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Final Year, Chapter 7 – Return to Grimmauld Place

Harry woke first the next morning, which was unusual since Hermione was the early riser of the pair. Of course, the lock of curly hair tickling his nose might have had something to do with it. Another factor was likely that he’d had a good night’s sleep for a change, free of the nightmares and other stressful thoughts that often kept him from peaceful slumber. The reason for that was now curled under his right arm, her bare torso pressed against his side. Her arm was flung across his chest with her hand possessively clasped onto his left bicep.

His breath caught in his throat as he regarded the angelic vision before him. In his eyes it was one of the most incredible sights he’d ever seen. The idea that someone would love him enough to do this … he closed his eyes again to savor the sensation. It was almost intoxicating.

Hermione had been right, yet again. The skin to skin contact enhanced an already nearly indescribable feeling. Holding each other like this generated a sense of such comfort, such contentment, such ... rightness. It made him want to stay just like this forever – or at least as long as possible.

Given her desire to maximize skin contact by wearing as little as possible, Harry wondered if he should go without his pajama bottoms in their future nights together. He worried that this would make the temptation to go further than they should nearly irresistible. On the other hand, he knew that Hermione was strong willed enough that she wouldn’t do anything until she decided she was ready for it, and that he’d never, ever force her to do anything she didn’t want him to. He decided he’d bring it up the next time they slept together, which hopefully would be again that night.

His hand that was on Hermione’s upper back and shoulder had been stroking her soft skin for a while without him being conscious of it, and now she shifted against him and gave a slight moan of pleasure. From the change in her breathing he could tell she was waking up, so he gently kissed her forehead as her eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning.”

“Mmm. I don’t suppose I could talk you into waking me up like that every morning, could I?” she asked with a smile. In response Harry pulled her more tightly to himself.

“We seem to be thinking along the same lines. I was wishing I could wake up every morning with you in my arms,” he admitted.

“I’d like that very much. I’ll just have to perfect my sneaking skills, so I can get in here every night and back out the next morning without being detected,” she replied with a sly smirk.

“What, are you or are you not a witch?” Harry challenged. This caused Hermione to pull back a bit so she could shoot him a puzzled look. His response was a chuckle. “You weren’t here the summer Fred and George learned to apparate. They would pop back and forth from their room to Ron’s and my room all the time. You don’t have to walk across the hall. You can go into your room, lock the door, and be in here the next second.

Hermione shook her head, somewhat embarrassed that she hadn’t realized that possibility. “You’re right, of course. Whenever I think of apparation I think long distance travel. It doesn’t occur to me as something to do when walking a few steps is just as easy.”

“Well, as much as I hate to let go of you right now, you should probably pop back into your room so we can get dressed and go down for breakfast,” Harry decided, glancing at the clock on his nightstand.

“Oh no, I’m not going anywhere without a proper good morning kiss,” Hermione declared as she rolled on top of him. Harry, of course, had absolutely no objection to her stipulation.

Once that had been accomplished to her satisfaction, Hermione climbed off of Harry and sat up, noting with a grin his close attention as the sheet fell away from her torso. Pulling him up beside her, she snuggled up next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Now that the weddings are over, there’s something else we need to plan,” she announced with a knowing look.

“What’s that?” Harry wondered, not picking up on whatever she thought was so obvious.

“Your birthday, silly,” she chided, slapping him playfully on the arm. “It’s only two days from now!”

“Oh, you’re right. In all the excitement it slipped my mind,” he admitted. “It’s not quite as big a deal now since I’ve already passed my apparation exam. It will be nice not to have to worry about getting caught doing underage magic any more, though.”

“Harry, what about a celebration?” she sighed in exasperation. “You know, cake, presents, that sort of thing?”

Harry shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I’m not used to those things yet I suppose. It’s only been the last two years that anyone’s celebrated it with me.

Hermione determined not to get annoyed right then at the reasons for that situation. “So, what sort of present would you like?”

Being asked that question by a topless girl sitting in his bed pretty much guaranteed that Harry’s thoughts would go in a certain direction, and he responded with a lascivious grin.

“Besides that!” Even though she was laughing at the face he made, Hermione felt it necessary to smack him again.

Harry scratched his head. “I don’t know, I already have everything I want.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed, “Honestly, Harry, you have fewer possessions than anyone I know.

“But I have you,” he countered, wrapping his arm around her waist. “What else do I need?”

Hermione melted into his embrace. “Harry Potter,” she sighed. “That’s the cheesiest line I’ve ever heard. She tipped her head up and kissed him on the cheek. “But I love it.”

