Chapter 15: The Order of the Phoenix
Ginny obtained special permission from the Order to go out into the Muggle world and join the Creevey family. They had taken advantage of the day when Harry had to go to his trial at the Ministry, and she was taken away by her older brother.
The ride was silent, Bill tried to talk to her, but she only gave him short, concise answers. They first appeared in Newcastle, from where they were transported by train to Cramlington. Colin lived in a duplex on Kirton Street, with his brother Dennis and his parents, his father was a milkman and his mother a housewife.
They left early at the same time as Harry and arrived with Colin just after noon. Colin was already waiting for them, he had sent him an owl and he was ready to receive them.
He introduced them to Mrs. Creevey, who received them with warmth and emotion, a friend of her son had never visited them. After introductions and a promise to stay for dinner when Mr. Creevey returned from work, they chatted for a while.
"Oh dear, I'm so excited," said Mrs. Creevey for what seemed to be the tenth time, they were all having tea. "Colin has told me so much about you that I feel like I know you, he's told me what you see, oh of course he doesn't tell me everything, just the general. He's so mature. He even started remodeling that old bunker for us, he cares so much about us and the war to come. "
"A bunker?" Bill asked excitedly, he loved hiding places after all, "I didn't know Muggles had such things. "
"It was from the Second World War," Dennis said. "It's normal for various areas of England to have them, to protect themselves from air raids. "
"Air ri? " Bill asked in surprise, he had never heard of that. "World war? "
The look of surprise on the 3 faces of the Creevey family was the same as Bill's, but after both brothers remembered the scant information that wizards had about the rest of the world, Dennis explained to them about the war and air raids, taking advantage of the talk, he also expanded with emotion about medicine, science, about lunar travel.
Ginny listened silently, thinking, it was something she had never imagined, no wonder the future had become that way if the world of magic was so ignorant.
"That bunker won't be of much use anyway, Colin," Bill said after recovering from his surprise. "It's good for physical attacks like the ones you're describing, but it doesn't work with magic, we don't use the same energy or affect matter in the same way.
"Why don't you help them, brother?" Ginny asked, love in her voice. "You could put protective charms in the bunker to keep them safe. "
Everyone agreed, and Bill was led by Dennis and Mrs. Creevey to the bunker at the back of the house. Colin and Ginny lagged.
She explained to him in a few words what had happened and the agreement she had reached with the Order and asked him what she should do. Colin put a shaken expression on his face, he had been taken by surprise by that level of confidence in him and his abilities, never had anyone (maybe just his parents) thought so highly of his judgment and decision-making. For the same reason, it took him a few moments to recover from the surprise, to get over the lump in his throat that had formed, and to analyze all the information that his best friend had given him.
"I hope your trust in me never runs out, Ginny," he said almost in a whisper, then cleared his throat and began to speak confidently. "Well, as for the issue you mention, it will depend on whether you want there to be real changes or not. "
"If it were for the better, maybe, but I don't know if it's convenient. "
"There are events that you can modify and improve the result. For example, I know you hate that guy Sirius Black, don't you? " At the girl's brisk nod, he continued. "You could save him from going to the Ministry and prevent his death."
"I don't want him to put his nefarious influence on Harry. " Ginny complained. "It will only damage his view of things, as soon as Harry has to run away, Black will help him and they will be together for years, I would lose Harry forever. "
"That wouldn't happen, you know you haven't seen what would happen, but we can guess. " Colin said with a smile, sometimes Ginny was so childish. "Black is a mean person, accustomed to treating badly those he considers inferior to him and those who do not act according to his value system. Harry loves him because he hardly knows him, it's one of two connections he has with his late parents, but he's no fool. They haven't lived together much and if he dies now, when Harry has no other father figure, when he thinks Black is the ultimate, he will put him on a pedestal from which you can never bring him down. "
At Ginny's thoughtful silence, Colin continued, "I don't think you want any of your children to be named Sirius, do you?"
"No! " Ginny exclaimed, then frowned. "Since when have you become so wise?"
