Harry Potter and the Forbidden Passage

Chapter 7: Back to the Ministry

"Harry! Harry, wake up!" a voice called out from somewhere in Harry's dream. The image of Voldemort laughing maniacally faded slowly from Harry's mind as he began to waken. He felt something cold and wet being placed against his forehead and his eyes instantly shot open.

It was still quite dark, but Harry could see the outline of someone hovering above him and seated beside him on the bed. As his eyes began to adjust to the darkness, Harry recognized Remus's face highlighted by small shafts of light coming through the large windows. Remus reached over and pressed a wet cloth against Harry's head. It felt so cool compared to the rest of him which was drenched with sweat.

"You were having a nightmare, Harry," said Remus in his soothing but concerned voice. "You were screaming."

Harry pushed away the hand still pressed to his forehead and turned to face the other direction without answer.

"I thought your scar might be hurting. Was it Voldemort, Harry?"

Harry didn't answer.

"Harry, I know it's difficult but you need to tell me if Voldemort is getting through to you. You know that by now."

Harry thought for a moment. Yes, Voldemort was in his dream, but did he influence the dream? It was true that he had not emptied his thoughts before going to sleep, as he should have if he was practicing Occlumency. But if Voldemort did control his mind, then why wasn't his scar burning or even prickling as it had every other time? Finally Harry replied but did not turn back to face Remus. "No…I don't think so. My scar is fine. It was nothing, just...just let me sleep," Harry said brusquely.

"Harry, I think you should talk to me. Screams like that don't come from nothing. Was it…Sirius?"

"No," Harry answered quietly. But any other night this summer, it would have been, he thought bitterly.

"Harry!" Remus whispered furiously. The always present note of patience in his voice had vanished and was replaced with a touch of anger that seemed completely foreign to him. "Would you please turn around and talk to me?"

"I just…don't want to talk about it," Harry replied apologetically. At least not with you, he thought. How could he possibly tell Remus that he saw his father turn into Voldemort when they had been such close friends.

"Fine," Remus answered defeated as he stood up. "But you would have talked to Sirius," he whispered sadly in the darkness. Would he? Harry wondered. Would he have told Sirius? But Harry knew in his heart that it was true. He would have told Sirius about the dream even though Sirius was his father's best friend. Sirius was the only one sometimes in the last two years that Harry felt he could confide in. He would tell Sirius things that he wouldn't even discuss with Ron and Hermione. But Remus just wasn't the same. Talking to Sirius was like talking to a friend, a brother, and a father all in one. Talking to Remus was still like talking to a teacher or maybe a parent.

"If you decide you want to tell me about it later tonight, I'll be in my room. But I'll be gone come morning," Remus said as he walked over to the door.

"Wait!" Harry called as he quickly spun around to face Remus. "What do you mean you'll be gone?"

"Don't worry, Arthur and Molly will be coming to take care of all of you. They'll be staying for the rest of the summer."

"Does that mean you're leaving for the rest of the summer?" Harry asked in a panicked voice.

"I'll be back in two weeks for the award ceremony at the Ministry."

"Two weeks? But where are you going? Why are you leaving?"

"Harry, I am an active member of the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore has given me orders, I have a mission. I can't tell you the details, they're confidential."

"It's not dangerous, is it?" Harry asked with concern.

Remus sighed and sat back down next to Harry. "It could be," he answered honestly. "Harry, no one is safe right now. And no one ever will be unless enough of us fight for what is good. The world is not made up of Gryffindors, Harry. Not everyone is brave enough to join the fight. That's why those of us that can and will fight must stand against Voldemort. I will not stand by idly while your future, the future your parents died for, is threatened yet again by Voldemort and his followers. And if that means risking my life, then so be it. I am not afraid to die for this cause."

"Why can't I help then?" Harry asked desperately. "I want to fight. I've handled more than any of you. I can't just sit around here while the rest of you are battling Death Eaters."

"Well, you'll just have to, Harry. You know why you can't help now. Dumbledore told you the prophecy. You are the only hope of the wizarding world, and I know that's a terrible position to be in. Someday you will face Voldemort again, but when that day comes, I want you to be prepared. You're only sixteen, Harry, and barely that. You don't know everything yet. How can you arm yourself against spells you haven't even learned yet?"

Harry nodded in assent grudgingly.

"Well, unless you feel like talking, you should probably get back to sleep. Molly will kill me if she thinks I kept you up all night," Remus said as he stood up again.

"I'm sorry. I just…I just can't talk about it now."

"It's all right, Harry. I can't expect you to change overnight. I hope you will feel comfortable enough to confide in me someday though. Good dreams then, no more nightmares. And don't worry, I'll be back in two weeks to see your ceremony at the Ministry. You know, James would have been so proud of you, Harry. You're so much like him, always the hero," Remus said with a sigh as he opened the door. "Good night, Harry."

