"You're kidding me. Ginny's the traitor?" Moody barked as Harry told the assembled war council the conclusion he'd come to.
"Not necessarily," Harry countered. "We don't really know at the moment, but it doesn't look good. Ginny's gone to Merlin knows where, and since she was last seen with Fred and George, we can assume that whoever took her attacked the twins."
"Or maybe she was the one who attacked the twins."
Hermione shook her head at Moody's conclusion. "I doubt it. Ginny would never betray us like that."
"Just like she wouldn't betray Potter here?"
"That's enough, both of you!" Harry shouted as Hermione was about to reply to the old auror's accusation. He frowned, unable to shake the doubts Moody's words had raised, but now was not the time to be tearing each other apart over accusations that were impossible to prove. Ginny was gone, her wand with her, and Fred and George were in critical condition. Harry glanced around the table. General Rotan and Count Hiscophney were absent, having left immediately after the rescue operation. With the accelerated schedule, both of them were now in the process of arraying their troops at the Ministry along with Kinglsey Shacklebolt, who was in charge of the auror forces. Neville and Luna had left to inform the Legion of the recent developments and prepare the students for the battle to come - a battle that, Harry fervently hoped, the students would never see.
That left Bella, Hermione, Moody, Snape, Remus, and Queen Xerina around the table, along with an elderly witch that was the representative for the Order members that were well enough to fight. Harry had initially been reluctant to let her be part of their planning session, but both Snape and Moody had agreed that it would help build trust that was, at the moment, sorely lacking. Tonks was also nowhere to be found, something that they'd just realized when they'd called the meeting. With the Order's command structure in shambles thanks to Voldemort's ambush, no one really knew what to do, and members were running around without specific objectives.
Harry frowned. Tonks's absence was something else they'd have to deal with. Taking a deep breath and returning his attention to the table, he continued. "Right now, the identity of the traitor is not important." He raised a hand to forestall comments from both Moody and the Order witch. "Listen. Whoever the traitor was, he or she is gone. That I'm sure of."
"How would you know? You're just a kid! Because of you and your friends here, we're in this situation to begin with!" The witch at the other end of the table spat angrily. "Without you, we wouldn't even be in this position, and now you're telling us the traitor's not a big deal? You're nothing more than an arrogant brat!"
"Silence!" Snape thundered before Harry could even open his mouth to retort, surprising everyone at the table. The raven-haired potions master turned on the witch, visibly angry. The sight caused most of the people there to cringe back. "Madame Arretha, with all due respect, shut up. You know nothing. You-"
"Why, I've never been spoken to like that! And who are you to lecture me, Severus Snape!"
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Snape shot back in a dangerously low tone.
The woman sniffed haughtily. "It's obvious, isn't it? You're the headmaster's lapdog. The only reason you're part of the Order is because of Albus Dumbledore. Without him, we'd never have let you be a part of the Order, and a lot of us thought - still think - that Dumbledore made a mistake, letting someone who was so close to the dark lord be a part of a movement against him."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"How do we know you weren't the traitor? How do we know you're not a double-agent for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? The temptation of the dark arts is strong, I'm sure. And you always were one to seek power, weren't you, Severus ?" she spat the name with enough venom to make everyone at the table flinch. Snape, however, looked unperturbed.
"And this… this boy," Madame Arretha gestured towards Harry dismissingly. "He should be in Azkaban, along with her," she pointed at Bella. "Truly, they're a pair well matched, a crazy, attention-seeking brat and the insane dark witch. People like them should be put down, before he becomes the next dark lord! Without him, we'd all be better off, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would still be dead!"
"Are you daft, woman?" Moody growled, unable to restrain himself. "Are you really that stupid? Do you have any idea what you're talking about?"
"Of course!" she turned to Moody. "Don't tell me you buy their act? They're just doing this for their own personal gain, and when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone again, and we're weakened from the conflict, they'll step in and he'll become the next Dark lord!"
Both Snape and Moody were about to reply when Harry slammed his palms onto the table. Every eye around the table suddenly focused on the young man who was practically trembling with restrained fury, and to both Bella and Snape, who could sense magic flows, he looked lit up like a Christmas tree as he seethed with anger. "That is enough, from all of you," Harry hissed.
