44 Chapter 44

Chapter 44

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office as he stared at the recently procured Cup of Hufflepuff, and the famed magical artifact reeked of black magic like all the other Horcruxes. This now left three Horcruxes, the snake, and the biggest issue, one Harry Potter. The truth was that Dumbledore had scoured every text he could for a solution yet he had found nothing.

He sighed as he leaned back into his chair, as looked down at his injured arm. Edward's decision to stay back had taken some burden off of his shoulder and the as he had suspected, the newspapers and the public had been focused on his coverage for the last couple of days.

In such times of crisis people often looked for a hero, and magical Britain had found just one. This helped build up morale, though he knew that he needed to find a solution to the issue of the Horcrux in Harry quickly. With his followers at his side, Voldemort could cause a lot more damage and Magical Britain couldn't afford another prolonged war.

Suddenly he felt the wards of Hogwarts trip, and he frowned as he found that someone had just walked in through the castle gate. Someone rather powerful and familiar. He frowned as he recognized the magical signature. Albus was perplexed as the presence of this signal was more or less impossible.

"It couldn't be!" he said and with a crack, he vanished from his office and apparated to the ground in front of the gate. And his eyes widened as he saw a rather familiar face standing there. And Albus was on guard immediately as he gripped his wand as stared at the dichromatic eyes of his friend who had no purpose of being here.

"What are you doing here Gellert?" questioned Dumbledore, and Gellert simply smiled as he stepped forward as looked around at the castle.

"I was feeling quite cramped in my castle, so I decided that it was time for an outing," and Nurmengard was his castle. Dumbledore watched as Gellert's eyes focused on his injured arm.

"And I come bearing gifts!" said Gellert suddenly as he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and threw it gently. Albus saw it fold itself into a butterfly and fly towards him, and he had not missed how Gellert had done such delicate magic without any wand.

The paper landed in his hand and unfurled itself. And Dumbledore frowned as he skimmed over the contents, and his eyes widened as he reached the end.

"You told me about your little Horcrux problem. I believe that could be a viable solution to your little Voldemort problem," Dumbledore did not reply as he skimmed over the whole page, and then he looked up at his friend.

"Are you sure about this, Gellert?" and his friend shrugged.

"There is no other way Dumbledore. We need the items. We need the Peverell Treasures!"

0000

FLEUR DELACOUR

"NO!" an exasperated Edward immediately turned her proposal down. She puffed her cheeks and stared at Edward somewhat defiantly as she argued again.

"Why? It's the perfect plan, Edward. Studying under Dumbledore for a year, you don't know how many people would die for such an opportunity, and moreover, this way, I will be right there with you," she argued, and Edward shook his head, still defiant.

"Fleur, you do know how dangerous it is out here. You were the one who wanted me to get out of Britain, and now you are thinking of coming here yourself," he told her, and she just shrugged.

"But that's the point. You aren't coming here, Edward," and her father's involvement in this issue had been quite embarrassing for her. Edward hadn't said anything, yet she could tell that he was quite agitated by it.

"I want to be there with you. Plus, I will be at Hogwarts, and that's arguably the safest place in all of Britain," she argued, and Edward sighed as he listened to her arguments. In the end, he shrugged as a resigned smile appeared on his face.

"Well, I know better than to argue with you when you are like this," and her heart lept in her chest at his words. However, his tone turned serious as he continued.

"But will you even be able to make it here?" he asked, and she understood the implication behind his words, and she chewed her lip as he nodded slowly.

"I am an adult now and can make my own decisions," she said resolutely, and Edward nodded. Edward had been forced to stay in Britain for a year by his grandmaster, and the recent attack at the Ministry would have already made it difficult for anyone to come to France. And Fleur couldn't let him be alone in all this mess, and with an opportunity to study under Albus Dumbledore while being near him, it was the best-case scenario. Her eyes instinctively went to her scar, and she reaffirmed herself that she couldn't let him be there alone. She couldn't let such an opportunity slip by her.

