A/N: Okay, this is really the last chapter out of Harry's perspective, according to plan. 1. The Past, 2. Bad Guys and 3. Good Guys, now we get on to the trio. Oh this is loads of fun, sorry about the delay ladylaughalot, but had to happen. And again, pay attention to chapter, important things mentioned.
Disclaimer: Yep, not mine. Well, part of the plot is anyway, but that's beside the point, I can't use that part to make money can I? No, would get sued.
*****
The Minister's Condition
One week to the day of the Headmaster's funeral-two to the night of his murder-and the students' departure, Hogwarts had visitors. As a rule the school was never entirely empty at the end of the year, the groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, and Sybill Trelawney, Divination teacher lived there, along with a number of ghosts, house elves, Peeves the Poltergeist, and innumerable inhabitants of the forest. But this was no summer picnic, the visitors were the school's governors and they had come to debate a matter of great importance. The question: In light of the spreading, violent Second Wizard War, should Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry remain open, or should it be closed?
They were gathered in the school's Great Hall, the white-gold light of the brilliant morning without filtering through the tall windows unto them at the Staff Table. They could clearly hear Hagrid's booming voice echoing over the grounds as he walked Fang, and Peeves destroying something just down the hall. It was peaceful, so very peaceful, but an illusion when one considered the wider world around it. And the wider world around it had to be carefully considered by Headmistress McGonagall and the governors in making their decision.
For one, there was the war at hand. Many feared Lord Voldemort and his supporters and since he had gotten to the Headmaster in the school, they would feel safer with their children at home.
That led to another concern, security. Hogwarts was many times declared the safest place to be throughout the war, 'no one could just walk in' it was claimed, but still the Death Eaters did get in for the attack, and then almost all of them, including the murderer, out again. There had been improvements since then, but still….
And, of course, there was also the habitual problem of the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, yet again they were in want of an instructor. The old curse on the position had struck again, but with upped ante, this time it was vacated after a murder.
An addition to this list was the Ministry of Magic, which had decided to lend-by which was actually meant 'impose'-their support to the deliberations in the form of Percy Weasley.
Seated just off from the main table with two assistants of his own, the bright red-haired, brown-eyed and bespectacled young Minister's aide and former student looked decidedly self-important in his drab grey robes. But he would not look Professor McGonagall in the face if she turned to him. Something about his presence today was discomforting to him and she had a feeling she didn't want to know what it was.
Raymond Pilkington, the head of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, a barrel-chested, stocky-built man with a pleasant round face but sharp eyes, called the meeting to order.
"My colleagues, Professor… or rather, I should say, Headmistress McGonagall, we are gathered here once again to debate the closing of the school. It was not more than four years ago that we were faced with such a decision, and before that, fifty, when Martha Bernville was Head, and in each instance we have discovered, the cause was He-Who-Must-Be-Named. We have not closed the school before, no matter how much was done to her, Hogwarts remained open. But today the world is much different, You-Know-Who has managed to do what we all thought impossible, break through the impregnable walls of this school and strike at the heart. This has obviously spread fear and concern, especially among parents and the Ministry, and rightly so, it cannot be ignored in our deliberations today. So the question is presented, what shall we do about the school?"
Professor McGonagall, as stern-faced as ever, greying dark hair drawn into a tight bun, square glasses set primly on her nose, and dressed in mourning robes of black, answered at once, "It is the desire of myself, the Heads of Houses, and, I'm sure, a number of students, including Harry Potter, that the school reopen in the fall as usual. As much as it pains me to say it, Professor Dumbledore did not build this school, though he did an exemplary job of keeping it. His presence will be sorely missed, but we must and will carry on without him."
She tried not to think of the portrait currently behind her desk that had woken up some days ago and was spending the time catching up with his fellow former Headmasters and Headmistresses and offering various odd sweets to anyone who entered the room.