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – July 29

Remus and Tonks were already gone by the time Harry and I got down to the kitchen. They’d left a Daily Prophet on the table and a message for us to sit tight here until we heard from them again. Not much was available for breakfast, so Harry made toast and I found a bit of jam in the cupboard and some pumpkin juice in the cold box.

The Prophet focused on the selection of the Interim Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, and the changes he’d vowed to make. I don’t think it could be much worse if the Death Eaters had simply taken over. He rejected what he called the failed policies of Dumbledore and Scrimgeour, and insisted that a new approach to resolving the ‘current conflict’ was necessary. Therefore he vowed to negotiate an end to the hostilities that ‘will produce a peaceful outcome that we can all live with’.

He’s obviously playing on everyone’s fear that if they continue to oppose Voldemort they will be next to die. It’s becoming clear now that this has been Voldemort’s strategy all along, going all the way back to the killing of Madame Bones last year. If he keeps eliminating the strongest voices opposing him, eventually no one else will step up. And as far as our wizarding government is concerned, that time has apparently now arrived. Those of us who will continue the fight will have to do so without the help of the Ministry. Well, if that’s what it takes, that’s what we’ll do.

On a lighter note, Hedwig arrived with a message from Ginny. She was glad to hear that we’d arrived home safely, and wanted to make sure we know that she was willing to help us in any way she could. She also had some more personal information, that she couldn’t send along with Ron, and hadn’t had a chance to tell us on Sunday because of how busy we were getting ready for Tonks and Remus’s wedding.

She just wanted to let us know that she’d survived her evening with Viktor with her virtue intact, but that she was glad for my warning. He had indeed suggested that she visit him in Bulgaria before she returned to Hogwarts in the fall. She was ready for it, though, and let him know she didn’t think that would be possible, without getting too flustered by the invitation. Harry and I were happy to hear that everything had worked out to her satisfaction.

Ron finally dragged himself down to the kitchen as Harry and I were finishing up and wanted to know what was for breakfast. We told him what we’d had, and he grimaced, but allowed that he supposed he’d have the same. Then he sat down and waited. After a few seconds Harry shot me an amused look and asked him if he was waiting for one of us to feed him. He looked at me and started to say, “Well, since Tonks isn’t here that leaves Her…” before he noticed me scowling at him and tapping my wand against the palm of my hand.

I informed him in no uncertain terms of the new reality in his life – cooking is not something only females do. Harry stepped to my side and put his arm on my shoulder, indicating his support of my position. He added that he’d done plenty of cooking for his relatives, and would certainly be doing his share here, and that he was that sure I’d be willing to draw up a schedule of duties that would use our various talents most efficiently. I shot him a pretend glare for his subtle mocking of my organizational nature. (Honestly, someone needs to make schedules – those two would never get anything done otherwise!)

The funny part was the look on Ron’s face – shock at the idea, the dawning realization that we weren’t kidding, fading to horror at the prospect of having to feed himself with his nonexistent cooking skills. When we could no longer hold it in we both burst out laughing, and then assured him that we’d teach him what he needed to know. Today’s lesson – how to make toast. While he was struggling with getting it light brown but not burnt Harry joked that perhaps Ron should specialize in clean-up duty. Ron joined us in our laughter at that point, knowing that we’d never let him starve.

He then quipped that we needed to get Kreacher back here for that task. I didn’t let that get me riled up about house elf abuse because I knew he was joking – Kreacher’s track record with keeping the place clean was dismal. I still think he could have been handled better by Sirius, but didn’t see the need to bring that up now.

After we all cleaned up together, and I taught the boys the few cleaning spells I knew (I assigned Ron to learn more from his mum the next time he gets to the Burrow) we sat down to discuss our plan of action. Harry wants to get started right away on helping muggleborns who want to get out of Britain. I reminded him that while Ron is free to go anywhere he wants, I’m technically a fugitive from the Ministry, and if things go the way we suspect they will they’ll start putting more effort into looking for me. And he’s still underage for two more days, so if something happens and we end up exchanging spells, they’ll immediately have reason to arrest him too. With that hanging over his head he won’t be fully effective in whatever we do. Once I laid it out like that they both agreed, especially since we only have to wait until the end of the week.

The obvious choice at that point was to begin searching for the locket Horcrux, starting with Regulus’s room. That project ate up the rest of the morning, with nothing to show for it. We did learn a bit more about Regulus. He was a slightly built boy with messy black hair, and played Seeker for the Slytherinquidditch team. (An interesting resemblance to Harry, actually.) We also found a whole pile of newspaper clippings about Voldemort. But no locket.

