"The dark lord has not been seen for some time," Severus Snape reported at the next meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. "He's been locked up in his room for some time and will not leave. He has had all instructions delivered via owl or broadcast to the nearest death eaters via any number of spells. Occasionally, his snake will venture out to hunt but will make sure to never leave the wards of the manor."
"That's quite concerning," One member frowned.
"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed. "What could he be doing?"
"Maybe he's taken some time off and discovered PlayWizard?" Sirius said hopefully, causing everyone to look at him. "What?!" He blurted out defensively. "It could happen!"
"He's possibly experimenting with his new body," Harry spoke up, Jet lay on his arm while Thor sat down on his right shoulder.
"See?!" Sirius said smugly. "Harry agrees with me."
"Not like that, you perverted old pervert!" Harry said quickly before letting out a small sigh. "What I am trying to say is that it's possible that he has created a new body and is testing the limits of it, agreed?" He asked Dumbledore.
"Perhaps," Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully. "It is possible, Tom has always liked to make sure he presents himself perfectly to his followers. Severus, do you believe that he has a new body?"
"It is possible," Snape frowned. "I have heard that some of the death eaters have been given special tasks but that was all that information I've been able to rank out with the exception of the fact that these were low ranking death eaters, not even one of them was inner circle."
"Is it possible that he used them in a ritual of some sort?" Moody growled.
"Wouldn't he prefer using muggles?" Arthur Weasley said in a disgusted voice. "The death eaters have no respect or care for muggles. Obviously you-know-who will have even less, why sacrifice willing and obedient servants when you could kidnap a couple of muggles?"
"Maybe because it's easier and quicker to take a couple of his death eaters instead of hunting for muggles?" Tonks guessed.
"Maybe," Harry replied. "But I don't think that's it, I'm no world class expert in rituals but I know that what you put in is what you get back out."
"Mr Potter is correct," Dumbledore agreed. "He would definitely consider muggles to be inferior and wouldn't want them used outside of any ritual to strengthen his physical body. But Tom has little care for physical ability, instead putting all of his bets on magical strength. Using wizards and witches would undoubtedly give him the best results."
"He wouldn't have used his inner circle because they would be his most useful warriors," Remus spoke up. "But the lower ranked death eaters, nobody would miss them."
"We need a way to draw him out," Moody spoke up. "The longer he's there, the more powerful he gets. Perhaps we should arrange an attack."
"I feat that that would not be the best idea," Dumbledore spoke up. "We are outnumbered and Voldemort will undoubtedly be expecting an attack of some sort, should we fail then not only will he get away, but Severus would also risk losing not just his position as a spy, but also his life. Harry, what do you think?" Dumbledore asked Harry who looked thoughtful.
"I have some things that I need to sort out first," Harry said, lazily stroking Jet as Thor continued to play with Harry's hair. "But I do agree that we're not ready for an all out assault, yet. But we can spend some time preparing for one."
"I like the way you think, Potter," Moody said with a wicked grin. "We need to prepare, get ready and then take the bastards out."
"We need to map out the target area," Sirius spoke up. "The more we know, the better."
"Severus," Dumbledore responded. "I trust I do not have to explain to you what I want you to do."
"I understand," Snape nodded his head.
"I know a guy that can help with that," Harry said in a thoughtful voice. "We also need to know how many we're dealing with along with any and all defences we might have to deal with. In the meantime, we should be training extra hard. I reckon Moody here would be a good teacher, we should spend as much time as possible getting up to speed."
"Potter, if you weren't already adopted," Moody chuckled. "The boy's got a good head," He said approvingly to Tonks who smiled proudly at that.
"And what of your little army, huh?" One order member asked. "What will they be doing?"
"Training," Harry said simply, not even bothering to deny the fact that he did have an army now. "Once we're all ready, we will coordinate our efforts."
"You can't seriously be suggesting that we should allow children to join us?!" Mrs Weasley screeched, disbelief in her voice.
