Harry Potter and the Hand of Gryffindor by Alice I

[Hagger 9003]

see, alice, you do hav more than 1 fan!!!!!

i like this part. very philosophical. i used to do karate, and did an exercise a bit like this. its very effective, even though it feels like it's too simple. this is my kind of thinking. i just wish i could empty my mind!!!!

[Alice I]

Neville found that staring at the fire in the common room was a good place for him to try his meditation exercise. What proved challenging was finding a time where everyone was gone so that he had peace and quiet. Finally he decided that stealing away up to the common room during dinner was the best time for him to do this. Harry understood Neville's need to practice this skill so he started bringing food from the Great Hall up to the dorm room after dinner so that Neville wasn't going to go hungry every night.

The first couple of times that he did this Hermione and Ron noticed and questioned him about it. Harry didn't want to say why he was taking extra food so he just said that he was trying to put some extra weight on for the match against Hufflepuff.

Harry found that the best time of day for him to try this exercise was in the early mornings. He would leave the tower early before anyone else got up and decided to use the Room of Requirement. Master Kimm had suggested using this room and it was certainly private enough. One morning on his way to the room he ran into Mr. Filch who tried to call him out of bounds for leaving the common room so early but he had received permission from Professor Dumbledore and was delighted to produce a note to that effect from the Headmaster, spoiling the caretaker’s eager desire to punish Harry in some fashion.

The next Saturday, Neville arrived nearly ten minutes early for Master Kimm's class and found Luna waiting inside the class room as well. "Hello Neville" said Luna in a dreamy sort of voice. She was pouring over a parchment that had a series of crescent moon shapes on it in all different directions. Neville came over and sat down next to her looking at the odd markings and asked "What are those?"

Luna leaned over closer to Neville and showed him the parchment. "It's a form of ancient rune writing. Not straight up runes though, but a sort of code that was used by ancient wizards to communicate secretly. The code is very intricate and it takes quite a long time to decipher."

Neville found himself entranced by these markings. They seemed oddly familiar to him but he couldn't quite place where he recognized them from. Luna didn't seem inclined to elaborate further and in the silence that followed an indistinct memory of feeling and sounds washed over him. He had the vague impression of a woman's voice speaking excitedly and a warm and safe feeling at the sound of that voice.

Without realizing it Neville had moved very close to Luna and took hold of the parchment. He sat there staring at the patterned markings and slowly his eyes became unfocused. An image of some parchments came floating down as if they were feathers caught in a slight updraft. As those feathery pages came to rest he could just make out little crescent shaped markings but this memory was hazy, like a half remembered dream lost with the breaking dawn.

Luna noticed the rather faraway look on Neville's face and wondered what he was thinking about at that moment when they both jumped at a loud clatter from the hallway. Stewart Creevey came clamoring into the room holding a small stack of short sticks that were connected by short lengths of silver chain. He looked up as he entered and saw Neville and Luna sitting there and automatically raised his hand and said "Hiya Neville; Luna…" making the stack of sticks fall to the floor again making and awful racket. "Opps..." he said bending down to retrieve them.

Neville was suddenly aware of how close he and Luna were sitting next to each other and blushed scarlet. "So ahh, er…" he said casting about for something to say to ease the awkwardness of the moment when he glanced down at the parchment in his hands. He handed it back to her and said "What does it say?"

Luna was staring directly at Neville and took a moment to answer. "I haven't worked it out yet but I'll let you know when I do. What were you remembering just now before Stewart came in?" Neville was startled by the forwardness of her question and answered before he could stop himself "I'm not sure, I think it might have been something about my mum." As the words tumbled from his mouth he was both shocked at what he had just said and certain that it was true; even though the memory had slipped away now, like water through his fingers.

Luna was now familiar with the story of Neville's parents and that Bellitrix Lestrange was the reason that they were at St. Mungos. "I'm glad that you have good memories as well." Neville was not expecting her statement and said with a slightly perplexed voice "What do you mean 'good memories as well'?"

Luna didn't answer but instead reached over and took one of his hands in hers gently turning it palm up. The evidence of his more vexing experiences could still be seen on his hands. Her touch was soft and it sent a shiver through him. Neville pulled his hand away and put them both in his pockets. Stewart had finally finished putting the advanced class supplies away and turned back to Neville and Luna.