As we were heading back up after lunch Ron stopped on the first floor landing and suddenly asked if we knew exactly what the locket looked like. Harry recalled that he’d seen it in one of Dumbledore’s memories of the Gaunts so we fetched the pensieve and the memories and had a look. As soon as we spotted the locket hanging from Merope’s neck Ron let out a cry of triumph.

It seems that the Weasleys and Harry have already found this locket! The summer before fifth year they were all cleaning here at Headquarters, getting rid of a whole host of dark objects and infestations of nasty creatures and one of the items they found was a locket that looked just like Slytherin’s . It was in a cabinet in the drawing room, as Ron recalls. He further explained that they’d put it in a sack with the rest of the stuff to be binned. That whole experience must have made quite an impression on him, as he went into a bit of a rant about the different nasty items they encountered. We finally had to stop him to get back on track.

Despite that, Ron was quite pleased with himself. I wasn’t here that summer, so I had no idea that all that had happened. Harry was so preoccupied with his hearing at the time that he doesn’t remember much of it either, so we are indeed lucky that Ron is with us. It’s good that he had an opportunity to feel useful, as he’s often overshadowed by Harry and me.

Important note – in addition to seeing the locket, we heard Marvolo Gaunt refer to the ring as being engraved with ‘the Peverell coat of arms’. That’s the symbol we’ve been talking about! The one marking the story of the 3 brothers in the book Dumbledore left me, the one Viktor called Grindelwald’s mark, the one Mr. Lovegood was wearing. This gives us a new name to research – Peverell.

We still needed to find out what happened to the locket after they found it in the drawing room, however. Harry and Ron thought that either Remus or Tonks might have remembered how Sirius had disposed of the rubbish, so it looked as though we’d have to wait until they returned to ask them. We might well have had quite a search ahead of us.

But then Ron pointed out that Kreacher had been constantly nicking stuff back whenever he got a chance, Black family items with sentimental value to him. I offered the opinion that this didn’t seem too unreasonable, but Ron just glared at me and told me I hadn’t been bit by a doxy or been attacked by a clock. At any rate, Kreacher had evidently stashed his recovered treasures in his cupboard in the kitchen, so we hurried down there to search it.

Unfortunately, nothing was there. Whatever keepsakes he’d salvaged and squirreled away were gone; only a tattered, dirty old blanket remained. Had Kreacher moved his stash to Hogwarts when Harry had sent him there? Harry immediately called him to find out.

The old house elf’s reaction was unexpected, to say the least. After a few of his typical mutterings about blood traitors, mudbloods, and Harry’s general unworthiness as a master he was silenced in mid-rant by Harry’s question about the locket. He became completely distraught, moaning about how he’d failed Master Regulus.

There were parts of the story that he adamantly refused to divulge; evidently Regulus’s order for him to tell no one about the locket carried more authority in his mind than Harry’s order to tell us. He was quite willing, though, to reveal what had happened to it, and to all his other treasures. Mundungus Fletcher had stolen them all.

Any respect I might have had for that scoundrel is completely gone. Stealing the few trinkets that were so precious to this poor, pathetic creature just to make a few Galleons by selling them on the black market is simply despicable. Harry, of course, already felt pretty much that way about him, after catching him that time in Hogsmeade with the Black family dining service.

We were able to ascertain from his reactions that Kreacher was familiar with the note Harry found in the fake Horcrux, as well as the fake itself, which must have been a Black family heirloom, and that he’d been ordered by Regulus to destroy the real one, but failed. While I’m certain that the tale of how Regulus (possibly assisted by Kreacher) managed to get Slytherin’s locket out of the cave and back here is a fascinating one, all we really need to know right now is how to get it back. I assume Remus and Tonks will have some ideas for how to accomplish that.

I’m so proud of Harry for what he did next. He got down on his knee and thanked Kreacher for his help, then told him we would get the locket back and destroy it like his master Regulus wanted. That got the first positive response I’ve ever seen from the bitter old elf. But the best part is that he offered the fake locket (the Black family heirloom) to Kreacher to partly make up for all of his other treasures that Fletcher had stolen. In response, Kreacher started crying and actually hugged Harry!

We have quite a story to tell Remus and Tonks when they getback!

