A/N: hello everyone, sorry I haven't published any chapters in a while. I had exams so I haven't had any time to myself recently. But the last exam was today so it's update time. I will update three new chapters today. be on the lookout for them. (3/3)
Chapter 6: New Members
Tonks and Lupin returned shortly before dinner. Remus looked upset about something; Harry made a mental note to ask him about it later. They all sat down to a meal Mrs. Weasley had made. She had absolutely refused to let Winky do all the cooking after helping Bill all afternoon. Bill had enjoyed inventorying Harry's vault. He told him the goblins at Gringotts never let him do that kind of job alone because they are all so suspicious of wizards.
"I really appreciate your help Bill; it's nice to know what's in there." Harry told him. He loved how the Weasley's were always willing to help out. "I can't believe how much all of that is worth!"
"Yeah, I don't think even your great-grandchildren will have to work Harry, and that's if you have a Weasley size family!" Bill told him. "And you still have your vault at Gringotts along with Sirius'. Harry shook his head; he had never imagined so much money.
"Ok, that settles it." Harry said standing up as dinner ended and holding up his glass. "I would like to propose a toast." He told them as they all picked up their glasses. "You all have been the only family I have ever known, I love each one of you as if we were actually related. I just wanted to thank you for being there for me. To show my thanks, I would like to split my Gringotts vault between each of you." He said smiling at the shocked look on their faces.
"That's your money Harry dear; we wouldn't feel right taking it." Mrs. Weasley said blushing. Harry wasn't going to take no for an answer, he knew how much it would mean to the Weasley family.
"Let me do this for you, Mrs. Weasley, you have been so good to me, treating me like one of your family." Harry told her.
"You are one of our family now Harry, and Hermione too." Mrs. Weasley said getting up to hug Harry, "But I won't take your money."
"Yeah, you already gave us your tri-wizard winnings to start our shop, we don't need anything else." The twins added.
"We appreciate your generosity Harry, but we love you and don't want to take your money." Mr. Weasley told him.
"Ok, but you all better give me a long list of things you want for Christmas!" Harry told them laughing. "And don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."
Lupin got up and walked over to Harry, Tonks followed. "There's something I want to talk to you about before the Order meeting Harry." He said leading him upstairs into the drawing-room. "Tonks and I found a way to extend the protection your aunt provides."
"It would mean you would never need to go back to the Dursleys and you could move around freely without fearing for your safety." Tonks added smiling. Harry couldn't believe it, it sounded too good to be true.
"There's a catch though Harry," Lupin told him. "The only way is to transfer your mother's protection to another living person. You would be safe whenever you were near that person or in their house."
"But to get the full effect of the protection, so that you could go outside and still be protected, you would have to be adopted by the person." Tonks said. Lupin was grateful that she was here to ease the blow.
"I could be free from the Dursleys forever?" Harry asked still unsure. Lupin nodded his head in response. "It sounds great, but I don't want the Weasley's to do it. I love them and all, but..." Harry said looking at Remus.
"I just remembered that I have paperwork to do before the meeting!" Tonks said jumping up and leaving the two to talk.
"Remus, Iâ Do?" Harry said looking down. How did you ask someone to adopt you without sounding like a fool?
"Harry, I wasn't thinking about the Weasleys. I thought you would want someone separate, so you could have your own family." Remus said stalling. He loved Harry like his son; he knew Lily and James would want him to take care of him. But he was afraid Harry wouldn't want a werewolf in his family.
"You see the reason I was so excited when I found out that Sirius was my godfather was because I've needed someone to look up to. I need someone to fill in and be the father figure I've always needed." Harry said looking pleadingly at Remus.
"Harry, I know we haven't been as close as we could have been. But I would love to have you in my family. I don't want to pressure you, but I already think of you as my family." Remus told him, hoping it wouldn't ruin their relationship if Harry said no.
"Are you serious?" Harry said jumping up, "I wanted to ask you!" He laughed at how silly they were both acting. They had been trying to ask each other the same thing. He surprised Remus by catching him in a hug.
"Are you sure? You can't change your mind once we transfer the protection." Remus told him, happy that Harry seemed to want it as much as he did.
"Of course I'm sure. I know my parents would be happy that we are going to take care of each other." Harry said as Remus put his arm around him and steered him toward the door.
"We better go tell Tonks before she knocks something over trying to listen in on our conversation." Lupin laughed, just then they heard a thud and an "ow" from the hallway. "That's what you get for being nosey." He told her as he helped her up.
"Oh, this is great! I'm so happy for you two. We should go tell Albus, I think he just arrived!" Tonks said grinning like a Cheshire cat. They all went to the kitchen to find Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore in an intense conversation.