"I don't take orders from you…" Madame Arretha began.
" Shut up ." The order echoed throughout the room, amplified by the castle's magic as it sensed it's master's anger. It instantly shut up the witch, who flinched as Harry looked at her. "You're a fool. You're all fools. Do you have any idea what we have sacrificed for people like you? Do you? You think I'm the source of all of your problems?" Harry laughed bitterly. "Try placing the blame a bit closer to home! Tom Riddle became Lord Voldemort because he was disgusted with the state of affairs in the wizarding world, and you know what the sad thing is? He's right!"
"Harry…" Hermione began, only to back away, scared at the intense look in her friend's green eyes.
"The wizarding world is a collection of, racist, close-minded people who are so focused on themselves that they fail to see anything but their own comfort! You think I made things worse? Who would've stopped Quirrel when he attempted to steal the Philosopher's Stone for Voldemort, hmm? Who would've stopped the memory of Tom Riddle from unleashing the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets? Who would've prepared the students for Voldemort's return, who was the one Dumbledore pushed into fulfulling some stupid prophecy? Tell me! Tell me !" Harry yelled at the witch.
"You won't take that tone with me…"
"I'll tell you. No one would've stopped him. No one . Because none of you wanted to stand up to him! Hell, you didn't even want to believe he was back, even with the evidence slapping you right in the face! No, you were so concerned with what was convenient for you that you didn't want to look out from your little dream world. I'll tell you what would've happened. I'll show you a world without Harry Potter." Harry started counting off his fingers. "First year, Quirrel would've gotten the stone. He would've brought back Voldemort, and with the Elixir of Life, he would've been virtually immortal. And then what? Simple really, you would've been screwed. Second year, Voldemort lets loose the basilisk. Who here wants to tackle a basilisk, hmm? Given the fact that no one's even seen one in 900 years, I don't see too many of you too eager to tackle one! You know what? Every scenario, every time I stopped Voldemort… what would've happened if I hadn't been there? You would've been screwed big time!"
Madame Arretha snorted disdainfully. "Now you're just full of yourself. Your fame goes to your head, Potter. You overestimate your value."
"Oh, I don't think so, but that doesn't matter. You don't matter. In fact, you're here merely out of courtesy, but I see that it was misplaced. If you insist on showing me and my allies nothing but disrespect, then we have nothing more to discuss. We have fought this war without your help, and we'll continue to do so. Leave the room."
"And let you and your merry band of fools foul up the future of the wizarding world? I don't think so!"
" Leave, before I have you removed."
"I'd like to see you try, boy. You're about fifty years too young to be a challenge," Arretha drew her wand.
" Expelliarmus !" Harry's ivory wand was in his hand and out before the witch could react, and the disarming spell hit her full-force, causing her wand to go flying and the witch to tumble backwards to the floor. "I said, leave. Get out. Now!" Harry bellowed, picking up her wand and throwing it after her as she hurried out the door.
He took a few deep breaths, then realized that everyone else in the room was still staring at him. "What?" he asked as he turned around, somewhat calmer now. Damn, he thought, but that felt good .
"Nothing… nothing," Hermione muttered, even as Moody grinned. Even Snape seemed to lighten up a little bit at the Order witch's hasty exit. Remus was openly chuckling.
"Prongs and Sirius would've been proud," the werewolf noted with a smirk.
"Now… who knows where Tonks is? It's not like her to suddenly take off without letting anyone know," Harry asked.
Moody grumbled in dissatisfaction. "That's just the thing, Potter, lately she's been doing that a lot. On Dumbledore's orders, mostly. No one knows where she goes or what she's doing on her secret missions for him, and she never has any backup."
"What worries me is the timing of events," Bella said. "I mean, the attack on the twins happens, and then one of our allies goes missing at the same time. That sounds like more than coincidence to me."
"What's more," Hermione added, "is that a large number of our reference texts on wards and blood magic went missing. We were looking into them in the library in the hopes of being able to break the ward around the Rod, but they're gone."