"So are you guys going into Hogsmead next weekend? I wish I could go, just to see Zonkos! Boy would that be great! You guys are so lucky." Stewart rattled off so many questions in his enthusiasm that he never thought to give either of them time to answer and the rest of the class started filing in. "Say would you two do me a favor? When you go to the village could you get me some stuff from Zonkos? I'll give you the money, boy it would be so great if you would. Whatda say; will you?"

Neville looked doubtful and Stewart immediately turned to Luna "You'll talk him into it won't you Luna? Please, I promise I won't cause any trouble." Luna and Neville looked at each other then back at Stewart. Stuart Ackerley had overheard Stewart's plea and sat down saying "Aww come on you guys, you can pick up some harmless sparklers for the big guy when you go to Hogsmead, and maybe even some butterbeer." he added hopefully.

Before either of them could point out that they hadn't made plans to go to the village together Master Kimm entered the dogo and everyone settled down for the class to begin.

Later in the common room Ginny saw Neville playing exploding snap with Ron and came over to join them. "I heard that you asked Luna Lovegood to go into the village with you on Saturday and that you were going to get fireworks and fire whiskey for Stewart." Neville, who was just taking a sip of tea, spurted it all over his front. Ron's head popped up and he said "Fireworks and Fire whiskey for Stewart? Neville are you crazy?" Hermione heard this and also came over looking incredulously at Neville.

"Hold on, it wasn't Fireworks and Fire whiskey; it was sparklers and butterbeer. After what he did with the last batch he had, I would never get Fireworks for Stewart." Hermione said "It might not be such a good idea for you and Luna to get any Zonkos products for Stewart."

Ginny frowned and said "Oh, now that might be a bit unfair, after all he would probably just ask someone else if they turned him down and then you wouldn't know what it is that he had got hold of until too late." then she turned back to Neville and asked "When did you ask Luna out Neville? I didn't even know that you liked her." Neville turned very red and said "I don't!"

Ginny put her hands on her hips and scowled "Then why would you ask her out if you don't like her?" If Neville had been red before it was nothing to the shade he was turning now. "I didn't. I mean I do like Luna, well not like like but I guess I do like her, but I didn't ask her out." Ron was having trouble following this now and said "Well are you going to Hogsmead with her?"

Neville just looked on helplessly and said "Yeah, I think I have to now." This answer didn't seem to clear anything up so Ron tried a different tact. "Did Luna ask you to go to the village with her?" Neville was starting to feel rather warm and said "Well, no." Ron hung his head and then seemed to think of something else "Does she think that you are going to the village together?"

"Er... Yeah I think so, but sometimes it's hard to tell with Luna." Ron threw his hands up in the air and said "Ok, you didn't ask her and she didn't ask you but you both think that you are going together. Is that pretty much it?" Neville was so embarrassed at this point that he just nodded. Ron stared at Neville for a second then said "Well how did that happen?"

Neville had found his voice and said "Stewart just assumed that we were going together and started asking us to get him stuff from Zonkos, and Stuart Ackerley overheard and he started trying to convince us to get stuff for Stewart too and then the class started and... Well I guess that everyone thought that we were so... Well there it is." Ron shook his head and said "That can only happen to you Neville."

Ginny and Hermione were both trying very hard to keep from laughing when Dennis Creevey bounded into the common room and over to Neville and Ron "Hiya Neville, Ron, Say I just heard that you and Looney Lovegood are dating Neville." It was too much for the girls and both burst out laughing as they quickly made for the portrait hole. Ron just looked at Neville in sympathy and patted him on the shoulder while with a perfectly straight face said to Dennis "Do you really think it is polite to call her Looney in front of Neville here?"

Dennis suddenly looked mortified and said "Oh, gosh, Oh my gosh I'm sorry. Oh Neville I didn't mean anything buy it. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh..." and he hurriedly made his way out of the common room muttering under his breath about what an idiot he was. As soon as the portrait closed behind him, both Neville and Ron busted up laughing.

They were still wiping tears out of there eyes when Harry came into the common room. "What's so funny?" Neville looked up at Harry then at Ron who promptly clapped both hands on his face and said in a high pitched voice "Oh gosh, oh my gosh!" and they both fell back in their chairs clutching their sides and roaring once again.

