black slipped out of the room. He motioned for Harry to remain quiet and led him into another room – the lounge – where they hugged for three minutes. There were some tears shed but nether remarked on them. They heard someone jiggling the doorknob, but no one was able to enter the room.
"The wards are finally working right," Sirius told his godson. "Lord Black is supposed to be protected from interlopers in every room in Grimmauld Place. But Moony's followed me around like a bloodhound ever since Dumbledore placed the Fidelius Charm on the place."
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