A/N- thanks to everyone once again for reading along and reviewing! This is the entrance of two characters I'm sure you've all been waiting for… Happy reading!
**Islanzadi** J
After a strained breakfast in the Great Hall, in which they were the topic of many of the students' conversations, they made their way to McGonagall's office.
"What are we doing here?" asked Luna as they stood by the gargoyles. Harry gave a slight smile and then said -
"You'll see,"
They walked into the office to find professor McGonagall sitting at her desk shuffling through a mountain of paperwork. She looked up, surprised to see them standing there.
"How on earth did you get in?" she asked, "You don't even know the new password! What are you doing here? Lupin told me he had expressed a wish for the three of you to stay at the house!"
"Well we had some things to do," said Harry quietly "We need to have a talk with him…"
"Him?" she asked looking towards the portrait of Dumbledore "I don't think he's going to be able to tell you anything particularly useful Potter,"
"Not Dumbledore," said Luna serenely, suddenly understanding why Harry had wanted to come to the office. "The sorting hat…"
McGonagall looked at them as if they had gone mad, then with a sigh stood up and retrieved the sorting hat from its resting place throughout the year. She gingerly handed it to Harry. Harry held it for a moment whilst looking at Susan and Luna.
"Are you debating whether or not you want me to leave my own office?" asked professor McGonagall rather curtly. Susan blushed a little and looked at the floor.
"Yeah," said Harry "But if Hermione's right then you and the rest of the Order need to know anyway, so I suppose it's ok if you stay."
"Well," she said sarcastically "I'm glad that you have seen fit to let me stay…" and then she moved and sat behind her desk. Harry put the hat on his head and waited to hear the voice. A slit appeared in the hat and it spoke in a dignified voice.
"Harry Potter," it said, "So much has changed since the last time we met. I have a feeling I know what this is about. But do give me the pleasure of being correct in my assumptions…"
"I want to know," said Harry in a rushed voice "If I'm Godric Gryffindor's heir." He ignored the intake of breath from the area McGonagall was sitting in and concentrated in the hats answer.
"Hmmm," replied the sorting hat "You were always very hard to read Harry. Not surprising of course. But oh how your mind has grown! There's not as much confusion as there was when I first sorted you. Yes, yes. You are a true Gryffindor."
"But am I…" started Harry, but the hat interrupted him.
"The heir?" it replied, "Well what do you think?"
"Well I don't know," said Harry, starting to feel irritated "That's the reason I'm asking you…"
"You already know the answer," it replied "There's no point in asking a question when you already know the answer…"
"If that's the case," said Harry, his voice a bit clipped "Then there was no point in you wanting to know the reason I was here of you already knew the answer…"
The hat's slit for a mouth grew wider as it let out a laugh.
"Good, good…" it said, still laughing to itself "Very well, put me on the desk and let me tell a story that happened a long time ago…" Harry pulled the hat off of his head and placed it on the desk. All three of them sat down and waited anxiously for the sorting hat to begin.
For Many years the founders lived
In a wondrous harmony
When the horrors of Salazar's evil deeds
Was clear for all to see
"Not in song please," said Harry rather curtly "No offence but it's harder to follow along when you're rhyming everything…"
"Very well," said the hat, sounding rather put out "But it's a very creative song and you really are missing out," Luna and Susan smirked slightly at Harry, then fixed their eyes once again upon the old hat in front of them, waiting for some kind of answer. The hat let out a slight sigh of disappointment before it's slit opened wide to start the tale.
"Throughout the ages there has always been a battle of sorts. The good have always battled the evil in the world in an attempt to eradicate it. When I was very young, after Salazar Slytherin had left the school, the other three founders seemed to be quite content. They did their job, I did mine, and all seemed to be harmonious. News was then received that Salazar had been dabbling more into the dark arts than anyone thought possible. Stories of the murders he had committed and the blood he had shed spread throughout the land. The three founders knew that it was they that had to stop him. They had to be the ones to reason with him, to try and stop his madness. So the three tried to persuade him, but it was futile. Salazar seemed consumed with his evil magic and refused to listen to his old friends. The three then knew that they had to kill Salazar, or risk letting him become even more out of control…and become more terrible than what he already had become. A fierce battle ensued, which resulted in the deaths of all four of them. Quite a sad tale." said the sorting hat, its voice sounding melancholy "Godric was the one that finally slew Salazar. Do you know what Godric means?"
