Hey everyone,
I'm going to be honest, this is basically where I ran up against a wall. I had multiple ideas of how I wanted the upcoming scenario to play out and they kept changing. Well, at least in small ways they kept changing, mostly in the order of how it all plays out. I do have plans. Also, once the 27th is over, I'm going to make a timejump to the 30th.
And bring in Lea,
Venquine1990
Chapter 05
Unspeakables And Order Members
27th of September 1995
Private Chambers, Hogwarts
Harry's POV
"Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want with us? Who do you work for?" Hermione asks in rapid succession, yet also unable to hide the tone of fear through her need to sound tough, strong and intimidating. Yet the woman, who while she wears very conservative cloths is still easily able to be distinguishable for her gender, just calmly answers: "I am Pepper Pomfrey, Poppy's older sister. I work for the Unspeakables."
This shocks us, the fact that the woman is so open about herself shocking me more than anything and I notice her turning to look at me, even though she wears a hood that hides most of her features and makes her whole face one big black outline, her eyes, nose and mouth only recognizable by lines of a softer shade of black. "I am here for you, Mr. Potter. My fellow Unspeakables and I have noticed an increasing number of guards at our door these past months.
We got curious as to why and started searching our Department for something that might interest them, that might interest their enemy. Imagine our surprise when we suddenly came across a prophesy that was set in our Department. One that, apparently, is about you and that Dark Lord Dweep. And while normally only those a prophesy is about are able to take it, were we able to actually get it to recite its stated words.
We also found out that Dumbledore was the one to have heard it the first time around, when it was made and studied the words ourselves. And after studying that and the events of the past fourteen years, we came to quite the disturbing realization. This prophesy, Mr. Potter, is the whole reason that Dark Dweep went after you all those years ago.
He and Dumbledore are taking that stupid little orb word for freaking word. And with that they're making the biggest mistake of both their lifetimes – and yours as well." And while the woman sounds calm and even slightly careless, do her words rock my world and I think: "Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time. The Weapon the Order is guarding is a damned prophesy. My parents were killed over a dumb bunch of words."
"What does it say? The Prophesy? What does it say? Why would its words make Voldemort want to go after Harry? And how could it be about both of them? Didn't you say it explained the events of the last fourteen years? Doesn't that mean the prophesy was made when Harry was still an infant? How could there be a prophesy about an infant and the Darkest wizard in History?" Hermione asks, obviously trying to make sense of all this.
"The words don't matter. No, they don't. Why? Because I can already tell that all of you are on the verge of making the same mistake those two dweebs did; take each and every word literal and believe them down to the most literal sense of the word. And that is the last thing anyone should want to do with a subject as mystical as Divinations." This seems to annoy Hermione and then Pomfrey, still sounding careless, says:
"And besides, this is hardly the first prophesy predicting something like this. Which is another mistake that old dweeb made. He thinks this is the only prophesy predicting the birth of someone able to end the dark reign of another. He thinks this prophesy is the end-all, be-all of Divinations and hasn't studied any other prophesy, not even ones that are recorded in history books. If he did, he would find some very interesting and familiar lines in them."
"Like what?" I can't help but ask and the woman sighs, breathing through her nose as she does and says: "Like the one line that is basically the crux, heart and soul of this damned thing – and one that comes back in a good two, if not three-hundred other prophesies. And then I'm only counting the prophesies ever made about English witches and wizards. If I were to go continental, I'd get somewhere closer to 1000 if not more."
"What is this line?" Every Weasley present asks and the woman recites: "Either must die at the hand of the other." And at the third word do my legs give up on me, making me tumble down for the second time today. Instantly Lee reacts, using his wand to summon a chair to end up behind me, making me crash within it. Yet I am too horrified and feel too broken to even notice this, tears running down my face as I lie a desperate hand on my stomach.
I hear the Pomfrey woman sigh and mutter: "I knew that would happen. Harry, remember what I said. This line is in almost every prophesy – and it is the one line that proves that Divinations should not be taken literally. The word hand is not something that means the hand holding the wand. In prophesy language its definition is that which gives." And to my astonishment do I actually see Ron nod in agreement with this. I turn to him and he says:
"Our dream diaries. I did some reading to make sure I could keep making the dreams be believable and found a section about prophetic dreams. It intrigued me and I read the whole thing. It went into prophesies as well and the language and definition of several of the most common terms used within their predicted statements. Hand is the one word that has over a million different definitions and can be used in even more different ways."
