The Order of the Phoenix Read online

  ‘Because he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself,’ said Sirius. ‘It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn’t come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up.’

  ‘Or rather, you messed it up for him,’ said Lupin, with a satisfied smile.

  ‘How?’ Harry asked, perplexed.

  ‘You weren’t supposed to survive!’ said Sirius. ‘Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he’d come back. But you survived to bear witness.’

  ‘And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore,’ said Lupin. ‘And you made sure Dumbledore knew at once.’

  ‘How has that helped?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Are you kidding?’ said Bill incredulously. ‘Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was ever scared of!’

  ‘Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned,’ said Sirius.

  ‘So, what’s the Order been doing?’ said Harry, looking around at them all.

  ‘Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can’t carry out his plans,’ said Sirius.

  ‘How d’you know what his plans are?’ Harry asked quickly.

  ‘Dumbledore’s got a shrewd idea,’ said Lupin, ‘and Dumbledore’s shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate.’

  ‘So what does Dumbledore reckon he’s planning?’

  ‘Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again,’ said Sirius. ‘In the old days he had huge numbers at his command: witches and wizards he’d bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they’ll be just one of the groups he’s after. He’s certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters.’

  ‘So you’re trying to stop him getting more followers?’

  ‘We’re doing our best,’ said Lupin.

  ‘How?’

  ‘Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them on their guard,’ said Bill. ‘It’s proving tricky, though.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because of the Ministry’s attitude,’ said Tonks. ‘You saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know-Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn’t shifted his position at all. He’s absolutely refusing to believe it’s happened.’

  ‘But why?’ said Harry desperately. ‘Why’s he being so stupid? If Dumbledore –’

  ‘Ah, well, you’ve put your finger on the problem,’ said Mr Weasley with a wry smile. ‘Dumbledore.’

  ‘Fudge is frightened of him, you see,’ said Tonks sadly.

  ‘Frightened of Dumbledore?’ said Harry incredulously.

  ‘Frightened of what he’s up to,’ said Mr Weasley. ‘Fudge thinks Dumbledore’s plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister for Magic.’

  ‘But Dumbledore doesn’t want –’

  ‘Of course he doesn’t,’ said Mr Weasley. ‘He’s never wanted the Minister’s job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he’s never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job.’

  ‘Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore’s much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice,’ said Lupin. ‘But it seems he’s become fond of power, and much more confident. He loves being Minister for Magic and he’s managed to convince himself that he’s the clever one and Dumbledore’s simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it.’

  ‘How can he think that?’ said Harry angrily. ‘How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up – that I’d make it all up?’

  ‘Because accepting that Voldemort’s back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn’t had to cope with for nearly fourteen years,’ said Sirius bitterly. ‘Fudge just can’t bring himself to face it. It’s so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore’s lying to destabilise him.’

  ‘You see the problem,’ said Lupin. ‘While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort it’s hard to convince people he’s back, especially as they really don’t want to believe it in the first place. What’s more, the Ministry’s leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they’re calling Dumbledore’s rumour-mongering, so most of the wizarding community are completely unaware anything’s happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they’re using the Imperius Curse.’

  ‘But you’re telling people, aren’t you?’ said Harry, looking around at Mr Weasley, Sirius, Bill, Mundungus, Lupin and Tonks. ‘You’re letting people know he’s back?’

  They all smiled humourlessly.

  ‘Well, as everyone thinks I’m a mad mass-murderer and the Ministry’s put a ten thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?’ said Sirius restlessly.

  ‘And I’m not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community,’ said Lupin. ‘It’s an occupational hazard of being a werewolf.’

  ‘Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off,’ said Sirius, ‘and it’s very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry, because you can bet Voldemort will have them.’

  ‘We’ve managed to convince a couple of people, though,’ said Mr Weasley. ‘Tonks here, for one – she’s too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage – Kingsley Shacklebolt’s been a real asset, too; he’s in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he’s been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in Tibet.’

  ‘But if none of you are putting the news out that Voldemort’s back –’ Harry began.

  ‘Who said none of us are putting the news out?’ said Sirius. ‘Why d’you think Dumbledore’s in such trouble?’

  ‘What d’you mean?’ Harry asked.

  ‘They’re trying to discredit him,’ said Lupin. ‘Didn’t you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he’d been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he’s getting old and losing his grip, but it’s not true; he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemort’s return. They’ve demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot – that’s the Wizard High Court – and they’re talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too.’

  ‘But Dumbledore says he doesn’t care what they do as long as they don’t take him off the Chocolate Frog Cards,’ said Bill, grinning.

  ‘It’s no laughing matter,’ said Mr Weasley sharply. ‘If he carries on defying the Ministry like this he could end up in Azkaban, and the last thing we want is to have Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows Dumbledore’s out there and wise to what he’s up to he’s going to go cautiously. If Dumbledore’s out of the way – well, You-Know-Who will have a clear field.’

  ‘But if Voldemort’s trying to recruit more Death Eaters it’s bound to get out that he’s come back, isn’t it?’ asked Harry desperately.