"My mom is wise; I consulted her a few things without compromising the essential information. He said, blushing. "I would never have thought that he was selfish to put his revenge first before protecting his godson. But she's a mother and she told me that no decent father would do what he did. And that the only way to stop idolizing someone is to get to know them. "
"That's quite... bright. " Ginny said excitedly, really surprised, they were thoughts similar to what she felt, only she hadn't been able to find the right words. "Well, we'll save him, we can allow minimal damage to be done to him, so he can't accompany Harry without being a burden and betraying him.
"That's pretty malevolent, Ginevra. " Colin said, but he contradicted the stern words are a chuckle. "You can also tell them about the Horcruxes, tell the most trustworthy members of the order, after an oath, they could save your work, and Harry. "
"That... it could be, and it could also reveal to them the information they want to get from the Department of Mysteries, it would spoil Dumbledore's day, he knows perfectly well what Tom wants and hides the information from the Order. "
They kept planning more about what information to reveal and how to do it, they also made at that time Harry's escape plan. When Voldemort began his ascent, they had to find him a place of safety. So, with Bill's help, a flu network was connected to the Creevey house over the next few days, which could go from Madame Pudipié's teahouse. He was also convinced by Ginny to perform a Fidelio Charm to protect that bunker, with Colin being the secret keeper.
When they returned to the Order's headquarters in the evening, Ginny sent a note to Dumbledore.
o-o-o-o
Harry had barely recovered from the trial in which they wanted to expel him from Hogwarts when another shock almost stopped his poor heart.
That night there was another meeting of the Order, albeit a smaller one. Professor Dumbledore had sent a note requesting their presence to a few members. There were disturbances between them, the twins were uncontrollable in their anger when they realized that even their younger brother had been solicited and they had not.
And Sirius was so furious that he hadn't even said a word when he was excluded. He only started screaming when he realized that Snape had indeed been included in that meeting, and he was offended when he saw Lupin also enter the dining room.
Harry entered the dining room and sat to the left of the table foot, with Ginny sitting at the foot of the table. The boy was surprised when he saw who was arriving; Hermione and Ron walked in, both excited to be invited to that meeting. A pale Lupin entered, Harry looked at him wondering why he felt so sick, until he remembered that they had just had a full moon. Tonks came in too, quite cheerful, and following Lupin with joy. A tall, stout black wizard also entered; he had seen him before but did not recognize him. Moody arrived, looking suspiciously at Ginny, and sat down beside the bedboard, from where he could keep an eye on her. Mr. Weasley joined in accompanied by his wife and eldest son, Ginny's mother was angry, grumbling that she did not want the children to be involved.
Finally, at 7 o'clock Dumbledore arrived, the doors were closed, and Bill activated a protective spell. Nothing could come out of that room, only those who were there would know the information and would be unable to share the information.
"Good evening, before we start the meeting, I require you to be able to stay here, at Miss Weasley's request, those who wish to remain at the meeting must sign a contract, Miss Weasley wishes an Unbreakable Vow to be signed..." There were protests from several of those gathered, that vow was too dangerous, the professor prevented them from continuing to speak by raising a hand, and when the table had quieted down, he turned to Ginny. "Miss Weasley, you see, everyone is against it, perhaps our word would suffice not to leak information. "
"With all due respect, sir, I don't care less about what everyone wants, if there is no vow there will be no information, I can't risk the slightest bit of information coming out of their mouths or quills. " Ginny said seriously, then looked each person at the table in the eye. If anyone disagrees, they are welcome to leave the meeting.
Ginny finished by looking at the professor firmly, "And that includes you, sir. "
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and his girlfriend's brothers immediately agreed, the rest took a few moments, but they agreed, and the only one who put up any resistance was Moody, although in the end he relented and the vow was taken.
Dumbledore explained to them a method that was done in his youth, which he had created before he took on the true importance of what an unbreakable vow meant. In Hermione's handwriting, Ginny dictated her terms, and they only received a few modifications at Dumbledore's insistence.
When everyone had signed, they went one by one to Ginny to make the oath, the last one was Dumbledore, and when he finished, he indicated to Ginny that she could begin.
