Chapter 3: Rising From Ash
(A/N: Sorry this took so long, school is rough right now. I have not had this beta read, so please forgive any inconsistencies and point them out if possible. Enjoy!)
"Harry, wake up. It's time to go to the meeting, mate." Ron's voice rang out from down the hallway.
"Dumbledore!" Harry screamed as Ron's voice pulled him out of his dreams of the former headmaster's demise at the hands of Professor Snape.
He reached blindly to the bedside table, his hand searching for the familiar feeling of the small, wired rimmed glasses. Successfully finding and putting on his glasses, Harry tried to slow his breathing as he glanced around the unfamiliar room. It took a moment before he realized he was in the Head-Boy dorm at Hogwarts, which had been offered to him by McGonagall the night before.
"Harry?" Ron's voice echoed down the hallway.
"I'm up, Ron." Harry said loudly.
"Professor Lupin reckons we ought to leave in about fifteen minutes."
"I'll be ready."
Shaking the memory of the dream from his thoughts, Harry made another mental note to get to Grimmauld Place as soon as he could and set about getting ready to meet the remnants of the Order of the Phoenix.
*
Harry took a relieved breath when the pressure of side-apparition began to fade. Harry could make out the shapes of Lupin, Ron, and Hermione in the slight moonlight that the waning moon emitted.
Harry approached the house with a look of awe on his face. David's London estate was far larger than any house he had ever seen before. Pale white, with four large columns in front, it reminded Harry of some of the old homes he had seen in his history books during his muggle schooling. Arched over the entrance was an engraving in black marble, the characters, which Harry did not understand, seemed to glow in the moonlight.
"What language is that?" Harry whispered to Hermione, nodding his head toward the arch.
"I'm not sure." Hermione whispered back, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"You don't know?" Ron and Harry said at the same time.
Lupin chuckled. "Don't worry Hermione; there aren't many people in the world who can read that. It's in ancient Sumerian."
"What does it say?" Harry asked.
"It barely translates to English, but basically it says: `Abandon Hope, Ye Who Enter with Evil Spirit."
Harry nodded wordlessly, storing the information for later perusal.
The two gates opened wordlessly for them, and Harry followed Lupin up the walk.
"I didn't know you could read Ancient Sumerian." Hermione said to Lupin.
Lupin laughed. "Oh no, I don't speak Sumerian. I just know what that says."
"How do you know that?" Harry asked.
"I spent a little time here during the first war. Come on." Lupin said in a terse voice as he turned up the walk, ending the conversation.
The granite slabs that lined the path to the mansion were inscribed on each side with ancient runes, and Harry could not see more than a foot to either side. He lifted his arm, intent on seeing how far the light stretched from the path, when his wrist was seized by Lupin.
His face was stern and his voice edgy as he leaned close to Harry, saying, "Never leave the path, even just for a second. Even just a part of you."
"Why?" Harry asked, pulling his arm free.
"There are animals on this property that are trained to kill trespassers. If you leave the granted path, you will be considered one."
"What kinds of animals?" Ron asked, his eyes flicking from side to side, glancing quickly into the darkness.
"Nothing as nice as Fluffy." Lupin said quietly as he turned and continued walking.
As the group reached the front steps, two figures, which Harry had taken to be statues, moved out of the shadow cast by the front porch light.
"Bloody hell," Ron said as he began to back up.
Two giant dogs, one white and one black, began to move slowly toward the newcomers. Two sets of small black eyes surveyed each person separately, followed quickly by two sets of nostrils. The dogs stood easily up to Harry's chest, and the raven-haired wizard suddenly found himself wondering what he would do should they be attacked.
Before the dogs could get within five feet of the guests, the front door flew open and a man stood in the doorway. Harry had never seen someone dressed the way this man was. Standing over six feet tall with a lean body, the man had a metal hoop through each ear and his hair, which once might have been all brown, was various shades of blue and red. Harry was reminded strongly of Tonks, and had to stifle a chuckle at the thought of a male version of the klutzy Auror.
"Its ok girls, they're friends. Go continue your patrol."
To Harry's amazement, the dogs wordlessly stood and walked back into the darkness.
The man then spoke in an ancient language, which after an inquisitive gaze, Hermione identified as Romanian.
Lupin answered back and walked up the stairs to shake hands with the strange looking man.
Lupin turned to the three behind him and said, "And this is Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger." He gestured back at the man, "This is Quince Vandiver."
