Dark Repercussions

Chapter 03

The day before school dragged by far too slowly for Harry. When it was finally time for the order meeting, Harry was physically biting his tongue to stop himself from snapping or making comments. On the way to the kitchen, he checked that he had his invisibility cloak on him while trying to ignore Ron unsuccessfully.

"It's about time they let us in these meetings, don't you think, mate?" The redhead said with enthusiasm, Harry nodded and internally groaned when Ron opened his mouth to speak again; luckily, Remus spotted him and ushered him over. Nodding to the twins as he passed, Harry thanked Merlin for small miracles as Ron and Hermione were forced to go to the other side of the room. Harry was tucked into the tiny gap between Remus and the wall, and for once he was pleased he had to wear a glamour.

"Thank Merlin you're here. I thought I was going to hurt someone." Harry breathed a sigh of relief; Remus raised an amused eyebrow; and Harry shook his head.

"We need to talk after this, and it's important." Harry continued in a voice low enough that only Remus werewolf hearing would catch it and was pleased to see Remus nod discreetly. Dumbledore stood up when everyone had entered.

"Welcome everyone," He greeted Harry in his parody of a grandfather image, and it made Harry sick to think he fell for that once, that he believed the old man actually cared for him. Now that he knew it was hard to see how he fell for it in the first place, Harry could see it in his eyes—the smug glee when people looked up to him mixed with the feelings of control and the pleased glow that lit up the too bright blue eyes whenever the aged headmaster would turn his gaze upon Harry; he hated him.

"First off, Tom has been quiet; there has been a decrease in death eater attacks, and it seems after the incident at the ministry, he is laying low." Harry's fist clenched at the mention of the ministry; how dare that bastard bring that up? How dare he stand in Sirius' house and pretend he cared for the man he had set up to be murdered? Harry wanted to hurt him; he wanted to rage and storm and rip them all apart, but he knew he couldn't. He had to calm down, and with difficulty, he focused back on Dumbledore's words.

"The main problem is the assassin Sang Lys, who has been taking out some major names, including Thickness, Runcorn, and Umbridge. "He is coming to be known throughout the country for his brutal torture ways; the assassin is especially fond of sexual tortures." There were multiple gasps throughout the room, and Harry bit back a smirk with difficulty; Dumbledore was displaying him in such a nice light that it was almost making him blush. The group began to mutter about the assassin, and Harry could practically feel their fear—how they thought they could stand against the Dark if they couldn't even talk about them without being terrified. If Harry didn't know, it would be their undoing eventually. Dumbledore let them speak for a while, observing them all from the head of the table, somewhere he didn't belong, and when he had seen enough, he brought the attention back by turning to Remus.

"Remus, how is it coming with the werewolves?" Dumbledore asked kindly. Harry caught the look of disgust carefully hidden, and by the equal amount of disgust in Remus' brown eyes, so did he.

"It's not Albus," He said with a tired sigh; he looked down as if he were ashamed, but Harry didn't buy it for a second and looked at his pseudo-uncle in curiosity as he continued to speak. "I've tried everything in my power, and none of them seem to be coming around." "Voldemort (shuffled went around the room) is offering them more than we can ever offer, and with Greyback running around as an Alpha, it's becoming impossible for me to set foot in some werewolf territories." That was a complete lie, Harry surmised; there was something about how it was said and how Remus stood that gave him away to Harry. It seemed the werewolf wasn't in Dumbledore's pocket as much as Harry thought; he had hoped that he wouldn't be, but Remus had always seemed too thankful to the old man for allowing him to go to school. It was how Dumbledore manipulated the marauder; playing on weaknesses was how Dumbledore worked best, and Harry had every intention of doing the exact same thing when the time came.