  ‘Voldemort doesn’t march up to people’s houses and bang on their front doors, Harry,’ said Sirius. ‘He tricks, jinxes and blackmails them. He’s well-practised at operating in secret. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he’s interested in. He’s got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he’s concentrating on those for the moment.’

  ‘What’s he after apart from followers?’ Harry asked swiftly. He thought he saw Sirius and Lupin exchange the most fleeting of looks before Sirius answered.

  ‘Stuff he can only get by stealth.’

  When Harry continued to look puzzled, Sirius said, ‘Like a weapon. Something he didn’t have last time.’

  ‘When he was pow
erful before?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Like what kind of weapon?’ said Harry. ‘Something worse than the Avada Kedavra –?’

  ‘That’s enough!’

  Mrs Weasley spoke from the shadows beside the door. Harry hadn’t noticed her return from taking Ginny upstairs. Her arms were crossed and she looked furious.

  ‘I want you in bed, now. All of you,’ she added, looking around at Fred, George, Ron and Hermione.

  ‘You can’t boss us –’ Fred began.

  ‘Watch me,’ snarled Mrs Weasley. She was trembling slightly as she looked at Sirius. ‘You’ve given Harry plenty of information. Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway.’

  ‘Why not?’ said Harry quickly. ‘I’ll join, I want to join, I want to fight.’

  ‘No.’

  It was not Mrs Weasley who spoke this time, but Lupin.

  ‘The Order is comprised only of overage wizards,’ he said. ‘Wizards who have left school,’ he added, as Fred and George opened their mouths. ‘There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you … I think Molly’s right, Sirius. We’ve said enough.’

  Sirius half-shrugged but did not argue. Mrs Weasley beckoned imperiously to her sons and Hermione. One by one they stood up and Harry, recognising defeat, followed suit.

  — CHAPTER SIX —

  The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

  Mrs Weasley followed them upstairs looking grim.

  ‘I want you all to go straight to bed, no talking,’ she said as they reached the first landing, ‘we’ve got a busy day tomorrow. I expect Ginny’s asleep,’ she added to Hermione, ‘so try not to wake her up.’

  ‘Asleep, yeah, right,’ said Fred in an undertone, after Hermione bade them goodnight and they were climbing to the next floor. ‘If Ginny’s not lying awake waiting for Hermione to tell her everything they said downstairs then I’m a Flobberworm …’

  ‘All right, Ron, Harry,’ said Mrs Weasley on the second landing, pointing them into their bedroom. ‘Off to bed with you.’

  ‘’Night,’ Harry and Ron said to the twins.

  ‘Sleep tight,’ said Fred, winking.

  Mrs Weasley closed the door behind Harry with a sharp snap. The bedroom looked, if anything, even danker and gloomier than it had on first sight. The blank picture on the wall was now breathing very slowly and deeply, as though its invisible occupant was asleep. Harry put on his pyjamas, took off his glasses and climbed into his chilly bed while Ron threw Owl Treats up on top of the wardrobe to pacify Hedwig and Pigwidgeon, who were clattering around and rustling their wings restlessly.

  ‘We can’t let them out to hunt every night,’ Ron explained as he pulled on his maroon pyjamas. ‘Dumbledore doesn’t want too many owls swooping around the square, thinks it’ll look suspicious. Oh yeah … I forgot …’

  He crossed to the door and bolted it.

  ‘What’re you doing that for?’

  ‘Kreacher,’ said Ron as he turned off the light. ‘First night I was here he came wandering in at three in the morning. Trust me, you don’t want to wake up and find him prowling around your room. Anyway …’ he got into his bed, settled down under the covers then turned to look at Harry in the darkness; Harry could see his outline by the moonlight filtering in through the grimy window, ‘what d’you reckon?’

  Harry didn’t need to ask what Ron meant.

  ‘Well, they didn’t tell us much we couldn’t have guessed, did they?’ he said, thinking of all that had been said downstairs. ‘I mean, all they’ve really said is that the Order’s trying to stop people joining Vol—’

  There was a sharp intake of breath from Ron.

  ‘—demort,’ said Harry firmly. ‘When are you going to start using his name? Sirius and Lupin do.’

  Ron ignored this last comment.

  ‘Yeah, you’re right,’ he said, ‘we already knew nearly everything they told us, from using the Extendable Ears. The only new bit was –’

  Crack.

  ‘OUCH!’

  ‘Keep your voice down, Ron, or Mum’ll be back up here.’

  ‘You two just Apparated on my knees!’

  ‘Yeah, well, it’s harder in the dark.’

  Harry saw the blurred outlines of Fred and George leaping down from Ron’s bed. There was a groan of bedsprings and Harry’s mattress descended a few inches as George sat down near his feet.

  ‘So, got there yet?’ said George eagerly.

  ‘The weapon Sirius mentioned?’ said Harry.

  ‘Let slip, more like,’ said Fred with relish, now sitting next to Ron. ‘We didn’t hear about that on the old Extendables, did we?’

  ‘What d’you reckon it is?’ said Harry.

