Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Find a Way
Breaking Points
6 reviewsWe see some peoples' breaking points inside the Order of the Phoenix...
4Insightful
DISCLAIMER: See Ch. 1.
A/N: This may not have been one of my better chapters, so I'm sorry if I may have disappointed anyone.
IMPORTANT NOTE: OK, the new canon that came out with HBP has changed a lot of things. So... I'm just going to keep writing this as I had originally planned to, as though HBP had never come out.
Chapter 8: Breaking Points
The month of July was a warm and bright one, and yet the members and associates of the Order of the Phoenix felt cold and miserable.
Harry's absence and the persistent question of whether he was alive or dead left an empty void among them, especially in their hearts. While they were grateful that Voldemort was finally dead, victory felt stolen from them, along with Harry himself.
Some people in the wizarding world speculated that Harry was dead, but those speculations were quickly crushed, not only from Harry's hopeful friends and surrogate family, but from Dumbledore himself and with a good reason. Ever since the truth was discovered about Peter Pettigrew's faked suicide, Dumbledore was hesitant to determine anyone's fate, especially without a body present. So, the case about Harry Potter's whereabouts was left open.
However, the members of the Order themselves were feeling strain in their own individual ways. They were all dealing with the same feelings of guilt, uselessness and misery. After acquiring Harry's possessions from Ron, Sirius seemed to guard them with an unhealthy obsession, as though if anything were to happen to them, something would happen to Harry himself. Even Hedwig was saddened; normally, owls shared a magical link with witches and wizards, so they could find not only their masters but also anyone else who didn't have any sort of wards or such to prevent owl delivery. However, something was preventing her from finding Harry; even the sort of normal tracking spells Dumbledore and others had used to find Harry had failed. The Weasleys were all downcast, trying to find ways to pass the time and be productive, not liking the idea of not being able to do anything at all. Then again, this was the case for pretty much all of the Order members.
However, it was on Harry's fifteenth birthday that the rising tensions finally reached the breaking point.
Earlier that day, Ginny could be found in her family's backyard, putting fifteen lit candles in a large patch of dirt, with the words "Happy Birthday Harry" etched in the dirt. The Weasleys were all talking amongst themselves, breakfast forgotten as they all couldn't find it in themselves to eat during such a distressing time which should have been a happy one.
They went later that day to Grimmauld Place, where Sirius was locked in his room, lost in his thoughts as he sifted through Harry's things. He flipped through the photo album which Hagrid had given Harry at the end of his first year, and stopped going through the pages when his eyes landed upon a certain picture. It showed himself playing with an infant Harry, with both occupants full of happiness.
Tears welled in Sirius' eyes, feeling ready to burst as he wondered whether or not he had failed not only Harry, but James and Lily as well. He would have been willing to give up his own life at moment, if it meant bringing Harry back safe and sound.
Downstairs a sort of brunch took place as people ate in near silence, wishing Harry were with them.
It was when Sirius made some comment about Harry that the fuse to the proverbial powder keg had been lit.
Mrs. Weasley, before she could even stop herself, retorted with some comment about Sirius not being there for Harry all those years. Incensed, Sirius shot back with how being unjustly imprisoned for mass murder can make it rather difficult in raising a child. A moment or so later, everyone gave both verbal combatants a wide berth as the red-haired matriarch and the ex-convict shot retorts back and forth. It seemed that Mrs. Weasley thought that Sirius was trying to keep Harry all to himself while Sirius realized that Mrs. Weasley was being just too emotional.
Finally, both of them were put in their places when one normally passive person finally reached his own breaking point.
"SHUT UP!" Remus Lupin roared at the top of his lungs, sending a Reductor Curse flying in between the two of them, causing it to blast a hole out of the wall it was aimed at. Both of them jumped like scared rabbits, looking completely shocked at this out-of-character behavior. "JUST SHUT UP ALREADY! ENOUGH'S ENOUGH!"
Everyone could only stare at the werewolf in pure disbelief as he panted heavily as though he had just run a marathon. No one had ever seen him act like this before, not even remotely.
Taking deep breaths and willing himself not to act like that again, Lupin addressed the two people who were previously fighting. "Molly," he said, addressing the motherly woman, "We all know how much you care for Harry as though he were a surrogate son to you, which is commendable. We appreciate how much you looked out for him and cared for him when most of us couldn't. However, I think you're acting a little possessive of him. Besides, do you really think Sirius didn't care about Harry, or even planned on being falsely imprisoned all those years?"
Not waiting for an answer, Remus then turned to his last best friend. "Sirius... I've seen how you've been hording Harry's possessions with this magpie-like behavior, as though they're all that's left of him. You hole yourself away in your room doing that, and it's rather unhealthy. I hate to break it to you, Sirius, but no matter how much you obsess over all those things, it will not instantly bring him back to us."
Sirius made no response, but actually looked somewhat thoughtful about it. Remus took another deep breath and added some more of his thoughts. "Believe me, I miss him to, and I would be absolutely ecstatic to have him back right now. I don't know how and why we can't find him using even the simplest magical means. But, we can't give up. Besides... I don't think Harry, or even his parents, would like that happening."
There was a contemplative moment of silence here... right before someone killed it. "A beautiful speech," commented a silky voice from the doorway.
Everyone turned to see Snape walking in, his face as unreadable as ever. "Snape," Sirius growled by way of acknowledgement.
"Really, Black, like I was going to allow myself to get caught in the crossfire," Snape responded calmly.
"Right, that's enough, people," Dumbledore said, walking into the room. "Let's not fight, shout and argue like that anymore, lest the entire street hears us..."
With that, Dumbledore started the next meeting of the Order of the Phoenix.
A/N: So, how do you guys think this chapter was? (Personally, I think "shocking" is the word I would choose...)
