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Chapter 4: "Happy Thoughts People!"

Myrtle took to watching the 'golden trio' whenever they were in the castle. The headmaster was dead; there was a debate in the Ministry over whether or not to close the school. Harry, Hermione and Ron were given cart blanche to use whatever resources the school had to offer, especially the library and the potions lab.

One afternoon as she was observing Hermione in the library the bushy-haired brunette said "I know you're there Myrtle."

The little ghost girl popped out of the bookshelf and drifted down to take a 'seat' at the table.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

"What are you doing, other than following us around the castle whenever we're here? As thick as Ron can be even he's noticed that you're always somewhere near whenever we're visiting Hogwart's."

"I'm just 'people watching,' but I'll leave you all alone if you want me to" she said as she began to drift away.

"No, you might as well stay; you have as much right to know what's going on as anyone here, maybe more so."

"How's that?"

"Do you realize that you were Voldemort's first victim?"

Myrtle was shocked, "m-me? What did Voldemort have against me?"

"Do you remember how you died?"

"Of course, the basilisk, Harry told me after he'd killed it."

"Tom Riddle set the basilisk on you Myrtle."

"Tom? The prefect Tom?" now she was just confused, Riddle had never shown her anything but kindness in the times she had interacted with him. He'd been one of a very few people who had ever stood up for her.

"Tom Riddle is Voldemort." Hermione did the 'Tom Morvolo Riddle, I am Lord Voldemort' anagram for the ghost's benefit.

Tom used your death to create his first horcrux.

Hermione was in her 'explaining things' mode and she had Myrtle riveted in her seat as she described the procedure for creating and then using a horcrux, a 'soul piece' as it were.

"So how many times could he have fractioned his soul?"

"Six times, he has to keep one part in his body, then six fractions going out to various horcruxes."

How many have been destroyed?

"Two for sure, possibly three."

"And how many has he used?"

"Beg pardon?"

"How many has he used? How many times has he had to use a horcurx to come back from the dead?"

Hermione stood up so quickly that her chair fell over, startling Myrtle in the process.

"Expecto Patronum!" she cried, causing a large river otter to form from the end of her wand, she addressed her patronus "find Harry and Ron, tell them to meet us here as soon as possible!"

The otter nodded and gamboled off.

Hermione righted her chair and sat down in it heavily.

"How could I have been so stupid as to have missed that?" she berated herself.

"I don't understand."

She ticked off a list on her fingers, "one, Harry, little baby Harry mind you, destroys Voldemort at the tender age of one and a half."

She counted off a second finger, "two, eleven year old Harry destroys Voldemort again, this time in the form of a Quirrell parasite."

A third finger, "three, he destroys a horcrux, the one Riddle created by murdering you,"

Fourth finger, "four, he reconstitutes his body, no matter what the ritual, one soul piece had to be spent to accomplish this."

Fifth finger, thumb actually, "five, Professor Dumbledore destroys the ring, making yet another soul piece unavailable."

She ticked off the index finger of her other hand, "six, Professor Dumbledore was positive that the snake, Nagini, either is or contains a horcrux and Nagini is never out of Voldemort's sight so . . ."

Myrtle got it, "so if we can get Voldemort and his snake in the same place, at the same time then he can be well and truly put paid to!"

Harry and Ron were out of breath as they ran into the Restricted Section, good thing Madame Pince was not around. Both had their wands drawn, anticipating trouble. Myrtle faded out of sight, apparating back to her bathroom. She wasn't ready to face Harry yet.

"What's the emergency?" Harry gasped.

"No emergency, but you'll want to see this, here, sit down and listen."

She explained her logic and the boys could find no fault with it.

Harry recited, "The diary, the ring, the locket, something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's, and the snake. None of it matters, two horcruxes are known to have been destroyed, three had to have been used, that leaves Nagini and whatever part of a soul the Dork Lord keeps in himself."

"It was really Myrtle that pointed it out to us." She gestured to the empty chair to her right.

Harry beamed at the chair, expecting the ghost to reappear, his expression falling a bit when she didn't.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Myrtle and I had words recently, I'm afraid I wasn't very tactful, or kind."

"I'm sure she'll get over it Harry, she did help us today, after all, and ghosts are known to be very patient."

