A/N: Everyone is suggesting *names* in their reviews, and requesting that Harry does not use *AK* on Voldemort; I'd like to point out that there's really no purpose as I've already planned the entire story. These aspects of the story is very important to the plot and when people make *suggestions* as to how I should end the story, it kind of takes some of the fun out of it. *hehe* it also makes me wonder if you guys trust my writing skills.
Feel free to make guesses or fluff requests, but know that the plot is all set in stone.
Chapter 10: The Sphinx Militia
After the three of them finished their breakfast, they gathered their books and left the castle to head down for Hagrid’s hut. It was difficult to be anything but cheerful with Bill and Fleur’s announcement and the glowing sunlight that was pouring over the grounds. In addition, Harry had letters from both Lupin and Katie tucked into his robes; for once he felt peaceful.
They arrived at Hagrid’s hut about twenty minutes before Care of Magical Creatures started, and found him with a group of rather tired looking tiny blue, speckled birds.
“Morning, Hagrid,” Harry said brightly.
“Are these Jobberknolls, Hagrid?” Ron asked with awe.
“Yes, they are, Ron,” Hagrid said proudly. “I’ve bin waitin’ teh do the lesson on Jobberknolls until I hav’ a good lot ready to die…”
“I’ve always wanted to see a Jobberknoll die,” Hermione said excitedly.
“What are you talking about?” Harry asked, just a bit terrified with Hermione’s unusual comment.
“When a Jobberknoll dies, it emits a scream made of every noise it has ever heard regurgitated backwards,” Hermione explained quickly.
“Yeah… I din’t want teh kill one jus’ for class purposes, so I got a load of real old ones…” Hagrid told them. “We’ll be studyin’ them fer a while, and hopefully all the classes will get a chance to see one die…”
“I hope one pops its clogs today,” Ron said.
“Yeah…” Harry said, still just a bit disturbed by the thought of waiting around for birds to die. “So… Hagrid, how are you doing? Sorry we haven’t had a chance to come down and chat…”
“I understand yehs must be very busy,” Hagrid said understandingly.
“Yes,” Hermione said. “But we thought we’d come down early this morning, so we’d have some time before class starts.”
“Well… nothin’ new really…” Hagrid told them. “I saw Olympe a good bit durin’ the summer; got a letter from her yesterday… and Grawpie’s doing just fine.”
“Oh, that’s good to hear,” Hermione said with a forced smile; Ron and Harry tried to keep a straight face.
“He’s almos’ fluent in English,” Hagrid said brightly. “An’ he never hits me anymore…”
Hermione didn’t say anything, but nodded, still wearing her falsely encouraging smile. Harry coughed loudly as Ron snickered.
“And how are the three o’ yeh?” Hagrid asked, sitting down on a tree stump.
“Oh, we’re doing fine,” Harry said honestly. “Classes are a bit tough, though…”
“It’s teh be expected,” Hagrid said. “An’ how are the Head Boy and Girl doin’?”
“It’s wonderful, Hagrid,” Hermione said. “We have so much responsibility “ I think it will be excellent building experience for Ron and me.”
Ron just nodded in agreement to what Hermione said.
“Do you know anything about what’s going on with the Order?” Harry asked suddenly.
“No,” Hagrid said. “I don’ get too involved wi’ everything… I just do wha’ Dumbledore asks o’ me…”
“And what’s that?” Ron asked quickly.
“Giants,” Hagrid said gruffly. “Keepin’ tabs on what’s goin’ on with them…”
“They haven’t gone over to Voldemort’s side, have they?” Hermione asked.
“No… so far they’re stickin’ to doin’ things their own way…” Hagrid told them. “Don’ want to risk their necks if it ain’ worth it…”
“Well, that’s good isn’t it?” Harry asked.
“Fer now… but who knows what You-Know-Who is offerin’ them…” Hagrid said grimly.
“But, it’s been a year since the Death Eaters approached them,” Ron said quietly. “They haven’t given up yet?”
“No reason teh give up, Ron,” Hagrid said. “They’re not losing anythin’ by tryin’…”
“Well, at least we have two giants on our side…” Harry said thoughtfully.
“What do you mean two?” Hermione asked.
“Hagrid and Madame Maxime count as one together, and Grawp is the other one,” he replied cleverly.
“Well, it’s something…” Ron said, grinning.
A few students arrived at Hagrid’s hut and the quickly stopped the conversation. Harry spotted Siobhan trailing behind a group of Slytherins; she looked slightly upset, and Harry almost considered going over to her and asking what was wrong, though he quickly decided against it. He turned back to Hermione and Ron as they settled on a tree stump near the collection of wheezing Jobberknolls.
Suddenly there was a high-pitched sound, causing many students to cover their ears and look around in bewilderment. Harry, Hermione and Ron knowledgably looked up to the Jobberknolls.
