Harry’s Private Army

The kitchen fell into complete silence. It had been a question that many had wondered over the years. Albus was so insistent that everyone say You-Know-Who’s name, even with the taboo. He made it almost mandatory when speaking to him. Most thought it was just his way of beefing up morale, but others thought it was so that if You-Know-Who did show up, then the headmaster would take care of him. It was still quite a puzzle, and most were interested in the answer.

“Sirius, my boy, the taboo was broken when Voldemort was vanquished the first time,” Albus said in his grandfatherly voice. His eyes were twinkling. “There was no reason not to say his name. Fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself,” he added, with a sage nod. He took a sip of his tea and wondered what kind it was. It tasted divine. He was not a connoisseur of tea by any means. He preferred his Earl Grey, therefore did not try many others. He would have to ask Sirius where he got this one.

The twins shared a look. It had been them that made the tea. It had taken many tries to get it to taste good, but they were nothing if not persistent. It was something they were going to sell in the defense line, which Harry said should not go public. However, he did suggest that they peddle it to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It was something they were pondering on. Though, they would be selling to friends at a discount.

“And now?” Sirius asked, his voice was hard. “I mean, the Dork Idiot is back, so why do you persist on everyone, especially Harry, saying Voldy’s name?” he asked again, also taking a sip of the tea that the twins had laced. Unlike a few here, he had no secrets to hide, so he didn’t mind drinking it.

“Harry needs to not fear Voldemort. It is his destiny to face him in mortal combat. It has been prophesized,” Albus explained, with a twinkle in his eyes. It saddened him that that was true. He never wanted children to fight a war. However, ever since he heard the prophecy, he knew that either Harry or Neville would be the one to finish Tom. When the Potters died, he did what he thought was needed to make the boy stronger.

A bad family home would either make or break the boy. It did as Albus had predicted and made the boy strong at heart, if not of body. That can be remedied. By giving him a good schooling and plenty to eat, he was getting the physical help he needed. He paid no attention to the bullying, thinking along the same lines as it would either make Harry stronger, or not.

That there was a prophecy was an eye opener for many, including Harry and Sirius. Did that mean that they would start training the boy? Merlin knows he needed it.

“You know the prophecy?” was the next question from the irate godfather. He knew Harry didn’t know, but they had thought there was one.  

“It was given to me,” the old man said, not sure why he was telling the truth, but it felt like it was time. “By Professor Trelawney, during her interview,” he added, because he seemed compelled to speak the whole truth. He took another sip of the marvelous tea.

It took every bit of willpower from Harry not to groan. He knew Trelawney could really have prophetic episodes. He had heard one after all, but really? She was a fraud more times than not and to have one at her job interview. How could the old man think it was real?

“What does it say, exactly,” Moody wanted to know. He was still pissed about the horcruxes. Now a prophecy? This was beyond the pale.

“Alas, that I cannot tell you,” Albus stated, still firm in his belief that it could be leaked. While he felt the need to speak the truth, he did have some things he was desperate to keep private. The horcruxes were out of the bag, so to speak, but the prophecy would remain secret.

“Why?” Alastor asked, both his eyes trained on Dumbledore. He was more than happy that the truth was coming out. He was behind this interrogation 100%. Most of these questions had been plaguing his mind for years. He had thought he would get answers last year. But he had been kidnapped instead. Though Barty Jr was more than happy to tell him stuff that he thought would make Moody mad.

“It could get back to Voldemort,” was the answer, complete with twinkly eyes. “Everyone here knows he is an accomplished Legilimens,” he finished as if that settled that question. Which it did.

Many there nodded in agreement. They didn’t want You-Know-Who to know something that could be used against Harry, if the boy was to be a savior. They did know that what they didn’t know couldn’t be plucked from their minds.

“Are you going to tell Harry?” Bill asked, voicing the question on quite a few minds.

“Alas, I will have to, now that you here know there is one,” Dumbledore said, taking a sip of the delightful tea. If he didn’t know better, he would think it laced, but he would be able to tell if someone potioned him. He was the great Dumbledore. No one would dare. That and everyone including Moody was drinking it. If his paranoid friend was partaking, then there was nothing wrong with the tea.

“And the boy?” the interrogation continued from Alastor. He too took a sip of the tea. The twins had told him their plans, and that they would ward off any questions coming his way. Even if they had to silence him. It took the better part of an hour to convince him that it needed to be done. And they were correct.  Even still, they had to give him the counter-potion that he kept in his flask. No one would think twice of him drinking from it.