Once the boys had settled down they told Harry how Stewart had inadvertently set Neville and Luna up on a date. "So are you gonna go with her?" Harry asked. Neville shrugged and said I don't mind if she doesn't. She's actually pretty nice you know." Harry remembered how he felt about Luna last year when she told him why she was putting up notices requesting her belongings to be returned to her and said "Yeah she is pretty nice and I think you'll have a good time."

[Hagger 9003]

nice comic relief there, alice. going out without even asking each other...

its a really nice way of doing it as well. nevile would never hav the courage to ask luna out. i doubt he would even realise he liked her, a bit like ron.

stewart is a brilliant character. i really like him, he is fantastic. if u can invent 1 good character like that, you can invent more. im enjoying it!

[Alice I]

The next morning when Neville went down to the Great Hall for breakfast he didn’t see Luna at the Ravenclaw table. He was surprised that he felt a little disappointed. He hadn’t asked her out after all so he was somewhat confused by his reaction to her not being around. After breakfast he lined up with the rest of the students heading out for the village in the entrance hall to be counted off by Filch. “So where shall we go first?” called a dreamy voice from behind him and he jumped slightly.

Luna was standing right beside and just behind him and he felt his stomach do a slight flip flop when he turned and saw her. “Er.. I don’t know, er where do you want to go?” Luna stared up at the vaulted ceiling for a moment making Neville look up to see what it was that she found so interesting up there when she said “Well I would like to go to the post office at some point. I need to send a letter but that can be anytime. Perhaps we should go to Zonko’s to get the sparklers for Stewart first.”

Neville looked back at her then up at the ceiling again. “What is up there?” Luna asked him in that same dreamy voice and Neville abruptly looked down. “Er… nothing.” The line ahead of him had begun to move and he scooted forward feeling slightly disconcerted. The walk into the village was freezing and the snow had drifted high across the road in several places. Neville stamped down a path for Luna to follow drenching his robes in the process.

By the time they got to the village he was tired and cold so he said “How about we stop in the Three Broomsticks for a while to warm up and dry off?” Luna smiled brightly and said “I’d love to. It really was quite gallant of you, you know.” Neville looked at her slightly confused and said “What was?” Luna pointed at his sodden robes and said “Making a path for me so that I wouldn’t get too wet. It’s nice to know that there are still gentlemen in the world.”

Neville blushed scarlet but with the pink of cold on his cheeks he was sure that no one could tell, but he suddenly didn't feel quite so cold. Once they had gotten themselves a couple of bottles of butterbeer and found a seat near the fireplace in the back Luna said

"Steady and true the heir must be,
to honor the blood given thee.
Darkness threatens to block his way
but the union of friends will win the day.
Alone the father's son will fail
yet bound together friendship prevails.
In the final hour the path revealed
yet seen solely by the legatee.
For against the rays of the setting sun
the way is shown to the chosen one.”

Neville just stared at her looking utterly bewildered by Luna's unexpected recitation. "That was the translation of the rune writing I was working on last Saturday." It took Neville a moment to remember what she was talking about then his face brightened up. "Oh, but what was it about and where did you come across the runes or whatever they are in the first place?" Luna reached into her robe pockets and pulled out a small stack of old parchments and laid them out on the table. "These are copies of course, but they are all from Rowena Ravenclaw's private writings. She was quite brilliant you know and wrote loads of things in this ancient secret language. Many of the Ravenclaw alumni feel that they were left for her house to decipher. It's a mental exercise that not too many people, even Ravenclaws, are interested in."

Neville was staring at the parchments which all had those same crescent moon shapes when the door to the back cellar was opened and a strong draft set them to flying. "Oh dear!" Luna cried as she started to snatch up the pages before they were trodden upon by patrons in their wet snowy shoes.

Neville got down on his knees and started to pick up the papers as well when the door to the back was opened again and the pages that Luna had put back on the table blew off toward Neville. As the sheets of parchment fluttered down to the floor he was struck by their movement and stared at them as they drifted lightly to the floor. He suddenly seemed transported from the pub to a warm house as a strong memory washed over him. Kneeling on the floor gazing down at the pages he heard a woman's voice speaking excitedly saying "I've found it Frank! This scroll is the key to everything!"