She needed to become stronger, much stronger, so she could stand by his side. So that something like that night never happens again. Never!

"Ahh, I forgot about something," suddenly said Edward, and she was broken out of her trance as she looked at him again.

"It has not been publicized yet, but the Ministry will be awarding me an Order of Merlin Second Class for my efforts in the capture of Fenrir Greyback," and her eyes widened as she heard those words. An Order of Merlin at his age.

"What! Why didn't you mention it earlier? An Order of Merlin, that's such an honor," she said as she congratulated him. Exasperated at his behavior over achieving such an honor. Edward just shrugged, a small smile tucked on his lips.

"Well, the truth is that I am just happy to be alive. And with all the craziness, it just left my mind," and she nodded, understanding his position. Edward had told her of all that had taken place at the Ministry, and it had shaken her heart as she had heard him retell the whole incident, and though she could tell that he had left out quite a bit of detail, even then the events were nothing short of traumatizing.

"Well, whatever, so are you set on the idea of coming here?" Edward questioned her once more, and she nodded as she answered emphatically.

"Yes," her voice rigid as she replied in affirmative. And Edward nodded.

"All right, I will make the necessary arrangements here. We will discuss it more tomorrow," Edward said as he stifled a yawn, and she nodded, they had been talking for hours, and Edward was still in the Hospital.

"Yeah, you should rest. We can talk later," she said, and Edward nodded as his face began to fade.

"Goodbye," he said, and she nodded.

"See you later," and with that, his silhouette vanished from the mirror, leaving her alone in her room once again. Fleur put it to the side as she thought of all that Edward had told her, more specifically, the intervention of her father in all this. She clenched her fists as she thought about it, and suddenly her eyes found an old picture of a young Fleur with her father.

She picked it up, and her eyes focused on the form of her father as she whispered.

"One thing you always seem to forget is that I am as much your daughter as I am mother's."

0000

HARRY POTTER

"I am coming for you, Potter. You won't get away this time," came the familiar voice that had left him sleepless for days. And suddenly, his vision shifted, and he found himself in the broken shack with several bodies strewn across, lying there lifelessly. Harry calmed himself as he continuously told himself, 'This isn't real. It's all in your head,'.

"I am coming for you!"

"Harry! Harry!" suddenly, he felt himself falling as he woke up with a huff. He woke up and looked around, and found himself in his room once again. Soon, there was another knock at his door.

"Harry, are you fine?" came Hermione's voice, and Harry replied as he put on his glasses and got up.

"Yeah, it was just a bad dream," said Harry as he decided not to burden her friend with his issues. He had already confided in Sirius about these dreams, and the man had upped his Occlumency training though even that wasn't completely effective.

He reached the door and opened it and found Hermione standing there outside. And the last couple of months, and changed her friend. Hermione had lost her usual cheer, and her face had a constant look of sadness. He could feel that both of them had gotten closer to each other, both of them having a clear understanding of what the other was going through.

"I came to call because the meeting is about to begin. If you want to try and listen to it…" and before she could finish, he cut her off.

"Yes, let's go," he said, and she nodded as they both began to slowly walk down the stairs, trying not to make a sound. They reached the corridor and came to a halt outside the main door of the drawing room.

Hermione took out her wand and waved it in a complex manner, and suddenly, he could hear whispers from inside the room. The voices were a bit muffled, but he could still make out what was being said.

He heard Tonks suddenly speak up the name 'Elizabeth' in an exasperated tone. She had been staying with them for some time now and had been a wealth of knowledge in terms of dueling.

Elizabeth, Harry was sure that he had heard that name. And when Moody suddenly cut in, he finally realized whom they were talking about.

"It's Edward and Elizabeth, the seniors. They are here to join as well!" Hermione reached the same conclusion as she spoke up from her side. Though she suddenly frowned as she whispered to herself.

"But wasn't he going to France?"

And suddenly, he frowned as Dumbledore found them out.

"Shit!" and suddenly, instead of whispers from the inside, their ears were filled with a slight him of muggle music. Harry shook his head. As soon as he stepped back from the door, the sound of music vanished.

