Echo | Harry Potter - George Weasley

Chapter 63: Some Sort of Wizard Army

"That foul, evil old gargoyle!" Hermione seethed as she paced back a forth in front of the fireplace in the common room. "We're not learning how to defend ourselves. We're not learning how to pass our OWLs. She's taking over the entire school."

When Hermione finished ranting, everyone turned to the old radio sitting on the table that Harry was sitting at. From the device, Cornelius Fudge's voice could be heard.

" . . . and security has been and will remain the Ministry's top priority." Harry reached over to turn up the volume. "Furthermore, we have convincing evidence that these disappearances are the work of notorious mass murderer Sirius Black. Make no mistake-"

"Harry!" a familiar voice called throughout the room. The group of four looked around, but there was no one else in the common room with them.

Harry then spotted the face of his godfather in the embers of the fireplace, like the previous year, and rushed over. "Sirius!" He knelt down in front of the fireplace. "What are you doing here?"

"Answering your letter," Sirius said. "You said you were worried about Umbridge. What's she doing? Training you to kill half-breeds?"

Before long, Shaye, Ron and Hermione had gathered around Harry. While Shaye had seen this before, Ron and Hermione were a little taken aback by the face in the flames.

"Sirius, she's not letting us use magic at all," Harry told him.

"Well, I'm not surprised. The latest intelligence is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat."

"Combat?" Ron questioned. "What does he think, we're forming some sort of wizard army?"

"That's exactly what he thinks," Sirius said. "That Dumbledore is assembling his own forces to take on the Ministry. He's becoming more paranoid by the minute. The others wouldn't want me telling you this, but things aren't going at all well with the Order. Fudge is blocking the truth at every turn, and these disappearances are just how it started before. Voldemort is on the move."

Shaye took a moment to process everything. "Well, what can we do?" she asked.

Just then, there was a sound from upstairs.

"Someone's coming." Sirius had heard the sound as well. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but for now at least, it looks like you're on your own."

With that, Sirius' face disappeared from the fire and the flames died out. The common room's warm glow vanished.

Together, the group of four moved over to the window, which was being pelted by the pouring rain outside. Beyond the window, thunder was rumbling in the sky and lightning was illuminating the night.

Shaye couldn't tell if it was a bad omen or a plain and simple storm.

"He really is out there, isn't he?" Hermione stared into the vast darkness of the night sky. "We've got to be able to defend ourselves," she said before anyone had the chance to answer her previous question. "And if Umbridge refuses to teach us how, we need someone who will."

With another flash of lightning, Hermione turned to look directly at Harry. Hermione didn't specifically voice what it was she was thinking, exactly, but her insinuation was clear as day.

Harry was silent. At first, he didn't say yes . . . but he also didn't say no.

It took some convincing; about a month of it, to be specific. But eventually, Harry had agreed. He, just like everyone else, knew that something needed to be done. And just like usual, he was the one who was going to step up and do it.