"Some have been known to hold a grudge for centuries" Ron interjected, earning a scathing look from his girlfriend.

"I'm just saying" he said as he raised his hands, in surrender.

"Thanks Ron" Harry added with a smirk. His expression turned serious as he added "we need to call the Order together, it's time they knew about the horcruxes."

Headmistress McGonnagal called an emergency meeting of the order; all current members were present with Mundungus Fletcher being conspicuous by his absence. The meeting was held in the library which allowed Myrtle to eavesdrop.

The headmistress stood at the head of the long library table "I call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order, fist order of business; appoint a new leader for the order."

"New leader?" Harry asked, "Professor, I thought you would be the new leader."

Murmurs of agreement all around.

"I am not a wartime leader, Mister Potter, I have never led troops into battle or even faced more than one opponent in a duel; our new leader must have the ability to inspire, to lead by example. We need someone who can become a symbol of light magic that the people will rally around."

Remus placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and said "someone like you, son."

Harry smiled up at his old professor as if sharing a joke, then, seeing the 'no, I'm not joking' expression on Lupin's face he exclaimed "Sweet Merlin on a bike, you're serious?"

"No, I'm Remus, but Sirius would have agreed with me one hundred percent."

Groans all around.

"More importantly, Mr. Potter" her face softened, "Harry, it was Professor Dumbledore's wish as well."

Saying this she placed a small stone bowl on the table, at Harry's inquisitive expression she explained, "This is a willstone vessel, it's used to create a tamper proof last will and testament that can only be accessed by one of the beneficiaries. I have already seen the will as I am a beneficiary. Just place the tip of your wand on the edge of the bowl and state your name."

He did so, saying "Harry Potter."

Nothing happened.

"State your full name, Harry."

"Harry James Potter."

A half-sized Dumbledore appeared in the mist above the willstone and began to speak, "I Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore, being of sound mind, yes, sound mind and mostly sound body, that is to say all the important protruding parts are fully functional, do hereby proclaim this to be my last will and testament.

First to my beloved Minerva McGonagall, I leave the entire contents of our joint vault in Gringotts with the sincerest hope that you will retire at your earliest possible convenience and spend the rest of your very long life trying to fritter it all away. I fear you will not be able to, as the interest earned on that account will be, in the time it has taken me to say these words, nearly equal to your generous annual salary. What can I say? Dragon's blood has been very good to me. I also leave you my family's estate in Scotland where we have spent the most wonderful summers of my very long life. My only regret, my beloved, is that I could not give you what you wanted most, a child we could call our own. Perhaps that is why I know you'll never really retire, for all the students at Hogwart's truly are the children of your heart.

To Arthur and Molly Weasley I leave my home in Ottery St. Catchpole, you may rename it the 'New Burrow' if you wish. I believe its twenty bedrooms should suffice to accommodate the many visiting grand children I expect you'll be seeing soon. Be kind to the house elves there, they are getting on in years.

To Remus Lupin I leave my properties in Hogsmeade, comprising businesses and real estate including the Hogs Head with the proviso that you allow Alberforth to continue in his position there as Chief Cook and Bottle Washer. And please, keep him away from the goats." At this the image of Albus shuddered, as did the adults in the room, the old headmaster continued, "The properties include the 'Shrieking Shack,' for heaven's sake remove that ridiculous glamour, let people see it for what it is, a beautifully maintained two storey cottage.

I have no living children so I am leaving my personal estates, lock, stock and barrel to my only surviving relative, Harry James Potter."

Here the recording stopped as pandemonium broke out in the library. Albus Dumbledore had a secret life with his deputy headmistress? He owned half of Hogsmeade? He was related to Harry Potter?

The recording of Albus cleared its throat, quieting the room for the moment.

"I placed a three minute pause so that in the event of a public viewing of this willstone order could be restored. I hope that is enough time.

Very well, to continue, my daughter by my first love and my only wife, oh Minerva, I wish you could have found it in your heart to say yes, you said yes to everything else I suggested."

With that he wiggled his eyebrows and Professor McGonagall actually blushed.

"Oh, as I was saying, my daughter Krista Dumbledore met Harold James Potter at Hogwart's and married soon after graduating, she was a beautiful and talented witch who's only flaws were her unruly dark hair and a fierce pride in her son James, as far as she was concerned he could do no wrong. I'm afraid my grandson became the model of pureblood arrogance, thank Merlin for the Muggleborn Lily Evans, she managed to ground him in so many ways. Alas, Krista never got to see her grandson, as she, along with her husband and her mother were killed in a death eater attack the year before Harry was born. I had been called away, the fidelius was set, no one could have found them, but someone did.

Let that be a lesson to you Harry, keep your loved ones close, do not trust the fidelius charm, it can be broken."

Harry felt as though an icicle had pierced his gut, he had the Weasleys and the Lovegoods tucked away at Grimauld Place, under a fidelius charm. First thing, after this meeting he would send another letter to his ex-girlfriend.

"So Harry James Potter, as my only surviving relative I name you my heir in all things, save those that have been disbursed, material and magical. You will find a complete inventory in our ancestral home in Warwick, just ignore the wax figures, Madame Tussand's and I have a long standing agreement.

My beloved Minerva will give you the keys to my estates and my personal vault at Gringotts along with my staff, which I know will accept you as its rightful owner.

Now Harry, you are officially the most powerful wizard in Britain, possibly the world, the Order of the Phoenix is in need of a leader, more than that it is in need of a symbol, a man the magical community can and will rally around. I urge you to take on this task; I believe it is essential for you to triumph over Riddle in the coming months.

I'm off enjoying the next great adventure, I know I will see all of you, but I will be very disappointed if I see any of you anytime soon, farewell."

The image retreated into the stone bowl.

Minerva handed Harry a small bag.

"All the keys and his staff are in here; just a simple 'finite' will restore them to full size. Make sure you have at least a three by six foot table when you do, there's quite a lot in here."

Harry's eyes were brimming with tears, "why didn't he tell me?"

"Oh Harry," she said, gathering him up in a gentle embrace, "he didn't want you to worry about him overly much, as he was just the headmaster you could remain somewhat detached, as your great-grandfather you would have been worried sick about him, true?"

"Ever since I found out about magic and Hogwart's I've been trying to connect with a living magical relative and all along he was right here."

"Hidden in plain sight" Minerva said with a slight grin.

She held him at arms length and said rather sternly "Never doubt that he loved you, Harry."

"I don't, I just wish . . ."

"What Harry?"

"I just wish you had married him, then you would be my, my . . ."

"Great-Grandmother? Oh please Harry, I'm only old enough to be your grandmother!"

He hugged her again and said "I think you're great."

Minerva allowed herself to settle into the warmth of his embrace for a moment, then put him back at arm's length.

"Enough of that now, you have an army to form, a war to win, you canna' afford to be soft."

"That's where you're wrong Professor, I know what my greatest weapon is, and its strength comes from here" he said placing his hand on his chest over his heart.

"I move that Harry James Potter be tasked with the leadership of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Seconded"

"All in favor of Harry James Potter for the position of Leader of the Order of the Phoenix say aye."

The resounding "Aye!" was only eclipsed by the ball of fire that burst over their heads. Faulks the Phoenix had come home. The large scarlet and gold bird landed lightly on Harry's right shoulder.

"Opposed?"

Silence

"Motion carries"

Harry stepped up to the head of the table, "Hermione, Ron, contact all the members of the DA, tell them we need them here in the castle. Tell them to bring their families as well, tell them that the war's begun and this is the safest place. As soon as the meeting ended he sent Hedwig off with a letter for Ginny.

Dear Ginny,

We had an important meeting today, and I was reminded of you. Would you please come back to Hogwart's? I think some exciting things will be happening here over the next couple of months that you would love to be part of. We all miss you and would like to see you again, safe and sound.

Yours truly,
Harry

"Why Ginevra, I think he still has feelings for you!"

"Shall I tell him that I'll see him soon, master?"

"Oh yes, write and tell him that you feel very safe with your friends and that he shouldn't worry about you and that you'll likely seem him very soon."

Voldemort delighted in the irony, the girl wasn't even imperioused, just motivated to do his bidding; it was too delicious.

