Purpose

~ Chapter 39: The Latest News ~

Saturday, 10^th November. Four thirty-six in the morning...

The Great Hall was filled with the light snores of the students and the teaching staff of Hogwarts who had preferred to mingle with the students although it was no longer necessary for them to do so. Only Aberforth, Moody, Charlie and the whole bunch of fourteen elves were up, roaming around the silent corridors of the castle with the ghosts of Hogwarts. Dumbledore was closed in his office with Kingsley, discussing on their future actions. Even the poltergeist was influenced by the activities that were occurring in the school. He nowadays was much disinclined to play any pranks on anyone, preferring to skulk about the castle with the Bloody Baron, reporting even a straying Boggart to the students.

While Fenix and the rest were out to scout again in the afternoon on the previous day, Harry and Hermione had rearranged all their pallets to form a big rectangular bed for all of them. They had no choice but to sleep in together, much like the night when they first arrived at Hogwarts, going straight up to the Room of Requirement. Aldren, who was standing guard at the great doors, occasionally peeked into the Hall. His keen eyesight picked out Fenix's face, half-buried on Remus's torso, with her oathbrother's arm carelessly resting on her waist, with the two wolves curled up behind their heads. Then, there was the ridiculously, good-humored Potions Master, sandwiched in between Harry and his godson, who had totally ignored his godfather's gentle rebuke and invited Alamanda to sleep with him. Out of the ten people sleeping together, Draco's hair was distinctive among them all, since Alamanda had auburn hair and a majority of them have the same jet-black hair like Harry's.

The elf smiled to himself and returned to his former position. He took a deep breath then began focusing on his attention to hear the sounds echoing all about the castle. He was able to hear the whispers of the ghosts coming from down the dungeons then scowled when he heard a rush of wings coming from the courtyard. It's a little too early for post, isn't it? His question was answered in a matter of seconds when flying bodies emerged to head straight for the Hall. Hundreds of owls swooped into the Hall and began dropping off envelopes and Aldren winced when both the Creevey brothers had parcels dropped onto their faces.

There were several grunts and moans of pain echoing all over the Hall, and Fenix's group was woken up when Hermione gave a startled yelp when something landed on her chest. "What is it?" Ron said sleepily when he felt Hermione left his side. He was distracted when an envelope fell onto his face. Magical candles began appearing and slowly, activity spread around the room, though there were more grumbles than puzzlement at being woken up.

"Does anyone have a few coins?" Hermione said worriedly as the post-owl waited patiently. The males all fished out several Knuts and tossed it to her, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Fenix was the only one who did not receive anything but they were all surprised when Draco received a parcel. Snape raked his fingers through his black hair while he scanned the letters he received, most were reply letters from drugstores and his own circle of Potions Masters.

: Hold it, Draco. Who sent that? :

the boy's godfather inquired suspiciously.

: I have no idea, sir, :

the Slytherin replied, frowning a little as he checked the parcel for any kind of notes, but there were none. Snape was about to reach for the parcel when Hermione gave a gasp.

: Don't open that parcel yet, :

he instructed his godson firmly as an owl hovered and dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet, and he began to count his coins before depositing them in the small pouch that was attached to one of its legs. The newspaper headlines caught his attention immediately: The Dark Lord launches his attacks on the other Wizarding Schools.

: What in Heaven's name? : Snape was shocked.

Sirius was even more stupefied that the Potions Master was. : How on earth did Voldemort manage to gather enough followers to hit the Schools badly? : By now, the School was awake and students huddled in groups as they read the recent happenings of the outside world.

Fenix crawled over to the Potions Master's side and leaned over, reading the small prints with no difficulty at all. She was dissatisfied however; the report held no substantial evidence of how the Schools were attacked. : From what I know, both from research and from what Hermione had told me, the Durmstrang Castle is situated in a good defensive position. So how is it that they were invaded so easily, and had received the highest number of casualties? Durmstrang is quite an impressive and strict school; they should have been prepared and mobilized. :

The group was silent as Fenix made her observation known to them. "I wonder if he's all right?"