"They are too young Albus, all of them, even Harry!" She told him.
"Molly, you know we are going to have a hard time keeping things from them with Harry in the Order. We'd be better off letting them join than risking their conversations being overheard when Harry tells them everything he hears." He told her calmly, his eyes sparkling.
"But what if something happens to them? How am I supposed to sleep at night knowing my entire family is in the Order?" She asked him, they had found out last year that her greatest fear was losing her family.
"We will not be sending the young ones out on missions, merely telling them of our plans and asking for their opinions. Besides, they will be invaluable to our cause by bringing other students to us." He told her.
"I can't believe that Hermione's parents agreed with this!" Molly said shaking her head. She knew she had lost the battle. "You knowâ Iâ Fine, but they had better be kept safe!"
"Now that's settled," the Headmaster said standing, winking at Harry. "We have an Order meeting to get to. Would you like to call your family down Molly?" Harry couldn't believe that Dumbledore had talked Molly Weasley into letting her youngest children join the Order. That man could do anything he set his mind to! "Remus, Harry, I need to speak with you after the meeting." Remus nodded in response, Harry just smiled.
"Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley yelled upstairs. "Come down stairs please." They all climbed down the stairs. Harry winked at Ginny, he knew she had been listening on an extendable ear, he had seen it when he walked into the room.
"What is it, mum?" Ron asked, "I was just about to beat Hermione at wizard's' chess again." Ron was the best chess player out of all of them. Harry had never beaten Ron, and he didn't think Hermione had either.
"Well, the meeting is about to start so I thought you had better get down here." She told them smiling. She knew her children would be excited they got to join. "I thought you'd all like to see Harry get initiated as a member." She said winking at Harry.
Harry finally realized where Fred and George got their prank-full nature from. Mrs. Weasley wasn't going to tell her children until the meeting started; now that was a good one! "Everyone into the Kitchen," Mr. Weasley said as the other members started apparating, flooing, or coming in the door. Harry thought it was remarkable how punctual they all were as he headed to the kitchen for the start of the meeting.
"Thank you all for coming. As you can see, we have quite a few additional faces here tonight. The first order of business is the change in ownership of this wonderful house we use as our headquarters. Sirius Black was the godfather of Harry Potter and has left him the estate. Harry has agreed to allow us to use the house for the Order. As the owner of our base of operations, it is only fitting that he be admitted into the Order." Dumbledore spoke as many people turned surprised heads towards Harry. "Harry and his friends will play a pivotal role in the upcoming war and we must prepare them the best we can. Therefore we shall be assigning them the task of recruiting other students to our cause." He said smiling at Dumbledore. "So let us initiate our new members."
Harry smiled at the look of comprehension on his friend's faces. Hermione looked like she was about to pop she was so excited, Ron's mouth hung open in shock and Ginny winked back at Harry, confirming his suspicion she had extendable ears. Fred and George gave each other high fives. They all took an oath to protect the muggle and magical community from evil forces to the best of their ability. To search out, capture and hinder all death eaters and followers of Voldemort. To maintain secrecy for all matters discussed within the Order. When they were official members they all shook hands with the other members.
As Harry shook Snape's hand he whispered, "This doesn't mean you're special Potter." Harry smiled as he imagined tossing Snape out of his house on his ear. "Just because you and your little friends are in the Order, don't expect me to treat you any differently when classes start."
"Of course Sir, but as you expect me to treat you with respect while I'm at school, I expect you to treat me with respect while you are in my home." Harry said still smiling, he loved getting under Snape's skin, and he wasn't at school so he couldn't take house points or get a detention.
Snape narrowed his eyes as he let go of his hand and stiffened up. It seemed the entire room was watching them shake hands. "Welcome to the Order, Harry." He said fighting to get out Harry's name.
"It will be a privilege serving with you Severus." Harry said with a huge smile on his face as he walked away from the fuming Professor Snape. Harry didn't have to call him sir or professor when they were not in school and Snape knew it.
"Let's get back to business shall we." Dumbledore said with a slight smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye. Ron tried to hold in his laughter at the exchange between Harry and Snape. The meeting went on for another hour before it adjourned. "Harry, Remus a few moments if you please."
They all sat at the table once everyone else had left the room, some could still be heard milling about the living room commenting on the cleanliness and the removal of Mrs. Black's portrait. "We will want to transfer your mother's protection from your aunt to Remus as soon as possible Harry. I believe Tonks is already working on drawing up the necessary paperwork for the adoption." Dumbledore told him, clearly this man knew everything. "The real reason I wanted to speak with the two of you is about your emerging powers Harry."