"Bye," Harry said quietly as Remus closed the doors behind him.

If Harry's mind had been full before, it was now overflowing with disturbing thoughts. He would be completely open to Voldemort if he fell asleep with all of these thoughts flooding his brain. He tried desperately to practice Occlumency, to clear his mind of the nightmare and everything Remus said. An hour later, Harry finally fell back to sleep but not before one persistent thought slipped in. Let me fight. If I died, at least I would see Sirius again.

* * * * *

The next two weeks passed uneventfully for Harry. Grimmauld Place had become very quiet now that Death Eater activity had picked up and so many of the Order members were away on assignment. They all lived in fear and tried to do anything to distract themselves from the constant haunting thought that some of the members may never return.

Harry particularly tried his best not to think of Remus facing Death Eaters in combat. So he preoccupied his time with games of chess with Ginny and Ron (which he was finally winning thanks to Bill's gift) and summer homework with Hermione. But visits from Fred and George were the best distractions of all, because no one could think of anything else when they were around.

Harder to ignore were the diary and the nightmares. He had not opened the diary again since his birthday. It was still sitting on the table beside his bed waiting to be read. Harry would look at it and want to pick it up every night, but he still could not stomach the thought of his mother's feelings towards his father, especially after what he saw in Snape's memory last year. Everyone had naturally asked about the diary, but Harry tried to avoid the subject at all cost and eventually they stopped asking, much to his relief. The dreams were much harder to hide.

The nightmares had continued every night since he first read the diary. Every night, Harry would watch his father use the Cruciatus curse and turn into Voldemort. But now his father had startled to resemble Harry more and more, even down to the green eyes. This alone, although very disturbing, would be bearable if it saved Harry from the constant dreams of his godfather's death, but it did not. The dream would slowly change and he would once again see Sirius falling through the veil over and over until the dawn's light mercifully saved him from the torture that night had become.

It was not uncommon for Harry to wake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat with someone shaking him or calling his name. Usually it would be Ron , but it was quite a bit more awkward when it was Ginny or Hermione who came to wake him from his screams. He could only be thankful that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room was on a different floor. Very quickly he decided to lock his door at night and convinced Dobby to put a silencing charm on his room.

The only problem with that was that he was consumed in such total seclusion when he went to his room that he couldn't help but think of everything he had been trying to forget. And at this moment, he was trying to forget the looming ceremony at the Ministry. The last thing he ever wanted was to be paraded in front of a large crowd. Harry hated it when people stared at his scar or treated him different from everyone else. And now he would be forced to deal with all of this in a very public forum and to act grateful for an award that he didn't even think he deserved. There was little doubt that he was a pawn of the Ministry, or maybe rather the Minister. Cornelius Fudge would do anything to win public support at this point, according to Mr. Weasley, and if that meant glorifying Harry Potter, then so be it.

The only good thing about the whole event was that Remus would be coming back for it. Or at least that was what he said. It was only a couple of hours before the ceremony and he had not returned yet. To stop Harry from pacing continuously waiting for his return, Mrs. Weasley told him to get dressed for the ceremony, which he was planning to do as quickly as possible so he could continue pacing downstairs.

Harry looked at the new dress robes layed out on the bed that Mrs. Weasley bought him in Diagon Alley the day before. The new robes were black with green trim, much more understated than the ones he had worn to the Yule Ball, and much more preferable in Harry's opinion. Although Harry wanted to downplay the whole ceremony, Mrs. Weasley thought it was such an important event that she ordered everyone to get new dress robes for the occasion.

"Well, I guess I might as well do this properly," Harry said to himself as he opened up his Hogwarts trunk. He reached down to the bottom of the trunk to pull out some of his nicer clothes to wear beneath his new robes. But his fingers came across something small, hard, and jagged. He picked it up. It was the bag he had packed with the shattered pieces of the mirror Sirius had given him.

Harry opened the door, stuck his head out into the hallway and called, "Dobby!" Immediately, there was a loud pop behind him as Dobby apparated into the room.

"What can Dobby do for Harry Potter, sir?" the elf asked enthusiastically.

"Dobby, can you fix this?" Harry asked as he dumped the shattered pieces onto the bed.

"It could be fixed sir, if Dobby knew what it looked like before it was broken."

"It was a small round mirror about this big," Harry motioned the size with his hands.

Dobby stared for a long moment at the broken pieces as if he was concentrating very hard. With a snap of his long fingers, the pieces rose into the air and began spinning very quickly until they all converged in a flash of light and a small round disc landed flat on the bed. There were no cracks or missing pieces, it looked as though it had never been broken.