"Neville? Neville!" Neville looked up at the voice calling his name expecting to see someone else and when he focused on Luna's face it brought him fully back to his senses. "Whaa oh, sorry" and he handed her the sheets that he had in his hands as he got up from the floor. "Keep them." Neville had a lingering vacant look in his eyes and it took a moment for him to register what she had just said. "Why?" In a soft yet some how matter of fact tone of voice she said "Because they mean something to you… something important, even if you don't know what that is yet." Neville looked down at the papers in his hand and somehow knew that she was right. He was trying to bring the snippet of memory that he had just had forward but it slipped away and the harder that he tried to remember, the further the images drifted. He folded the pages carefully and put them in his pocket then said "Thanks Luna."

He felt oddly grateful to her then took a big swig from his butterbeer feeling awkward again. After a few minutes of silence he said "I would like to pick up a couple of things at Dervish and Banges and from Scrivenshaft's. Do you want to get going soon?" Luna set her now empty bottle down on the table and said “Let’s go. Actually I wanted to pick up some stationary to send to my Dad from Scrivenshaft's.”

They made their way down to the end of High Street in the freezing snow and were quite glad to go inside when they arrived at Dervish and Banges where Neville picked up a few things for Potions including a new cauldron for his old one had cracked during their last rather disastrous class.

They took longer at Scrivenshaft's for Luna spent a great deal of time inspecting the various types of stationary parchment. “I want something festive for him so that he will remember to write; what do you think of this one Neville?” she said holding up a bright red sheet with brilliant green holly leaves all around the edges. Neville thought that it was definitely festive if a bit brightly colored. Luna seemed almost to read his mind and said “I want it to be very noticeable because when Dad is on a trip he often forgets to write. This is colorful enough that every time he sees it in his satchel he will remember that he should send me a note. Otherwise the Christmas holiday will be rather dull for me.”

Neville looked up at her surprised “Your dad’s not going to spend the holiday with you?” Luna sighed then said “Well, he received a very reliable tip on the whereabouts of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack and he wants to get a photograph to put in the January edition. When he is off on a story he becomes very single minded and forgets almost everything else. I’m also sending a package of nut brittle and dried meat cakes so that he can eat something when he is camping out in the forest. If I don’t he will go days without eating because he is so dedicated to his work and simply forgets.” She decided on the red and green holly paper and went up to the counter to pay.

Neville stepped up right behind her with a few new quills and some plain parchment for himself and said “So will you be spending the holiday at Hogwarts?” Luna took her bag from the woman behind the counter and moved aside for Neville to pay for his supplies and said “Yes, unfortunately. I have never had to spend the holidays at school before.” she said in an uncommonly dejected voice. Then she smiled and said “Still, I suppose it won’t be so terrible. I’ll have plenty of time to work on the translations of Rowena Ravenclaw’s writings, or to do further study on the rune stone paper I am writing for midterm, though I am almost done with it. And of course I have lots of studying to do for my OWLS.” She was trying to sound cheerful and almost pulled it off. Her normally serene nature was faltering a bit with the prospect of spending the holidays alone.

Neville didn’t like to think of Luna all by herself over the winter holiday. He knew that she didn’t really have any friends at school and before he could think otherwise he said “Would you like to spend the Christmas holiday with us? I mean it’s just me and Gran but it’s better than hanging about the castle with no one to talk to.” Luna stopped dead in her tracks and looked almost suspiciously at Neville. Neville felt his face grow hot and he looked down. Luna didn’t think that Neville would set her up just to let her down but a small part of her couldn’t believe that someone would make such an offer to her. She was considered by most of her school mates as an odd duck and she was often teased for her uniqueness. This did not really bother her but she was uncertain whether she could be so blithe about an offer to spend the holidays somewhere just to have that offer snatched back at the last minute. “Will that be alright with your grandmother Neville?” Luna asked quietly.