The three of them shook their heads quietly.
"It means 'He who rules with God' He had the power within him to defeat the evil within Salazar, though we can only speculate as to how he achieved it. Salazar was barely human towards the end; it's no wonder all three founders died trying to defeat him. Now…you can obviously see a familiar pattern here. This is a story that has been spun throughout the ages, but the outcome in not set in stone. The dark wizard you have to face before you now has defeated the heirs of the founders once before, but it does not mean that it will be that way again…"
"My dad…" said Harry "He was the heir of Gryffindor, and Voldemort killed him. So now I'm taking his place. The other two must have been killed too, that's why all three of us are here now, the same age and everything. Weird."
"Precisely," replied the hat "Eventually the three will defeat the dark wizard. If it's not you three, then it shall be the next. When he has been vanquished then he shall be reborn, and the tale shall start over. The tale that is spun throughout the ages. You see, true evil can never really be defeated. But on the other hand, truly brave and good people can never ever be completely removed from this earth either. There will always be a place for you, in this life or the next. Has this answered your questions?"
"Ummm," said Harry "Pretty much."
"It's quite depressing," said Susan suddenly "That if we don't do it, the next lot will. Even if we do manage to kill him, it'll just happen all over again. It seems kind of pointless to do anything…"
"It's not pointless to stop the killing of the innocent for as long as you can." said Luna quietly "After we've killed him we can have a happy life. Evil will always exist, but so will good. You never really get rid of evil anyway, the second you get rid of someone that's evil; another comes along to take its place. It's a never ending circle, we just have to make the most of what we have and try to protect those that might get hurt in the process."
"Spoken like a true Ravenclaw Miss. Lovegood," said the hat happily. "By the way, happy birthday for January 22nd. I doubt I'll be seeing you for a while…" Luna looked surprised at the hat and stared at it incredulously.
"How do you know my birthday?' she asked
"It's the same birthday as Rowena Ravenclaw," said the hat simply. "Now if you don't mind I'm rather exhausted from all this talking. I would appreciate it if you'd put me back to my resting spot. I'm working on a very taxing song for next year and I need all the rest I can get." Harry lifted the hat up and placed it back where it belonged. The office was quiet for a moment longer, each of them wondering what they had to do now. Finally professor McGonagall broke the silence.
"Well," she said, "This certainly is an interesting development. I suggest we have a meeting to see what this might mean. Send your patronus to Lupin's house Harry, we have to call a meeting."
"What?' asked Harry "Send my patronus? How am I supposed to do that?'
"Just picture Lupin's house firmly in your mind. Got it? Concentrate hard on your happy thought and conjure your patronus. Now, I want you to hold the patronus in front of you for a moment while you think of both Lupin's house and your happy thought. Now…send the patronus. We'll know in a minute if it's worked. Tonks will reply with her patronus." Instructed McGonagall.
"That's how the order calls their meetings?" asked Harry
"Yes," replied McGonagall "You can't copy someone else's patronus exactly. You three need to know this now that you're in the Order, we didn't have time to discuss it last time due to Severus' unexpected visit."
They waited for a moment longer before a silver patronus flew threw McGonagall's window.
"Right," she said briskly "Time to go…" and then made her way towards the fireplace. She handed them all some floo powder, and one by one they made their way back to Grimmauld place.
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They entered Grimmauld place to find the members of the Order crowded in the kitchen. Harry walked into the mass of people behind Luna, Susan and McGonagall. He spotted Lupin standing in the far corner and quickly made his way towards him, completely oblivious to those unfortunate people who happened to be in his path.