"Well, obviously I don't intend to send the first years into battle," Harry calmly responded. "But I reckon that anyone old and skilled enough to use a protego shield and a stunner can help. The idea is to overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers or at the very least a great surprise attack. Hopefully, the actual fight shouldn't last very long. Besides, I'm confident in their abilities. They will only be there to assist." Harry told her. "Though I bet my guys can take out more death eaters than all of them combined." He hissed to Jet.
"Well, we are better in every conceivable way," Jet nodded his head in agreement.
"What did you just say to the snake?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," Harry said innocently.
"Harry, can you come down here, please?" Andromeda called Harry.
"Coming," Harry yelled out before placing his book down on his bed, he got up and walked downstairs where he found the Tonks family, Sirius and Remus talking with Professor Dumbledore. Jet was perched on Tonks's shoulder whilst Thor had perched himself on top of the chandelier. "Ah, Professor Dumbledore," Harry greeted the man. "What are you doing here?" He asked curiously.
"I have actually come to see you, Harry," Dumbledore smiled at him. "You see, I have a small task that I am hoping to accomplish. Small, but very important, I believe it may have a great impact on our mission. Will you please join me? I could use your help." He asked hopefully. Harry stared at him for several long seconds.
"Two questions first, if you're the bright morning and Voldemort's the dark night, then what am I?" Harry asked.
"I believe that the phrase you used was 'the goddamn grey afternoon' if my memory serves me correctly," Dumbledore answered patiently. "I see that Alastor has installed a healthy sense of paranoia into you."
"He has, along with near everyone else in my life," Harry confirmed. "Now, one more question," He said in a serious voice. "Hubba?" Harry looked him right in the eye, Dumbledore stared back at him. Twinkling blue orbs locked with blazing green ones.
"Bubba." Dumbledore said in an equally serious tone.
"It's definitely Dumbledore," Harry told the others. "Cool, so what's the task? Will it involve violence?"
"Hopefully not," Dumbledore replied.
"What are we doing here?" Harry asked once he and Dumbledore apparated onto an empty muggle street during the middle of the night. Dumbledore wore a set of plain blue wizarding robes whilst Harry dressed in black trainers, black jeans and a dark grey shirt along with an open red and white jacket. Jet rested comfortably on Harry's neck with Thor perched on Harry's arm.
"All will be revealed soon, Mr Potter, follow me." Dumbledore said before leading him into what looked to be a fairly simple muggle house. Dumbledore waved his wand and the door clicked before swinging open. The tips of Harry and Dumbledore's wands both lit up with a bright light as they entered the house. Dumbledore gestured behind himself and the door closed before locking. "Constant vigilance as Alastor would say, Harry," Dumbledore told him before the pair started moving forwards. The pair walked into the house living room and took a moment to look at the the damaged room, there were broken bits of furniture everywhere. Scratch and burn marks everywhere, broken glass scattered across the room, a shattered chandillier on the floor in the centre of the room. "What do you think, Harry?" Dumbledore asked in a curious voice as he examined a bit of blood on the wall.
"This was not a death eater attack," Harry said confidently.
"Indeed." Dumbledore said in a pleased voice, clearly agreeing with Harry's deduction. "This is dragon blood on the wall." He added. Harry frowned thoughtfully before spotting a blue chair in the corner of the room, looking seemingly unharmed.
"It can't be that easy," Harry muttered before Jet hissed while Thor chirped, both familiars gesturing to the chair. "Give us a sec," Harry told Dumbledore before shooting a spell off at the chair. A gasp echoed throughout the room before the chair shifted and transformed violently, dropping a round, plump man on the floor. The groaning man had balding grey hair, a small grey moustache and was dressed in blue pyjamas that matched the design of the chair that he had been a second ago.
"Godric's hollowed left ear!" The man groaned. "Was it really necessary to change me that hard?" He complained as he climbed up to a standing position.
"Probably not, but I've yet to determine if I like you enough to be gentle." Harry said apologetically.