"You mean Krum?" the Fire Master asked gently and the girl gave a small nod. Fenix tilted her head and bid her Sylph to gather information. : It seems that Voldemort's plans are fairly extensive. I wonder how his followers had managed to creep up without my peers getting to know about them, and the Elementals are absolutely horrified by their own slow respond. : Her mindvoice was grave.

: Don't blame yourself, Fenix. As to how Durmstrang managed to achieve the highest rate of casualties, :

her partner's mindvoice was gentle, : I think it's because of Karkaroff and also the school has the reputation of teaching their own students the Dark Arts. :

: You're trying to say that the ex-students attacked their own school? :

Fenix said in a somewhat surprised tone.

: Who knows, :

Remus shrugged, and continued to speak. : Only they know the exact location of the school, and if they had been really aware of Voldemort's intent on resurrection, they could have noted the school's weaknesses. :

Fenix's eyes took on a distant focus when an Air Master contacted her. She frowned because her friend was overextending herself to reach her. : Nighthawk, drop the connection. I'll establish contact with you via the fireglass. : Her friend's relief flowed down the mind-link and released the connection.

"What's up?" Ron asked curiously but she shook her head, crawling back to where she had been sleeping and sat down, staring at a point ahead of her with fierce concentration. A spherical ball of red fire appeared and hardened to the texture of a crystal ball, but they were still able to see the fire flickering hotly. The crystal darkened then finally sharpened to reveal a pretty woman in her prime with long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes.

"Okay, what's the news?" Fenix asked the woman anxiously.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Nighthawk, Air Master of Hammerfest. Well, the boy-- ah-- I believe that the full name is Krum, Viktor? He's all right, extremely lucky because he is one of my many nephews, and fully under the protection of an Earth Elemental mage. So, going back to you, Fenix. As far as the investigation had gone, Durmstrang was not personally attacked by You-Know-Who, relying heavily on his bunch of fanatics. I do not wish to alarm you, but somehow, You-know-who has managed to get something like a Fire Elemental to terrorize and managed to burn some of the students to death."

"What?" Fenix gasped, feeling as if she had suddenly lost her balance and was falling from a great height.

"My Sylph is not exactly sure of what the creatures were. They were certainly not Fire Djins. Hold on a sec--" Nighthawk squinted in the distance, then a frown began to descend on her pretty face. "All right, they were not Elementals at all..." Her eyes narrowed again. "As far as one Fire mage was able to tell, they are not, nor do the Salamanders recognize them."

"Describe them, if you can..." Fenix instructed.

"I'm not sure because the witness-- one of the survivors from the attack-- only described the 'thing' as a tall pillar of flame. It doesn't have a pair of hands; he described it as 'dozens of tentacles snapped out forward to grasp then pull' the victim to the main body of fire." Nighthawk looked apologetically at the Fire Master.

Fenix stared thoughtfully at the crystal, then nodded absently. "Were there any giants?" But Nighthawk shook her head. "Do you guys need help?"

"No, that's unnecessary. The Dryads and the brownies are dealing with the situation expertly. They're angry by the way. If we're not careful, these guys might decide to join you in the war with Voldemort."

"If they happen to request that, tell them I said no. If they're not happy, they could always send up a petition to Him," Fenix told her and exchanged their farewells before the fire began to pulsate and the image of the Air Master wavered, then vanished. During the conversation, some of the other students had drifted into the group, looking at the spherical fireball curiously, and gasped when it suddenly vanished.

Fenix caught sight of Luna, whose eyes were wide open and looking at her with apprehension. "I think they were Heliopaths."

"There is no such thing as a Heliopath," Hermione said in aggravation and several nods echoed around. Neville looked dubious and everyone stared at Fenix when she frowned, repeating the word 'Heliopath' several times.

I feel as if I have heard this from somewhere... but where?

She felt that she was nearing the answer but it evaded her and snapped out of her reverie when the hair at the back of her neck began to rise and her arms began to tingle.

"Your father was a fool to have disowned you..."

All wands were instantly out and all of them sprung up to their feet. Draco was looking at the parcel with hatred. "An early birthday gift for you, Draco. You did me no great service by trying to burn me, however." The voice began to laugh and they felt chilled by the insanity that was present in his laughter.