Next chapter is where we get back to an amnesiac Harry still in the hospital... I think... -//Quillian
A/N: This may not have been one of my better chapters, so I'm sorry if I may have disappointed anyone.
IMPORTANT NOTE: OK, the new canon that came out with HBP has changed a lot of things. So... I'm just going to keep writing this as I had originally planned to, as though HBP had never come out.
Chapter 8: Breaking Points
The month of July was a warm and bright one, and yet the members and associates of the Order of the Phoenix felt cold and miserable.
Harry's absence and the persistent question of whether he was alive or dead left an empty void among them, especially in their hearts. While they were grateful that Voldemort was finally dead, victory felt stolen from them, along with Harry himself.
Some people in the wizarding world speculated that Harry was dead, but those speculations were quickly crushed, not only from Harry's hopeful friends and surrogate family, but from Dumbledore himself and with a good reason. Ever since the truth was discovered about Peter Pettigrew's faked suicide, Dumbledore was hesitant to determine anyone's fate, especially without a body present. So, the case about Harry Potter's whereabouts was left open.
However, the members of the Order themselves were feeling strain in their own individual ways. They were all dealing with the same feelings of guilt, uselessness and misery. After acquiring Harry's possessions from Ron, Sirius seemed to guard them with an unhealthy obsession, as though if anything were to happen to them, something would happen to Harry himself. Even Hedwig was saddened; normally, owls shared a magical link with witches and wizards, so they could find not only their masters but also anyone else who didn't have any sort of wards or such to prevent owl delivery. However, something was preventing her from finding Harry; even the sort of normal tracking spells Dumbledore and others had used to find Harry had failed. The Weasleys were all downcast, trying to find ways to pass the time and be productive, not liking the idea of not being able to do anything at all. Then again, this was the case for pretty much all of the Order members.
However, it was on Harry's fifteenth birthday that the rising tensions finally reached the breaking point.
Earlier that day, Ginny could be found in her family's backyard, putting fifteen lit candles in a large patch of dirt, with the words "Happy Birthday Harry" etched in the dirt. The Weasleys were all talking amongst themselves, breakfast forgotten as they all couldn't find it in themselves to eat during such a distressing time which should have been a happy one.
They went later that day to Grimmauld Place, where Sirius was locked in his room, lost in his thoughts as he sifted through Harry's things. He flipped through the photo album which Hagrid had given Harry at the end of his first year, and stopped going through the pages when his eyes landed upon a certain picture. It showed himself playing with an infant Harry, with both occupants full of happiness.
Tears welled in Sirius' eyes, feeling ready to burst as he wondered whether or not he had failed not only Harry, but James and Lily as well. He would have been willing to give up his own life at moment, if it meant bringing Harry back safe and sound.
Downstairs a sort of brunch took place as people ate in near silence, wishing Harry were with them.
It was when Sirius made some comment about Harry that the fuse to the proverbial powder keg had been lit.
Mrs. Weasley, before she could even stop herself, retorted with some comment about Sirius not being there for Harry all those years. Incensed, Sirius shot back with how being unjustly imprisoned for mass murder can make it rather difficult in raising a child. A moment or so later, everyone gave both verbal combatants a wide berth as the red-haired matriarch and the ex-convict shot retorts back and forth. It seemed that Mrs. Weasley thought that Sirius was trying to keep Harry all to himself while Sirius realized that Mrs. Weasley was being just too emotional.
Finally, both of them were put in their places when one normally passive person finally reached his own breaking point.
"SHUT UP!" Remus Lupin roared at the top of his lungs, sending a Reductor Curse flying in between the two of them, causing it to blast a hole out of the wall it was aimed at. Both of them jumped like scared rabbits, looking completely shocked at this out-of-character behavior. "JUST SHUT UP ALREADY! ENOUGH'S ENOUGH!"
Everyone could only stare at the werewolf in pure disbelief as he panted heavily as though he had just run a marathon. No one had ever seen him act like this before, not even remotely.
Taking deep breaths and willing himself not to act like that again, Lupin addressed the two people who were previously fighting. "Molly," he said, addressing the motherly woman, "We all know how much you care for Harry as though he were a surrogate son to you, which is commendable. We appreciate how much you looked out for him and cared for him when most of us couldn't. However, I think you're acting a little possessive of him. Besides, do you really think Sirius didn't care about Harry, or even planned on being falsely imprisoned all those years?"
Not waiting for an answer, Remus then turned to his last best friend. "Sirius... I've seen how you've been hording Harry's possessions with this magpie-like behavior, as though they're all that's left of him. You hole yourself away in your room doing that, and it's rather unhealthy. I hate to break it to you, Sirius, but no matter how much you obsess over all those things, it will not instantly bring him back to us."
Sirius made no response, but actually looked somewhat thoughtful about it. Remus took another deep breath and added some more of his thoughts. "Believe me, I miss him to, and I would be absolutely ecstatic to have him back right now. I don't know how and why we can't find him using even the simplest magical means. But, we can't give up. Besides... I don't think Harry, or even his parents, would like that happening."
There was a contemplative moment of silence here... right before someone killed it. "A beautiful speech," commented a silky voice from the doorway.
Everyone turned to see Snape walking in, his face as unreadable as ever. "Snape," Sirius growled by way of acknowledgement.
"Really, Black, like I was going to allow myself to get caught in the crossfire," Snape responded calmly.
"Right, that's enough, people," Dumbledore said, walking into the room. "Let's not fight, shout and argue like that anymore, lest the entire street hears us..."
With that, Dumbledore started the next meeting of the Order of the Phoenix.
A/N: So, how do you guys think this chapter was? (Personally, I think "shocking" is the word I would choose...)
Next chapter is where we get back to an amnesiac Harry still in the hospital... I think... -//Quillian
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