00000

SIRIUS BLACK

Sirius sat in his chair as the tension in the room continued to build with every passing second. The attack at the Ministry had been thwarted, but things were far more dire than they were previously. Voldemort had broken out his followers from Azkaban, thought to be impregnable though Sirius would tend to disagree with that situation.

The dementors were at his side now, and with that, the war was at its tipping point now. Dumbledore had called for an order meeting, and this would be the first time Sirius would be seeing the man after his injury. And that was the biggest issue. The attack at the Ministry had left them with an injured Dumbledore, the extent of which remained still unknown.

"When will he be arriving?" questioned Nymphadora as he sat to his side, and Sirus shrugged, though before he could say anything, the floo lit up once again, and Sirius watched as Dumbledore stepped out of the floo, in his usual obnoxious attire of purple robes and a pointed hat. However, much like everyone else, Sirius's eyes went straight to the sling tied around his neck.

"Ahh, everyone's already here. I apologize for being late. I was picking up our newest members," said Dumbledore, and Sirius watched as the floo lit up again as two people walked out of it, younger than everyone present. And he immediately recognized one of the faces, for it had been splattered across the newspapers for the last couple of days.

Edward Wright walked out of the floo and gave a small greeting to everyone, flanked t the side by a witch similar to his age. Sirus wasn't able to recognize the witch, but it seems Nymphadora was able to.

"Elizabeth!" said Nymphadora as she stood up to greet the younger witch. And he saw both of them exchange pleasantries as Dumbledore took his seat. Edward joined Kingsley on the other side and stood to the man's side as everyone gathered.

The Order was assembled now, all except Arthur, who was busy; everyone else was present, including Snape, much to his dismay as he hung in the shadow like a bat. Lupin sat at his side and was followed by Alastor, who was now staring at the new members.

"You! You are the one who killed Greyback, right!" suddenly, Alastor spoke up, and he saw Remus stiffen up at the mention of the infamous Werewolf. The young kid didn't seem perturbed as he nodded slowly.

"I did," replied the kid looking straight at Moody, who narrowed his eyes before he nodded appreciatingly.

"Good! It was time that mutt was put down. You must be quite a wizard to take down the man singlehandedly," praised Alastor, and the boy nodded as Dumbledore coughed.

"I believe it is time we begin the meeting," and there were several nods as Dumbledore took out his wand and waved it around, erupting a privacy ward with a simple wave of his wand.

"I believe some muggle music should do well in distracting our young audience outside," said Dumbledore as he chuckled while looking at the door Sirius shook his head as he realized exactly what he meant.

"All right, now for the first matter, we have some new members amongst our ranks. Though some of you may be familiar with them, nonetheless I shall introduce them once more," said Dumbledore as he pointed at the two new members.

"I believe you should know him by, first, we have Mr. Edward Wright. He recently fought Fenrir Greyback and saved my life," and he saw how everyone's eyes focused on the young man. And Sirius's mind went to what the papers were saying. For the past couple of days, the papers had been filled with comparisons between him and Albus himself, and the way everyone, including Dumbledore, were looking at him, they weren't simple speculations. Or they wouldn't remain speculations for long.

"And then we have Miss Elizabeth White. She has just been hired as Junior Undersecretary to our dear Minster Bones," and there were eyebrows raised as everyone looked at the girl. Dumbledore seemed rather proud of the two of them.

"Both of them are recent graduates and were Head Boy and Head Girl, respectively, I must say they are amongst the brightest students Hogwarts has ever had," and looking at the two of them made Sirius think of another of his departed friends. The similarities were uncanny to an extent.

"We can talk more after the meeting now, I believe Serverus, you have news for us," said Dumbledore as he turned to face the conniving bastard. Severus stepped out of his shadow as he drawled out.

"Your battle with the Dark Lord has left him injured as well," and he saw his eyes shift to Dumbledore's injured arm as he continued.