"Thanks, Dobby, it's perfect."

"Dobby is pleased to help, sir. Can Dobby do anything else for Harry Potter?"

"No, that's all."

"Dobby will go help Mrs. Wheezy then."

"All right. Thanks, Dobby."

When Dobby left, Harry shut the door behind him, isolating himself once more. He sat down on the bed and held the small mirror in his hand, staring at his own reflection. The mirror looked just like it did before, but would it work? There was no real way to test it if no one else had the other mirror. He had already tried to contact Sirius through the mirror once and that only led to bitter disappointment. But…perhaps there was another way to communicate with the dead.

This would be the perfect opportunity to return to the veil. He might not even be back at the Ministry again for a couple of years. It has to be tonight, Harry though with determination.

Now he just had to come up with a plan. If he was going to be the center of attention, it would be difficult to walk away unnoticed. Not to mention the numerous guards he would without doubt have in such a public setting. But there was one way to go unnoticed and it just might work.

* * * * *

By six o'clock, Remus had still not arrived and it was long past time to leave. Harry wanted to wait a few minutes longer for him, but Mrs. Weasley was already pushing them out the door and Moody had organized the advance guard. Harry longed for one of the clocks like the Weasleys had that could tell him where Remus was and if he was okay. Unfortunately, there was nothing of the kind at Grimmauld Place and none of the Order members could give him any information.

Just for tonight, they had arranged for a large motor car to take them all to the Ministry. Mr. Weasley was waiting outside in the driver's seat of the Ministry car he borrowed, they couldn't risk having a professional driver meet them at Grimmauld Place. The car must have been charmed because it was somehow able to fit Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.all quite comfortably. Everyone else was apparating to the Ministry, and hopefully that would include Remus..

The drive to the Ministry was filled with tension for Harry. He felt so nauseous with anxiety that he wasn't even paying attention to Ron and Hermione's heated conversation over her recent letter from Victor Krum, Mrs. Weasley's attempts to flatten his constantly messy hair, or even Tonks' constantly changing visage and hair as she tried to choose a new look to wear for the occasion.

Harry's nerves were on edge as he thought of being thrust in the spotlight, not to mention returning to the place where he lost his godfather and escaping from multiple Aurors to do so. But there was one thing on his side - the invisibility cloak. He thought he would have to convince someone to let him take it for protection, but Moody actually suggested it before he had the chance. Ah, but there was another problem- Moody could see through invisibility cloaks, so he would have to find a way to get around that.

Harry was so consumed by his thoughts that he didn't even notice when the car stopped in front of the Ministry until Moody spoke to him in his gruff voice.

"Potter, you had better put on that invisibility cloak before we get out. We don't want anyone to see you arriving with us. You can remove it when we are safely in the building."

Harry pulled the cloak out and placed it around his shoulders, pulling the hood up just as Tonks, now sporting long blonde hair, opened the door and stepped out. After she looked around, she gave them the all clear sign and signaled them to get out one by one. Harry, Tonks, and Kingsley went in first, followed by the Weasleys, Hermione, and Moody.

The Ministry was thronged, filled to the brim with wizards in their best robes and Harry would have been squished or run down instantly if he didn't have Tonks, Kingsley, and Moody surrounding him.

"Follow me," Kingsley said in a low voice. They slowly squeezed through the herd of people to a narrow hallway where Kingsley led them into a small office.

"You can remove your cloak now, Potter, and stow it here."

Harry would rather have kept the cloak on, avoiding the crowd outside, but he did as requested and followed the Aurors back through the crowd and into the grand hall of the Ministry. He noticed that the Fountain of Magical Brethren, which had been so badly damaged in the fight with Voldemort, was now gone and replaced by something even more repulsive - a statue of Cornelius Fudge. He had not noticed it before in their rush to get to the reading of Sirius's Will and was now glad that he hadn't. The statue opened its mouth and said in that very familiar voice, "Welcome to the British Ministry of Magic." Then, Harry could have sworn the statue was talking to him directly but the voice was coming from behind him.

"Mr. Potter, so glad you could come. Of course, what would this party be without our guest of honor?" Harry swiveled around to see Fudge himself approaching him, wearing his familiar lime green bowler hat. "Ah, I see you're admiring the new statue. Remarkable likeness, isn't it?"

Harry simply stared in utter disbelief at the man beside him. How he had the audacity to even speak to Harry after what he did the previous year was unbelievable. Harry shot him a look of utter contempt which Fudge merely ignored.

Suddenly they were besieged by reporters. "Mr. Potter, can you tell us about You Know Who's return?" a short brown-haired witch asked. Immediately after, there came a string of questions from multiple voices. "What happened here in June?" "Where is You-Know-Who now?" "Do you have a girlfriend, Mr. Potter?" "Is it true that you were nearly expelled last year?"