"Where's Hermione?" he asked anxiously
"She's fine Harry. We moved her parents to a safe location and she decided to stay for the evening, though her parents want her there for a couple of days," said Lupin quietly. Harry nodded and looked to the floor. Hermione wasn't going to be here tonight? What if she didn't come back tomorrow? He didn't like the thought of her not being with him, and how safe exactly is the place where her parents are hidden? As if reading Harry's thoughts Lupin quietly said-
"It's a very safe place for her Harry. She'll be just fine there. Her parents were worried about her and she thought it was only fair if she spent some time with them. Who knows when she will again? If it's any consolation, she looked just as depressed as you do right now." Harry looked up quickly at those words and tried hard to suppress a sudden grin on his face. Lupin, however, could do no such thing and eventually they were both grinning ear to ear. Naturally this earned them several odd looks from the members of the Order that were waiting for the meeting to get started. There was a sudden bustle in the hallway, and Harry could see quite a few people entering the room…all with very red hair. Luna made her way over to Mrs. Weasley with an apprehensive look on her face.
"How's Ron? Why isn't he here? Is he going to be ok?" she asked. Mrs. Weasley put a hand on her shoulder and smiled affectionately at her.
"He's going to be just fine. The healers wanted to keep him overnight just to be on the safe side but he'll be joining us tomorrow," said Mrs. Weasley, her relief apparent in her voice. She looked towards Harry and came walking towards him, slowly at first but then ended in a rush as she pulled him into her arms.
"Oh Harry," she said, "I'm so sorry you had to see that. I know you've seen worse, but I didn't want you to have to see Arthur and I like that. I hope you don't mind if the family stays with you for a while?"
"You can live here forever for all I care," said Harry, returning her hug with equal force "My home is your home. You're the closest thing I have to a mum, I'd do anything to help you." Mrs. Weasley sobbed into Harry's shoulder for a while before they finally released. He looked up to see Mr. Weasley standing next to them, who also gave him a hug, though it was a lot quicker than Mrs. Weasley's.
"Second time you've saved my life Harry," he said solemnly "Anything I can ever do to repay you, just say the word. I doubt anything I could ever do would be enough but I'll try" Harry smiled at them both, his heart warming at how two parents with so many children could find it in their hearts to give love to someone that was of no relation to them. Lupin stepped forward and gestured for them to take a seat. Harry had just sat down when Mrs. Weasley's voice rang out sharply, disturbing the calm and quiet atmosphere of the room.
"Ginny! I told you when we arrived that you're not allowed into the meetings! I told you that you were to stay in your bedroom until we were finished! How dare you disobey me? Get up to your room right now before I come out there and make you!" Harry's stomach seemed to fall at the mention of Ginny's name and he inwardly groaned. He should have expected her to come and be with her family if Ron was in the hospital. He should have prepared for it. But he didn't, and now he had to face Ginny again. He hoped that Hermione would stay away until she was gone, unless Ginny decided that she wasn't going to act as bitchy as she had been during their stay at the Burrow.
"But mum!" said Ginny, her eyes blazing and her hands on her hips "Everyone else is down here! Even Fred and George! It's not fair that I'm the only one being left out, I have a right to know what's going on too!"
"We'll tell you what you need to know," said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes flashing with warning "But now, do what I tell you and go to your bedroom!" Ginny stared for a moment longer, then stomped out of the room, startling the portrait of Sirius' mother and making her scream loudly. Harry stood up quickly and walked towards the portrait. He felt a familiar weight at the side of his hip and seized the Gryffindor sword. He pulled it out of the sheath and held it up high, then swung it down with a huge force. He had sliced the painting clean off of the wall. The portrait started screaming with renewed vigour, but Mad Eye was already heaving the painting onto his shoulders and left the house to destroy it. Harry sighed with relief; he had always hated the bloody picture. So had Sirius, he felt quite pleased that he had managed to do something that would have made his Godfather very happy. He went back into the kitchen where McGonagall proceeded to tell the rest of the Order what had happened with the sorting hat. Just as she was telling them about Harry's father there was a knock on the kitchen door. Lupin walked quickly over to it and removed the necessary charms and wards. He opened the door to admit Snape, his black cloak billowing around him and his face paler than usual. McGonagall stepped over to Harry and whispered urgently into his ear -
"Do you want Snape to know these details Harry? We can easily inform the members at another time. I'm not sure if he can be trusted with this kind of information…" Harry stared at Snape for a long time. He had raised the walls in his mind and was trying to search for Snape's. At first he found walls so thick that they almost matched his own. He pushed a little harder and saw Snape's eyes widen with surprise and shock. He pushed harder still and felt a wall wobble slightly but still stay standing. He imagined running his hands along the wall, desperately trying to find a crack in which he could begin to break the wall down. An endless amount of time seemed to have passed when he finally found what he was looking for. He pushed with his mind, again and again. He saw Snape flinch and suddenly fall against the wall. He pushed again and finally felt it give way. He saw image upon image of Snape with Voldemort. He saw him saying that he had no idea as to the whereabouts of Harry's location. He saw him receiving the valued information that he had passed on to the Order. He saw him being tortured by Voldemort over and over. He let go of Snape quickly, allowing him to raise his walls once again. He walked over to him and talked so quietly into his ear that no one else in the room could hear him.
