Hp: Hermione and Darkness

"Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again," said Sirius. "In the old days, he had huge numbers at his command: witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, and a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one of the groups he's after. He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."

Hermione had to admit it made sense for He Who Must Not Be Named to lay low for now.

"So you're trying to stop him getting more followers?"

"We're doing our best," said Lupin.

"How?"

"Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You Know Who really has returned, to put them on their guard," said Bill. "It's proving tricky, though."

"Why?"

"Because of the Ministry's attitude," said Tonks. "You saw Cornelius Fudge after You Know Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn't shifted his position at all. He's absolutely refusing to believe it's happened."

"But why?" said Harry desperately. "Why's he being so stupid? If Dumbledore-"

"Ah, well, you've put your finger on the problem," said Mr Weasley with a wry smile. "Dumbledore."

"Fudge is frightened of him, you see," said Tonks sadly.

"Frightened of Dumbledore?" said Harry incredulously.

"Frightened of what he's up to," said Mr Weasley. "Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister for Magic."

"But Dumbledore doesn't want-"

"Of course he doesn't," said Mr Weasley. "He's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job."

"Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry, he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice," said Lupin. "But it seems he's become fond of power and much more confident. He loves being Minister for Magic, and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it."

"How can he think that?" said Harry angrily. "How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up – that I'd make it all up?"

"Because accepting that Voldemort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't had to cope with for nearly fourteen years," said Sirius bitterly. "Fudge just can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore's lying to destabilise him."

"You see the problem," said Lupin. "While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort, it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumour-mongering, so most of the wizarding community are completely unaware anything's happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse."

"But you're telling people, aren't you?" said Harry, looking around at Mr Weasley, Sirius, Bill, Mundungus, Lupin, and Tonks. "You're letting people know he's back?"

They all smiled humourlessly.

"Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass-murderer and the Ministry's put a ten thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?" said Sirius restlessly, his fingers drumming on the table.

"And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community," said Lupin with a wry smile. "It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."

"Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off," Sirius continued, "and it's very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry because you can bet Voldemort will have them."

"We've managed to convince a couple of people, though," said Mr Weasley. "Tonks here, for one – she's too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage – Kingsley Shacklebolt's been a real asset, too; he's in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he's been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in Tibet."

Harry frowned, his frustration mounting. "But if none of you are putting the news out that Voldemort's back-"

"Who said none of us are putting the news out?" interrupted Sirius. "Why d'you think Dumbledore's in such trouble?"

"What d'you mean?" Harry asked, his curiosity piqued.

"They're trying to discredit him," said Lupin. "Didn't you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip, but it's not true; he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemort's return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot – that's the Wizard High Court – and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too."

Hermione bit her lip, knowing Harry probably hadn't read that far into the Prophet.

"But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog Cards," said Bill, grinning to lighten the mood.

"It's no laughing matter," said Mr Weasley sharply, his voice cutting through the brief mirth. "If he carries on defying the Ministry like this, he could end up in Azkaban, and the last thing we want is to have Dumbledore locked up. While You Know Who knows Dumbledore's out there and wise to what he's up to, he's going to go cautiously. If Dumbledore's out of the way – well, You Know Who will have a clear field."

"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?" asked Harry desperately.

"Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry," said Sirius. Hermione felt relieved that Sirius was pointing out the flaws in Harry's thinking. "He tricks, jinxes and blackmails them. He's well-practised at operating in secret. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in. He's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on those for the moment."

"What's he after apart from followers?" Harry pressed, his voice taut with urgency.

Sirius and Lupin exchanged a significant look before Sirius replied, "Stuff he can only get by stealth. Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."

"When he was powerful before?" Harry asked, eyes widening.

"Yes."

"Like what kind of weapon?" said Harry. "Something worse than the Avada Kedavra-?"

"That's enough!" Mrs Weasley's voice cut through the tension like a knife. She stood at the door, her arms crossed, looking livid. Hermione hadn't even noticed her return from taking Ginny upstairs.

"I want you in bed, now. All of you," she added, her gaze sweeping over the room.

"You can't boss us-" Fred began, but Mrs Weasley cut him off.

"Watch me," she snarled, her eyes locking with Sirius's. She was trembling slightly. "You've given Harry plenty of information. Any more, and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway."

"Why not?" said Harry quickly. "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight."

"No." It was Professor Lupin who spoke this time, his voice firm.

"The Order is comprised only of overage wizards," he said. "Wizards who have left school," he added as Fred and George opened their mouths. "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you ... I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough."

Sirius half-shrugged but did not argue. Mrs Weasley beckoned imperiously to her sons, Hermione, and Harry. One by one, they stood up and made the long trek upstairs to their bedrooms.

....

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