‘What was the password again?’
‘Phoenix.’
Neville nodded, and tapped the wireless in front of him with his wand as he muttered. Six of his friends were crowded around the small radio: he, Neville; Ginny, Padma, Terry, Ernie and Hannah. Two from each house, they had decided. They could then spread the news in their respective houses later. Luna should have been there, but was busy causing a distraction elsewhere. She hadn’t gone into details, but knowing her, it would be something good. Neville was nervous for his friend, but knew Luna would most likely pull of whatever stunt she was planning to; that girl was bloody brilliant.
They all wore impatient expressions. On their exposed body parts scars were visible, and their faces looked exhausted and gaunt, although they showed anxiety and anticipation. It was finally time for the second Potterwatch, and everyone waited to hear what was going on outside the now dark walls of Hogwarts. It was very hard to come by valid news, with their post being read, the castle walls along with the secret passageways bolted and cursed shut, the Flu Connection watched, and the papers working with Voldemort.
‘Here we are again,’ they suddenly heard Lee Jordan say. Some of the teenagers jumped, having been surprised by the sudden loud voice. Quickly Hannah leaned over, brushing Neville’s arm, to turn the stereo’s volume down. It was now so low they had to concentrate hard to hear what was being said. None of them wanted to get caught. Everyone agreed: they had enough trouble “and injuries- as it was.
Welcome to the second Potterwatch broadcast. As promised, we have some new contributors and new subjects. May I introduce Romulus and Muggle?’
‘Hi River, and hi there, Potterwatch listeners,’ a different voice issued from the speakers. It was soft, yet had a hard edge to it. Neville raised his eyebrows. ‘That’s Professor Lupin!’
Before anyone could comment on this, the radio gave a crackling sound from it and continued in the voice of yet another new broadcaster. ‘Hello there, I’m Muggle.’ Ginny’s jaw dropped. It was her dad. Her father spoke, miles away, but it sounded as if he were sitting right next to her, talking to her; talking to his daughter. A wave of homesickness washed over her. It was odd, Ginny had never been an overly sentimental girl when it came to the bits and ends of going to a boarding school, but in recent times she often wished she were ten again, too young to leave home, safely helping her mum around the house.
Lee was speaking again. ‘Sadly, Royal cannot participate in this newscast, as he is occupied elsewhere. To get to the bad news: Muggle killings are become not only common, but a near daily matter. We get more news of disappearances and deaths than we can keep up with, and not only Muggles have felt The Chief Death Eaters wrath, as you well know. Jim Croaker, an Unspeakable of the Ministry’s Department of Mysteries, was found dead in his office a couple of days ago. It looks as if he put up a good fight. Blood splattered everywhere, the poor bloke. Also, Stamford Jorkins has disappeared without any clues of what might have happened to him, although he was known to have been in an argument with a Death Eater, Yaxley, in a pub the other day.’
The nervous group around the wireless kept quiet during this attribution. They were all wondering what other bad news Lee would bring them.
‘Let us now please take a moment to pay our respects to these good people.’
The group by the fireside, along with the broadcasters and everyone else listening, kept a quiet vigil.
'I now pass the microphone to Muggle, who will report of the ‘On-goings in the Ministry’”
There was a short pause while one could hear some rustling from the other end of the receiver. Unconsciously, the youths moved into a tighter circle.
‘Yes, yes. The Ministry has now completely turned over to the dark side. As was already mentioned, murders even inside the building have taken place. All of the Death Eaters have high positions and they have replaced the Statue of Secrecy with a disgusting new figure representing their beliefs. It's horrible. The engraving says “Magic is Might”. It shows Muggle bodies holding up a Witch and Wizard.’ The disgust in Mr Weasley’s voice was easy to hear. Ginny wondered what her dad was thinking at that exact moment. Did he know she was listening?