"Dear Merlin," The chubby man groaned before staring at Dumbledore. "Albus," He sighed. "Long time no see,"
"A pity," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "It's good to see you again." He said genuinely.
"Ah, well, you too," The man nodded slowly.
"Harry, meet Horace Slughorn," Dumbledore said, introducing the man. "He was a former head of Slytherin house and the potions master before Professor Snape, he had in fact taught both your parents. Horace, I'm sure I have no need to introduce this young man to you."
"No, Albus, you do not," Slughorn breathed out as he stared at Harry. "Merlin's beard, finally meeting you at last, Mr Potter. It's an honour, ah, and your familiars. I had heard tales, of course, but still, it's hard to believe. A thunderbird and a snake?! Most impressive."
"I try my best," Harry said dryly.
"So, what gave me away?" Slughorn asked the two of them, sounding very curious.
"Oh, lots of things actually." Harry answered. "First of all you hadn't conjured a dark mark, meaning it likely wasn't a death eater."
"Dark mark? Rats! I knew I had forgotten something," The man groaned. "I must be losing it with old age."
"Happens to the best of us," Dumbledore sighed in a 'what can you do?' sort of way. "There was also the dragon blood."
"Plus there's the fact that you made it look like a hurricane had gone through the room but suspiciously left a chair completely unharmed," Harry added. "Not to mention you had the misfortune of trying to hide from me. I didn't even need to use any spells since Jet, my snake, can sense people among many things and Thor can sense the electricity that the human body produces."
"Fascinating," Slughorn whispered before he stared at at Harry's two animal companions. "I don't suppose I could convince you to let me run a few tests on them, harmless ones of course."
"Only if I can convince you to let me remove your genitals with a rusty knife." Harry said without missing a beat.
"Mr Potter is quite protective of his companions," Dumbledore needlessly explained to a stunned looking Slughorn.
"Ah, right," Slughorn coughed before focusing his attention on Dumbledore. "I know why you're here, Albus, and for the last time, my answer is still no. I will not do it, you hear me? I will not do it!" He said in a firm voice.
"Ah, well, if you're sure." Dumbledore said in a disappointed voice before summoning a nearby magazine into his hands. "When did you move into this place by the way?" He asked curiously.
"A week ago," Slughorn grunted. "The muggles that own this building are off on holiday, I never stay in one place for very long these days."
"Hmm, I see, you wouldn't mind if I take a quick moment to head to the loo before we pop off, do you?" Dumbledore asked Slughorn.
"No, no, go on," Slughorn said, waving him off. "Upstairs, second door on the right."
"Thank you, Horace," Dumbledore smiled before walking out of the room.
"Don't think I don't know why he brought you here, I..." Slughorn trailed off as Harry waved his wand and the room started repairing itself, a few seconds later it was perfectly normal room, showing no signs of damage at all. "Ah, thank you for that."
"You're welcome," Harry told him before looking to a shelf with lots of pictures. "You got a lot of family?" He asked.
"What?" Slughorn's gaze followed Harry's. "Oh no, no, no dear boy. These are not members of my immediate family, though some were close enough to be. These are former students of mine, as a teacher you're not supposed to have favourites, of course, but I did. You'll recognise a few, I dare say, for example here we have Regulus Black." He gestured to a picture of a Slytherin quidditch team. "There he is, a seeker he was."
"I'm a chaser," Harry replied.
"I had heard," Slughorn smiled as they walked closer to the pictures. "And there is Andromeda, though I hear she goes by Mrs Tonks now," He pointed to a picture of a young Andromeda in class. "One of the best students I ever had, was quite a scandal when she got married to her husband, but Ted was always a decent boy as far as I was concerned. In class he was fairly good, hardly a master, but good."
"They're both quite happy now," Harry smiled. "They've got a family now, they're my family."