“Gnihtemossillwenorehtoehtsipwargdnarehtegoteno…” one of them was squealing.
Hermione clapped her hand to her mouth, wide-eyed with shock.
“It recorded our conversation,” she said.
“Why does it matter “ it’s just saying everything backwards…” Harry said.
“But the other Jobberknolls can hear it; so when they die they scream the backwards version of our conversation backwards, meaning it will be forwards…” Hermione whispered urgently.
Harry quickly put together what she meant, and they both looked at Ron, who was still a bit perplexed, but seemed to get the general idea.
“Well… we can’t have the other students hearing all that…” he said quietly. “We better warn Hagrid…”
They turned to Hagrid, who was grinning widely at all the students.
“Hermione, can yeh put a Sound Reduction Charm on the Jobberknoll fer me, so it can scream in the background while we get started on the lesson?”
“Yes, Hagrid,” she said quickly. She then added to Ron and Harry in a whisper. “I guess it will just have to wait until after class…”
She stood up to place the charm on the screaming Jobberknoll, as Hagrid clapped his hands together and began to talk to the class.
“Let’s just hope another one doesn’t die until after class…” Harry whispered to Ron.
Just as he said this, Hagrid moved his arm to gesture at the Jobberknolls to the class, and in doing so accidentally whacked one to the ground, where it instantly began to scream.
“doyouknowanythingaboutwhatsgoingonwiththeorder “”
Harry and Ron reacted almost instantly, leaping to the front of the class.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KISSED MY GIRLFRIEND?” Ron bellowed.
“I MEAN EXACTLY WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE!” Harry shouted back.
“YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING GIT! AND TO THINK I CALLED YOU MY BEST MATE!”
“Ahem…”
“IT’S YOUR OWN FAULT FOR BEING A GULLIBLE MORON!”
“YOU CONNIVING BAST-”
“AHEM!”
They both stopped and turned to Hermione, who was standing with her hands on her hips. The entire class was staring at the three of them open-mouthed. Harry and Ron listened for a moment, and realized the sound of the second screaming Jobberknoll had stopped. Hermione cast them a significant look, and they nodded to the class with nervous laughter.
“Nothing to worry about, ladies and gentlemen,” Harry said.
“Just rehearsing a play…” Ron told them, and he and Harry sat back down with Hermione.
“I placed a Silencing Charm on it,” Hermione hissed at them.
“Well, it’s still a good thing we provided a distraction,” Ron told her, his ears slightly pink.
“Yes…and such an intelligent one at that,” Hermione replied.
They then turned to Hagrid who was looking at Ron and Harry as he scratched his head, bewildered, before clapping his hands together again and beginning the lesson.
After Care of Magical Creatures, Harry, Ron, and Hermione lingered for a few moments to explain what had happened during class, and to warn him about any future dying Jobberknolls.
“Ah… it should be alrigh’ now,” Hagrid said reassuringly. “Only the firs’ few minutes can really be made out clear-like, after tha’ it all runs tehgether pretty quickly…”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Hermione said.
“So… there isn’ anything goin’ on with the three o’ yeh, then?” Hagrid asked unsurely, taking an extra glance at Harry and Ron. “Nobody’s kissin’ anyone else’s girlfriend?”
“No… we’re fine, Hagrid,” Harry told him. “But we better get to class.”
“See yeh’s then,” Hagrid said, waving clumsily as they took off back towards the castle for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
“So, Harry “ Quidditch tryouts are this Friday,” Ron said as they passed up the marble staircase after coming in through the Entrance Hall. “That’s still all right for you?”
“I have my Career Counseling appointment with McGonagall on Friday,” Harry told him.
“Well, I want to have the tryouts around seven o’clock, so you should be able to make it, shouldn’t you?” Ron asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Harry replied.
“I can’t believe the two of you are talking about Quidditch,” Hermione huffed.
“What would you like us to talk about?” Ron asked. “The most recent edition of Hogwarts A History?”
“Funny, Ron,” she replied dryly. “No “ what about all that stuff Hagrid said about the Giants “ or what Katie mentioned about the Order having a problem… and then there’s how Harry’s going to kill Voldemort…”
“Way to rain on a parade, Hermione,” Harry said as they entered class and took seats near the front.
“Good morning, Professor Alchemina,” Hermione said, ignoring Harry’s last comment.
“Good morning, Hermione,” Alex answered; she nodded at Ron and Harry. “And you boys, also…”
“Morning, Professor,” they both replied.
“Hermione, what do want us to say?” Harry said in a voice only audible to the other two. “’I wonder what this means, and I wonder what that means, and I wonder how to do this?’ Forgive me if right now doesn’t seem the time to discuss it all.”