Neville hadn’t even thought about his grandmother’s reaction to having someone come for the holidays and he felt a strong twinge of worry that he had spoken so quickly without even consulting her. He looked into Luna’s eyes and recognized what he saw there and a feeling, that he could not put a name to, welled up inside him. Luna had never been anything but kind and understanding toward him. He didn’t care if she was odd, or not well liked. He wasn’t very popular himself and he knew how he would feel having to spend the entire holiday with no friends or family and looked at her with a determined set to his face. “I will send her a note informing her that we will have a guest for the holiday and she’ll like it or not as she chooses, but I can invite any friend that I want to!” Luna looked very surprised by Neville’s outburst but said “Thank you Neville, I would love to spend Christmas with you.”

Luna asked to stop at Gladrags so that she could pick up some nice robes for Christmas and she also decided that a new set of pajamas was in order. They went to Zonkos and picked up a assortment of long lasting sparklers for Stewart. They found some that will magically spell out the holder’s name in varying colors until the sparkler is handed off to another person and the sparkles floating in the air will collide in a shower of sparks before rearranging themselves to spell the next name.

Luna lent Neville a piece of the holiday parchment that she had purchased for her father so that Neville could send a note to his Grandmother and Luna sent the rest of the parchment and two tins of nut brittle to her father. She wouldn’t send the meat cakes until he left for his trip so that he would have fresh one to eat while camping. Then they decided to stop in at the three broomsticks again for another butterbeer before heading back to school.

As they sat laughing about the sparklers they had purchased and how Stewart would react, Neville realized that he had not been this happy in a very long time. Harry was right. He and Luna had a very nice time together and he wasn’t even concerned about what his Grandmother would say when she got the letter on the brilliant red parchment telling her to prepare the spare room because he was bringing a guest home for Christmas.

[Alice I]

Chapter Twenty-One
The Writing on the Wall

December arrived with a vicious blizzard that raged for five days straight. Hagrid had to cancel all of his Care of Magical Creatures classes because none of the students would have been able to find his cabin. As soon as you got a few feet from the castle it was completely obscured by the blinding snow. Herbology suffered the same fate because the chance of students getting lost in the blizzard on the way to the greenhouses was too great to risk it.

There were no owl posts or leaving the safety of the castle so by the fifth day, tensions were running fairly high. Even mild little Professor Flitwick showed uncharacteristic irritability when he snapped at Hermione for asking too many questions. By the time the storm blew itself out nearly seven feet of snow had fallen and the winds had blown drifts up to the second and third floor windows in many places.

None of the students were allowed out until Hagrid could plow out paths from the castle to the various areas of the grounds that needed to be accessed. This lead to loud complaints from the students, who after being cooped up during the storm, really wanted to get out and play in and sled on the high drifts.

Harry had spent some extra time in the Room of Requirement practicing meditation even though he didn't seem to be getting as much from the experience as Neville was.
On the third day of the blizzard Harry left the Great Hall before dinner was over and went back to the common room. He didn't bring food for Neville with him because he was quizzed once again by Ron as to what he was doing. He had sought out Dobby and asked him to bring food up for Neville so that he wouldn't have to keep trying to avoid his friends' questions.

Harry was feeling glum because of the weather and only remembered as the portrait hole was opening that Neville was in the common room meditating in front of the fire. He stepped quietly intending to go up to the dormitory so that he wouldn't district Neville when he noticed the look on his face.

His eyes were unfocused and he had a look of such longing that Harry felt like he was seeing himself staring at the Mirror of Erised. There were pages with strange markings on them scattered on the floor as they had dropped from his slack hands.

Harry tried to step as quietly as possible over to the stairs leading to the boy’s dormitory when Neville said "I remember her." Harry stopped and came over to join Neville in front of the fire. He sat down in the large chintz chair beside the fireplace and waited for Neville to continue.
Neville was still staring at the fire and said "My mum, I remember her, like she was before..." Harry was at a loss as to what to say to this. He was happy for Neville that he was able to remember his parents yet a small part of him felt jealous because he didn't really remember his parents at all.

Harry reached down and picked up the pages Neville had dropped and looked more closely at them. Neville finally turned away from the fire and looked at Harry. "She was in Ravenclaw you know. My mum liked to figure out puzzles. Gran has some boxes of my folks things in the attic. When she wasn't home, I'd go up there and look through them. Mum had all sorts of books on secrets in the wizarding world, ancient languages and mysteries that haven't been solved in thousands of years." Neville looked at the pages that Harry had picked up and said "That's some kind of ancient rune writing... a secret language that wizards used to communicate privately."