‘That’s awful! How could anyone-?’ Hannah’s angry muttering was cut off by some shushing noises. Neville nervously looked around, but no one but they were in the area. Ernie, looking as sickened as Hannah, heatedly whispered ‘Listen! Do you want to miss something? Or be heard? We can talk after.’ They all quickly turned back to the wireless, where the newscast was continuing.
‘- security precautions have been raised several notches. All under the pretense of keeping the Death Eaters from entering, although I believe even the densest workers have figured out what has happened by now. New posts have formed. They are all assisting the Big Bully's rise to power. For instance, the ‘Muggle-born Registration Commission’ functions as an office lead by none other than Dolores Umbridge. Its purpose is to catch Muggle-borns and have a completely unfair trial on them, leaving the accused no chance to defend themselves. Anyway, the Muggle-borns are then sent to Azkaban. It has yet to happen that a muggle-born has been sent free. Dirk Cresswell, however, was luckily enough to escape on the trip to prison and is now, I believe, on the run. On the whole, the Ministry is forcing a whole lot of Muggle-borns into hiding.
‘Even after all the new security, a group of three still managed to break into the Ministry. A week ago, they disguised themselves as these ministry officials: Mafalda Hopkirk, Reg Cattermole and Albert Runcorn. Later, evidence was found that they were attacked and involuntarily offered up a few of their hairs to accommodate the polyjuice potion the imposters used. They would have, most likely, gone unnoticed, had they not stolen Delores Umbridge’s spying tool, the remains of Mad-Eye Moody. Then they led out all of the Muggle-borns on hearing that day. They escaped, but just barely. Yaxley, a Death Eater working in the Ministry, followed them into the Flu Network, although he returned empty handed and very angry.’
Ginny saw her friend's eyes grow larger as her father spoke, and knew she was doing the same. Breaking into the Ministry, practically the Death Eater's head quarters! If someone can manage that then surely they had a chance in winning this damn war. And…
‘Any clue who they might have been, Muggle?’ That was Lee again, voicing her question.
‘I have my suspicions.’ Mr Weasley sounded very vague.
Lee prompted him ruthlessly, which the youths appreciated. ‘And?’
‘Well, there were three people.’ Mr Weasley said, 'And they must have known and respected - which isn't hard - Mad-Eye, or they would not have taken his eye. And of course they are fighting against the Chief Death Eater, and don’t approve of the Anti-Muggle-born establishment as they freed the Muggle-borns who were held confined in the cellars. And as they had to fight Dementors, they could conjure Patrony. As they stepped into the Atrium, before they went out, I think I saw a big creature with horns, although I couldn’t get a good look at it.’ There was a short pause, in which Ginny's heart was beating with frightening ferocity. ‘My guess is that we saw the trio of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.’ Her father’s voice cracked a little saying his son’s name. He coughed.
There was a stunned silence on both ends of the line.
‘You mean to say that you suspect Harry Potter, along with his closest friends and helpers broke into the Ministry of Magic? Did you hear that, listeners? Makes sense, but why in the world would Harry Potter break into the Ministry in these dangerous times? A question to ponder on a rainy day, I think.' Lee sounded as astonished as Neville and his companions felt. He yipped with joy, although thoughtful of keeping his voice down he exclaimed, ‘I knew it! I told you he wasn’t just on the run, didn’t I tell you, Hannah! This is brilliant! They broke into the Ministry! Managed it even after all the new security precautions. Iknow Harry can do it. I just know it!' Neville hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. All of their hard work and resistance wasn’t going to be wasted. They would put a stop to Voldemort.
Neville was getting into the habit of giving long, inspiring speeches “ everyone would have laughed at the idea a year ago. How war changes people.
‘So if Muggle’s assumptions are right, the trio is defiantly up to something. Do you have any speculations to share on this matter?’
‘Sorry folks, but I don’t have a clue what they could be doing. Something beneficial for us, I’m sure.’ Ginny frowned. Of course her father didn’t know what exactly Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing, but he did know that Dumbledore had given them a job.