“Yeah,” Ron agreed. “We’ll figure something out, and then, if you really want, we’ll have a nice long chat about it…”
Hermione just scowled at the two of them. Harry glanced to the back of the room, where he saw Siobhan silently take a seat and lay her head down. Harry felt it was unlike her to be early to two classes in a row, but again pushed her to the back of his mind.
A few minutes later Alex breezed to the front of the classroom after welcoming the last students, Parvati and Lavender, into the class and shutting the door.
“All right, you lot,” she began. “Most have you have gotten Lumos down without holding your wand; today we’ll be working on summoning. I want you to break into teams and get to work straight away.”
She nodded at the students, who automatically followed the instructions. Harry, like on the first day of class, just sat still. Ron and Hermione paired off and began to work on summoning, and Harry sat doodling “K & H” in a heart on a spare bit of parchment, when he was suddenly reminded of what Katie had said in her letter.
“Professor?” he asked. “Can I talk to you… alone?”
“Of course, Harry,” she said quickly, dodging a wand that was zooming somewhere in the direction of Neville. She turned to Ron and Hermione. “I trust I can leave the Head Boy and Girl in charge of the class?”
“Yes, Professor,” Hermione replied.
“All right then, Harry,” Alex said. “Into my office…”
He got up and followed her into her office, and closed the door behind him.
“What do you wish to speak to me about?” Alex asked promptly.
“The Order,” Harry said. “I got a letter from Katie… she said something’s going on, there’s a problem… I want to know if you know anything about it.”
Alex eyed him hesitantly.
“I know exactly what you’re referring to, Harry,” she said. “There is quite an issue going on that the public doesn’t know about yet, and we’re trying to solve the problem. Unfortunately it’s putting quite a strain on our internal situation, as well.”
“Ummm… Alex,” Harry said. “I have no idea what any of that means.”
“You’ve read about the Death Eater murders in the Daily Prophet, I assume?” Alex asked.
“Yeah… a friend told me that the Ministry thinks it’s being done by a rogue group…”
“Your friend’s exactly right,” Alex told him.
“Not Order members…?”
“No. It’s a new group… they call themselves the Sphinx Militia,” Alex said, with obvious distaste.
“The Sphinx Militia?” Harry repeated.
“Apparently because, like sphinxes, they only attack when what they’re guarding is threatened…” Alex explained. “They feel the safety of the wizarding world is threatened, and have decided to take matters into their own hands.”
Harry took a moment to absorb all this new information.
“So it’s them, then?” he asked. “They’re just killing Death Eaters?”
“They’re assassinating Death Eaters,” Alex said. “No evident sign of struggle. We even think they’re using the other Unforgivable Curses as tactics to infiltrate Voldemort’s ranks.”
“But if they’re murdering without being provoked, then they’re just as bad as all of them!”
“Exactly “ but some people don’t see it like that. They think enough innocents have died.”
“People within the Order, too?” Harry asked.
“Yes… we’ve had some… division of opinions,” Alex replied delicately.
“Some people want to leave the Order for the Militia?”
“Yes…”
“Like who?”
“Christopher Bell, for one.”
Harry stopped, his mouth dropping open. It was no wonder Katie had taken so long to reply, and why she was upset with her father’s decision.
“Perhaps we should be returning to the classroom now,” Alex said quietly.
“Yeah…” Harry said numbly.
Alex turned to open the door again, but stopped for a moment.
“Oh… by the way, Harry,” she said with a sad smile. “You’re the only student I’ve ever seen Siobhan Murphy speak a word to… try to keep that in mind.”
“A-all right…” Harry stammered, somewhat startled by being given this piece of information.
He followed Alex out of her office, and was greeted by the chaotic sight of giggling students and whizzing wands. Everyone was clearly having fun. Alex took a seat at her desk, and Harry sat back at his own, immediately writing a new letter to Katie. He finished quickly and glanced around the room; at the back of the room the lone figure of Siobhan caught his eye. He swallowed his pride and approached her.
“How come you don’t have a partner?” he asked.
“I’m kind of a loner…” she said dully.
“You all right today?” he asked.
“I’m fine…” she sighed.
Harry looked into her jade green eyes and saw a flash of the Daily Prophet.
“You’re lying,” he said.
“What makes you so sure?”
“Let’s just say I can tell when people are lying to me.”
He paused for a moment.
“You’re related to Shannon Murphy, aren’t you?” he said with trepidation. “The Death Eater who was murdered.”
“She was my mother,” Siobhan told him.
“Oh…” Harry said; he had not been expecting that response.
“I suppose you think she deserved it?” Siobhan said bitterly.
“I didn’t say “ ”
“I just want to be alone, Potter,” she said.
“Fine,” he spat back. And with that he left her alone and returned to his own desk, only feeling a twinge of guilt when he saw a silent tear roll down her face as he walked away.