Quince nodded a greeting, his face half hidden in shadow and turned back into the house. Lupin smiled and nodded reassuringly as Harry, Hermione, and Ron entered in front of him. The entrance parlor was as large as the Dursley's entire downstairs, Harry thought. A marble staircase rose from the floor at the opposite end of the room from the door. Several doors led off the room, and the one directly to the right of the front entrance stood open. Quince walked through with the group of guests in tow.
The room was softly lit from each corner by an unseen source, and Harry thought there might be lamps hidden in the floor or ceiling. Several guests were spread around the room, some sitting and some standing, each with the same haggard, defeated look that everyone had carried in their eyes after the death of Dumbledore.
Professor McGonagall, her pointed hat straight on her head as always, sat between Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody on a large white couch. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat to the left in two matching chairs and Tonks was seated to McGonagall's right, a chair waiting beside her for Lupin. Harry, Hermione, and Ron took seats on an open couch across from McGonagall. There were several Order members arranged around the parlor that Harry had never seen before, and few that looked as though they were not in the Order at all.
Hagrid stood in the corner by the fireplace, staring into the fire; seemingly unaware of the world around him.
Harry caught Hermione's eye and they both frowned at the sight of their friend.
"We should talk to him, after." Hermione said softly.
"That's what I was thinking." Harry said with a small smile and began to look at the room's occupants once more.
A group of six individuals sat alone on the far end of the room from Harry. They sat along the wall, their legs and arms folded into various poses, their faces hidden within the depths of their dark cloaks. Harry noticed that no one wanted to be near this group, and those who were closest, even though over ten feet away, appeared nervous.
Quince crouched to one of the figures, whose cloak was a dark green, and muttered something. The figure seemed to chuckle, then nod.
Harry took a good look at Quince in the light of the parlor. He was dressed in dark jeans with a bright greet, collared shirt. Harry noticed a small metal bar protruding from Quince's right eyebrow and small metal ball under his bottom lip, just above his chin.
"David will be here momentarily." Quince said, gesturing to the assembled group. "Would anyone care for something to drink?"
Several people nodded and Quince waved his hand, full glasses appearing in the hands of those who asked.
"How did he do that?" Hermione whispered, more to herself than to anyone else, Harry thought.
Harry glanced around the spacious parlor, which had room to hold even more than the few dozen present. The walls were a deep red; the floor a black marble, everything was trimmed in what Harry suspected was real gold. Each couch and chair was a lush white leather, a fire burned merrily in the hearth, although it did not emit heat. Harry thought this was a good solution to wanting a fire but it being the middle of June.
The loud roar of a powerful car engine came from outside and a second later the front door slammed in the entrance hall.
Quince stood and said cheerily, "And there's David…now…"
His voice trailed off as David appeared in the door to the parlor. The shirt David was wearing, Harry thought had originally been a bright blue, but was now covered with slashes and stained a deep blood red. His light colored kaki pants were charred, and he was missing one trainer. His blue glasses were cracked and sat askew on his head.
"My goodness, David!" McGonagall exclaimed, "What has happened to you?"
David chuckled darkly. When he spoke, his voice was rough. "Had a run in with a few Death Eaters."
"What happened?" Quince said, his face slowly turning red upon the sight of David.
"I went to visit an old friend of mine earlier." David said, sitting down in a recently vacated chair and lighting a cigarette.
"Brother Vance?" Quince asked.
David nodded.
"Dead?" Quince asked, his voice shaking with barely controlled rage.
David nodded once more and sighed.
"Did you give him the rights?" Quince asked with a tear in his eye, his face red with furious anger.
"Yea, that's why I was late." David said hoarsely.
"Brother Vance is dead?" a shaking female voice sounded from the far corner of the room.
All heads turned to look at the figure Harry had decided to call Blue, due to her dark blue cloak and the wisps of blue hair that stuck out from under her hood.
"Yes," David said sadly.
"And the reason you went there?" said the dark grey figure beside Blue.
"I found it. The Death Eaters couldn't. It seems as if Tom had the same idea I did though. They were leaving just as I pulled up."
"How many?" Moody asked gravely.
"Oh I don't know," David replied flippantly, his face tense in deep thought, "half dozen or so."
Everyone gasped. Harry was shocked. How could David have survived a direct attack by that many Death Eaters?
"How in Merlin's name did you get away?" Hermione asked.
David turned a raised eyebrow on her. "Get away?" He repeated. "I didn't get away, girl."
"You fought that many Death Eaters?" Ron asked in awe.
"No, I killed that many Death Eaters." David said frankly. "I just had to fight them first."
Silence met his statement. Harry finally understood the difference in David and Dumbledore. The deceased Headmaster would have just apparated, rather than confront so many Death Eaters, while David chose to fight and kill.