Remus and Tonks were surprised to find Kreacher present when they returned, even more surprised that he was acting civilly towards Harry, at least, and positively amazed that he had cleaned up the kitchen. They had brought some food and other things to stock up the pantry, but once they began unpacking the provisions Kreacher shooed everyone out and insisted on putting everything away himself.

The trio filled them in on their discoveries of the day while the now helpful house elf prepared supper. Neither of the adults were too surprised at Mundungus Fletcher’s actions, as they had been fully aware of his thieving tendencies.

“That issue caused almost as much division in the Order as Dumbledore’s complete confidence in Snape,” Tonks commented as Remus nodded his agreement.

“Most of us didn’t have nearly as much willingness to look past people’s faults and see the potential good in them as Dumbledore did,” he admitted. “Of course, in my case I benefited by it, so it was hard to complain about his trust in others whom I considered less than trustworthy.”

Harry had no desire to rehash Dumbledore’s tolerance of poor behavior in his ‘projects’, so he moved the discussion on. “What’s our next move in tracking down Fletcher?” he asked.

Remus and Tonks shared a grim smile. “Leave that to us,” she answered. “We have a pretty good idea of where he hangs out and who his contacts are, and they’re not the sort of people or places you three want to be dealing with.”

While they were eating the older couple (now newlyweds!) related what they had learned during their investigations of the day.

“Thicknesse is serious about negotiating a settlement with Voldemort,” Remus announced resignedly. There’s been some delay while they work out exactly who will do the negotiating. It’s not like Voldemort’s going to walk into the Ministry and sit down with him personally.”

“Here’s the part you lot are really going to love,” Tonks added sarcastically. “Umbridge has been named Acting Director of the DMLE. And she’s directed that all investigations and other activities against the Death Eaters be suspended pending the outcome of the negotiations.” She paused to take a bite while the trio registered their disgust.

“Instead, she’s directed the Aurors to focus on rounding up muggleborns who are still in violation of the registration act. And guess whose name is at the top of the list,” she added with a wry grin, gesturing toward Hermione. “I don’t suppose you happened to do something to get on her bad side, hmm?”

Despite the gravity of the situation Harry and Hermione shared a laugh. “You might say that,” Harry agreed. “Seeing as how Hermione is the one who got her personally acquainted with a band of unhappy centaurs. It was quite an unpleasant experience for her, and the centaurs weren’t too thrilled with her either.” The others chuckled at the thought of how that encounter must have played out.

“Too bad we couldn’t have left the ugly toad with them,” Ron suggested. “It would have saved us a lot of trouble now.” Harry wholeheartedly concurred, while Hermione, though she shook her head in mock disapproval, did not disagree.

“Gee, and here I thought it might have something to do with your relationship with The Boy Who Lived, who I gather was her least favorite student at Hogwarts,” Tonks suggested.

“Well, that too,” Hermione smirked, giving Harry a playful nudge. “You see, he’s always getting me into trouble.” There followed a spirited exchange among the trio, with the boys recounting various incidents where Hermione had not exactly been the most innocent participant.

After a few minutes Remus redirected the conversation. “Tonks spent the day wandering through the Ministry, impersonating at least three different workers, trying to get a sense of how everyone’s reacting to the changes. She especially focused on the Auror Corps.”

“There’s quite a bit of grumbling about quitting, with some comments along the lines of ‘why don’t we just hand the whole place over to the Death Eaters?’,” she revealed. “But relatively few of them are serious about it, at least right now. It’s more of a wait and see attitude. Some are enthusiastic about going after the muggleborns, like Dawlish for example, but those are basically the ones who already had a strong anti-muggleborn bias.”

“Kingsley is still assigned to the muggle Prime Minister’s office,” Remus noted. “It’s an obvious ploy to isolate him and keep him out of the way, but it also allows him relatively free movement. So in some ways that’s a plus for us. We can easily contact him without fear of anyone at the Ministry intercepting our messages. Hestia is now our primary source in the Auror Corps, for as long as she keeps her job at least.”

To the three teens’ questioning looks about the last remark he added, “If things go the way we think they will her association with Dumbledore may make her a target for reprisals.”

On that somber note the discussion ended, and the conversation was relatively sparse for the remainder of the meal as each of the participants reflected on the implications of this latest turn of events.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – July 30

It’s pretty quiet today, especially compare to the excitement of yesterday. Ron and I have spent some time making plans for Harry’s birthday. Ron at first couldn’t understand why I blushed when he asked me what I was getting Harry, then decided he didn’t want to know. Since the only people who can come here are Order members, and most of them think this location has been compromised, it’s only going to be a small party. Fred and George have sent word that they’ll be here, and they promised to get Ginny here too. They’ll come up with some excuse to spirit her away from the Burrow if they have to.