"Though he hasn't shared his plans yet, he is planning something. Something big, very big." Finished the Slytherin, and Dumbledore nodded. And his words rattled Sirius, for it couldn't be a coincidence.

"Thank you for this information Severus," said Dumbledore, and with a nod, Snivellus stepped back.

"What about you, Dumbledore? What about that sling around your arm," Alastor asked the question that was on everyone's mind, and the room became silent as everyone waited for Dumbledore's response.

"I am afraid, my battle with Voldemort left its scars on me as well. While it isn't my wand arm, the healers are skeptical about recovery unless we can identify the curse used by him precisely," said Dumbledore, and Sirius saw the mood drop at Dumbledore's words. The morale of this whole resistance was dependent on the man, and Sirius had spent the last couple of days scoring his family library with Remus and Andromeda to identify the curse used by Voldemort and had yet to succeed.

"Though I have good news as well," suddenly spoke up Albus, and everyone perked up at that.

"I have been investigating Voldemort for some time and have found out that he had used some rather obscure and dark magic to turn himself immortal," and the whole room gasped at his words. Sirius sat straighter now, for unlike everyone else he had a certain idea of what Dumbledore was talking about.

"And recently with the help of an old friend I have made a breakthrough. Though I cannot share the details with you, I can assure you that we are much closer to turning him mortal and putting an end to Voldemort," and he saw everyone hanging at Dumbledore's words.

"Permanently," finished Dumbledore emphatically Albus had never made such a statement ever before, and hence it made it all the more emphatic.

The meeting then proceeded to the regular issues, with everyone giving their reports though Sirius couldn't get his mind off of Severus's words.

0000

HERMIONE GRANGER

Hermione found herself sitting with Edward as the meeting ended. Harry was inside talking with Dumbledore and Sirius and Edward had joined her outside in the corridor. Both of them stood in the silence which was broken by him as he spoke slowly.

"How are you Hermione?" and the truth was that Hermione was quite tired of answering that question. But nonetheless, she nodded.

"I am fine," she said and in some ways, she was. Sirius and Andromeda truly helped her during these times. The loss of her parents had been a big blow, and when all hope had seemed lost, Sirius had come up and told her of how they were related. It had been a ray of hope.

And though they owed her nothing, Sirius and Andromeda had helped her get through these difficult times. And for that, she was thankful to them. Edward had also written to her and even visited a couple of times, but he was busy with his own work.

"So, you aren't going to France then?" she questioned him, trying not to linger on the dark topics, and he sighed as he nodded.

"Yeah, now I will be staying here for a year. With all that debacle at the Ministry it was elaborated to me that it would be better for Britain and for me if I stayed here for a year," said Edward in a resigned tone, seemingly a bit agitated by the prospect of staying. And with how enthusiastic he was about going to France, it was understandable.

"Speaking of that, Professor Tonks told me that you have been having her giving you dueling lessons," and she nodded. Hermione had realized her limitations and now knew that apart from theory, she needed to excel in the practical side of things as well.

"Yeah, she has been helping me and Harry a bit in that," she added, not understanding where this was going.

"Ahh, that's good. That's very good. Then I believe you will be pleased to know that Hogwarts will be having a dueling class this year once more," and she shuddered as she remembered the disaster that such classes were in her second year.

"Well, I hope Professor Dumbledore finds someone competent, at least this time. I don't think we can handle another Lockhart," she said with a smile, and he joined in with a small laugh as well.

"Yeah, I believe you will find him quite adequate. After all, I believe as a dueling champion, I am quite up to the task," and her eyes widened as her head snapped to him.

"You! You will be teaching us all dueling!" and he nodded.

"Yeah, this will be part of my apprenticeship. Since I was supposed to shadow Professor Delbren at Beauxbatons for a year, Dumbledore proposed that it would be a valuable experience for me to teach for a year here. You will be getting your letters tomorrow; it will all be mentioned there," and she nodded as she thought of him teaching a proper class.

He had taught Daphne, Susan, and her group for a bit last year and had been excellent, and Hermione was quite excited about attending an official class mentored by him.

0000

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