‘Muggle’ was talking again. ‘Shall I hand the microphone to Romulus now?’
'Yes, that's fine. Listeners, Romulus will be the newscaster for “Pals of Potter.” Here he is.’
‘Hello. “Pals of Potter,” …. Actually, I don’t have much to add to this subject as we just heard what Harry’s most recent actions were. A lot of our subjects overlap, obviously. Although I will say, managing to break into the Ministry is quite a feat. Until we have more info, let’s move on. As some people lose hope in “The Chosen One,” others uphold their faith in him. Several of his deepest supporters are doing quite a feat of hindering the Death Eaters and their Master. Only last week, an insider tells Potterwatch, Dobby the House elf was sacked from his job at Hogwarts by the current headmaster. Dobby has been a friend of Harry’s ever since the latter freed him from malicious masters.’
‘Apparently Dobby had tried to get his fellow house elves to support Harry Potter and revolt against their new master. The mission was bound to fail before he even started, I think. He wanted to decorate the kitchen with posters that read ‘Potter is not a Rotter’ Lupin carried on.
‘Boy, I bet they loved that. I would have wanted some for Gryffindor Tower, if I were still attending school.’
Neville grinned, looking up into one of Dobby’s banner. It was suspended above the fireplace, visible only to DA members. It was designed to look like one of the Ministry flyers the Carrows made them hang up, but to the group assembles Dobby’s bold words looked down at them.
‘Where’s Dobby now, can I order the posters from him?’ Lee wanted to know. Then his voice turned concerned. ‘What happened to him, Romulus? He is alright?’
‘Oh yes, he’s fine. Rebelling students helped save him from the Carrows, and Dobby is presently under the care of a acquaintance of mine and is quite well. I will ask him about the posters, if you like. I’m sure he will be pleased.’
‘Yes, thank you. Any word on his savior’s condition after the incident?’
Ernie puffed out his chest and pointed, grinning. He still bore the marks of his punishment, but he did not regret the deed. Neville high fived him.
‘I can only say that I wish them well and I hope they’re doing all right.’
‘In the next newscast the life in Hogwarts will be a focus of attention. Now back to “Pals of Potter”.’ Lee said. Ginny looked up and met Neville’s eyes. Had he successfully sent Lee a message, then?
‘As I was saying, Harry’s entourages are giving the Death Eaters a hard time. We agree with them deeply, and support their actions but advise them to be careful.’ Lupin’s voice was grave.
‘Romulus, once again you speak nothing but the truth. We have now made it to the end of another Potterwatch newscast. I hope you will tune in again soon; the next password is ‘Rebellion’. Good night, listeners!’
‘Good night and keep twiddling those dials!’ added Mr. Weasley.
The connection broke and after a faint crackling sound emanated from the wireless, there was a heavy silence in the room.
‘Can we discuss the news tomorrow? I’m asleep on my feet, and we still need to make it back to Hufflepuff tower without the Carrows catching us. And I’ll send a message as soon as Luna’s back,’ Hannah finally said and covered a yawn with her hand. They nodded their agreement and bade each other good night, a safe journey, and a promise to speak tomorrow. The members of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw snuck out of the common room.
Ginny, who doubted she would be able to fall asleep anytime soon, went over to the comfortable armchairs next to the dying fire with Neville. They sat together in silence, accompanied by their dark thoughts and angst, and with renewed inspiration and determination to set things right. Neville and Ginny didn’t need to say what they were thinking at that moment, they understood. And most importantly, they just needed each other. They had become even closer friends in the past few weeks, and everyone needed friendships like their in times like those.
Potterwatch by LuNaLoVeGoOdLoVer
Chapter Notes: Ridiculous long wait, I know. But I've done some spring cleaning and the next chapter should be posted pretty soon. :)
Chapter Endnotes: Reviews make my day :D