Chapter 3- A Clash with the Ministry
Before he really had time to dwell on the mysteries surrounding his aunt, Harry was jerked back into the here-and-now as Lupin spoke again.
"As soon as he manages to connect this place to the floo network, we should be on our way. Selbbit, perhaps you should stay here and remain on the look-out for any more, well, suspicious behavior- you know what to look for."
Selbbit just nodded, turned to Harry and inclined his head again, and strode out of the room and through the front door. Harry watched him go, wondering again who he was, and where he came from; he had appeared so suddenly.
He turned back away from the window, where he was watching as Selbbit turned and hurried down the street, toward Mrs. Figg's house, and asked Lupin, "Who was that man? I've never seen him here before. And the way he appeared, so suddenly-"
"I'll explain back at Headquarters. For now we should just focus on getting out of here." At these words Lupin glanced anxiously out the window, before continuing, "Harry, why don't you go and grab your things from upstairs? We should be leaving any moment now."
Although Harry was quite anxious to learn about what was going on, he was even more anxious to leave the Dursley's, and so he turned and hurried upstairs to his bedroom to grab his trunk and broom. Upon walking into his bedroom, Harry noticed the photo album that Hagrid had given him still lying out on his desk, just begging to be opened. Picking it up and plopping down on the bed, Harry opened the front cover and smiled at a picture of his mom and dad, frantically waving up at him. James Potter had his arm around Lily, her red hair draping over her shoulders while his jet-black locks stuck out untidily in the back. Harry gazed back at his mother's bright green eyes, which seemed to perfectly reflect his own, and then turned to the next page, bringing new faces with it. Standing, surrounded by Lupin and James, was Sirius in his late Hogwarts days. All three were grinning at Harry and laughing, without a care in the world. He forced a sad smile onto his face as a powerful wave of grief swelled up inside him, threatening to burst out of him. As a single tear streamed down his face, he summoned his sturdy defenses which many years of painful practice had built up, and lowered the album cover, forcing himself to focus on something else. Harry tossed the album into his trunk, fastened the top down, and went back downstairs, dragging his things behind him.
Just as he reached the living room and set his trunk back down, a loud flutter of wings alerted him as an owl swooped towards him through the open window, and Harry instinctively raised his hand to snatch the envelope it was carrying. However, just as the tawny owl relinquished its grip on the letter and zoomed back out the window, Lupin's hand shot out over Harry's outstretched arms and deftly snatched the letter right from over him.
Lupin immediately tore at the envelope, retrieving the letter within and Harry just managed to catch the purple Ministry of Magic seal poking through the torn envelope before it was in shreds and Lupin hastily un-folded the letter that it had contained; Harry was pretty sure he knew what the letter said, and he was not at all eager to hear it.
"We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm…. Blah, blah, blah… ministry representatives…will be calling shortly….to destroy your wand," Lupin mumbled aloud as he quickly skimmed the letter. As soon as Lupin said those first words, Harry's worries were confirmed as he felt a terrible feeling arise in the pit of his stomach, and a wave of panic rise in his throat. It was just like last year when Harry had performed the Patronus Charm to save himself and Dudley from two Dementors in an alley-way; when that happened the ministry sent him a letter informing him that he had broken wizarding law by performing magic underage during the summer in the muggle world. Luckily for him, that time Dumbledore had managed to call off the ministry from destroying his wand, and eventually had Harry relieved of all responsibility for the action in a trial later on. Unfortunately, Harry doubted that he was going to get off this time; by now the ministry officials would be on their way to confiscate his wand. He had completely forgotten the consequences of these particular actions, until now.
"…disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 11," Lupin finished.
Mr. Weasley looked at Lupin from the chair he was recuperating in and quickly asked, "How much longer do you reckon we have?"
Lupin pocketed the letter as he replied, "I'd give it two minutes, at the most. The ministry officials are usually pretty quick to arrive."
Harry tensely watched as Lupin paced the length of the room several times, mumbling to himself, before finally finding his voice.
"They can't destroy my wand. We've got to do something! Not just stand here like cows waiting to be slaughtered!" Harry shouted.
Mr. Weasley rapidly retorted, "I know, Harry. Don't worry- we won't let them do anything to your wand."
This had the desired effect as Harry relaxed a little, reminding himself that Lupin and Mr. Weasley were here to assist him if he had to put up a struggle.
Lupin finally stopped pacing the room as he regained his head, offering up the plan he had apparently just conceived. "Harry, you need to hide somewhere, and quickly. Arthur and I will stand ready for the officials to arrive; there should only be two of them for this type of job, and I'm sure we can handle them. As soon as possible I'll yell the o.k. for you to come out of hiding. Until then, AVOID THE MINISTRY MEMBERS!"
Harry nodded in understanding as he sprinted up the hall and into the cupboard under the stairs that he had stayed in not too many years ago. Harry slammed the tiny door behind him as he crunched up into an awkward ball; he had apparently long outgrown the cramped space. Bending an arm out behind him to attempt to reach the light-switch, he thought better of it and pulled his arm back into his body, brushing some spider-webs along the way. He briefly thought of what Ron's expression would be if he was trapped in here with the spiders when a pair of footsteps hurried past him, and he clutched his wand in front of him in case he needed it to defend himself. There was a quick conversation between what he assumed were the Dursleys and Lupin, based on his uncle's muffled shouts and Lupin's equally muted warnings; the vibrating of heavy footsteps on the floor and the slamming of the back door told Harry that Lupin had the Dursleys exit the house for a bit, which would explain why Uncle Vernon was shouting; knowing him he would be very insulted at a strange "weirdo" telling him what to do in his own house. A few short seconds later Lupin ran back past his hiding spot and continued back into the living room to await their "guests" with Mr. Weasley.
Harry held his breath as he waited for a sign of the officials' arrival. After a few seconds, his wait ended as several loud CRACKS sounded through the air in short succession. He took a deep gulp as he realized that there were more officials than Lupin thought there would be, and a wave of apprehension rose in him. As soon as the ministry officials appeared just inside the front door, Harry heard a roar and several booming bangs sound as the battle for his wand began.
Glass was shattering and walls and furniture had holes blasted through them as the ministry members defended against Lupin and Mr. Weasley's attacks. After a quick fracas Harry's breath caught as he heard Mr. Weasley groan and collapse to the ground, as spells continued to be shouted by Lupin and two other men.
Deciding to take a chance at a swift glance out of the cupboard, Harry creaked open the door a few inches, peering out it down the hall. He could just make out two men, hiding behind an over-turned bookcase, rapidly aiming spells towards the living room. They were bound to overtake Lupin at any moment- he had to do something. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Harry decided to go for it.
In one quick movement, he shoved open the cupboard door, thrust his arm out and bellowed, "Petrificus Totalus!"
A jet of blue light shot out of his wand and smashed into one of the ministry men, whose arms snapped to his side as he fell over, completely stiff and frozen. At the sound of Harry's voice, the other man had whipped his head around to see Harry scrambling to close himself back into the cupboard again. Harry saw the man raise his wand, opening his mouth, and he knew he was too late, that it was all over- after all of these years, fighting Voldemort, he was going to be sent to Azkaban and have his wand destroyed. He squinted his eyes, preparing for the impact, just a voice rang through the air and a dull thud shook the ground as someone collapsed. Harry immediately reopened his eyes, looking up the hall to see Lupin stepping out over the ministry officials' still form.