"While the death of Brother Vance is terrible, the attack does show me one thing. Tom is still operating as he did before." David rubbed his chin softly and sat back into the chair in thought.
"Well we already knew that didn't we? Isn't this how things were last time?" Tonks asked.
"Quince," David said, holding up a finger to Tonks, "would you mind getting me a drink? I haven't the strength right this second to do it myself."
"Yeah man, no problem." A second later, a copper colored drink appeared on the table in front of David.
"Appreciate it." David said reaching for the glass and downing it in one gulp.
David cleared his throat before saying, "He is doing a few things similar to last time, but quite a few things are being differently, being done better really."
"What do you mean?" McGonagall asked.
"Well this time Tom is doing things like I would in his situation. Eliminate targets while staying out of sight and hidden. Use smoke and mirrors along with the media to spread fear among the public. Last time, Dumbledore and I could always figure out Tom's next basic move, but we could never figure out exactly what he was going to do. This time it looks like Tom has his shit together. Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, as of right now we are losing this war."
"So do we need to reschedule the meeting, David?" Professor McGonagall asked.
David shook his head. "Just give me and Quince a second and I'll be right as rain."
"Full body heal?" Quince asked moving to a small cabinet beside a computer desk on the far side of the room.
"That should do it." David said with a nod.
"Excuse me, Mr. Richardson?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"Yes?" David said turning to face Hermione.
"Would you mind if I watched? I've never seen anyone do your type of magic before."
"Oh I'm sure David wouldn't want…" Mrs. Weasley began with a reproving eye on Hermione.
"Oh that's all right Molly." David said with a wave. "If I remember correctly Miss Granger is the most inquisitive student Hogwarts has seen in quite awhile. It'll be fine if she looks on."
Hermione blushed, but followed Quince out of the room to watch him prepare.
David turned to look at Harry and Ron. "And it wouldn't hurt for the two of you to take a gander either."
David stood and Harry and Ron followed him after Quince and Hermione.
"Be just a sec." David said over his shoulder.
*
Harry had never seen magic done with the kind of preparation he was seeing. Several sticks of incense were burning around the screened in porch on the back of David's house. Quince sat, cross-legged in the middle of a black circle, with David facing him.
"Don't make any noise." David said to Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
"On a count of three, Quince," David said.
Quince nodded and the two joined hands.
After a moment, white light encircled the two, blinding Harry to see what was taking place inside the circle. The light swirled around the two spell casters and began to blow Harry's clothing against his body.
After only a moment, the light vanished, and both David and Quince stood. The injuries to David were now gone, so was the blood from his clothes, although the rips remained.
"Pity," David said, fingering his shirt, "I liked this shirt."
"Wow," Hermione murmured.
"How did you do that?" Ron asked bluntly.
David turned and looked at Ron oddly. "Magic."
Quince walked to a small cabinet in the room. Lifting the top, Harry saw a flash of several pieces of glass, molded into what looked like various colored tubes, before Quince shut it and turned to David, handing him what looked like a cigar.
Taking out a blue lighter, David motioned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"I expect those out there wouldn't like you all to be around this, so go out and tell them we'll be right out as soon as I've changed clothes."
Harry eyes the cigar oddly, he had seen his Uncle Vernon smoke a cigar a thousand times, and he told David so.
Quince and David both chuckled. "This ain't a regular cigar. Just run along and we'll be right there."
Harry shrugged, and with Ron and Hermione in tow returned to the parlor.
"David said he and Quince we'll be right out after they've smoked a cigar and David changes clothes."
Mrs. Weasley turned red faced, "They made you leave before lighting that awful thing, didn't they?"
"Yeah," Harry said, "I've seen people smoke cigars before, what's the big deal about it?"
Harry saw Lupin hide a smile and heard Moody chuckle slightly before McGonagall said with a frown, "It's not a cigar that should be smoked in front of people your age."
Harry, as always when decisions were being made for him because of his age, got angry. "I think I've earned the right to decide what exactly I'm old enough for, don't you?"
"No, Harry," Lupin said in his kind voice, "this isn't like that. They aren't smoking a tobacco cigar in there."
Harry and Ron looked at Lupin confused, while Hermione gasped and her face turned red.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
Hermione hit him on the arm and said in loud whisper, "I'll tell you later."
*
"So we're sure Snape did it?" David said in way of greeting a few minutes later when he sat down.
Harry looked at David in the eyes to find them slightly bloodshot. After the night the warlock had been through, Harry was not surprised.
"Yes, we are." Harry said curtly.
David nodded. "I should have killed him years ago, but Dumbledore thought differently. Guess I'll have to remedy that now."