Hermione gapes at our best friend over this, but I turn from him to Pomfrey and ask: "What can I do? You're telling me this all for a reason, so please, for my unborn child, explain." The woman nods and while I can't see her eyes, do I somehow feel sure that she is feeling sorry for worrying me this much. "Basically, Mr. Potter, you and I could hold hands while you, say, order me and the Unspeakables to kill Voldemort and, when we do, it would fulfill the prophesy.
It would be by your hand." This astounds me and I notice the woman's lips quirking up as she says: "And besides, you're basically already fulfilling the prophesy – or at least, another line of it. He shall have a power the Dark Lord knows not. We believe that's the line that inspired that Dweeb to hunt you down, but he didn't study the line or its meaning. And he thinks the words Dark Lord just mean his control over Dark Magic. It hardly ever does."
"Then what does it mean?" Neville asks, yet it's Ron that answers: "Loneliness. Dark Lords, according to Prophesies, are often people who trust absolutely no one and just want to dominate, to rule over all." He turns to us and says: "But Harry does. He has been through hell and back, faced death and looked it in the eye and turned around. And even now that Dumbledore has betrayed him, he still trusts. He trusts us. He has us. That's the power."
This makes some of those around me tear up, me included as I lie both of my hands on my stomach, yet then suddenly the fireplace to my left lights up. This shocks and startles us all and Madam Pomfrey's face shows in the flames as she says: "Sorry sis, I'm sending them through." And a second later my blood starts to boil for the third time today as Dumbledore steps through the fireplace, followed by McGonagall and Mrs. Weasley.
Then, for a short second, fear grips at my heart as both Sirius, my godfather, and Remus Lupin step through as well, Madam Pomfrey behind the two of them, but then the Matron comes to stand with my godfather and this makes me smile. And thanks to Ron's earlier words do I not even feel like looking at either the Chasers, Lee or Neville in fear that they might react badly to this. "What are you doing here?" Dumbledore actually asks the other Pomfrey.
"SIRIUS! FOR MERLIN'S SAKE! WE TOLD YOU TO –!" Mrs. Weasley tries to yell at my godfather, but then Madam Pomfrey waves her wand, actually silencing the woman and she snaps: "I already told you, there will be no yelling around here. I am the new Regent of the Potter line and you will respect my decisions or face the consequences. And unlike you, Molly Weasley, I make my own decisions when it comes to Minor Potter."
And while I feel quite confident that her kids might just join her in that soon, does the Unspeakable then speak. And her first words alone make me chortle as she coldly states: "Personally I think I have more right to be here than an impatient dweeb who thinks he can make other people's decisions for them and is too impatient to study mystical subjects like Divinations." And the way that the man's eyes widen and turn my way says it all.
Then, just like in the common room, do my friends come to stand around me, their wands in their hands even though they don't aim them yet. "What do you think you're doing!?" Mrs. Weasley, who has apparently used non-verbal magic to undo the silencing spell, asks and the twins chorus: "Protecting our friend from threats.""HOW DARE YOU BOYS CALL ALBUS A THREAT! APOLOGIZE THIS INSTANT!"
But while Madam Pomfrey groans and recasts her spell, McGonagall actually instantly undoing the spell and causing for a glaring match between the two staff members, do the twins just coldly tell their mother: "No." And the flat tones of their voices seem to shock their mother enough she falters in the tirade she obviously wants to give them. I look between the twins, the Order and the Unspeakable and then make my decision.
I get out of my chair, my legs shaking slightly as I am still feeling overwhelmed with shock over everything I have learned today, but Neville is instantly at my side, supporting me. I smile at him and then move over to the Unspeakable, ignoring how Dumbledore and McGonagall call out to me to stop. And while I notice the twins conjuring a shield, proving the two raised their wands at me, do I only respond to this by sighing through my nose.
Neville, Ron and Ginny then part, making it so that there is only space between me, the Unspeakable and the wall behind her and I look her in the eye – or at least the outline of her eyes – and ask: "If we hold hands and I give you the order, you will be able to do it?" The woman nods and says: "Like I said, it will be by your hand." And behind me I hear Dumbledore gasp and whimper: "No, she didn't." Yet I ignore this and reach out.
The woman grabs my hand, her hand actually ungloved and four of her finger nails painted in one of the four primary House Colors and the thumb left unpainted. This amuses me, but I ignore it and, remembering what happened between Sirius and Madam Pomfrey earlier, I take a deep breath and state: "I, Harry James Potter, order Pepper Pomfrey, whose hand is in mine, and the Unspeakables to fulfill the prophesy.
To end the road to immortality walked by the Dark Lord known as Tom Marvolo Riddle or Lord Voldemort and to make him, instead, walk the road to death, hell, or whatever punishment he deserves for the crimes he committed against humanity. To no longer be the Dark Lord of the realm of the living or those tied to this plane of existence in anyway or form. So by my hand, do I order, so shall it be known."
And while I take great strength and inspiration from how I see her lips quirking up more and more as I speak, does she strongly state back: "By Harry James Potter's hand, heart, soul and mind, I am ordered, so shall it be done." And as the magic takes hold, do I feel something I didn't even notice. A weight I didn't even know I was carrying feels like it's being lifted off of me, not just my shoulders as the saying goes, but every last bit of me, even my soul.
I take a deep breath as our hands release each other, lying my own hand on my heart instead and faltering in my step as I suddenly feel lighter than I ever have. And Lee is this time the one to come stand behind me and steady me, making me smile at him. Yet my smile vanishes as Dumbledore says: "You've made a grave mistake." Making all of us glare at him, even the Unspeakable who groans and snaps: "No, we have not.
I could literally feel the burden of the prophesy's magic release from Mr. Potter as we sealed our oaths and feel it settle on my own person instead. That's the reason he stumbled, not whatever crap you're thinking. He's not unsteady because the magic punished him or whatever you might think happened, he's been freed from it. And if you weren't such a dweeb who takes prophetic words literal to the last letter instead of realizing they have multiple meanings, you'd know this.
Either must die at the hand of the other? That line is in a good 200 different prophesies, it's in almost every Divinations Book that describes prophesies of the past, it's one of the most common lines in prophesies predicting the birth of someone with the power to end someone's reign of darkness. And darkness doesn't meant dark magic in prophesies either, it means loneliness. Dark Lords, in Divinations, mean people who dominate others.
You may have overheard that prophesy, Albus Dumbledore, but we Unspeakables have studied its language, deciphered the meaning of its words and are, even now, coming up with solutions to make it come true. And guess what. Now that Potter has made his orders –." Here the woman stops, waves her hand and causes for a whole calculus of numbers and calculations to appear in the air before her. This shocks us all and the woman studies it before she says:
"Our chances of doing so by Halloween are at a total of eighty-six percent. Ninety-seven by Christmas and a full one-hundred by Valentine's day. Yes Dumbledore, even prophesies as open-ended as this one can have a full 100% of coming true if you just do the proper studying instead of listening to it once and then planning around it or something retarded like that." And while the woman lectures Dumbledore, do I return to my seat.
The others remain standing around me and then Madam Pomfrey, Sirius and Mrs. Weasley all come to approach me. And to my slight annoyance is Mrs. Weasley the first to reach me, actually daring to, like Dumbledore, pull my hands away from my stomach. I tighten my hold again and glare at her, making her falter before she smiles at me and says: "Oh Harry, I'm so happy. I promise I will –." But instantly, before I can, do others react.
The twins each grab one of her arms and pull her away, the others coming to form a wall between her and me and Ginny is the one to speak: "How dare you? How could you? What are you even thinking? What in the name of – shut up, you stubborn old hag!" She snaps at McGonagall, remembering Madam Pomfrey's warning about no yelling. And while both McGonagall and her mother gape at her, does she glare at her mother and snarl:
"You actually think Harry is going to give his child up for adoption? You actually dare to think that an orphan would willingly separate himself from the only family he might ever have? You actually are that loyal, that blindly devoted to Dumbledore over there that you dare to agree with him? What if he had done this to you? What if he had told you that you should give up either Ron or me while you were pregnant of us, because of Uncle Gideon and Fabian?"
The woman gasps horrified and even my own eyes widen as I can barely believe Ginny would use something like that as an example. Yet Ginny doesn't seem done as she continues her tirade: "You lot disgust me. You have no right to make a decision like this. And the fact that you made it even before Harry was told he was pregnant, that he dared to tell it to Harry in the same conversation as telling Harry that he was pregnant – you all disgust me."
Ginny then turns to me, which I can see as her head slightly sticks out over the shoulders of her older brothers and she says: "This should be a day of celebration. The one thing Voldemort tried all those years ago – oh, get over yourselves, you bunch of chicken – is being undone. Harry is getting his family back. He should be given the chance to celebrate this fact, not dread the idea that those who care for him want to take him the one source that makes him happy."