"Emerging powers?" Harry questioned, he didn't understand what Dumbledore was talking about.
"You have power in your voice, Harry. When you tap into your power you can make things happen. You used it yesterday to command Mrs. Black off the wall and to open the vault door." Dumbledore told him smiling. "It is a very rare gift."
"I still don't understand Professor." Harry said he had felt something when he opened the door and had been shocked when Mrs. Black's portrait listened to him.
"Your voice has the power of authority. When you speak, objects and spells listen to you. It works on people as well. You cannot control their actions or thoughts, but when you tell them something they listen. You have the authority in your voice to make them think about an idea they had never considered or to answer a question they would not normally. If I'm correct you first used this power on your aunt the morning when she saw the thestral. You asked her who she had seen die, a very personal question that she would not have normally answered." He told him.
"So that's why she was so forthcoming with answers?" Harry asked, somewhat scared of his powers. "But affecting people's free will, that sounds like a bad thing."
"You cannot effect their choices Harry," Lupin broke in, "It's more like you make them feel the need to respect you, like when a teacher asks a question or asks something of you in class you answer since the teacher is in a position of authority." Remus said trying to put it in terms Harry would understand.
"I couldn't have put it better myself." Dumbledore said, "But we need to be careful of who knows about your power Harry. We do not want Voldemort or his supporters to hear of this power. Keeping it secret will help you fight him."
"Yes sir, now that I am aware of it, I will learn to control it." Harry told him, he wanted to control his powers; he didn't want his friends to feel uncomfortable around him.
"You should tell your friends about the prophecy." Dumbledore told him, "The Order is aware of it and it may be mentioned during meetings, I know they would appreciate hearing it from you first."
"I knew I needed to tell them, I just didn't want to scare them." Harry said, "But I will tell them tomorrow, I think we are celebration joining the Order this evening!"
"We will go to your aunt's house tomorrow morning to transfer the protection. It will be draining on your powers so try and sleep tonight." Remus said as they all stood up.
"Oh, Professor, I almost forgot. I have a gift for you." Harry said excitedly, "I found this in the vault and want you to take it to Hogwarts." He opened the vault and pulled out the portrait.
Dumbledore's eyes widened as he looked at the four founders. They all waved before going back to 'sleep.' "Well, they will definitely fit in well in your office, they can already fake sleep just like all the previous Headmaster's portraits!" Harry laughed as Salazar Slytherin opened his eyes to glare at him. "Don't mind Slytherin, he's just upset that I killed his basilisk."
Both Dumbledore and Godric Gryffindor laughed at that. "Thank you, Harry, this is a priceless treasure. It will hang in Hogwarts where it belongs." It had been a long time since one of his students had surprised him, but Harry Potter was definitely not one of his average students.
"I'm sure Fawkes will agree that it belongs in your office." Harry said pointedly. Dumbledore's eyes sparkled more than normal as he realized Harry knew who Fawkes was.
"Yes, I'm sure Folks will appreciate the painting." He said as he prepared to floo to his office. "Don't forget what Professor Snape taught you about occlumency, you will have to continue your lessons this year." He told Harry as he disappeared in green flames.
"And I thought this was going to be a good school year." Harry groaned to Remus. "Do you think we can get me a pensive?" He asked his guardian.
"I think Bill came across one in the vault," Remus told him. "Why, is there something you don't want Snape to see?"
"There are plenty of things I don't want him to see. I know he is on our side and Dumbledore trusts him, but he's still an awful git in my book." Harry told him as they headed upstairs. "I'm going to go party with Ron and Hermione."
"I'll see you in the morning; just remember to sleep so you are strong enough when we go to your aunt's." He said giving Harry a fatherly hug before heading off to his room.
"Harry!" George said slapping him on the back, "How did you do it? How did you get mum to let us join?"
"It was actually Professor Dumbledore; he can talk anyone into anything." Harry told them, "He knew I was just going to tell you everything so he thought it would be safer to just let you all join too."
"I love that man!" Fred said raising his bottle of butterbeer and shoving one into Harry's hand, "To Dumbledore!" He said in a toast.
"To Dumbledore!" They all chorused.
"So did you hear any other good gossip?" Harry asked Ginny sitting next to her on his bed.
"Yeah," She said lowering her voice "is it true that Lupin is going to adopt a son?" She didn't want to speak too loud in case she had heard wrong. "I wonder why and who it is." Harry winked at her and stood up.
"I have an announcement," he said getting their attention. "Remus found a way to extend my mother's protection to him. He is going to adopt me as his son and I will be protected wherever I go, not just when I am with him." They spent the rest of the night discussing all the changes going on in Harry's life and what they expected the Order would have them do.