"You don't kill Snape!" Harry said vehemently.
David turned an eye on Harry. "I suppose you want revenge, do you boy? Well I believe you have bigger fish to fry."
Harry was aghast. Did David know of the prophecy? It wasn't possible, was it? But then again, David said he knew what Dumbledore had been searching for, and Harry was under the impression no one else knew.
David had turned back to the group, and was now discussing current placements, and who was doing what in the fight against Voldemort.
"So what about the giants? Where do they fall in this?" David asked.
"We sent envoys, but so did You-Know-Who. Just as last time, You-Know-Who's incentives seemed to have appealed the most." McGonagall answered.
"Who went?" David asked.
"Hagrid and Madame Maxine."
"Maxine from Beauxbatons?" David asked, looking at Hagrid.
"Aye." Hagrid answered.
"Tell me what happened." David said.
So Hagrid began to retell the tale he had told Harry, Hermione, and Ron upon his return from the giants during their fifth year. David asked Hagrid many questions, but instead of asking Hagrid in a tone of voice usually reserved for first years, David spoke intelligently and quickly, asking for Hagrid's personal opinions and observations.
"Do you think they will all follow Tom?" David asked Hagrid.
"Not all, o' course. There was a few that knew how grea' a wizard Dumbledore was, and knew that he was the righ' side ter be on."
"Do you think, with the right posturing of course, that more giants could be convinced to, not necessarily join us, but just not join Tom?"
"I reckon so, if you could get someone to `em that they respec'" Hagrid said, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.
"Indeed." David said, his eyes flicking quickly to Harry, then back to Hagrid.
"If you think of anything else, Hagrid, don't hesitate to let me know."
Hagrid nodded his large head, a small twinkle in his dark eyes that had not been there since Dumbledore's death.
"So who's protecting Harry from He-Who-Let-The-Boy-Live?" David asked in a sarcastic voice with a gesture at Harry.
"He won't let anyone follow him!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "He refuses to have a guard and slips anyone who tries to follow him with that invisibility cloak of his!"
"Good." David said to Harry's shock. "If he's slipping you all he's slipping the Death Eaters as well, but from now on he'll be living here. Of course Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley are welcome as well."
"Now hold on a minute!" Harry said, standing quickly in his anger.
"Want to stay at the Burrow, do you? Or somewhere else? Number 12? Maybe Godric's Hollow?" David said instantly, as if expecting Harry to argue.
"Yes, actually!" Harry replied. "I had planned to stay at all three of those places throughout the summer."
"And tell me, Mr. Potter," Said Quince as he lit a cigarette, "If five giants came storming down on either of those places, would you be able to hold them off? Would the Weasley's? While I'm sure there is high security on the Burrow, I seriously doubt there is that kind of fire power."
"You're right, there's not." Mr. Weasley said shaking his head at the thought of giants swarming down onto his home.
"So you mean to tell me that if five giants swarm down on your home you could repel them?" Harry said with a sneer.
"That's right, we could." David said bluntly, turning back to the group.
"Are you going to be instructing them here, David?" McGonagall asked.
David nodded. "And if you wouldn't mind, Minerva, could you come down on occasion to help with the Transfiguration? Most things I can teach without a wand, but that's difficult."
"Not a problem." McGonagall answered.
Harry was livid. He was not a child anymore! He could make his own damn decisions.
He opened his mouth to protest, but Hermione grabbed his hand and shook her head, muttering under her breath, "Don't, Harry. We need him to teach us, and to help us."
Harry sighed and closed his eyes. "You had better tell me why later."
She smiled and nodded.
Ron watched the interaction between his two best friends with an increasingly red face.
"And Tonks?" David said turning to Tonks, who was sitting very closely beside Lupin.
"Yes, Mr… David?"
"Would you mind coming down and helping with a few Auror training ideas I have?"
"No, of course not."
"Excellent. Now tell me what we are doing on the offensive front against Voldemort."
Everyone was quite, glancing around at each other.
"Anything?" David said, sounding agitated.
Still no one replied, and David shook his head in disgust.
"You mean to tell me you all are just responding to things that are happening? No one is doing anything to strike back? Even after Dumbledore's death?"
No one answered; Harry thought it was rather like watching Professor McGonagall addressing someone who had not done their homework.
David sighed and shook his head. "This is ridiculous. Almost twenty years and you are still making the same mistakes. Well that ends now. We ran around last time, reacting to Voldemort, cleaning up the messes he made, and look where it got us; right back where we fucking were." He chuckled to himself. "I seriously wonder what would have happened if it hadn't been for Harry. Voldemort would have been in charge of the damned world by now."