Raymond nodded his concession, "Yes, yes, this is true, Albus did not make this school, and he certainly went a long way in its maintenance… but he was murdered here. I'm sure Mr Potter, his schoolmates and the rest of you will agree that this can't simply be cast aside…."
Professor McGonagall nodded as well, "We understand that Mr Chairman, and since that night the security of the school has been thoroughly re-worked and every possible entry secured. In the coming term we may even cancel Hogsmeade visits and deliveries altogether. The safety of the students within these walls has always been top priority. You may protest that Severus Snape was a danger from within, and given his record we should have expected and looked out for, but Headmaster Dumbledore trusted him completely and we, in turn, were given no reason to doubt him. We know now that we cannot protect ourselves from everything, but we are trying, the parents can be assured of that."
"Yes, 'assured', but can they be made to believe?" asked Raymond. "The groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor, Rubeus Hagrid, has been known to introduce students to some very dangerous creatures. Now, we as educators understand the importance of their knowledge of these creatures, but their parents may not."
Percy noticeably perked up at this statement; Professor McGonagall tried to ignore it.
"With all due respect, and to quote Professor Dumbledore, we have always taken a chance instructing these children in magic. Some of the potions we brew, if done incorrectly, can be quite deadly. Mishaps with spells, misbehaviour or simple Quidditch accidents, can be fatal. But it is a risk we have to take. If the parents cannot understand this, then surely they can at least see the benefits of having their children here for some of the time during the war, where at least they would not be driven to idleness," said Professor McGonagall.
"As I said before, we as educators understand, we know all this, and I myself believe that the students would be better off at school. We are all well informed of your security efforts, of the Ministry's contribution all last year of Aurors… but what good is all of this if we re-open and it is to an empty house? Parents may very well still keep their children at home," reasoned Raymond.
"Yes, they can, but I am firmly convinced that they won't, and even if it is just one child I have the assurance of my colleagues that they will teach them," replied Professor McGonagall.
"And this brings us to yet another problem, we are now in need of a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, again, a Transfiguration instructor, and unless Mr Slughorn would grace us with his presence again, a Potions Master. We hardly expect you to continue to teach when you have a school to run, where, are we to find three teachers?" asked Raymond, and the others nodded their agreement with him.
Professor McGonagall, at their (including Percy's) expectant looks, finally appeared unable to answer, but said anyway, "We will find a way, and I will teach, to that one student or a hundred."
"Or the Ministry, can simply supply the three qualified replacements," came Percy, suddenly, from his corner seat.
"Pardon?" asked Raymond.
Here it comes.
Percy stood from his place and announced, "I have the direct instruction of the Minister to assist in the school's reopening in any way I can. He too is of the belief that the school should remain open, if only to present some normalcy to life in the face of this insurgency. The Ministry will find and supply the missing teachers, protection and any other assistance you may need."
There was a murmur of favourable whispers, nodded and discussion, and then one of the governors spoke up, "Tell me, what, is the price of this assistance?"
"The price?" asked Percy, feigning amusement at the thought.
It had to be soon, here it comes.
Raymond frowned, "We are grateful for the Minister's assistance, but this is still a privately run school, and such a gesture from anyone surely has some attachments… what is the price?"
"There are none, the Minister is merely showing his dedication towards education, as he should. As far as he is concerned the war is lost the day we let You-Know-Who disrupt our lives, and he cannot allow that to happen," replied Percy, seriously.
Professor McGonagall made a low dissenting noise in her throat, but one of the governors quickly said, "You can tell the Minister that we are grateful for his support."
Percy gave her a nod of acknowledgement and then added, "With all the rumours going about, Mr Potter's education is top priority to the Ministry of course. I'm sure you would agree that any unnecessary problems should be avoided at all cost."
There it was.
"As they should be for all the students…" began to correct Raymond, but Percy cut him off.
