'How have you been, Dobby?' Harry asked, slowly walking up the stairs and along the corridor towards Myrtle's bathroom.
'Dobby is good, Master Harry Potter,' the elf looked around furtively, 'Dobby is happy that his master has managed to strike back against that family and their friends. Dobby knows the nasty green lady from before, she is a friend of Dobby's old master.'
'She wasn't a very nice person,' Harry agreed, 'but what happened was about making sure your former master's master doesn't win.'
'Dobby understands,' the elf nodded, bobbing alongside him. 'Master Harry Potter is very noble, he tries to protect everyone however he can.'
'Thank you, Dobby,' Harry smiled. The house elf was likely never going to think badly of him. 'Have you been watching Professor Umbridge for me?'
'Dobby has. The nasty pink lady has tried to harm students over and over again, so Dobby has been making sure she can't.' A vicious grin appeared on the elf's face. 'She is getting suspicious of Dobby now, there is much more magic around her office than there used to be.' 'Can you still get in?'
'Dobby won't fail Master Harry Potter,' the elf declared adoringly. 'Master Harry Potter risked his life to save all the students from the monster of the chamber when Dobby only tried to save one. Dobby knows better now. He will do what Master Harry Potter would have done and save them all.'
'Thank you, Dobby,' Harry knelt in front of the entrance to the bathroom to clasp the house elf's hand between his. 'You're assistance is invaluable in keeping everyone safe from Umbridge.'
'Dobby will not fail,' the elf repeated, ears flapping as he nodded, then vanished in another loud crack.
Harry shook his head at the elf once he'd gone. The utter adoration with which Dobby regarded him had been funny once, but now it was a little disturbing. He felt a little sorry for the house elf, having such blind loyalty for him when he'd changed so much.
I'll make sure Dobby's well looked after, Harry decided. Loyalty should be rewarded.
Stepping into Myrtle's haunt he gave the ordinary looking bathroom a quick check, but everything was in its normal place from the tiny snake engraved on one of the taps to the perpetual puddle on the floor.
'Open,' he commanded the chamber, hurrying down the dark stairs to speak to his godfather.
It was a little strange walking through the serpent effigies and knowing that someone else knew about this place now, even if it was Fleur whom he trusted implicitly. 'I'm back,' he called out to his ancestor.
'Alone? Or have you brought your French muse with you?'
'Alone,' Harry replied calmly, ignoring the slight twinge he felt at knowing he probably wouldn't really see her for a while now.
'Have you come to learn something?' Salazar asked. 'Or are you going to tell me what happened yesterday?'
'I came to speak to my godfather,' Harry answered, 'it's time to press him about the prophecy. Rita Skeeter, however, is dead, and the Dark Mark was seen by most of London.'
'Are they starting to believe?' Slytherin asked.
'I don't know,' Harry mused. 'I do know that a lot of wizards and witches who might have been Voldemort supporters, or become ones, no longer work for the Ministry after aurors discovered all the material Skeeter dug up.'
'That's good too,' the founder decided. 'An unexpected bonus.'
Harry picked up the mirror from the desk and breathed his godfather's name onto it, pressing a finger to his lips to warn Salazar that he had to be quiet.
The response was instant.
'Harry,' his godfather grinned delightedly. 'How are you? How was your Christmas? I have your present, but I can't seem to get Dumbledore to give it you.'
'It was good,' Harry didn't smile, 'except for what happened to Mr Weasley.' 'Yes,' the grin vanished. 'Arthur is already missed, things have been subdued here.'
'He shouldn't have had to die,' Harry said with genuine ire.
'He died on duty for the Order,' Sirius responded, 'which is better than what I'm doing, rotting in here, not helping anyone.'
'Nobody should be guarding the Department of Mysteries,' Harry declared, 'the prophecy should be heard and then broken.'
Sirius paled. 'How do you know about that?'
'Voldemort mentioned it,' Harry shrugged. 'I assumed there was a good reason for me not being told,' he lied, 'or I did until now. Mrs Weasley looked like she blamed me.'
Molly is upset after losing Arthur,' Sirius replied uncomfortably. 'She doesn't really blame you, none of the Weasley's do, but knowing he died protecting something for you makes it hard for them to be around you without being reminded of what they've lost.'
'I understand,' Harry said sadly. Truthfully he didn't particularly care. He had respected and liked Arthur Weasley, but he wasn't responsible for his death, and if the Weasley's couldn't face him because they blamed him in part then there was nothing he could do about it. Apathy was an effective armour sometimes.
'How much do you know about it?' Sirius asked curiously.