  ‘Could be anything,’ said Fred.

  ‘But there can’t be anything worse than the Avada Kedavra Curse, can there?’ said Ron. ‘What’s worse than death?’

  ‘Maybe it’s something that can kill loads of people at once,’ suggested George.

  ‘Maybe it’s some particularly painful way of killing people,’ said Ron fearfully.

  ‘He’s got the Cruciatus Curse for causing pain,’ said Harry, ‘he doesn’t need anything more efficient than that.’

  There was a pause and Harry knew that the others, like him, were wondering what horrors this weapon could perpetrate.

  ‘So who d’you think’s got it now?’ asked George.

  ‘I hope it’s our side,’ said Ron, sounding slightly nervous.

  ‘If it is, Dumbledore’s probably keeping it,’ said Fred.

  ‘Where?’ said Ron quickly. ‘Hogwarts?’

  ‘Bet it is!’ said George. ‘That’s where he hid the Philosopher’s Stone.’

  ‘A weapon’s going to be a lot bigger than the Stone, though!’ said Ron.

  ‘Not necessarily,’ said Fred.

  ‘Yeah, size is no guarantee of power,’ said George. ‘Look at Ginny.’

  ‘What d’you mean?’ said Harry.

  ‘You’ve never been on the receiving end of one of her Bat-Bogey Hexes, have you?’

  ‘Shhh!’ said Fred, half-rising from the bed. ‘Listen!’

  They fell silent. Footsteps were coming up the stairs.

  ‘Mum,’ said George and without further ado there was a loud crack and Harry felt the weight vanish from the end of his bed. A few seconds later, they heard the floorboard creak outside their door; Mrs Weasley was plainly listening to check whether or not they were talking.

  Hedwig and Pigwidgeon hooted dolefully. The floorboard creaked again and they heard her heading upstairs to check on Fred and George.

  ‘She doesn’t trust us at all, you know,’ said Ron regretfully.

  Harry was sure he would not be able to fall asleep; the evening had been so packed with things to think about that he fully expected to lie awake for hours mulling it all over. He wanted to continue talking to Ron, but Mrs Weasley was now creaking back downstairs again, and once she had gone he distinctly heard others making their way upstairs … in fact, many-legged creatures were cantering softly up and down outside the bedroom door, and Hagrid the Care of Magical Creatures teacher was saying, ‘Beauties, aren’ they, eh, Harry? We’ll be studyin’ weapons this term …’ and Harry saw that the creatures had cannons for heads and were wheeling to face him … he ducked …

  The next thing he knew, he was curled into a warm ball under his bedclothes and George’s loud voice was filling the room.

  ‘Mum says get up, your breakfast is in the kitchen and then she needs you in the drawing room, there are loads more Doxys than she thought and she’s found a nest of dead Puffskeins under the sofa.’

  Half an hour later Harry and Ron, who had dressed and breakfasted quickly, entered the drawing room, a long, high-ceilinged room on the first floor with olive green walls covered in dirty tapestries. The carpet exhaled little clouds of dust every time someone put their foot on it and the long, moss green velvet curtains were buzzing as though swarming with invisibl
e bees. It was around these that Mrs Weasley, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George were grouped, all looking rather peculiar as they had each tied a cloth over their nose and mouth. Each of them was also holding a large bottle of black liquid with a nozzle at the end.

  ‘Cover your faces and take a spray,’ Mrs Weasley said to Harry and Ron the moment she saw them, pointing to two more bottles of black liquid standing on a spindle-legged table. ‘It’s Doxycide. I’ve never seen an infestation this bad – what that house-elf’s been doing for the last ten years –’

  Hermione’s face was half concealed by a tea towel but Harry distinctly saw her throw a reproachful look at Mrs Weasley.

  ‘Kreacher’s really old, he probably couldn’t manage –’

  ‘You’d be surprised what Kreacher can manage when he wants to, Hermione,’ said Sirius, who had just entered the room carrying a bloodstained bag of what appeared to be dead rats. ‘I’ve just been feeding Buckbeak,’ he added, in reply to Harry’s enquiring look. ‘I keep him upstairs in my mother’s bedroom. Anyway … this writing desk …’

  He dropped the bag of rats into an armchair, then bent over to examine the locked cabinet which, Harry now noticed for the first time, was shaking slightly.

  ‘Well, Molly, I’m pretty sure this is a Boggart,’ said Sirius, peering through the keyhole, ‘but perhaps we ought to let Mad-Eye have a shufti at it before we let it out – knowing my mother, it could be something much worse.’

  ‘Right you are, Sirius,’ said Mrs Weasley.

  They were both speaking in carefully light, polite voices that told Harry quite plainly that neither had forgotten their disagreement of the night before.

  A loud, clanging bell sounded from downstairs, followed at once by the cacophony of screams and wails that had been triggered the previous night by Tonks knocking over the umbrella stand.

  ‘I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell!’ said Sirius exasperatedly, hurrying out of the room. They heard him thundering down the stairs as Mrs Black’s screeches echoed up through the house once more:

  ‘Stains of dishonour, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth …’