"May I please have everyone's attention?" Dumbledore spoke, and everyone became silent. The order of the Phoenix currently found themselves in an old house that Dumbledore owned, As of the moment they were in a large room with a large table in the centre, they were all sat around the table or standing near it with Dumbledore at one end though the opposite end was left alone. "Now, today's meeting is very important. There will be a special guest attending today."
"Who sir?" One member asked.
"Harry Potter." Dumbledore answered, the room lit up with noise as all the order members began talking and screaming at once. "Enough!" Dumbledore said loudly, which had the desired effect of making them calm down and be silent.
"But headmaster," Molly Weasley spoke. "the boy...the boy is dangerous!" she protested.
"I am well aware of how dangerous he is." Dumbledore sighed. "You are also aware of his new mission..."
"You mean the one where he said he was going to hunt down each and every death eater?" Moody commented as he leaned against a wall, having chosen not to sit.
"Yes, that very one," Dumbledore said with a tired nod. "he will begin hunting two days from now. I understand how this could be beneficial but it is nothing that I can support. I have spent the last few days trying to arrange a meeting between myself and Mr Potter, I've just barely managed to get him to agree to attend this meeting, and when I say 'barely' it means with a lot of effort. I am hoping that if this meeting goes well then we may be able to convince Mr Potter to join or at least work with the order. Say what you want about the boy but there is no denying that he would be a valuable asset in this war.
I have gave my word that both him and those accompanying him will not be harmed by anyone here, so there will be no drawing wands. He should be arriving soon. "
As if on cue, a door knock was heard.
"I'll go get it." Moody said as he limped out of the room to go answer the door, drawing his wand as he did so. A few seconds later Harry Potter entered the room, followed by Bellatrix and Sirius.
"Wotcher Harry!" Tonks said as she got up to go greet then.
"Hi Nym" Harry smiled as the two briefly hugged.
"Hi guys." Tonks said as she hugged Sirius and Bellatrix.
"Hiya Tonksie" Sirius grinned. "How's your mother?"
"Oh, she's doing good, she..."
"Tonks" Moody growled as he re-entered the room. "you can say hello later."
"Oh right, sorry" She said with a sheepish smile. She went back to her seat.
Harry, when he had entered the room had immediately began analysing it and was still doing so. It was safe to assume that each witch and wizard had at least some degree of skill, he knew that if a fight burst out then Tonks was more likely to go on his side than the order, she was Andromeda's daughter after all. The room was pretty empty apart from the table and chairs, the biggest threats were currently Alastor Moody and Dumbledore.
Moody practised constant vigilance so much that it had become his catch phrase, so that meant he was the only one likely to draw faster than Dumbledore should a fight break out but that didn't mean he was the fastest, seeing as he wasn't as young as he used to be, with him the trick would probably be movement as the man was slowed down by his peg leg. As for Dumbledore, he was undoubtedly the best of the order, that's why they followed him.
In the past Harry had managed to take him by surprise like when he burnt his wand when he didn't expect it and the time he tricked him by going after his phoenix instead of him. He doubted he could get away with the same this time as Dumbledore not only had back up, but was probably more prepared. If a fight broke out then Harry's safest bet was likely fiendfyre, it was big and fast and would get rid of multiple opponents. Perhaps Dumbledore could stop it, possibly a few other order members, but it would at least take out a good few and he could control his fire to the point where it doesn't burn anything he doesn't want to be burnt.
"Please take a seat" Dumbledore said, breaking Harry out of his thoughts, as he gestured to the seat opposite him. Dumbledore clearly wanted him to sit there to show this was a meeting of equals. Harry and the rest walked to the end of the table, Sirius sat on the seat that was on the left to the one Dumbledore pointed out. Harry had pulled the chair, that Dumbledore wanted him to sir in, out and gestured to Bellatrix. She smiled and at in the seat, knowing that what Harry did was essentially saying she was a very important person in this whole thing.
"I'll stand." Harry said as he stood behind Bellatrix, any and all purebloods would know that refusing a seat without a reason was a rude thing to do in wizarding culture, it mean that the person had no respect for the one who offered. It was just part of the subtle games that pureblood played.
"Very well," Dumbledore nodded. "now Mr Potter I have brought you here for a reason."
"Once again Dumbledore, I am flattered but I have a girlfriend." Harry replied, Sirius and Tonks snorted while Bellatrix curved her lip up lightly.
"Mr Potter," Dumbledore continued, ignoring Harry's comment. "it is my understanding that you intend to soon begin hunting death eaters. I understand that you are doing this because of Libra..."
"And because I want to, let's not forget that part." Harry commented, and many of the order members didn't know how to react to that statement.
"But I believe that there is a better way to go about it." Dumbledore said, deciding to ignore Harry's comment. "If you work with us then it's possible for us all to deal with them without killing."
"Yeah...but there's a problem with that."
"And what would that be?" Moody asked.
"I really want to kill them." Harry said with an evil grin.
"He get's that from his mother because I know for sure he doesn't get that from his father." Sirius whispered to Bellatrix.
"Mr Potter, there is no need for that." Dumbledore said.
"Yes, there is. I gave Voldemort the opportunity to keep me out of this war, he refused. Went after my family, so I'm going to kill him and his death eaters. In fact you are all rather lucky, if one of you went for my family in some stupid attempt to convince me to join then it would be you lot that I would be hunting." Harry gave them all an innocent smile while many members tensed and became ready to reach for their wands. "Besides, unlike you lot I can actually get the job done."
"What's that supposed to mean?" One member demanded.
"I mean, look at you lot." Harry said as he gestured to them. "I don't even know how many of you are trained, I see that some of you are aurors but the problem with that is you're limited to orders from either the pacifist or the ministry and the death eaters have been out smarting both for years. Right now, if I had to guess then I would say that Moody and Dumbledore are the strongest of all you lot, at least magically. Moody, badass he might be but he still has limited mobility thanks to his leg and any other injuries he may have got over the years, he and Dumbledore are both not as young as they used to be.
As for Dumbledore, magically powerful but not really willing to do what needs to be done."
"Young man, you should show more respect to the headmaster." Molly Weasley admonished.
"Old woman, you should be quiet." Harry replied.
"How dare you?! I think you should..."
"Does it look like I give a diddly damn about what you think?"
"I don't..."
"No I diddly don't." Harry said cutting her off.
"You rude boy! Your parents would be ashamed!"
"Did my parents know her?" Harry asked Sirius as he gestured to Molly.
"Not really." Sirius shook his head in the negative.
"So how the fuck would you know?" Harry raised an eyebrow at Molly. "You shouldn't assume, you know what they say about people who do. Also...mention my parents again and I'll rip your head off." Harry added the last part as afterthought.
"Hey! Don't threaten our mum!" Bill Weasley said as he and Charlie Weasley got to their feet and pointed their wands at Harry.
"Enough." Bellatrix said as she grabbed both Sirius and Harry to stop them from doing anything. "We're not here to fight."
"We'd totally win if we were though." Harry pointed out while Sirius nodded in agreement.
"Yeah right, you're outnumbered." Bill Weasley pointed out.
"What use are numbers when you're in an enclosed space with fiendfyre?" Harry asked innocently and many members paled, all knowing full well that the boy was deadly with fiendfyre.
"You wouldn't use that here." Moody barked, his wand ready just in case. "You'd risk your own."
"How confident are you that I won't?" Harry said as he pointed his wand behind him and fire began pouring out of it, the fire kept gradually growing larger and larger.
"Mr Potter!" Dumbledore stood and removed his wand.
"Spoilsport." Harry muttered as he extinguished the fire. "My point is that I am not interested in joining your little club, plus I just want to point out that ravens are better than phoenix's."
"Debatable." One member said under his breath.
"Shut your face mouth, yes they are." Harry had heard him. "Second of all, I came here today for one reason only."
"And what would that be?" Molly Weasley huffed, still not happy with the way that he had spoken to her earlier. She couldn't believe that she and her family were once willing to home this evil boy.
"To tell you..." Harry pointed to Dumbledore "...to leave my family alone. We came here because you wouldn't leave us alone, you couldn't take the hint and that's why we had to deal with the constant letters and floo calls."
"We've basically come to give you a warning." Bellatrix said, bringing all the attention back on herself. "If you keep contacting us then we will be calling the aurors." She finished and everyone dropped their jaws.
"I beg your pardon?" Dumbledore said, not entirely sure he had heard that right.
"You heard that right," Sirius nodded. "Harry is not a tool for you to use whenever you want."
"Padfoot!" Remus hissed, speaking for the first time.
"I'm sorry Moony, but Harry has made it very clear that he is not willing to work with Dumbledore so I'd rather not have him waste everyone's time."
"Padfoot, you can't honestly be supporting this!" Remus said with disbelief.
"What if we are?" Bellatrix said with a challenging tone, Harry was rather impressed at how she was able to keep calm and controlled in front of her ex-boyfriend. "I'm not happy with Harry going out and fighting death eaters but it's long past time for someone capable to do something about those death eaters."
"But..."
"If you'll excuse us." Bellatrix sniffed as she stood up along with Sirius. "We've wasted enough of our time today. Come on boys. Bye Tonks." She said as she walked out, Sirius followed after her and Harry after him, both said their goodbyes to Tonks before leaving, though Harry made sure to give everyone except Tonks the finger as he walked out. Unfortunately he didn't get to see everyone' reaction as he was already out of the door, he could still hear their complaining.
"Excuse me," A voice called out just as they reached the exit, they turned back to see Dumbledore walking towards them with two letters in his hands. "this is your daughter's Hogwarts's letter for the year. I brought it here so you don't have to be sent it later. " He said as he handed Bellatrix one letter, he then held the other letter up in front of them. "This would be your Hogwarts's letter, I understand that you don't wish to return for your sixth year. But I do believe it would be best if you do, it would..."
"Yeah...no." Harry said as he snatched the letter and proceeded to burn it to piece. "You have my answer," He added after letting the pieces drop to the floor.
"Very well." Dumbledore sighed. "Is there nothing I can do to dissuade you of your desire to hunt death eaters?"
"Nothing that I can think about." Harry shrugged.
"You had once told me that you wanted to merely be a normal wizard, that you didn't want to be a dark lord and..."
"And you didn't listen." Harry cut him off. "If you had then you would've left me alone, I gave both you and Voldemort the opportunity to leave me out of this war. Neither of you took me up on my offer, since neither of you listened I am now in the war."
"I am sorry about that Mr Potter, I truly am but you have previously claimed not to be a dark wizard yet you now intend to go around and slaughtering hundreds."
"Only about two or four hundred." Harry said in a voice that made it clear he wasn't really bothered. "You see, I'm no chess expert but it helps if the opposite side has less pieces."
"Chess?"
"You and Voldemort's little chess game has caused enough problems for everyone, you've played the game by trying to take out each other and the other person's pieces. Do you how I never lose when I play chess?" Dumbledore remained silent but gestured for Harry to continue. "I flip the board."
"Ha, classic Potter." Sirius snorted, fondly remembering Harry's grandfather saying the same thing once. "Come on pup, let's go."
"Okay," Harry nodded, he was about to move but then he suddenly stopped and looked at Dumbledore. "by the way Dumbledore, you had better not mess with Delphi or my friends while I am gone."
"Mr Potter, I have no intention of..."
"I'm sure you don't." Bellatrix cut him off with a glare. "Because we all know how unhealthy it would be for you if you did."
"Yes, it would bring the full might of houses Black and Potter on you plus some very pissed off duellists." Sirius added with his own glare.
"If you mess with Delphi or my friends while I am gone then I will come to Hogwarts and mess with your friends." Harry said.
"Is that a threat?" Dumbledore's voice had suddenly got cold and his eyes lacked the signature twinkle he was known for.
"It's a warning." Harry replied, unintimidated. "You keep my friends and family out of this and I return the favour, but if I even get a hint that you are trying something then I will have to do the same. I know where you all live and I know where you all sleep and I swear to Merlin that your mothers would cry if they would see what I would do. You're already failing at battling Voldemort, let's not add me into the list of people after your head."
"Come on." Bellatrix said as she grabbed Harry and pulled him out the door. "We should go before one of you two start throwing spells."
"I'd totally win." Harry commented once he was outside.
"What are you so scared about?"
"Oh...I don't know...maybe the fact that Potter is going to come after us! The deadline has finished!"
"Relax, we'll be fine. Potter is not a problem, he is..."
"Just the boy who went up against the dark lord in a duel and held his own, none of us are capable of that! He's also an assassin! They kill people! Some of them even do it for fun!"
"We joined the death eaters for fun."
"But we're not trained! Potter has killed more in a single night then we manage to do so in two days. Plus the ones that he killed actually fought back! We've killed some captured people and muggles at best!"
"We've got nothing to worry about, Potter won't kill us. I'd bet my life on that."
"That doesn't make sense, if he kills you then you have no life to bet!"
"He's right, that doesn't make sense." A third voice commented.
The two death eaters turned, just as a pair of glowing green eyes came into view.
The next morning Dumbledore was sat in his office, he was in no mood to eat in the great hall so he finished his breakfast here. He had a splitting headache, it felt like everything was crumbling around him. It all centred on one thing, or one person to be accurate, Harry bloody Potter.
Dumbledore didn't care if the child had a burnt face, it was not something he wished on the boy but it was something he could live with. He didn't mind if Harry was the best in his class, he had actually thought that that was good. The boy being able to stand up to Voldemort was something he didn't mind, he loved it actually. But there was just so many things that he could not like about boy was cruel, sadistic, not to everyone but definitely to those he thought of as enemies. He had no problem with using dark and deadly spells and harming those he felt deserved it.
On one hand he wasn't surprised, the Potters were descended from a warrior family according to ancient history, Potters had been known throughout the years as strong and deadly wizards. In fact James Potter was probably one of the more tamer Potters and he was still absolutely deadly with a wand, it was fortunate that he had discovered pranking, Dumbledore wasn't sure he wanted to imagine what James would do to his enemies if pranking wasn't an option. As for his mother, she was a red head with skill matched by few and a temper matched by fewer, so between the warrior family and the angry redhead he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised.
On the other hand this was not what Dumbledore had wanted in a savior, Harry possessed the skill and power needed but definitely not the attitude. He wasn't merciful, he wasn't interested in saving any apart from a select few. What use was a saviour who was picky about who he would save? If he could describe his relationship with Harry Potter then he would describe it as a wizard with a wand that refused to work for him.
He thought back to his last conversation with Harry, Dumbledore didn't really expect to convince Harry to come back to Hogwarts but it was something he had to try. Harry had also told him to stay away from Delphi, so did Sirius and Bellatrix. He hated to admit it but they were right, if he couldn't get access to Harry then the next best thing would have been his friends. But Harry had accurately predicted that, say what you want about the boy but he was smart.
But now there was a change of plans, Harry threatened to go after the Hogwarts's staff if Dumbledore did do anything. Dumbledore didn't believe that Harry would do anything to Flitwick or Slughorn as he was rather fond of the two teachers, whether he would admit it or not. But the other teachers had no such guarantee, the only other teacher he had a strong relationship with was McGonagall and that was not a happy one. He honestly wasn't sure if Harry would kill her or not.
And now Harry was going to go off and try to kill a whole army or die trying. The deadline was over, Dumbledore knew that. Though a part of him, a part of him still held hope. Hope that Harry would change his mind, perhaps he would simply take them to the ministry instead of killing them. Maybe he'd settle with just injuring them, he could do that, right?
Any hope of that had gone straight out of the window when he had saw the headline for the prophet.
THE HUNT HAS STARTED!
The picture that had come with it was of two death eaters with slit throats, stuck to a chair with the words 'it's began' written above them in blood. He murdered them, he could have taken them to Azkaban but he didn't. He claimed he wasn't a dark wizard, he claimed he wasn't evil but this...this was evil. Dumbledore couldn't let this rest, he had let this go on for too long. Far too long, he would not allow another dark lord to rise.