Harry looked down at the small crescent shapes in all different directions and said "Were these you're mum's?" Harry handed the sheets back to Neville who answered "I never found anything like this in the attic. These are Luna's." Neville looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment then he said "When I was very young; like maybe two my mum was working on something in this writing. I remember her talking to my dad about it. I was too young to really remember what she was saying but excited, like she had figured out some really great secret. Pages that looked like these were on the floor and I remember playing with them." Neville paused, staring at the pages in his hand then said "That's really all I can remember but at least it's a good memory. It's not like... the other one."

Harry didn't know what to say to Neville. It was great that he had been able to remember something good about his folks. Harry was curious about this other memory that Neville spoke of and said "What do you remember about that other time?" Harry wished almost instantly that he hadn't said anything for the look that came into Neville's eyes. "I'm sorry Neville, that's none of my business." but Neville said "No, it's OK Harry. I don't really remember anything except that it was bad and that I felt scared and horrible. All I know is that something terrible happened and I was there but no matter how hard I try to remember or how much I meditate I just can't bring it forward."

Harry and Neville had to stop talking as some of the other Gryffindors started to make their way back to the common room from the Great Hall. Neville leaned over to Harry and said quietly "Thanks for getting your friend to bring dinner for me Harry. I really appreciate it." then he got up and headed for the dormitory to have something to eat.

[Hagger 9003]

i like luna, she is such a relaxed, spaced out character. all the others are always worrying and getting annoyed all the time, and she just breezes through it all. she also helps to bring the houses together as well, and neville is a good partner for her. his self-discovery is very nice as well. good theme for the book. harry and the empath, and neville and the meditation. all good

[Alice I]

Percy met with his father to discuss the situation with Fudge and the desire of Professor Dumbledore to have him spy on the Minister for the Order. He was struggling with his feelings of loyalty to his father which seemed to be in conflict with his feelings of loyalty to the Minister. They decided to meet at midnight in the kitchen at the burrow. With Molly staying at Hogwarts after the last incident, they both felt that it would be private enough. Arthur was concerned that both he and Percy could be under ministry surveillance, especially with the oddly secretive behavior of Fudge lately. Dumbledore had mentioned that Fudge had been acting more erratic as pressure mounted to see results from the ministry in dealing with the return of the dark lord.

Once Arthur had made tea for them he motioned for Percy to take a seat. Percy took a sip of tea while gathering his thoughts before beginning. "I may have over reacted about the Minister when I came to see you at headquarters." Arthur frowned and said "What do you mean? Has Fudge returned?" Percy stared at his father and knew that the time had come to make a decision as to whom he was going to give his trust to. "I need you to be completely honest with me father. What happened with Harry Potter when he went to Azkaban?"

Arthur was completely taken aback by this question and asked "Percy what is this all about?" Percy never took his eyes off his father's face and said "I work very closely with the Minister of Magic and you and Dumbledore want me to report his actions to you, effectively spying on the Minister for the Order of the Phoenix, yet you don't tell me everything that I should know. Harry found out about the mirrors that the Malfoy's use to communicate. Harry also found out about a spy at Hogwarts and Dumbledore does nothing about it. What else has been happening that I don't know about?"

There was hurt and accusation in his son's eyes and Arthur sighed deeply. "Percy, there are probably many details that even I don't know about. That is how things happen during a war. Percy, the Order isn't asking you to spy on Cornelius Fudge, nor am I, but as his personal assistant, you have the ability to inform those who need to know if he begins to act irrationally. Isn't that why you came to head quarters in the first place?"

Arthur stood up and began pacing. "I understand why you would feel left out of the loop, hearing details for the first time from Fudge instead of me, so let me tell you everything that I know."
Arthur proceeded to tell his son every detail about the events on the quidditch pitch, and how Dumbledore had discovered how the Malfoys were communicating even though Draco's mirror was not found among his belongings. He also told Percy about Harry's encounters at Azkaban as well as what had happened in the cave when Max found him.