"When was the last time he did that?"
"Half an hour ago," replied Snape, his voice dripping with loathing "Why didn't you look at my other memories Potter? Surely you couldn't have willingly let such an opportunity go?"
"I just wanted to see Voldemort. I wanted to see what you had to go through with him for myself. I believe you about the rest, I don't need to see those memories" said Harry quietly. Snape looked at Harry with complete hatred upon his face. Harry stepped away and addressed McGonagall.
"He's fine, tell him what you would tell everyone else." McGonagall looked a little uneasy as she sat on her chair. Lupin walked over to him and quietly whispered into Harry's ear -
"You really do have your mother's eyes"
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He stood at the end of a street in London wondering where Snape had gone. He needed to speak to him urgently. The breakout from Azkaban was scheduled for tomorrow, and he was extremely scared to meet his father again. His father would blame him, and he dreaded not only the words but also the beatings that would come. Not that he would ever tell that to Snape. He had already provided Snape with enough ammunition after his failure to kill Dumbledore, he didn't need to willingly hand him more. He felt the dark mark on his arm burn and he knew that he had to return. He felt a cold pit of dread form in his stomach. He hoped he wasn't going to be tortured again. He needed a way to make himself more powerful, to do something that would stop the torture. But what? What could he do? He couldn't hand him Potter. That stupid git Potter, he would get what was coming to him soon enough. Famous Harry Potter, enough to make you want to throw up just looking at him. What about the stinking Mudblood? Maybe he could hand her to the Dark Lord, which would draw Potter in quite well. Stupid fucker always loves to play the hero, how could he resist coming to her rescue? His eyes gleamed in the moonlight as these images played through his mind. Yes, that might work quite well. But how to get to them? No one knew where they were staying. Maybe he could figure out where they would go next and grab that filthy excuse for a human then? The mark burned fiercer than before and he reluctantly turned to go. Crabbe and Goyle were staring at him with an expression of pure stupidity on their faces.
"What the fuck are you two staring at?" he asked malevolently.
"Nothing," said Crabbe "Just trying to figure out where Snape went to. One minute he was there, the next…"
"I didn't think that the Dark Lord had any plans for him this evening," said Goyle absently.
"Yes, it is rather odd. We'll just have to keep a closer eye on Snape; maybe he won't be in the Dark Lord's favours for too much longer. At least not if I have anything to do with it." said Malfoy, sounding like he had spat the word Snape from his mouth as if it were something dirty.
"We have to go now," said Crabbe quickly, rubbing his arm with fear "We're already going to be tortured as it is, lets not make it worse for ourselves by being later still," Malfoy turned away quickly, trying to not let the fear show in his eyes. The Dark Lord had been most displeased when he learned of his failures with Dumbledore. His mother had been tortured mercilessly in front of him and then viciously killed. He tried to suppress the shudder that began to run through his body and felt hot tears prick at the back of his eyes. There was nothing he could have done; he was in a full body bind. But he had been made to watch, he raised his haunted eyes to the sky and prepared himself to go back to his master. He hoped he would make it through this, but what kind of a world would he be living in then? Would he always have to live in fear of being tortured? No…when he was in charge he would make sure that everyone else feared him. He would make everyone pay. If his father didn't kill him first…
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