"The first of the three points I want to touch on is what they are watching in the Department of Mysteries. " She began, ignoring everyone's exclamations of surprise, and spoke quickly, preventing Dumbledore from interrupting her. "I understand that Professor Dumbledore has not told you what it is, I will tell you. It's a prophecy, Professor Sybill Trelawney produced it in 1980, and the professor knows it since she said the prophecy in his presence. "
"There is no need to talk about that, Miss Weasley, it is a subject I preferred to talk about alone with Mr. Potter. " Dumbledore said calmly.
"Don't worry about me, Professor, I know about prophecy. " Harry said, satisfied, knowing something that the rest of us didn't
"As Harry said, sir, he knows it, he's known it for years. Like you and Professor Snape, though of course, the Professor only knows one part, the one he reported to his master. " Ginny said, then closed her eyes and uttered the full prophecy in front of everyone. "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 power 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..."
"Oh, Harry." Hermione and Mrs. Weasley said in unison, looking at him sadly, he felt only a little uncomfortable, but he had long since gotten over the horror of the motive for his parents' murder. Lupin looked hatefully at Snape for the first time in his life, Harry felt a sudden affection for the man, for the first time realizing that he too had lost someone when his parents were killed.
"Tom," Harry realized that Ginny had made a mistake in saying that name, she hadn't meant to, but after a strange expression on her face, she was determined and continued. –… Tom only learned the first two sentences, and never realized, that, by branding Harry as his equal, he gave him the power to destroy him. That prophecy is found in the prophecy room in the Department of Mysteries and is what he is looking for.
"Director," The black wizard said a little angrily, "Is that what you've put us to protect? It's just a prophecy, it's not something we should risk it for. "
"Dear Kingsley, it is of the utmost importance that Lord Voldemort does not obtain the prophecy, it is the only weapon we have against him. " Dumbledore said, trying to calm everyone at the table.
"And let a brat bear all the responsibility?" said Moody with a grunt.
"Alastor is right, Albus," said Mr. Weasley. "Prophecy is useful, I imagine, otherwise my daughter wouldn't mention it, but Harry is only 15, he's still a boy who hasn't come of age, we can't leave him alone against Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. "
More discussion among the adults followed. And Ginny just leaned over to Harry and smiled at him. Harry's ears felt hot, uncomfortable things had been happening to him lately when she approached him without him mentally preparing. They stared into each other's eyes, he was curious about what else he would talk to them, and her eyes only sparkled with excitement. He recognized the symptoms of a big reveal, she was so excited it was adorable.
"Well, since we've passed that thorny point, we'll move on to the worst, and with which I require your cooperation to remain silent until I allow you to ask questions. Ginny said when everyone had finished blaming each other. "First of all, I'm going to say that Tom has horcruxes, and for those who don't know the term, I ask my brother Bill to do us the favor of explaining what it is. "
"What?" Bill and Mad-Eye Moody seemed to be the only ones who knew what Ginny was talking about, Moody nodded to himself with a satisfied expression, as if congratulating himself for being able to have an explanation for a doubt, but his brother-in-law looked horrified by the word. "Are you serious? Sister. "
"I would never joke about this Bill, please explain to the others what it is," Ginny said nonchalantly as she looked away and found a scratch on the floor interesting.
And Bill explained, Harry felt his head explode at that information, his face was stunned, as was everyone around the table. Dumbledore looked annoyed with the revelation of this information, but his attempts to stop the explanations were stopped by everyone, too horrified to care what the professor said.
"One minute. " Harry said, interrupting the discussions on the other side of the table, and turned to his girlfriend. "You said Horcruxes? In the plural? "
"Yes. At this knowledge, everyone fell silent.
"I always doubted there was only one. " Dumbledore said as he looked at Ginny. "It's not like Lord Voldemort to risk just one object to ensure his immortality.
"Did you know it?!" Harry's question reflected everyone's mood.
"The diary, with which Miss Weasley was manipulated to open the chamber of secrets, was a Horcrux," said Dumbledore, directing a look of apology towards Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley burst into tears as she lamented that her baby had faced such, and at such a young age. "I knew as soon as I saw the diary what it was, and I was not surprised that Lord Voldermort should dare to break so many rules against nature, but I always thought it suspicious that he should treat his soul with so little care. Do you know how many there are? Miss Weasley. "
Everyone looked at her, Harry realized that she was deciding whether to tell a truth or a half-truth, maybe the others didn't notice because she managed her expressions so well, but he knew her well, he had spent years admiring her face and he could distinguish well the emotions of her gaze. Finally, if he knew her the way he did, she told a half-truth.