Percy was stunned and somewhat disconcerted by the fact that Harry had been mentally connected to Voldemort twice in the space of a few days. He was reminded of the dream Harry had and of seeing his face in it, but that wasn't something Percy wanted to think about. "What about this spy at Hogwarts?" Arthur shook his head and said "You know more than I do about that. Albus didn't share that with me personally but, remember Percy, there would be no reason for him to tell me. It simply isn't something that I need to know but I can assure you that the information about a spy wouldn't have been taken lightly or disregarded."

Arthur sat back down and took a moment to think about what he wanted to say. It was obvious to Arthur that Percy was loyal to the Minister and he wanted to get his point across without causing another row like the last one they had had because of the fundamental differences between his own opinions and those of Cornelius Fudge. "Percy Professor Dumbledore has never wavered in his convictions, even when he was publicly ridiculed and stripped of his positions not only on the Wizengamot and International Confederation of Wizards but even as headmaster of Hogwarts. He never let his personal trials or the loss of outward respect from the wizarding world dissuade him from doing what he knew to be right. Can you honestly say the same about Cornelius Fudge? Percy you must choose who you are willing to trust based on what you know to be right and what is in your own heart."

Percy sat back in his chair and considered what he was going to say. His father had made some valid points but the Minister had also taken a risk in entrusting him with the details of his actions. Arthur could see his son struggling with this and waited without saying anything else. Finally Percy decided to tell his father what Fudge had tried to do with the mirrors. Percy hesitated for a moment then said "That story about Draco Malfoy escaping from Azkaban was a rouse to try and get Lucius to contact the Minister. The Minister arranged the meeting but Lucius never showed. He may have suspected a trap so the Minister had the Prophet run that story in the hope that Malfoy will try to contact him and arrange another meeting. The Minister didn't tell anyone about his plan because he doesn't know who he can trust because of what Harry Potter revealed after his trip to Azkaban."

Percy paused for a moment before continuing with a pained look on his face. "I am the only one he told about this because I have proven my loyalty to him and to the Ministry. I told the Minister that he could count on me and now I have broken my word." Percy hung his head and clearly felt terribly guilty for betraying the Minister after assuring him that he could trust him.

Arthur sat staring at his son stunned by this news. "Percy, when I told you that ambition unchecked can be disastrous this is what I was talking about. Did you know that Fudge opposed using the mirrors when their existence was discovered? I didn't understand his objections at the time but now I see what he had in mind. He wanted to bring in one of the most hunted Death Eaters on his own to regain some of the respect he lost when the dark lord's return became public knowledge. Percy, don't you see, Cornelius Fudge's ambitions are leading him in over his head. If Malfoy had shown up, I seriously doubt that Fudge would have survived the encounter. Lucius Malfoy is very smart and extremely powerful and is certainly more than a match for the Minister. Fudge is playing a very dangerous game and if his ambitions blow up in his face I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire."

Percy realized that his father was right. He had been uncomfortable with the Minister's seemingly reckless behavior for awhile but when Fudge put his trust in Percy his own feelings of ambition and pride took over just like last year when Harry and Professor Dumbledore first claimed that Voldemort had returned. Percy didn't want to make the same mistakes again and said "I won't dad. I'll let you know if Malfoy contacts the Minister so that the Order can be there to help."

Percy arrived early the next morning at the ministry and found Fudge pacing nervously in his office. "What is it Minister?" Percy asked concerned. Fudge stopped pacing and said "I'm glad you're here Percy. Lucius contacted me last night. I still have enough of polyjuice potion to transform into Draco a few more times. He wants to meet with me but said that it would have to wait until this morning. He should be contacting me any time. Percy this is as dangerous as it gets. Are you up to the task of helping me to capture Malfoy?"

Percy's heart was pounding for he hadn't expected this to be sprung on him so quickly. How was he going to inform the Order? "What do I need to do minister?" Fudge looked hard at Percy then said "When we arrange the meeting you must go too." Fudge walked to the desk and inserted a key into the top drawer. Once he had opened it, he withdrew a flowing silvery length of cloth. "You will be hidden under this invisibility cloak. When Lucius shows up we will both stun him. I need to be sure that you are ready for this because the slightest hesitation could be disastrous."

