in which Harry gets enrolled in a rescue mission
One morning, Harry met Pig for the first time. Pig wasn't a pig. Which was to be expected because pigs didn't fly. No. Pig was the family's pigeon. And his name wasn't actually Pig but Pigwidgeon. Ron told Harry it was Ginny who had named him. In the dozen days he had been with the Weasley, Harry had learned not to question Ginny's judgment. So he didn't say anything.
Though he did judge.
However, the news that came along with Pig were less joyful. There had been an attack at the Academy. By the Malfoy Crown. No one knew what was going on. The school was under siege, Percy told them. He was fine, but an other teacher had been killed. From what he wrote, the soldiers had been looking for the Malfoy Heir, but they had never found him. He seemed to have disappeared along with a bunch of other students, including the heirs to two other Royal Families.
When it was mentioned Neville Longbottom was amongst the missing kids, Molly immediately wrote to Augusta Longbottom, the boy's grandmother.
She then wrote an other letter, to her brothers this time. They had to summon a Council meeting. The Council, Harry learned, was a group that included all the most important figures of the Orders, which meant all six Captains along their right arms and eventually their spouses or other important people. In some cases, if a family was especially important amongst one of the fleets, they could have a representative being part of the Council as well.
The Order looked after one another, Harry had learned so much. If the pirates had gone so out of hands when Dumbledore had locked him away when he was just a baby, it was without a doubt they would search the Earth and above for Neville, who had been part of the fleet for 17 years already.
In the letter, Percy asked his parents not to answer back to him. He hadn't had the permission to communicate with his family ; Pig simply knew to be discreet when needed (though Harry had a hard time imagining Pig being discreet, he didn't commented on it).
It soon became very obvious that Council was a clear priority over Harry's destination. He would come with them to the meeting, then they would drop him off. It would probably take at least two more weeks, but Harry refused to come in the way of the meeting. Besides, he quite liked the idea of spending more time with the Weasleys.
For as long as the exchange of letters went, they had anchored to ship right where they were, in the middle of the sea. Molly had made sure to drop their coordinates in all her letters, which meant a whole wave of people who came and went for several days.
Harry had the chance to meet Fabian and Gideon Prewett, Molly's brothers and Captians of the Prewett fleet. He also had the chance to meet Sybill Trelawney, a Seer from the same fleet.
A Seer, Harry learned, was someone with the power of seeing things. Someone who could navigate between space and time. During childhood, it manifested as visions. Some of them happened, others not. If a kid was skilled at that, sometimes he could tell things from the past thanks to objects or people. It was only when getting of age that their true power unlocked.
Harry generally had a hard time believing in those things, but it was most obvious that Trelawney wasn't faking it. She always acted so high anybody would have fainted if they had had to act that way on purpose all the time.
By the time they were on the move to the meeting, Harry's mind was buzzing with information. From what they had gathered thanks to Trelawney, Neville was currently with five other people : the heirs to the Malfoy, Parkinson and Zabini Crowns, a boy named Theodore Nott (this one Trelawney guessed based of his resemblance to his father, Tiberius Nott) and an other girl she was incapable of identifying. Apparently she had a tiger.
This information, most of them disagreed on. Molly and Arthur both insisted that sometimes visions could be blurry, and that it probably was a horse. Ginny was certain that it was an actual tiger. Ron stayed stuck on the idea that someone had decided to ride a tiger. He had barely gotten his colours back ever since that information had been delivered to him.
The evening before the meeting, the Weasley family sat down around the table for yet another chat.
"To be clear : Charlie is allowed with us because he is of age and we know he will behave. Fred, George, you two know exactly the reason why you won't be coming with us. Ron, Ginny, you two aren't of age yet."
It was that simple. It made perfect sense. Yet, for the very first time, Harry watched as the four youngest Weasley argued with their mother.
"Fred, George, that is enough ! You two may have a job but you act like toddlers ! Those people may be my friends, but this Council is of the greatest importance, and I will not have your child-like behaviours ruin it !"
This went on for a while, until Ginny somehow convinced her mother of letting the four of them take part in the Council.
Than, Ron decided to open his mouth :
"What about Harry ?"
And it was like that that Harry had found himself included to the meeting without anyone even asking if he was okay with it.
Well, this surely was about to get interesting.
***
When Harry asked where the meeting would be held, "a special pirate island no one else knows about" wasn't was he had been expecting. And somehow it made perfect sense. But still, Harry wished pirates ceased to astonish him so much.
It was already night when they stepped out of the ship. Harry practically threw up. It was his first time finding himself on solid ground after being on a ship for so long, and his stomach definitely didn't like it.
It took him a solid five minutes to finally being able to breathe properly.
Only after that did he took in his surrounding. They were many other ships anchored around the beach. Probably a good dozen.
Harry realised that he was about to meet everyone who his father had cared for. The people who had fought to get him back. He didn't know how he should feel about that.
Harry followed Molly and Arthur closely. He could tell, by the looks on Ron, Ginny and the twins' faces, that it was their first time coming here as well. Charlie, for himself, looked perfectly at ease.
Molly and Arthur were whispering to each other like spies on a mission.
When they stopped, it was in front a wooden gate. The gate, Harry guessed, was more symbolic than anything, as it wasn't even close. It opened on a wooden path that led uphill. It was lightened by many lanterns. It was one of the most beautiful sights Harry had ever witnessed.
Carefully, the group made their way up. The steps were damp, probably because of their closeness to the sea, and therefore quite slippery. More than once, Harry had to grab Charlie by the arm to prevent himself from falling miserably.
When finally they made their way to the top, Harry came face to face with what looked like some enormous temple.
There wasn't any guard at the entrance. Harry would have been worried if Molly and Arthur didn't made their way inside like they owned the place. Once again, they came face to face with a set of stairs that seemed to disappear in the darkness. Harry wasn't going to lie, he was terrified. Still, he climbed the steps.
After a while, he could tell they were getting close, as the sounds of joyful voices could be heard.
They only grew louder and louder the closest they got. When finally they got to the top, they had to stop for a second to allow everyone to catch their breath. Then, Molly opened the door.
When Harry made his way inside, the place fell silent so quickly it was like they had seen a ghost.