She then looks back at her mother and asks: "How can you, a mother, just stand there and think you can tell another mother that he or she should give up their child, their firstborn? How can you be so heartless that you won't even give this new family a chance to exist, not even on the day it was created? How can any of you live with yourselves, knowing you are asking someone who has done so much for you to just sacrifice even more?
What is your excuse?" And while I feel teary-eyed over the fact that I can tell her daughter's words are convincing Mrs. Weasley, does McGonagall seem determined to stick to her pride as she says: "He's still in school." To which, to my pride and joy, Hermione retorts: "OWLs can be taken independently at both the Ministry and Diagon Alley." The woman falters for a moment, probably because it's Hermione, but then says:
"The Muggles he lives with will never accept him having a child." To which Ron retorts: "Madam Pomfrey became his Regent today, she'll take him in. Either her or his Destined mate, which is the whole reason he's pregnant in the first place." McGonagall glares at the boy, who defiantly glares back at her and she snaps: "He won't be able to provide for himself, not until he's off age which is in two years." Yet to this the twins snort and one of them says:
"Harry gave us his Tri-Wizard winnings." And while McGonagall wants to snap: "Exac –." Does the other say: "We'll be happy to make him a silent partner and share our profits between the three of us. And we graduate around the same time he has his baby. Plus, his mate might be older than him and have a job of his own and so does Madam Pomfrey." And then Professor McGonagall actually breaks and snarls: "HE IS DISGRACING HIS PARENTS' SACRIFICE!"
And this time there are no retorts as everyone just gapes at the woman, none of us able to believe that she would dare say such a thing. Yet then, while I was expecting Sirius, does Lupin growl: "No, he isn't." And while I silently wonder if the full-moon might be near, do we turn to the man, who actually does look more feral than human, his amber eyes alight with rage and hatred, making McGonagall squeak in fear.
"James and Lily died so Harry could live. So he could have a life that heis happy with. And Ginny is right. This child makes him happy. You need only look at Harry and you can see it. Just the way that he is holding his hands over his stomach, even though the child is barely grown enough to react, proves how Harry has already accepted this, how this is what he wants, what makes him happy. And Ginny is also right in saying we don't have the right to take this from him."
Sirius nods and says: "Which is exactly why I gave Regency over to Poppy. We talked and she told me her plans. They obviously proved that she has plans for both my godson and his child, that she wants to give Harry this chance, this chance to be happy. And for those of you wondering how we talked, James gave us these." And the both of them hold up the two brooches, that look quite identical though one has an emerald and the other a brown topaz.
The two men both turn to McGonagall and Sirius says: "You're in the wrong, Minerva. You're just letting your ego get the better of you and don't want to admit to your own students, your own House, that you're wrong. But Harry proved that each of your reasons are invalid and you only need look at him and his friends to know that the past won't repeat itself. If Harry decides to go down the road of his parents and use the Fidelius, he has plenty of Secret Keepers to choose from.
And not one of them is anything like Pettigrew. This, right here, proves more than anything else that this war isn't going to be like the last one; that this time we really do have people we can trust; people we can trust our future and our kids with. I need only look at that group over there and I see a group of friends that is even closer and more trustworthy than James, Remus, me and that little rat were. And you have to be blind not to see that."
This makes all of us smile at the man, while I hear Alicia whisper at Angelina: "And people think he's a Death Eater?" At which her friend and brother's girlfriend shrug in confusion before Lupin speaks up and asks: "So my only question left is; what is your deal, Minerva? Why are you so determined to get your way, regardless of Harry's rights and desires?" Yet before the woman can answer – or argue back as it looks like – Neville speaks up.
You go, Neville.
So yeah, I established a very vital OC, created the situation that makes it so that Harry won't have to be the one to take down Voldemort, gave Harry a chance to grow a real support group around him and had a bit of a confrontation between him and some of the Order. And to be honest, I think McGonagall is going to be the only one who is going to hold onto her stubbornness; Albus and Molly will accept Harry's wishes and aid him in them.
Why? Because I don't really feel like bashing them again. Though if you're looking for a good AD!Bashing story, check out "Yule Ball Drama" by Vance McGill. It has brilliant, long-term Dumbledore, Molly, Ron and Ginny bashing, HarryxHermione, a very nice and consistent story and he/she updates every single day. The story has 33 chapters and is going to cover everything from halfway through Fourth year all the way into Fifth.
A great read,
Venquine1990