Harry found his anger at David fading. This sounded right, taking the fight to Voldemort, not running around letting him do what he wanted.
"By this time next week, when I plan to hold another meeting, I'll know where some of his idiot goons are staying, and by god we're going to take the death and destruction right back at him. Before this is all over we're going to make sure that Voldemort, for once, knows what it is to fear our robes for a change."
"Robes?" Harry said before he could catch himself.
McGonagall turned to him. "Yes, Mr. Potter; robes. During the first war, we were an open organization and wore robes when not at other places of employment. During this war, however, we have not used them due to our need for secrecy and our decreased level of funding." She grimaced with distaste the mention of funding, while Harry looked at her dumbly.
"You've had a lack of funding?" He asked.
Professor McGonagall nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Potter."
"I'll need the sizes of those who want a robe, and their occupation, I can get quite a few things that they may need. Hermione, would you…?" He gestured with his hand as if he was writing and Hermione nodded. Pulling her wand from her jeans, she transfigured her watch into a notebook and her left earring into a muggle pen.
Professor McGonagall looked at Harry with a total look of bewilderment that Harry had never seen her express before. Harry glanced at David and found the elder warlock to be half smiling at him and nodding his head to himself.
"Well Mr. Potter we can't of course…" Professor McGonagall began but for once, Harry interrupted her without hesitation.
"You can and you will. This organization will no longer be secret, or I will have nothing to do with it." Harry said this with a finality that he had never shown before, and those around noticed the man he was becoming.
"Very well then, Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall said with a formal air. "I believe we can all just see Miss Granger after the meeting. Your help would be most appreciated."
Harry waved his hand, the money did not matter; destroying Voldemort did.
"Now then," David said, "I will get in touch with all of you during the next week and inform you of the next meeting time. I don't know if you all are still using the old communications devices, but I have something new for you. Quince will make sure all of you get one before you leave. Bring anyone and everyone that is interested in joining."
David lit a cigarette before he continued. "I don't know if this new Minister is really with us or against us, I've never had the opportunity to meet him and find out for myself. If he is against us, then those of you who work in the Ministry may have a hard time being open about the Order. Whether or not you want to risk it, is up to you. If the Minister is against us, he's most likely going to take your job, and probably try to take your life. If he is with us then recruiting could be much easier. I cannot make any promises as to how he will react, but I can promise full protection of anyone that needs it. Anytime, anywhere."
Apparently done speaking, David rose and began to leave the room. Harry saw the six cloaked figures in the far corner of the room rise and exit silently out the back door.
Before following them out, David stopped and turned back.
"Oh yea, I almost forgot… Quince…" he gestured at his friend who nodded and raised a hand. David echoed his raised hand and they both closed their eyes. With muttered words in an odd sounding language, a pale blue light settled over the room for a moment, then dissipated as if made of smoke.
"David?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"If anyone here betrays this Order with their mouth, I will know about it. If anyone here attempts to harm another Order member, I will kill for it. If you think you can escape from me, you are wrong. Do not try it. Even Tom knows this."
With that, David turned and exited out of the room.
"For those of you who weren't here for our previous war," Quince said jokingly, "all threats and or promises made by David and or myself are probably true. Unless of course we are really drunk, then don't worry about anything we say."
*
Harry sighed as the last Order member, Tonks, gave her cloak measurements to Hermione. He began to stand, but was stopped by Quince's voice.
"You three are welcome to stay here tonight, especially if you'd like to begin training immediately."
"Thank you," Harry said, "I'm not sure if we are going back with Lupin or…," he turned to look at Hermione and Ron with a raised eyebrow.
"Fine with me, mate." Ron said with a shrug.
Hermione just nodded and Harry answered Quince with the same gesture.
"All right then. Look in the kitchen for food; you can eat whatever you want. All of the first floor bedrooms are open, so just pick one out for yourself. My room is the one to the left on the third floor and David's is the only one at the top. If you need to talk to either one of us at any time, just use the intercom by each doorway. You can use magic here, even underage; no detection devices can even find this house, much less the magic going on inside."
Quince turned to leave saying, "Don't go outside without telling one of us first. Do not hesitate to call either of us, anytime. We don't really sleep that much around here. And I'd rather be woken up by one of you than have to explain to the Order why one of our charges was eaten by a Griffin or something."
Hermione took a sharp breath and said, "There are Griffins here?"
Quince chuckled as he walked out the door, calling over his shoulder, "You aren't in Kansas anymore there Dorothy."
Hermione and Harry chuckled, while Ron looked on in confusion.
"What is Kansas and who is Dorothy?"
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