It seemed to Fenix that her Salamanders were terribly angered by the Dark Lord that they had disappeared with the parcel, and a loud explosion occurred somewhere down in the sub-levels. Fenix frowned when her group of Salamanders and her Sylphs returned, blackened and covered with soot. "Don't say anything," Krill said when she began to ask.

"It's just as well. I thought Voldemort had sent you your father's head, but well, others confirmed that Lucius's still his right-hand man," Aelwyn remarked, casually shaking herself of the dust. "But I'm sorry for the dungeon though; blew up quite a few things."

"Not my class surely!" Snape's eyes were wide, as he thought of his store cupboard and research materials.

: Sev, don't insult them. I don't think they're stupid enough to open the dubious parcel in any of the important rooms, :

Fenix said lightly, and the Potions Master breathed a huge sigh of relief. She turned to her chief Elemental. : Are you guys all right? : All of them nodded. She looked about the Hall and gave a crooked smile as she watched the disgruntled faces of sleepy students. "It's still a little too early for you guys to be up and functioning," she said rather loudly and there were several agreements and grumbles. "Why don't you go and get some more sleep?" the Fire Master suggested and most of the boys complied, with Montague being the first one to fling himself back on his pallet, covering his face with a pillow.

The rest followed suit and the magical candles faded slowly. The adults remained awake, half-expecting to be summoned by the Headmaster. Dumbledore did send Moody to get them for a meeting but just as the ex-Auror appeared at the great doors of the Hall, some of the Fire Master's Elementals reported that the Minister, Mr. Fudge was on his way to the boathouse with four Aurors. She relayed the information to her company, Moody included, and she instructed Snape, Sirius and Remus to go ahead to Dumbledore's office while she and the Ex-Auror fetch the Minister. Wordlessly, the two wolves got up and stretched then deftly maneuvered their way around the pallets and sleeping students and waited with Moody.

Draco and Harry looked expectantly at the group of adults and in the dim light, they saw Fenix's sly wink and they smiled roguishly as they accepted her invitation that she would report anything of interest back to them. : I don't think she'll tell us everything though. : Draco turned his head to his side to look at his oathbrother, who nodded in agreement. The Slytherin shifted a little as he adjusted to Alamanda who was curling up beside him again. He gave an absent kiss on her head then turned back to look at Harry.

: Don't you think it is weird for Fudge to come here personally? It's quite a huge risk... :

his oathbrother observed, his green eyes reflecting the light of the false sky gently.

: Who knows? :

Draco almost shrugged but decided not to, for fear of disturbing the girl who was sleeping beside him.

**********

At the Headmaster's office...

Nothing exciting happened as Moody and Fenix escorted the group into the castle. Winky appeared when the Fire Master touched the ground and she gratefully handed the Ice Dagger to the willing house-elf. When they headed up to the Headmaster's office, Snape was waiting calmly by the door, his black eyes gleaming calmly as he studied the form of the Minister. The Potions Master moved away to allow the group to enter.

: A bit of warning, here. The Headmaster and his brother are angry at something, :

Snape informed her and she tilted her head up and looked inquiringly at the Potions Master.

: What about? :

: I think you'll understand the consequences better than we could, :

he answered as he guided Fenix into the room. There were several puffs and chairs magically popped out of thin air, and the Aurors sat gratefully down on it, dignity forgotten as they slumped in their chairs.

McGonagall was conjuring up five mugs of hot chocolate for the sudden visitors, all looking very haggard. Fenix was attending to one of the Aurors, a handsome Japanese guy, one by the name of Aoshi. He had a severe burn in his arm and she casually took a stool and sat down beside him, deftly severing the tattered sleeve of his shirt and began Healing him. It surprised the Minister greatly, for he did not recognize her, not remembering that it had been she who had responded to the call for help, when St. Mungo's was in trouble. Moody did not introduce her to him and it suited the Fire Master well.

"So Cornelius," the Headmaster began, peering cautiously at the man sitting before his desk, "what has happened that had made you come all the way here, perilously risking your lives?" Dumbledore leaned back in his great chair and scratched Fawkes's chin absently. His voice was surprisingly cool although his eyes that looked at the Minister were firm. All eyes were on the Minister, except for Fenix who was still concentrating on Aoshi's burn.