"Surely you all can see the importance of Mr Potter's continued presence at the school. The Minister is concerned that an entire generation may be lost, attacked in their homes, parents must be convinced to send them here. They look to Mr Potter as a symbol of hope, of strength, and with him here they would be more than convinced of the new safety of the school," said Percy.
Professor McGonagall was too angry to be shocked, "And the Ministry could have him where they could keep a very close eye on him. You would mean to use the boy?"
Percy feigned offence, "Use him? Please, ma'am, the Minister is concerned for all the students who attend this school, I am sorry if my statement was misinterpreted. I merely used him as an example of what I meant."
"I don't think I was mistaken at all," replied Professor McGonagall, coldly. Percy actually bowed his head as if he was once more one of her Gryffindors and caught sneaking out of the tower.
"You specifically mentioned the boy Percy Weasley; I take that for it what it was. On behalf of myself and my colleagues I thank the Ministry for their contribution, but I cannot allow them to harass one of my students within these halls. Mr Chairman I would rather see the school closed than something like this happen, Albus would never allow it!"
Percy raised his head, composed himself and smiled at her, "Now, Headmistress, I would say 'harass' is a strong word…."
"You would, but Harry Potter is just a boy who has had too many terrible things happen to him too soon and it would be insult to injury to allow anyone to make that worse," snapped Professor McGonagall.
A silence descended over the Great Hall. Hagrid's voice now carried a conversation with Professor Trelawney from the front door through to them.
"I have a lot of work ter finish up, yer know…"
"But don't you see, the ambiguous arguer and the advocate are in trouble, another wishes to enter the debate-"
"I really have ter go, Professor Sprout asked me ter look out for her plants…"
"And here's another, the guards need guardians-"
"I'm sorry Professor…"
"CRASH!" but this sound came from within, and Argus Filch's cry of "PEEVES!" thereafter, confirmed it.
Finally Raymond spoke, "So, again I ask the question-as I'm afraid I will have to agree with the Headmistress, Mr Weasley-what are we to do about the school?"
*****
The Order of the Phoenix would hold its first meeting since the death of its leader, Albus Dumbledore, two weeks after his funeral in the cavernous, basement kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. Unlike previous occasions where the room was filled with voices, the rustling of maps, building plans, short sentence reports and even shorter orders, this one was subdued. Seated at the main long table and unstable-looking chairs taken from the upper rooms, every shadowed face was solemn, the crackling flames of the fireplace and constant noises of the old house echoed around them and for quite some time no one could say a word.
It was hard to believe the persistent brilliant weather and clear-skied day outside.
The Dark Lord Voldemort had finally struck a potentially lethal blow, and in one night they had lost two important people. Considering the position of one of them, there was also the strong possibility that they would lose more.
As was to be expected, they didn't quite know how to proceed.
Finally breaking the silence, the first speaker began, "I-I think we should b-begin this by electing a new leader."
The others looked around to him. A young Auror and their newest member, he continued, "We need someone like Dumbledore, someone with connections, someone we could call on whenever we need them, someone who-"
"We'll never find someone like Dumbledore," protested Remus Lupin, one of their senior members who had been a member of the Order in the last war.
"But we have to do something, right?" asked the young man.
"And we shall, whether we like it or not the war is still raging beyond those doors. That ferry-sinking in the Thames today, how many was it that drowned? And just two days ago the mysterious murder of those two Muggle policemen. Their relatives are calling for guns but what good are those against a wizard, and if he's strong enough, wandless? And more than that who do we choose?" asked Remus.
The others, including the young Auror, had no suggestions and for a time they just sat looking at him. His greying dark hair fell lankly about his head, his complexion was sickly pale, his shabby, patched clothes in mild disarray and he had very much the appearance of a man who was often ill. The full moon had a tendency to do that to werewolves, and especially those who regretted their every transformation.