We aren’t completely isolated, since we have the mirrors to communicate with Remus and Hedwig to take messages to the Burrrow and Hogwarts. Hedwig isn’t too happy with us right now, though. Harry was worried that she’s so distinctive that she could be identified and attacked, so I found a charm that would turn her feathers a dull, nondescript gray color. She’s been sulking all morning.

Amazingly, Kreacher has really attached himself to Harry. His change in attitude is quite remarkable. He’s almost as eager as Dobby at times. I think he’s been yearning for another master ever since Regulus and Mrs. Black died, and now has found what he considers an acceptable one. Because Harry is so set on finding and destroying the locket, which was the last command Regulus gave before he died, that makes him worthy of Kreacher’s loyalty.

This treatment doesn’t necessarily extend to the rest of us, but I’m hoping that will improve with time. For now, he treats me pretty much like I’m invisible. Harry has ordered him not to call me a mudblood or Ron a blood traitor, but he doesn’t know any other way to relate to us, so he ignores us. My hope is that he’ll eventually see what high regard Harry has for the two of us, and that will influence his behavior.

He’s also confused about Tonks. On the one hand, she’s a Black by birth, but on the other her mother was disowned by his former master. His solution seems to be to show her neither affection nor hatred, but rather indifference. That’s fine with her. He’s also neutral toward Remus. The fact that he’s a werewolf doesn’t seem to bother him at all.

Being reminded of Dobby, Harry wondered if he could come here to help Kreacher take care of the place. We discovered that won’t work. A house elf can’t interfere with another house elf’s domain. Since Kreacher is bonded to this house and Dobby isn’t, he can’t use his magic here. On the other hand, either of them could work at the Burrow, for example, since no house elf is bonded there.

Evidently Hogwarts is different. Either the magic of that place is such that multiple house elves can bond with it, or none of the house elves working there are formally bonded, in the way that Kreacher is bonded to the Black family or Dobby was bonded to the Malfoys. I found all of that information quite interesting. When I get the time I really need to study up more on house elves and their magic.

Since we’re basically killing time today, I’m going to have a go at making Wolfsbane potion. I don’t necessarily expect to get it perfect on the first try, but hope to succeed by the next full moon. (Harry just gave me a look of disbelief at the ‘don’t expect to get it perfect on the first try’ statement. I had to smack him for teasing me like that. Then he had to hug me to get me to stop hitting him, and one thing led to another. That actually worked out quite nicely!)

Ron found us snogging and wondered what had brought that on. Harry told him it was because Hermione’s such a perfectionist. I just smiled.

I suspect that Ron thinks that Harry and I are weird.

Later –

Harry got Kreacher to reveal the story of the locket and the cave this evening, working it out in bits and pieces. It was more horrible than I could have imagined! We were sitting in the drawing room and Harry had to pull me onto his lap to comfort me. I was crying so hard by the end! It wasn’t just me. Ron looked like he was going to lose his supper, and Harry was pretty choked up too. It was especially difficult for him since he had experieced the situation personally, including the effect of the poison and being attacked by the Inferi, and he had to relive it while drawing the information out of Kreacher.

First, Regulus came home one day and told Kreacher that Voldemort needed a house elf, and that he’d volunteered Kreacher’s service. He considered it a great honor, so of course Kreacher did too. Voldemort took Kreacher to the cave (Harry basically described the setup so that Kreacher didn’t have to do much other than nod or add a few words here and there.) and the two of them went to the island in the same boat Dumbledore and Harry used.

The huge difference was that Voldemort made Kreacher drink the poison! Then he put the Horcrux in the basin and simply LEFT KREACHER THERE TO DIE!!

The only reason Kreacher escaped is that Regulus had ordered him to return home when they were finished, and a house elf must obey his master’s orders. That meant that he was somehow able to evade the Inferi, and since house elf magic is different than wizard magic, he was able to apparate out of the cave and back here, despite the anti-apparation wards.

Note – I think this ability of house elves could be important for us. It’s an area where we have an advantage over Voldemort, since he considers house elves to be beneath him, and therefore is apparently ignorant of their capabilities. Dobby, for example, would likely jump at the chance to do something to help Harry.