Fudge looked alarmed at this last question and spoke up, "Ah, now that was just a little misunderstanding. Mr. Potter was forced to use a Patronus over the summer to save himself and his cousin from two Dementors. Mr. Potter's behavior has always shown impeccable strength of character and bravery, which is why he is being honored tonight."

Harry stared incredulously at Fudge with complete loathing. "You were the one who-"

"Shh," Fudge whispered to Harry through gritted teeth as he grinned towards the reporters, "Just smile for the cameras, Harry." Fudge quickly took Harry's hand in his and started shaking it forcefully. Flashbulbs started popping all around them.

"Let go of me," Harry said with disgust as he wrenched his hand out of Fudge's tight grip and backed away. He pushed his way through the throng, ignoring the reporters' questions, as he searched the sea of faces for the Weasleys and Hermione. Finally, he saw several redheads in the crowd and walked towards them. But just before he reached them, he was stopped by someone to his left.

He turned around to see none other than Percy Weasley standing before him. "Congratulations, Harry. This is quite an honor the Ministry is bestowing on you. No one has received the Award for Extraordinary Acts of Bravery since Peter Pettigrew's legendary confrontation with Sirius Black."

"Pettigrew was a traitor and a Death Eater and he still is," Harry said with repugnance.

Percy was obviously somewhat taken aback, but then he looked up and stared at something just beyond Harry.

"Oh…um…hello, Father," Percy said awkwardly to Mr. Weasley, who was now standing behind Harry with his hand on his shoulder. The rest of the Weasleys were now surrounding them and all were looking at Percy with a varied mixture of anger, surprise, and affection.

"Excuse me, I was taken to understand that you were no longer my son," Mr. Weasley said coldly. He spoke in a tone so far removed from the kind gentle voice Harry had come to expect that it sounded like a complete stranger speaking.

"Come now, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said gently as she stepped between the two and embraced Percy. "Percy has seen the error in his ways." Percy nodded his head solemnly in agreement. "He's still part of the family, we must forgive him," she said kindly.

"No!" Mr.Weasley spat sharply and so loudly that numerous heads turned towards them. "The boy has shown his true colors and I for one want nothing more to do with him."

"But, Arthur, you can't mean that-"

"I assure you I do." Mr. Weasley turned on his heel and pulled Harry with him. "Come along, Harry, the ceremony is about to begin."

The ceremony was not particularly exciting. It began with several people Harry didn't even know getting up to talk about his defeat of You-Know-Who when he was a year old and the challenges he faced in his early years at Hogwarts. They were followed by Rita Skeeter, who quoted from her interview with him last year detailing the account of Voldemort's return and embellishing the story quite a bit in places with juicy bits of drama that never existed. By the time, they called Harry up to the stage to receive the award, he was too tired to argue and tell everyone the whole truth, so he merely accepted the award with as much grace as he could muster and felt incredibly relieved when the whole thing was over.

The ceremony was followed by a large reception, with bountiful tables of food and drink. But Harry could not think of eating when this was his last chance. He had to get to the Department of Mysteries and it had to be now. He looked around and saw Moody busily talking to a couple of older witches. "Perfect," Harry whispered to himself.

"Tonks," Harry said to the newly blonde witch, "Could you show me Auror headquarters? Are the training facilities here? You know, I want to be an Auror when I'm done with Hogwarts." He practiced these lines several times before leaving Grimmauld Place.

"Oh, sure, Harry," Tonks replied enthusiastically.

"Let me grab my cloak, just in case," Harry said as calmly and casually as he could.

After he retrieved his invisibility cloak from the office, Harry followed Tonks to the lifts. He actually did have to put on the cloak to escape the crowd unnoticed. And, fortunately, he never saw or felt Moody looking at him before the lift started rattling upwards to Level Two.

Harry stepped out still wearing the invisibility cloak and began to follow Tonks.

"You can take off the cloak now, Harry. There shouldn't be anyone around here at this hour."

"Nah, I think I'd better keep it on after what happened the last time. I didn't think there was anyone here then, but this place was filled with Death Eaters."

"Well, whatever suits you. It's weird giving a tour to a disembodied voice though."

"I'll stay right behind you so you know where I am," Harry lied.

As soon as the lift gates were no longer in sight. Harry turned around and sped back as silently as possible to the lifts. Fortunately, the golden gates were still open to the lift they arrived on. He stepped in and pressed the number nine button. The doors closed and the lift started to descend slowly and painfully loudly. Harry's heart was beating a mile a minute. This was it. He was finally returning to the place where it all happened, and he wasn't leaving until he had some answers.