Finally, Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody, a retired old Auror who walked with a limp on account of his wooden leg and named for his constantly revolving magical eye (and paranoia) spoke up, "I think we should begin by finding a new meeting place. Albus was our Secret Keeper, and Snape (he uttered the name as if it were something sour) knows about this place, he could tell his master. The Dark Lord is no fool; he'll want to know everything about us within minutes of Snape becoming his permanent company… we should all observe constant vigilance now more than ever."
"And Harry, he'll want to know about Harry too," said Molly Weasley, sadly. The short, round, rosy-cheeked, red-haired matron of seven had been decidedly melancholy since they entered the house. The young Auror's suggestion that they search for a new leader and Moody's mention of Snape did little to improve that.
Remus spoke again, "Yes, he'll want to know about Harry. I find myself hoping that Severus will say nothing, but what of the Malfoy boy, Draco? He may not have such restraint."
"If he's smart he won't say much, he tells the Dark Lord all he wants to know at once and he'll die quickly," said Moody.
"But they're reopening the school," said Molly, quickly. "Minerva told me just this morning-she's not here because there's a staff meeting at the school now-the Ministry will be assisting them, so that shouldn't be too bad. As long as they're in the school he can't hurt them."
"They still got to Albus," Moody told her. "No where is safe anymore, which is why we must be vigilant!"
"What about Snape?" someone asked. "What do we do about Snape? The murdering traitorous bastard…."
"Before we get into any of that, I think we should elect our new leader. Once we have that wouldn't it be easier to discuss all of this?" asked another from a shadowed corner.
"Yes, it would, but when I asked before if anyone had any suggestions no one answered," said Lupin, "do you have someone then?"
"I nominate Alastor Moody," was the reply.
Moody looked genuinely surprised, and then grunted in disagreement, "Too much trouble for me, I'm content where I am thank you very much, anyone else?"
"I nominate Remus Lupin," said Tonks, unabashedly smiling at him. He determinedly looked away from her, though she was a bit difficult to miss.
As a Metamorphagus she had the ability to change her appearance at will, and today, with the exception of her heart-shaped face and dark eyes, had changed her hair to a brilliant purple streaked with grey.
However, she wasn't the only one to make that suggestion. Moments later Arthur Weasley, Molly's lanky, equally red-haired husband, concurred, "I nominate Remus as well-I think you would do a wonderful job, dear."
Remus put his hands up to stop a third nomination, "I believe there is a problem with that idea, I'm swayed by the full moon, I must transform every month even with the Wolfsbane Potion. I am not someone to be called upon at every given moment…. But I would second that nomination of Alastor Moody."
Bill Weasley, the long-haired, fang-tooth earring-wearing firstborn son of Arthur and Molly, gave his support immediately, "I third the nomination. You're an ex-Auror Moody, with your experience and some of Lupin's here, we would at least have a fighting chance… so I say, the both of you."
The startled response to this was immediate, "What?"
Tonks quickly agreed with him, "He's right, the both of you, we need a strategist and a thinker, and Dumbledore was both of those things at once, if we have the two of you we at least get some of that back."
"I don't know if that could work-" protested Lupin.
"I work alone!" declared Moody.
"At this point, I don't any of us can," said Arthur. "As you said we'll never find another person like Albus, but we can at least compensate with the two of you. This was never truly a one-man operation, we all work together to uphold what we know to be right. You-Know-Who can't be stopped alone."
There was silence at this, and then one by one the others conceded. The nominated pair could do nothing to stop them, and when Bill stood finally to announce above the voices the unanimous decision ("Then the new heads of the Order of the Phoenix are Remus Lupin and Alastor Moody,") all they could do was nod. He smiled at them, his scarred face now clearly distinguishable in the orange-yellow firelight, and said, "Good, now that that's done, what's the first order of business?"
As Professor McGonagall had said a week before, they could and would go on without Albus Dumbledore. And that meant that the eerie noises of the old house and the sound of the fire were quickly lost under the tide of simultaneous suggestions that surged in.
"We need new headquarters," said Moody, quickly.