“It is his destiny,” Albus said, his eyes giving off a sad look. “I do not wish the boy to die. I am ever hopeful that he will survive,” he added, especially now that the horcrux was out of the boy’s scar. All his plans had been based on the horcrux being there. They were now null and void.

Harry was thinking along the same lines as the headmaster. He knew that the man was upset that the horcrux was gone. However, he didn’t care. He was glad to be rid of it, backup plan or not. He just hoped the man didn’t come up with anything worse than he had in the past. He could only truly pin his first year on Dumbledore, but he was sure the man hadn’t done all he could the other years.

“So, you are setting him up?” the angry godfather stated, howling mad. His anger was strong before, but to know the truth was making him want to hex everyone in the room, just for being part of the Order.

During this time Harry was not idle. He tapped on the bag and the queen came out. He motioned her up to his mouth. “Get a hat, go to Sirius, and tell him to ask about my first year,” he whispered as softly as he could.

She nodded and went back into the bag. Harry didn’t see her leave, but he felt the bag move and assumed she had. That was proven true when Sirius’s head tilted like he was listening. There was a wicked spark in his eyes.

Meanwhile Albus was answering. “Sirius, of course not. I am merely readying him for his future. It will be months if not years until the taboo is reenacted. All I have ever wanted was for Harry to be a child and grow up happy,” he said as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. His twinkle had greatly diminished. It was like he didn’t take being accused well.

“And Harry’s first year?” Sirius asked, the anger slipping in his tone. He held it in. He wanted to take advantage of the tea now, since he doubted that he could another time. It was lucky that the twins found what they had. Those two were just plain geniuses. There was no doubt in his mind that they would make it big. He had already flooed Ted and the other man was going to draw up the contracts. He hoped to have them tonight.

“What do you know of it?” Dumbledore asked, not quite fearful, but very wary. While he was more than willing to speak the truth, he didn’t want some things to come out.

“Not much I’ll admit, which I blame you for. What with you keeping us apart. However, I do know that Harry faced Voldy that year and every year but his third,” the dogman answered, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re avoiding the question.”

“I don’t feel the need to discuss this,” the old man said, lifting his nose in a superior way. He took another sip of his tea and decided that he needed something to eat, so he took a small cucumber sandwich. He always loved those; they were just so refreshing. It was after all the truth; he didn’t feel the need to talk about it.

“We can tell you,” Fred said, looking at Sirius.

“We were there,” George finished.

“Thanks, boys, but I want Albus to answer. I’d like to see him defend having the Philosopher’s Stone at Hogwarts,” Sirius said, being fed what to ask by the queen, who was flying back and forth between him and Harry.

“The Philosopher’s Stone?” came the question from many, the loudest being Molly.

“You put that stone in the school with my children?” the harpy screeched, standing with her hands on her hips. She looked like she would strangle the man with his own beard.

“Now, Molly,” was all Albus said before he was once again interrupted.

“Trap,” Moody said, banging his fist on the table, upsetting quite a few of the teacups that were situated around said table. “You set a trap,” he accused Albus with a pointed finger. “For whom though?” he questioned, thinking hard.

Molly sat down feeling faint. Ginny’s first year was bad enough, but to think that Dumbledore had set a trap for the Dark Lord in Ron’s first year was just too much. She was glaring at the headmaster, hoping all his hair caught on fire. That was two of her children he had put in direct danger.

“I’ll bet all the money I have that it was for Harry and Voldy,” Sirius said, nodding his agreement with Moody’s assessment. His ire was simmering just under the surface. He was a volcano ready to explode. That and the doxy was still putting questions in his ear, which was making him twitchy.

“Sucker’s bet,” the one-eyed man said, his fake eye whirling, while his real eye stared at Dumbledore. “Why, Albus? Why would you set up an eleven-year-old to fight one of the darkest wizards of the century?” he asked, never having thought his old friend would do such. Sure, the man was Machiavellian, but not usually with children. He was the headmaster; he should be protecting him.

“It was not my intention to have young Harry fight Voldemort,” was all Albus said, before Sirius snapped.

“For the love of Merlin, call him Tom,” Sirius all but yelled since this whole conversation started with a question about the taboo. “I don’t want to test the wards of this house because of your hubris,” he added, smacking his hand on the table, making many cups and plates tinkle.

