Dumbledore shrugged regretfully. "We have found no significant information concerning him that we did not know already."
"We know who forged his documents, now," Lily retorted. "We've also been reminded that his middle name was Evans, too."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Spare me the long-lost relative theory."
"I think it's oddly coincidental," Lily said, glaring at Sirius. "There's also the fact that he looks remarkably like James."
"Evans isn't all that uncommon of a name," Arthur Weasley said, finally weighing into the conversation for the first time since it had started.
"Besides," James said, "if he's somehow related to me, it's doubtful he'd be going around sporting the name of Evans."
"That is all new information, certainly," Dumbledore said, cutting in. "But it doesn't really help us. I can assure you that Alastor and I are taking steps to investigate Harry Ashworth further. However, in all honesty, I must tell you that it is my opinion that Ashworth is probably dead." He raised his hand to forestall Lily's objections. "I will explain my reasoning another time. Tonight, we must address what is to be done about Bellatrix Black."
The members of the Order looked at Dumbledore with questions on all of their faces, but Mrs. Weasley spoke up first. "Must something be done?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Apparently, Harry Ashworth and Bellatrix were working together to fight against Voldemort. They made important discoveries. It shames me to admit that they made far more progress in the fight against Voldemort than we have in all of our battles with his followers."
"What do you mean?" Lily asked.
"Neither is now the time for that explanation," Dumbledore said. "Suffice it to say that Bellatrix Black has captured an extremely important object that belongs to Voldemort. She has refused to turn it over to me for proper action."
"Are you saying we're going to need to steal it from her?" James asked.
Dumbledore shook his head. "I do not think such a venture would be even mildly successful. No, we are going to have to make friends with her and hope that through our friendship she can be persuaded into doing the correct thing."
"We could just ask her to join the Order," Moody said drily.
Sirius shook his head. "No, that would be a very bad approach. If we ask her to do something, we'll be beholden to her."
"I see," said Lily. "So, we'll just be friends until we can guilt trip her into giving us this thing and cooperating. Perhaps she'll even ask for the opportunity to join the Order."
"That's the general idea," Dumbledore said.
Sirius shook his head yet again. "You're improperly assuming that she's capable of feeling things like guilt and friendship."
.....
"No-no way. I am not going to ask to join the Order," Bellatrix declared to Harry as she carefully unwrapped one of her latest purchases from Diagon Alley. "Eventually, they will realize that I have the upper hand. When they ask me to join, I will gracefully assent after they accept my conditions."
"The idea is to win the war," Harry said, watching as Bellatrix set a rather long and wide, albeit flat, case on one of her tables. "Not assert dominance over the rest of the army."
"There is no army without proper leadership and no victory without competent guidance," Bellatrix shot back airily, opening the case.
"And of course, you will join the Order and tell them how best to wage this war," Harry said somewhat facetiously, moving closer to see what was in the case.
Bellatrix gave Harry a level stare. "Only after they have displayed proper respect for our knowledge and abilities."
Harry hid a smile, looking into the open case and observed what seemed like a couple of hundred wands, albeit short and skinny ones in various sizes and assorted types of wood. "I thought we already had an abundance of those cheap wands on hand," he observed.
"These are not meant to be used as normal wands," Bellatrix informed him. "This is a high-end tool set for professionals who manufacture or repair highly sensitive magical objects."
"Please tell me there is still money in our bank account," Harry sighed.
Bellatrix rolled her eyes and nodded her head. "I got you something, too," she said, nodding toward another package sitting on an adjoining table.
Harry walked over and opened it to discover several items of wizard armor crafted from basilisk skin. The ensemble did not quite constitute battle robes, for it was clear that one's normal robes were to be worn with the armor. "This will come in handy in all those pitched battles I fight in," Harry said.
"It's for your stupid little excursions," Bellatrix snapped at him half-heartedly as she continued to admire her tool set. "Maybe it will keep you alive."
"Thank you, Bella," Harry said sincerely as he began to try the various articles of armor on, beginning with the boots and moving onto a special pair of dueling gauntlets.
"Are you going out tonight?" she asked.
"Yeah," Harry said, continuing to put on the armor and deciding he would wear it on his excursion. "It's either that or I use my connection to Tom to find him and 'haunt' him personally. I'd prefer to just find some Death Eaters and terrorize them because they'll be less likely to figure out my techniques and chase me down."
"Good point," Bellatrix admitted.
"You probably shouldn't wait up for me," Harry told her. "Unless I get lucky early on, I'll keep at it."
Bellatrix made some scarcely intelligible sound acknowledging Harry's advice as he made his way down the stairs to the main floor of their flat. He went to their bedroom and dug out a dark, hooded cloak before exiting the apartment into the gloomy Manchester night and disapparating to Diagon Alley.
Harry appeared in an unlit corner of Diagon Alley near the goblin bank. As always was the case during the evening or at night, the street was completely devoid of life. Harry stood still for several moments, confirming that all was as quiet as it seemed. He then gripped his wand tightly and cast the image projection spell. In the middle of the street, about fifteen feet away from where Harry stood in the shadows, the shadow of Harry's image appeared in the street. It resembled Harry exactly, except that Harry's face and hands were translucent, like a ghost. The other difference was that 'Ghost Harry' did not appear to be holding a wand.
The ghostly image of Harry began walking down the street slowly, staring ahead, its hands occasionally reaching forward as if to grasp something just out of sight. Invisible, Harry walked down the street flanking his image, admiring how much more intimidating his so-called ghost appeared adorned in Bellatrix's armor and his own dark, hooded cloak.
.....
Fearfully, Igor Karkaroff glanced around the street in Diagon Alley as he and Pius Thicknesse led a group of Death Eaters toward the Weasley joke shop. The Weasley twins were purebloods, but their joke shop had skated on the thin edge of defiance against the Dark Lord for too long. While the Dark Lord did not want to kill purebloods unless strictly necessary, the joke shop had to be dealt with.