"That's why I would assume you're right, Harry, and that the traitor really is gone. Now is the perfect timing for them to strike, and if they manage to bring back any information on the Rod to Voldemort…" Remus trailed off at the horrifying thought.
"We're screwed," Harry finished grimly.
"So what can we do?"
Hermione glanced over at Moody and answered the old auror's question. "Nothing. We have no intelligence on Voldemort's whereabouts, and until Fred or George wake up, we have no leads on the traitor. Assuming Ginny's disappearance is related, we don't know where to look for her, either."
"What about Tonks? The Order must have some way to track its members, or some sort of communications device," Harry offered.
Remus shook his head. "No, we don't. Security purposes."
"It'd be too easy to reverse the tracking charm or the communications charm and backtrack to every single item that's linked. If we lost one to Voldemort's forces, the entire Order would be compromised," Moody added gravely.
"So we can only hope she'll show up again?"
"I'm afraid so, Potter."
Harry sighed in frustration. "Damn that old man. All right, let's get down to other business. Count Hiscophney and General Rotan are taking care of deploying our troops. By tomorrow, all four thousand should be in position, with all the fortifications in place. Voldemort attacks the day after that."
"Are we sure Voldemort is going to stick to the time he gave you?" Bella asked, "He's insane and unpredictable at times. He might actually attack earlier."
Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. That message was written in blood, and directed at me, not Dumbledore. The Order was just supposed to be the messenger. Voldemort wants me to know that he knows what I'm up to, and that he's walking into this trap fully intending to destroy us all. His ego demands nothing less. He'll be there the day after tomorrow."
"Potter's right," Snape agreed. "The Dark lord may be many things, but he will not attempt any deception on something of this importance. That'd be more the kind of trickery Lucius Malfoy would attempt. Since he's dead…"
"Then what about the attack on the Order? That'd constitute a premature attack, wouldn't it?" Hermione asked.
Moody's magical eye swiveled in annoyance. "No, not in his opinion. The battle he will fight in two days is with Potter, not with the Order, not with the wizarding world. As much as I hate to say it, the Order is inconsequential. The few hundred old witches and wizards in the Order would not make much of a difference with the number of professionally trained battle mages and soldiers there. Besides," he snorted, "I think he wanted to get the Order out of Potter's way."
"What?" Harry blinked in surprise.
"The Dark lord sees the Order as an annoyance, at best," Moody continued, pausing only when Remus looked like he wanted to interrupt. "Face it, Lupin, the Order is far from the height of its strength. Much like the wizarding world, the Order of the Phoenix is long past its heyday, and in this conflict, we've not made much of a difference when it comes to taking the fight to Voldemort during the war."
"So, what did you mean by Voldemort wanting to get the Order out of my way?"
"Simple. Somewhere deep down in his twisted mind, the Dark lord adheres to some kind of perverse sense of honor. The battle you challenged him to was between you and him. He knows that the Order sees you as their enemy, and that most Order members at the very least dislike you."
"No thanks to Voldemort," Harry muttered darkly.
Moody chuckled. "There is that. I think that's why he feels some kind of twisted sense of obligation to make sure the Order won't interfere any further, so that you and he can have a 'clean' fight."
"It's absolutely crazy, but it makes sense. In a twisted kind of way," Hermione admitted.
Bella and Snape shared a quick glance, and both nodded in agreement. Having known the Dark wizard and seen his actions up close and personal, they realized that was just the twisted kind of thing he would do. "It also helped that he just managed to eliminate whatever little opposition the Order would've been," Bella noted.
"The timing couldn't have been better. Dumbledore was losing support among the population with the increased attacks. He probably saw a chance to take out the headmaster. I'm sure that was a big part of the reason," Snape argued in support.
"All right," Harry sighed. "That leaves us with just one task until the battle. We need to find a way of getting to that Rod. Preferably before Voldemort does."
"I'll send another contingent to Azkaban to guard the fortress against any possible intrusions," Queen Xerina spoke up for the first time since the meeting had begun.