'I've gathered that it's about me, that it's in the Department of Mysteries, that you're secretly protecting it and Voldemort is after it.'
'That's pretty much all there is to it,' his godfather informed him.
'I want to know why you haven't just broken it, or if you can't the surely you could have moved or stolen it.'
'Only the person the prophecy is about can remove it,' Sirius explained, 'there are some very nasty protections on them.'
'So only Voldemort or I can take it?' Harry asked, glancing up at Salazar who was listening intently.
'Yes,' his godfather agreed.
'So unless he gets it, which is obviously bad, people are going to keep dying unless I come and take it.'
'You can't come and get it, Harry,' Sirius told him. 'This is why Dumbledore insisted we didn't tell you, he was afraid you'd insist on coming to get it.'
'Yeah, but it's fine for you to die guarding it when I could just come and see it and then break it,' Harry retorted sarcastically.
'Well if you come then you might get hurt,' Sirius explained half-heartedly, clearly not really convinced himself.
'You mean there's a chance someone might get bitten and killed by a snake?' Harry asked mockingly. 'If you can secretly guard it, then I can secretly sneak in, listen to it so we know what it says, then destroy it so Voldemort never knows and nobody else will get hurt.'
'I suppose,' Sirius sighed. 'I'll talk to the Order.' His face grew more determined as he thought about it. 'I think you're right, we just have to persuade everyone to listen.' 'No,' Harry shook his head. 'Dumbledore will never agree. We can sneak in together, under the invisibility cloak, nobody will ever notice, and tell him afterwards. He doesn't get to dictate what we do, he's just as prone to mistakes as the rest of us, Arthur Weasley died because he thought sneaking me in for an hour was more dangerous that leaving people permanently in harm's way!'
'It sounds like being back at Hogwarts and sneaking out after curfew,' Sirius grinned.
'I don't know how to get in,' Harry commented.
'I'll think of something,' Sirius assured him. 'We'll go when Mundungus is on watch, he can easily be bribed or threatened into letting us in the department, and once we're in after hours the place will be empty.'
'How do I get to the Ministry?' Harry asked. 'Once you're here I can apparate you,' Sirius decided. 'Everyone else already knows, the Weasley's and Hermione were here over Christmas and in the summer to help clear the place up. He looked down and there was a brief rustle as he searched his pockets. I kept this when Dumbledore gave it to me,' he grinned holding up the tattered piece of parchment.
The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at number twelve Grimmauld Place, Harry read in the smudged, but elegant, slanted script of the headmaster.
'You kept the note he gave you?' Harry raised an eyebrow. 'I doubt Dumbledore would approve.'
'I can't leave the house, if someone finds that note they're already inside and it doesn't matter,' Sirius explained. 'When are we going to go?'
Harry considered it for a moment. He still needed to make sure he had a way to oust Umbridge, even if he could probably improvise a little bit when he had to.
'I don't know,' he answered finally. 'I need to find a way to sneak out without Umbridge or Dumbledore realising.'
'I'll be waiting,' his godfather nodded, grinning maniacally. 'I feel younger just thinking about doing this. It will be good to have some excitement again.'
'And to destroy that prophecy,' Harry reminded him.
'That too,' Sirius conceded. 'Have you heard about what's happening at the Ministry today?' 'No,' Harry shook his head.
'Since you should really know this stuff, and you seem to have a habit of finding things out anyway I'll tell you what the Order knows. You'll be a member soon anyway. Lily and James both were.' Harry felt a slight flare of guilt at the mention of his parents. He doubted they'd be very proud of him if they knew everything he had done and was about to do.
'What's happened?'
'Tonks, a cousin of mine, and our eyes and ears amongst the aurors, said Amelia Bones found a whole cupboard of dirty secrets and that the office has been working non-stop investigating them since yesterday. A lot of the Death Eaters and their allies have been forced out of the Ministry, though we lost a couple of our own too. It's the best thing that's happened since the Order was reformed, without those officials Fudge's grip is weakening, he lost a lot of supporters, Malfoy's the only one left with any real power, and he's under suspicion for the death of Rita Skeeter.' 'That's good,' Harry agreed. That cabinet had done a great deal more than he'd ever anticipated. It was a welcome surprise, and a warning that his plans might have serious, unexpected consequences if he wasn't more careful.
'Good?' Sirius grinned again, the lines around his eyes deepening. 'It's better than good! It means the Ministry might be about to wake up and realise what's happening before it's too late and Voldemort razes the place to the ground.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ready to lose yourself in an epic tale? Download the full PDF now and start reading from page one!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
https://fictiontopia.tiendup.com/