To finish the story – at some later point in time, after Regulus had become disillusioned with Voldemort and decided to work against him, he got Kreacher to go back to the cave with him. Mind you, this was with no regard whatsoever for the horrible experience Kreacher had the first time he went there! And this time it was no better. At least Regulus drank the poison himself, but Kreacher had to stand there helplessly and watch him weaken and get those horrible hallucinations. It must have driven him mad to not be able to intervene, since Regulus had ordered him to retrieve the locket and take it back home. He was actually forced to stand there and let his beloved master die! Harry didn’t press him for details, since Kreacher was lying on the floor weeping at this point, but it’s safe to assume that the Inferi dragged Regulus into the lake and killed him.

So that’s where we are now. It’s not hard to see why Kreacher would have gone insane. But with Harry now talking about retrieving and destroying the locket, Kreacher will finally be able to see his former master’s last command carried out. I dearly hope it will afford him at least some peace of mind.

I most definitely need to have Harry hold me tonight.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – July 31

Happy Birthday Harry! I gave him a special present this morning. Let’s just say it was a different kind of French lesson. He vowed to return the favor on my birthday. I told him I thought it would be best if we practiced between now and then, and he agreed wholeheartedly.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a very good time for a celebration. We did our best but it’s difficult to get up much enthusiasm in the face of the news from outside. At least from now on we’ll be able to start doing something about it.

Fred, George, and Ginny came, as promised, and Hagrid surprised us by showing up as well. Kreacher even baked a cake. Harry got some useful gifts – a summon proof wand holder, from Remus and Tonks, and a second notice-me-not holder for a hidden back up wand in addition to some nasty little tricks from the twins and Ginny. Hagrid gave him a mokeskin pouch that he said had some ‘interestin’ qualities. Apparently it’s useful for hiding things. Only the owner can retrieve them. Unpleasant though the thought may be, it could come in handy if we’re captured.

Professor McGonagall sent her regards with Hagrid, as she’s very busy preparing for the upcoming school year. Without a Headmaster, all of the work falls to her. In addition to that position they are short 2 teachers – Defense and Muggle Studies – and the Board of Governors, who must hire them in the absence of a headmaster, is dragging their feet.

She also sent along an interesting list – the names and muggle addresses of all current muggleborn students and recent graduates going back ten years. She included a note that said that she’d never been prouder of any of her Gryffindors than she was of the three of us when she learned of what we were planning to do to help muggleborns, on top of Harry’s other burdens. She also vowed that the Ministry would only get their hands on such a list from Hogwarts ‘over her dead body’.

The news that cast a pall over our modest gathering was the announcement from the Ministry that they’d come to an agreement with Voldemort. (Of course they used that You Know Who nonsense in their press release. I wonder if they had an actual treaty to sign if they’d write You Know Who in the document itself. Honestly!) The Minister called it ‘a peace we can all live with’, continuing the emphasis on how this is going to avoid getting everyone killed. At least they didn’t repeat Neville Chamberlain’s ‘Peace for our time’ farce. Of course, being wizards, none of them would be familiar with that quotation. They also made several references to ‘security’. Benjamin Franklin’s famous words come to mind – ‘Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither’.

In a separate statement they strongly urged the wizarding population not to take independent action, and specifically called for the disbandment of all ‘vigilante groups’, an obvious reference to the Order. Remus and Tonks assured us that this wouldn’t stop them, but it would make things more difficult for others who might have supported their efforts.

It gets worse. Much worse. The details of the agreement haven’t been announced yet, but Tonks managed to get hold of one of the copies that was being circulated among the higher-ups at the Ministry. (I do hope she isn’t taking too many risks.) As a gesture of good will, all Death Eaters being held by the Ministry are being released. With one fell swoop Voldemort is back at full strength. And he no longer has the Aurors to worry about. They will only act if he violates the terms of this agreement.

And what did he give up? He agreed to cease all attacks on ‘true’ wizards – in other words, not including muggleborns. He further agreed to hold off taking any action against the ‘mudbloods’ ‘provided the Ministry deals with the situation in an acceptable manner’. The Ministry will next announce that in order to comply with these terms they will provide ‘protective custody’ to all muggleborn witches and wizards and their families .

I fear that we’re about to see the wizarding version of concentration camps.

This information is scheduled to be released over the next two weeks, giving the people time to get used to each step before breaking the next. An effective way to enslave a complacent population – one barely tolerable step at a time.

What this does is free up all of his resources to come after Harry. Once he’s defeated Harry I’ll bet that ‘agreement’ won’t be worth the parchment it’s printed on.

Happy birthday, Harry.

Celebration’s over. It’s time to get to work.

-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-