"I'm glad, for all of you," Slughorn smiled. "Ah, and here's one more you should recognise," He said, pointing to a picture of a redheaded girl that Harry quickly recognised.
"Mum," Harry said, his gaze locked onto her picture.
"You have her eyes, she was absolutely brilliant." Slughorn said warmly. "Especially considering that she was muggleborn."
"Is that a problem?" Harry asked, an odd tone to his voice as he stared at Slughorn.
"No, no, no," Slughorn said quickly. "No, please don't think that I'm prejudiced, your mother was one of my absolute favourites. I actually wanted her to take over after I retired."
"I reckon she would have done a better job than Snape," Harry grunted.
"Ah yes, I had heard of Severus's placement," Slughorn frowned. "The boy was always a prodigy in the subject, but never much had the patience for people who didn't grasp the subject the same way he did. I'm not entirely sure making him a teacher was the best idea."
"You and me both," Harry snorted. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Mr Slughorn. If you'll excuse me," Harry nodded to him before he turned and walked out of the room with Slughorn waving him goodbye. Just as Harry got out he spotted Dumbledore on the bottom of the stairs. "Whenever you're ready, Dumbledore." Harry told him before walking out of the house, a few moments later Dumbledore followed him and the two started walking away. "So, what was that about?" He asked.
"Horace has information on Voldemort that I was hoping to get, I needed him at Hogwarts this year." Dumbledore admitted in a frustrated voice. "He has a habit of 'collecting' famous people, he makes connections with them, normally through favours of some sort. I had been hoping to use your fame to convince him to come to Hogwarts." The two stopped walking and stared at each other.
"Right," Harry took a moment to process what he was told before staring up at Dumbledore. "Can you come closer a sec?" Harry asked, gesturing for Dumbledore to come closer. The old headmaster frowned before doing so, bending his head down, only to stagger back when Harry landed a hard right hook to Dumbledore's face. Dumbledore gasped out in pain as his hand went to palm his aching jaw. "Wait there," Harry glared at the old man before he walked back to the house whilst rubbing his own hand. A confused Dumbledore stood there for a couple of minutes before Harry walked back.
"It's done, Slughorn's agreed to come back, but he does want a better office than last time." Harry told him.
"Mr Potter, that is good news, but I can't help but wonder why you punched me," Dumbledore admitted.
"Oh, it's quite simple," Harry said in a conversational voice. "You basically had just left me all alone in a room with a random stranger that I had never met, not telling me at all why I was there or what you wanted me to do. You then just now informed me that this man held some vastly important knowledge that could very much result in hundreds of lives being saved. I punched you because you decided to waste time with this bullshit instead of straight up telling me what was needed. I don't mind the whole 'I want people to figure stuff out' sort of thing that you're going for, but when it comes to saving lives, I'd like you to please be direct. Is that acceptable for you?" He asked.
"Hmm, I suppose," Dumbledore rubbed his jaw. "But still, was it necessary to punch me?"
"I figure that for something like this, it's better to get the message across as quickly as possible." Harry smirked.
A.N: Hi guys, hope you liked the chapter. Sorry, this took so long, but I have been focusing on my other stories and real life stress and problems have not been helping matters. Thank you all for your patience.
Also, for any negative reviews (rude reviews), get over yourselves. If the writing isn't good enough for you then you could have pointed out ways to help improve it, instead you'd rather insult people. People like you are preciously the reason why a great many new authors on this site quit reading. You never consider if the person is writing in their second or even third language, you insult people when you don't know what sort of education they have, if they have any mental health problems or anything else about them. I quite frankly find you people disgusting and you're a great reason why a lot of writers like me will occasionally need to take time away from writing. I find these complaints to be especially awful when the people writing them are at least three thirds into the story. I cannot understand why people read all the way into a story, especially one this long and then complain near the end, it's like eating three thirds of a meal before complaining and saying that you don't like it. Seriously? In the words of Joey Swoll, you need to do better. Constructive reviews are fine and are actually appreciated, stop all this rude bullshit.