“How do you know that name?” the headmaster asked, his head whipping around so fast that his beard was askew. It was another piece of information he didn’t want bandied about. If everyone knew that Tom was once a student at Hogwarts, they would start blaming him for not curtailing the man sooner. It was bad enough he had gotten condemnation for not taking care of Gellert sooner than he had. He didn’t want people to know he knew that Tom was a bad egg from the start.

“Harry told me,” Sirius said, then he raised an accusing finger. “You are still deflecting. You haven’t answered the question. Why did you lay that trap?” he put off the Dark Idiot’s name for now. At least it would get some people questioning what they knew about the man.

“As I stated, it was not my intention to have them fight. I merely wanted Harry to realize that Vold…” he started again only to be yelled at by many.

“Stop saying his name,” Kingsley, Tonks, Sirius, Moody, and Remus all shouted, all of them standing and slamming their hands on the poor abused table, making all the dishes jump and some topple over. Sandwiches were scattered everywhere, and the biscuits joined them.

Dobby popped in and cleaned up the mess with a snap of his fingers, making everything upright and normal. He snapped them again and the table was dry and clean. One more snap and a new pot of tea was produced.

The five that yelled sat back down with sheepish looks on their faces for reacting so dramatically. They looked at one another and chuckled. It was kind of funny, though they were very serious, no pun intended.

“Very well, I wanted him to know that Tom was still alive. He needed to be prepared,” the old man finished, his twinkle completely gone. His marvelous tea was gone, due to the recent banging on the table. He poured himself another cup, and he sipped the hot beverage. It didn’t taste quite as appealing, yet it was still lovely. “They were not supposed to even meet without me there to protect the boy,” he added, hoping to defuse the situation.

“But you just said that you wanted him to have a childhood,” Tonks said, completely confused. She was confused about this whole meeting. First of all, most of the Order was just letting Sirius and Moody question the headmaster. Second of all, the headmaster was answering those questions. That was not normal.

“And I did. I did not burden him with the prophecy,” the old man said as if it was a gift that he had given Harry. To him it was, it was one less thing the boy had to worry about. Until now, that was. He was sure Sirius would inform the boy of the entire meeting.

Harry was still talking to the queen on what to tell Sirius to ask. This time it was on the traps in his first year. She was not having fun, but she knew that it was important to the human who had saved her family.

The queen flew to Sirius and relayed the question, so he asked, “Those traps that you put up for the Dark Idiot, why could Harry and his friends get past them?” He had calmed down a bit, knowing that he was getting answers that were very much needed. If only to make people open their eyes to the old fraud in front of them.

“They were merely a distraction. The real trap was the mirror,” the headmaster said, looking around the room and seeing that many were getting angry. “It was one of my better ideas,” he confessed with a smug look.

“We went through those traps,” Fred said, looking peeved at the old man.

“They were child’s play,” George said, shaking his head

“What we want to know is why you gave them all those points?” Fred asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Yeah, do you know how much criticism we got from the rest of the school because of that?” George added, very upset over that.

“They deserved them after facing what they did,” Dumbledore said as if it shouldn’t even be questioned, and he was confused as to why it was.

“No, you made Harry a hero to one house and a glory seeker to the others,” Fred said, leaning forward with his hands on the table.

“All this tripe that he’s a glory seeking psycho stems from that moment,” George said, folding his arms over his chest.

“I’ll agree with that. Now that I’ve gotten the answers from you, I feel that you’ve been setting Harry up from the get-go. That needs to stop. You are no longer his guardian. I am,” Sirius said, tired of the lame excuses. “I want you out of this house. You and the Order are no longer welcome here,” he added, fed up with the old man. “I resign,” he said with a note of satisfaction.

“Now, Sirius,” the headmaster said, this time with a bit of panic. He really needed to keep tabs on Harry. He couldn’t do that if he were banned from here. “I am the Secret Keeper, you cannot ban me,” he tried to get the boy to see reason.

“I will change the wards. I have Bill here for that,” Sirius said, waving to the nodding curse-breaker.

“Come now, my boy,” was as far as the old man got.

“Nope, I’m done listening to you. All those who are tired of his shenanigans can stay, but they have to retire from the Order of the Phoenix. And you must be willing to take a vow. I won’t have spies in my house,” Black said, standing up and going to the fireplace. “The rest of you leave,” he said, taking up the floo powder pot and holding it out.