"He divided his soul into seven parts."
They all let out outbursts of surprise.
"Did he create seven Horcruxes?" Harry said, terrified, while the others made noises of astonishment and indignation. "But then they could be hidden in any corner of the world, buried or invisible..."
"I'm glad you can see the magnitude of the problem," Ginny said as she watched Dumbledore. "But first of all, let me correct you, love: he didn't create seven Horcruxes, but six. The seventh part of his soul is the one who came back to life, he would never try to divide himself into more or less than seven. "
"Why? " Hermione asked, it was evident that she had overcome the shock, and only her curiosity and thirst for knowledge that was characteristic of her remained.
"It's the most magical number of all. " Ron said, looking at her in amazement, as if surprised that she didn't know that, and she just blushed.
"I assume, Miss Weasley, you know where the Horcruxes are. " Dumbledore said calmly.
"Of course, and I'll tell you," Ginny said with a nod, then looked at Moody and Lupin, then looked back at Dumbledore. "To release that information, I need another vow from you. "
"Miss, we've made enough concessions with you. " Moody said hatefully.
"I must support dear Alastor, Miss Weasley, I don't know what else you could make us promise," said the professor.
"I need the Horcruxes to be delivered to me, I'll keep them safe until we need to destroy them," Ginny said as she wobbled her nails on the table.
"That's stupid Weasley, we won't swear a vow of obedience to you," Snape said, flashing his yellowed teeth disdainfully.
"Oh, it's unpleasant to do more than one, isn't it?" She said mockingly, Harry held back his laughter at the sight of the man's expression.
"Snape is right, brat, how could we trust you after all the things you allowed to happen," Moody said resentfully, clearly thinking of the year he spent locked in a trunk. "How do we know you won't use the Horcruxes for other purposes and betray us?"
"I just want Harry to be okay and only if he doesn't have enemies will he be safe, that's my only motivation. Ginny said as she looked at the boy. Harry felt his ears redden and thanked himself for not having to say a word because his voice would tremble. "But, I'm very kind and I understand your doubts, in return, I'll also take a vow, I'll swear that I'll keep the Horcruxes in a safe place and they'll be destroyed by Harry himself when the time is right. Will that be enough, professor? "
"Then you're going to join the order?" Dumbledore asked seriously, and Harry looked at him in surprise.
"I will continue to refuse that particular request. " She said with a smile. "It's not something I want to do. "
They agreed, Harry watched as they paraded again and took another vow regarding the Horcruxes after another long argument with Dumbledore. Ginny hadn't given up an ounce of information, so they had to comply with her conditions and swore that from that month until December they would take care of getting the Horcruxes to Ginny and she would keep them in a safe place that Harry also had to know.
"Well, the first place you already know, director," Ginny began as she watched Dumbledore. "It's the ring that's the relic of the Gaunts, it's hidden in Little Hangleton, in Tom's family's old shack, it's protected by powerful barriers that you can cross without harming, he mustn't suspect anything, and the ring is replaced by a true copy.
"Well, I'll be able to do it in December, when I'm done making the copy," the professor nodded as he thought.
"The other item is Helga Hufflepuff's cup, found in a vault at Gringotts Bank, in the name of Bellatrix Lestrange. " Silence filled the room, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to get her out of the vault, but they would have to do it or die, they would save her a lot of work. The knowledge of this plunged everyone into panic, she had deceived them, if they didn't fulfill that impossible task, they would break the vow and die.
"Honey, that vow is very dangerous. " Mrs. Weasley said, looking at her husband, obviously worried about her entire family.
"Harry and his friends were able to pull out the cup, it would be ridiculous for able-bodied adult wizards not to be able to do what three 17-year-olds did." She said as he looked at Ron and Hermione, who looked quite excited about this revelation. "I'm sure they'll find a way, my brother works at Gringotts, you've got a Metamorphmagus and Black blood at your disposal.