"I've learned from Aberforth that Albus left a Will, Harry is mentioned," said Molly.
"What's Arabella's report from Privet Drive?" asked someone else.
"There was a supposed sighting of Severus Snape, but no one's heard anything about that Malfoy boy," said Tonks.
Kingsley Shacklebolt, a tall, black man with a clean-shaven head and a gold ring in his ear, stood and announced, "The Muggle Prime Minister's been having problems with the attacks, he can't explain them, his office is under threat and he just took up the position. He's been breathing down my neck since the police attack, he knows there's something 'wrong'."
"I've heard that the Ministry's attached some 'stipulations' to their assistance to the school, do they have anything to do with Harry? The Minister was seen talking to him after the funeral, anybody knows what about?" asked a black-haired, pink-cheeked Auror named Hestia Jones.
Lupin raised his arms for silence, "One thing at a time, or we'll get nowhere. To take care of the problem of the Headquarters first, I think we do need to have another place-though we've yet to be attacked here-go back to where we were before?"
"Severus knows about that place too, we need somewhere new," said Moody.
"Dumbledore might have had a place, in case of something like this, we should go over his Will," said Molly. "But Arthur and I would suggest use of our home; they would not think to look there."
"But they would if any of us are caught on our way over. Actually, I think Professor McGonagall would let us use Hogwarts for the summer. No one would really think much of it, with all the new security measures going up I doubt anyone would think much on our going there," said Lupin. "I think we should check with her and then leave here as soon as possible, anyone agree?"
Almost every reply was "Aye."
"Perfect, next matter, what's this about a Will?" he asked.
"Albus left a Will, Harry is mentioned but Aberforth wants to see him personally to tell him why," replied Molly, and she looked distinctly displeased at the idea.
Despite his brother, Aberforth was not exactly an 'upstanding member of the Wizarding community' and one of his known associates, Mundungus Fletcher, also an Order member, was not one either. Mundungus strangely slipped into his seat at the mention of Aberforth.
"When did you see him, he wasn't at the funeral was he?" asked Moody.
"Yes, he was, but I was in Hogsmeade the other day, I went to see Minerva and I met him on my way to the castle," said Molly. "I'm worried that the whole thing might just upset Harry though, he was so close to Albus."
"Albus may have left explicit instructions. As soon as we can we'll get him from Privet Drive and take him there. None of us like it, but Harry is a very important part of this fight. Voldemort wants him dead and will not stop until he has that," said Lupin. "And to quickly answer the third, Arabella says that it's been quiet in Little Whinging since Harry came home… anything else?"
"Have you made any headway with the werewolves?" asked someone from the back.
Lupin exhaled heavily, "I have to be cautious, Fenrir had a lot of supporters, his capture devastated them but some still agree with his ideas. We can't afford to lose their support."
"That fire in Scotland… dragons, wasn't it?" asked the first speaker, the young Auror.
"Charlie said they must have captured one. They're doing their best with the vampires but he said we should be prepared for anything," replied Bill.
"What about those 'stipulations' I heard about, what'd the Ministry want from the school?" asked Hestia again.
"Minerva said that they insisted 'nothing', but she thinks they want to spy on Harry, they're offering continued protection, and teachers for the newly vacant posts," said Molly.
"Those teachers would be the spies," said Moody.
"She thinks so," admitted Molly.
"Then we need to get a spy of our own in there, just to keep an eye on them and make sure that doesn't happen," he told her.
Lupin agreed, "Yes, but who, and for what?"
"Well, Hagrid's there, shouldn't he be enough?" asked Bill.
"No, we need someone appointed by the Ministry but working for us… and I think I have an idea who that could be," said Lupin, after a moment's deliberation. "I think they would be very happy with 'their' choice too."
"Fine then, that's done, what do we do now?" asked another corner occupant.
Lupin looked at those seated with him, at Moody, and then around at the others as well and said, "We put an end to the Dark Lord."
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