Elf magic was the key; an elf could apparate away from a place, then return with a two-way portkey to kidnap a redheaded pureblood girl. She was given the choice, she could be part of a death eater revelry where she would likely be raped to death while watching however many of her family members they could capture being slowly tortured, or she could join the ranks and only be used by a single death eater every night, her choice really. She was told that there were two death eaters constantly watching the burrow, the ministry where her father worked and each of her reckless brothers in their shop in Diagon Alley. The male (and some of the female) DEs all clamored to be the one to 'break in the new bitch,' Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape were given first shot with the promise that when one death eater was tired of her he would just pass her on to the next one.

"We're going to get to know each other very well, Red, it's about time you got to see what a pure blood can do."

They used the two-way portkey to return to her bedroom in Grimauld Place, where he took her without foreplay or finesse. She and Draco were 'enjoying' their first night together when Harry's owl flew in the window. His first impulse was to kill the messenger, but Ginny's cooler head prevailed. She would answer the letters, telling Harry that she was safe and sound and fine so that he wouldn't worry and come looking. Draco decided that he would not get tired of the clever redhead anytime soon and told his master that.

"You have served me better than your useless father ever did, young Malfoy, keep her as long as you like; consider her a gift."

_____ooo000ooo_____

Mister Shacklebolt, we need your best combat trainers here, as soon as possible - yesterday if you can find a time-turner. We need lessons in fighting; knock-down, drag out, up-close and personal hit them where and when they're not expecting it fighting and we need it now!"

"I know just the people."

The next day three men and one woman, sergeants all addressed the members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's army.

"Roit, me fine lads and lassies, my name is Weatherford, me mates here are Jonsey and Cattral. And this fine figure of a woman is Barlongo, you can call us Sergeant, we all answer to Sergeant, anyone who calls us "Sir" will learn the difference between an officer and someone who works for a livin'."

Sergeant Barlongo stepped up, "we answer to the Ministries of Magic and Defense, and they have tasked us with the job of turning you lot into a fighting force, like it or not we will be the line drawn in the sand and our job will be to stop anyone from crossing over. To that end we will train you, and when the time comes we will fight beside you. Training will commence immediately."

And train they did, Hogwart's had always been the training grounds for wizards and witches, now it was an instruction ground for combat troops, the thing Harry was most worried about was time. If Voldemort attacked too soon, before they were ready, before he was ready they would lose.

After one particularly grueling day of physical conditioning Harry told Hermione "I was only half joking about the time turners y'know. Could we use one to double up our training times?"

"Bad idea Harry, if your past self see's your future self you may or may not do what needs to be done to become your future self and you may cease to exist in either time. That's the consequence of paradox."

"Oh, um, okay, bad idea."

Over the weeks the auror training staff put the Order members as well as the DA through their paces. Never had the battle hardened sergeants from the DMLE seen such dedication in any group of trainees, they flew through the training syllabus in record time, every one of them. At the end of the sixth week the top sergeant called the trainees to attention.

That's it boys and girls, you've successfully completed all the requirements for auror training, in less than half the time normally allotted. You are now the deadliest magical fighting force on the planet, I will be there when you hand Voldemort his arse on a platter.

Over the weeks several of the families of the DA troops returned to their homes, each family was given an emergency portkey to use should they be attacked, but Harry was still not sanguine about them leaving.

"It's safer here" he told each family as they left.

"I'm tired of this old castle, I need to see that my house is okay, I'm bored" it was like dealing with three year olds.

"We'll come back, you'll see."

Unfortunately, they did; unfortunately it was just their heads.

_____ooo000ooo_____

"Ginny . . ."

The injured girl recoiled from Harry's touch.

"Ginny, how? Why?"

She started to laugh, "Oh Harry," she coughed, "if you only knew how long I've waited to talk to me so tenderly; 'I can't be with you anymore,' for some stupid noble reason. And for some stupid noble reason you boxed me away in that Grimm Old Place where Kreature, remember Kreature? Your house elf kidnaps me and hands me to the Dark Lord on a fuckin' silver platter!"

Harry was in a state of shock, Ginny continued, each word landing like a physical blow, "Join or die, that's it. I'm not dead, so I must have joined up! Not like I really had a lot of choice izit?"

"Oh yeah, and I was given to Draco here as his personal plaything, d'you know he used to insist on fuckin' me every time one of your letters arrived? And you wrote a lot over the past couple of months, what maybe sixty letters? Damn my fanny's sore!"