"No," Harry shook his head. "If Voldemort is going after the Rod, then he's going to be doing it in force, and personally. If I were him, I wouldn't leave a weapon that could tear my soul to pieces lying around. Plus, the traitor may have told him about the prophecy, that he who holds the Rod would dictate his fate. If he is the one holding the Rod, you can bet that future's going to be rather rosy for him."
"All the more reason to increase security…"
"No. In fact, pull as many soldiers from there as you can. Put up wards, alarms, automated defenses, but leave only a skeleton crew there. When Voldemort comes, I want there to be as few casualties as possible."
"But shouldn't we try to delay him as much as we can? We cannot allow him to get to the Rod, and every single soldier there is willing to die to prevent that, if you give the order."
"No. Pull them off," Harry ordered sternly. "None of them will be a match for Voldemort. Besides, the Rod is still protected by that ward. When Voldemort comes, I'll fight him. I just hope that he won't come before the battle. Now, our main priority should be figuring out if we can get to the Rod."
"Lord Polairix," General Rotan greeted Harry as he and his party stepped out of the fireplace at the atrium of the Ministry on the day Voldemort had announced that he would attack. Arrayed around the hall were soldiers, all of them standing at attention, with Trazkabanian sorcerers interspersed between them.
"General. Count Hiscophney," Harry returned the greeting at his two commanders. Behind him, Snape, Remus, and Moody moved to flank the young Earl of the North. Bella had remained at the fortress, under heavy guard, due to her pregnancy, along with Hermione. The brunette had argued long and loud with Harry to be a part of this battle, but he had stubbornly refused to give in, then ordered her locked in her room with two guards in front of her door, and another half-dozen guards at the fireplaces to prevent her from slipping out to join the fighting later on.
The six of them walked up to the elevators that took them to the Minister's office. Bert Mockridge was waiting for them when they got there, and greeted Harry warmly, despite the suspicious glares from the aurors stationed around the room. "Sorry for them, but they insisted that my security couldn't be trusted to anyone but them," Mockridge shrugged.
"Personally, I can't really agree, but what do I know. I'm just a politician."
Harry chuckled and waved off the aurors, who bristled at being dismissed by a teenager. "Oh, don't worry about it. I'll have some people put outside your door. Voldemort won't even get close to you. I'll make sure of that."
"We should make sure those two kill each other," one of the aurors muttered, only to find himself facing a fistful of crackling energy, courtesy of Count Hiscophney.
"I dare you to say that again," the Count hissed. When the auror gulped nervously and remained silent, the sorcerer withdrew, satisfied for now.
Harry and Mockridge watched the exchange with thinly veiled amusement. "It might be a long wait, Bert. We don't know when Voldemort is planning to attack, just that it'll be today, so we'll have to be on guard all day."
"All right. I just wish there was something more we could do to help." Mockridge sighed. "I don't feel right leaving you to face the dark lord alone."
"I've faced him before, Bert. Four times, and I've walked away four times. My track record against him is pretty good, and I don't intend to start changing that now," Harry said with a smirk that hid his nervousness. In the two days between then and now, they had not been able to break the ward. The Rod of Dominion still sat in its resting place, hovering behind an impenetrable ward deep beneath the fortress of Azkaban. At least Voldemort hadn't made a move to take it yet, which gave Harry some semblance of hope. He clenched his hand around the handle of his ivory wand. He would just have to rely on the training Bella, Snape, Remus, and Moody had put him through when they had realized they would be unable to break the ward.
"That's good. Good." Mockridge licked his dry lips. "We owe you a great debt, Harry Potter, one we'll never be able to repay. Whatever happens today, I'll make sure the wizarding world will never forget you."
"You're assuming you'll survive, Bert," Harry chuckled.
Mockridge smiled softly. "With you taking on the Dark lord? Harry, I have absolutely no doubt that you will succeed. I pray for you and your people, and your safe return. You already accomplished so much, but there's still more you could do. So much that the wizarding world could learn from you, about taking responsibility, about courage… so don't you die, today, Harry Potter. My blessings with you."
Harry looked up, touched by the older man's words. "I - thank you." He was about to say more, when an explosion rocked the building. Harry's green eyes met with Hiscophney's as the Count stepped back from the window and nodded.
Voldemort was here.