"It suggests that it has to be illegal to steal the cup." Dumbledore said though Bill looked ready to protest at the idea.
"Of course, it would be stupid to go legally, they'd realize right away. They also have to leave a fake there. They'll have to figure it out, the goblins must never know, because Tom would know, and they know that according to your vow, no one should know." She completed as she looked at her older brother, then turned her gaze to Moody. "Now, on the next Horcrux, it's in a cave near where Tom's orphanage took the kids for walks, where he kept Salazar Slytherin's locket. "
"I think I know where it is," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "As for the other Horcruxes, counting the diary, we have four, there are two to go if Lord Voldemort is the last. "
"One is Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, which is hidden in Hogwarts, we'll take care of that," Ginny said as she took Harry's hand and pointed to Hermione and Ron, everyone nodded excitedly at the idea. "And the last one, we'll have problems with that one, I know Nagini was a Horcrux, but I don't know when it became one, it may or may not be, so we have to focus on killing it without looking suspicious."
Then he got up from his chair and walked to the headboard, approaching Dumbledore. "The last thing I want to deal with is Sirius Black, don't get me wrong, I think it would seem very suspicious for me to proclaim my affection for him at this point when I don't care if that man dies. " Ginny walked over to him and smiled affectionately. "But Harry loves him, and I would never allow him to suffer. It is for Harry that I tell you that he is destined to die in battle later this year and that he will try to escape from this house and you will recognize him, you must ensure that he is always inside this house and cannot communicate with anyone at Hogwarts.
There was only a grave mocking smile from Snape, Harry only thought to himself that he had never seen him happier.
o-o-o-o
Ginny laughed heartily that morning before the train left for London, to start the Christmas holidays, in front of Luna and Colin she could be totally honest. All the members of the order had done their duty and brought him the objects, they were genuine, Moody had come out of that cave very badly hurt, almost maddened.
"Now it won't be a problem, by disabling the greatest duelist along with Dumbledore, we are making good progress," Ginny said as she took the fake locket and put it next to the real one, it hadn't been hard to convince Kreacher to hand it over, not when she had given him comfort, affection and love, of course she felt true compassion for the bug that had to serve Black, So it hadn't been hard to worry about him. In return, Kreacher had granted him his loyalty, and now he could proceed to his next plan.
"That was pretty clever Ginny," Luna said as she admired the Horcruxes with interest. "Where are you going to keep them?"
"Colin, could you do it? When it's time to take Harry and the others to the bunker, no one will know where they are, not even me. " Ginny said, as she put the items in a small trunk, she didn't even know the secret of the bunker, she hadn't allowed Colin to tell her the secret, she would put them in danger.
"Would you trust me with this?" Colin said, his voice breaking, but then he cleared his throat. "Of course, I'll protect them with my life, I'll take them to the bunker today as soon as I get home."
"Thank you, Colin, I trust you. On the other hand, it was too funny to see Dumbledore almost spit when he had to hand me the ring, I wish they had seen it." Ginny said amused as she saw the gold ring with the black stone, then she closed the chest and put it in her friend's hands, soon the train would leave and they would go home. "It will be a relief to be able to get rid of the Umbridge Toad for a month, it's a bummer to keep quiet and barely able to restrain Harry from being punished."
They continued to chat animatedly until the time came for the train to depart.
She watched sadly as they left when she said goodbye to them at the entrance to the castle and sighed, it would be long days until they returned, they were the people she trusted the most, the only ones with whom she could express everything she felt without fear of being judged.
Everything was going well, Dumbledore had fallen into the trap of the ring, and like in the visions, he was pretending that nothing was happening when he was slowly wasting away. Moody, too, had been weakened by his journey with the Inferis in the cave, barely able to walk when he handed her the Horcrux. Tonks and Bill had managed to get the cup out, she couldn't imagine how they had done it, but they had succeeded, although I suspected that they had used Black blood, since Lupin was very interested in cleaning up when Black in a fit of rage whipped and broke some glasses, cutting his hand.
Black... Black, Colin was right. The best thing was for Harry to know him.
Realmente amo sus comentarios, y el esfuerzo de traducirlos al español es bonito