She coughed again.

"Don't worry Harry, he didn't get my precious virginity, I got rid of that years ago. If I'd waited around for you to finally notice me I'd have gone spare from frustration, at least Draco here knows what he wants when he sees it and takes it."

She saw the effect she was having on him and smiled, finally, she'd finally evoked some real feeling from him.

"It could have been you Harry; all you had to do was see what was right in front of you all along."

She lay on the ground in a coughing fit.

Woodenly, drained of emotion Harry told a red-faced Neville, who'd heard the whole conversation, "make a couple of stretchers, take them up to the hospital wing, okay?"

Neville conjured two self levitating gurneys and placed Draco on one and Ginny on the other.

"Wait," Harry asked "who did you kill? Do you even know?"

Ginny looked confused.

"You have a dark mark, which means you've already killed, who was it?"

_____ooo000ooo_____

Delores Umbridge woke up in a dark, wet, smelly place. She felt around for her wand but it was not in its holder or in the pocket of her tattered cardie. She focused on a destination, the living room of her house in Cardiff and with great deliberation and even greater determination willed herself to apparate there; to no avail. A door opened spilling a painfully bright white light into the small circular room, as her eyes adjusted to the light she could see the floor was littered with the bones of many creatures, large and small. Some of the skulls looked possibly humanoid. Her pasty complexion drained to parchment white.

A person was standing just inside the door, as if inviting her to leave the room. Delores waddled quickly toward the door when a girl's voice ordered her to stop.

The former Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic drew herself up to her full height, which was still shorter than the girl at the door.

"Do you know who I am?" Umbridge insisted.

"I know you were Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, a Hogwart's Professor in name only, the Grand High Inquisitor and head of the Inquisitorial Squad. I also know you were sacked, demoted, sent off to some meaningless drab office to ride out your time until a Ministry Pension could kick in."

"I have friends in high places, please, you can help me get out of here and I can, I can . . . I can make it worth your while!"

"Why would I want to get you out of here, Umbitch? I was the one who had you brought here!"

"Wait, I know that voice, you're that Weasley girl, right? Arthur Weasley, good man, loyal to the Ministry, surely you are your father's daughter, you'll help me out?"

"Haven't you been listening Dolores? I had you brought here, and you know what? It was too easy. Nobody cares about you, except to see you dead!"

Umbridge sank to her knees in the muck, "please, please, anything you want, please help me . . ."

Ginny was disappointed that she felt so little for the worthless lump of flesh kneeling before her, where was her pride?

"Don't worry Umbridge, you'll be done with this place soon enough, and you will be going out with this thought, you wouldn't have even been here if it hadn't been for the way you treated Harry Potter."

Ginny raised her wand and said softly, so that only Umbridge could hear, "for Harry, Avada Kedavra!"

_____ooo000ooo_____

"You have a dark mark, which means you've already killed, who was it?"

Ginny's smile was feral, "Oh you'll love this; it was Umbridge, and I told her that I was doing it for you Harry, for you."

He nodded his understanding and, sickened by the knowledge, walked away.

As he climbed the steps up to the battlements he noticed the moon was near its zenith, midnight, which made it the 31st of October, All Hallow's Eve. The date when, more often than not in Harry's short life, all hell usually broke loose. He saw Ron looking quizzically at him, and thought of his baby sister in the hospital wing. 'Oh Merlin,' he thought, 'what am I gonna' tell Ron?'

Just then black shapes came floating out of the forest, dementors ringing Voldemort and his troops. The semi-corporeal demons seemed to flow like a black river out of the trees. Two of the death eaters straggled just a bit behind the others and were set upon, instantly kissed by multiple dementors in a feeding frenzy. The rest of the DEs kept a tight formation around their Dark Lord.

Every man and woman on the battlements had produced a corporeal patronus during training.

"Happy thoughts people, think happy thoughts!"

Yeah, right.

What's my happy thought?

_____ooo000ooo_____

Author's Note: At this point the two time lines have converged, no more major flashbacks or flash forwards. From time to time I teach the history of the emergence of one technology or other (read the works of James Burke), and in that class I always begin with "this is where we are now. Now let's see how we got here." I've tried to use the same approach for this story.