Percy swallowed hard and felt a thin bead of sweat run down the back of his neck. Suddenly his father's words echoed loudly in his head. “Fudge is playing a very dangerous game and if his ambitions blow up in his face I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire." Percy knew that he had no choice at this point, but he might still be able to talk some sense into the Minister and said "I am ready sir, but what happens if Malfoy doesn't come alone? Shouldn't we have more backup than just the two of us? Perhaps we could speak with Professor Dumbledore and get some members of the Order of the Phoenix to come. Surely there are no spies within the Order itself."

Fudge dropped the cloak he had in his hand and said "I don't necessarily trust Dumbledore. Percy, you know full well that he has his own agenda. With you hidden under the cloak I am certain that we can accomplish this capture together. We will have the advantage even if Lucius brings someone as backup. This is our chance to show the entire wizarding world what we are made of and to redeem both of our names after the events of last June." Fudge came over and placed a hand on Percy's shoulder and said "This is an opportunity not only for me Percy, but for you as well. You were Head Boy and top of your class at school, were you not? You have proven that you can think on your feet and have practically run this office effectively on your own, running interference for me with the members of the International Confederation and other countries Minister's. Percy, I have faith in your ability to shine through in this challenge and to be able to say that you were instrumental in bringing the most hunted Death Eater to justice will be the finest feather in your cap. It will set you apart from your peers and gain you the respect of the entire wizarding world. Perhaps it will even sway your father to realize that he was wrong and you could begin to mend that rift in your life. So my boy, are you with me in this?"

Percy nodded gravely but felt sick inside. He must find some way to contact his father and tell him what was about to happen. He couldn't risk a messenger spell or an owl. He had no idea how quickly Malfoy would want to meet with his son. Perhaps Fudge was right, with the invisibility cloak they did have the advantage and if Malfoy showed up alone he would not hesitate to stun him from behind. If there were others however then they would be faced with a completely different situation but he would still have the advantage. He could perhaps fire off a stunner from under the cloak and still have time to fire again before his position could be discovered. With the Minister also fighting they might just be able to pull this off. Percy's own feelings of aspiration threatened to take over and he had to take a deep breath to calm the adrenaline that had started pumping but he couldn’t help thinking that it would be a notable accomplishment indeed if he could assist the minister in this endeavor.

Suddenly a deep resonating voice rang out from the shelf against the far wall. "Draco!" Fudge turned to Percy and said "This is it. The mirror is on the shelf covered, go and get it while I transform into Draco, but be sure not to remove the cloth." Fudge walked quickly to the emptied corner of his office and picked up a goblet full of a thick viscousy fluid. Percy went to the shelf to retrieve the mirror covered in a rough piece of burlap. Fudge watched him closely out of the corner of his eye and as soon as Percy had retrieved the mirror it seemed to tremble slightly and slipped out of his hands falling to the floor and smashing into dozens of pieces. Fudge smiled faintly but was able to quickly mask his reaction to the jinx he had placed on the mirror. He spun around and dropped the goblet of potion with a look of utter horror on his face. "NO!" Percy was as upset and horrified as the Minister by this accident. "Minister! It just slipped out of my hands, I… Oh my God! I don't believe it! I'm sorry sir, I don't understand it. The thing seemed to shudder a little then it just slipped!" He looked up at the Minister who was just staring at the shards of glass on the floor. "How could you drop it! That was our only chance to catch Malfoy!" The Minister looked up at Percy, fury etched in every line of his face and shouted "Out!" Percy looked stricken and didn't move for a moment then the Minister screamed "Get Out!!!" Percy jumped and darted for the door.

After Percy left Fudge waited for a few minutes to be certain that he was gone then stepped over to the door and locked it. He pulled out his wand and put an Imperturbable Charm on the door so that there was no chance of anyone interrupting or eavesdropping. Once he was satisfied he walked over to the desk and sat down in the very comfortable chair behind the desk and opened a hidden drawer and pulled out a small rectangular mirror. He sat back and looked into the mirror and said in a clear voice "My Lord!"

After a moment the skull white face of Lord Voldemort swam into view. Fudge was smiling and said "The ploy worked my Lord. Weasley was easily fooled by the dropping jinx and believes that he broke the mirror."
"Excellent Lucius, now I have other work for you. You must visit the Department of Mysteries. I have it on good authority that ministry Unspeakables are working on two very useful magical devices which you must acquire for me."

[Phaerie]

Thats Fab ALice. Its getting more and mroe exciting. I hope we get another part soon.