Aberforth spoke up, sneering slightly. "Please do not tell us that you had really raised up an army of Heliopaths and then say that they have gotten loose of the Ministry controls and fled straight into Voldemort's arms." Fudge flinched at the ancient man's words; his face paled and began shaking. Aberforth and Moody's laughter was filled with sarcasm. "You never learn, do you, Cornelius? We had advised you against using Dementors, and I assume that you had let the dogs go to hell in pursue of your research project on the Heliopaths?" The smile on Aberforth's face vanished, looking soberly at the Minister.

It really came as a surprise to Fenix and the others who had gathered in the Headmaster's office when Aberforth's fist came up and the Minister collapsed against a sidewall, looking horrified and dazed at the same time. Fenix finished Healing the injured man and gave an arch look at the oldest man in the room. Despite his ancient looks, he still had the strength of his youth and looked quite like a man who had just got a taste of the exhilaration that came during a tavern fight.

"Word had gotten out that some, who are working in the Ministry, are actually bending the rules about rearing Dark Creatures," Dumbledore told those of them who had gathered. "Why don't you explain it? Since you were the one who processed that information." He gazed at his older brother, who was looking at the dazed Minister with dislike.

"The exact origins of the Heliopath are not known. But they have existed for several centuries now, only that they were very rare, to be found in the hottest of sulfur springs and active volcanoes," Aberforth said in a serious tone, lighting up his smoke pipe and to his amusement, Fenix moved to another part of the room, well away from smoky fumes and opened the windows.

: Take note, Moony. It seems like your sweetheart does not approve of smoking, :

Sirius remarked to his best friend.

"However, a research group had been altering some things and the unidentified creatures were now termed Heliopaths; because that is what they are. Essence of fire moderated to become killing machines. Magick cannot work on them by the way." He paused as he smoked his pipe and Dumbledore continued.

"Unfortunately, that's not all. After years of generation, they seemed to have multiplied quickly-- I have no idea how they got them to breed-- and the intelligence network had discovered that they had evolved in a way the experimenters had not imagined."

Fenix subjected a level gaze at the Headmaster and then stared icily at Fudge, who had just gotten up to his feet and was straightening his robe. The windows began to crack and Sirius abruptly left the office. The Fire Master stared at the entrance where her oathbrother had left and examined the damaged window directly behind her. She stared at it in concentration and the hairline cracks vanished in an instant, whereas McGonagall, Snape and Remus moved around the office, muttering 'Reparo' under their breaths. Is he implying what I think he is implying? She was not aware that she was clenching her right fist so tightly that her nails had cut deep into her palm. Remus moved toward her quickly, screening her off from the Minister and conjured up a strip of sterile cloth and bandaged it for her.

"Albus..." Fenix spoke up, her voice cold. "Are you saying that these people had been messing around with Dark Magic?" The Aurors looked at her and the Headmaster in confusion but the Minister's eyes told the Fire Master all that she needed to know. Her oathbrother returned with a murderous look, and Snape was the one who had to stop him from taking his turn at the Minister. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

Dumbledore just gave the Minister one glance and then he was dismissed. He turned to the Aurors and told them-- not the Minister-- that he would undertake the investigation and ways to stop them due to the necessity of securing their lives. "Fenix, do you mind... doing..."

: I could... but these

blokes would not remember a single thing about Gating, though. I'm not about to start some people on research on tampering with Gates and Time. Don't be surprised if you get fined by those controlling the Floo Network, in the next few minutes or so, : she told the Headmaster privately and he gave her a nod. Fenix gave a mental request to her Elementals to find a suitable doorframe for her to build a portal.

: You guys, :

Fenix looked pointedly at Kingsley, Moody, Aberforth, Sirius, Snape and Remus, : can you help me herd these guys along? :

: Where are we taking them? :

Snape asked curiously as Kingsley whispered softly to his colleagues and Fudge.

: Somewhere suitable. By the way, please build up a net all about the room. I don't want any house-elves to blunder into the room by accident, :

she communicated to her chief Elemental.

She took the lead then, carefully following her Sylphs to the referred room. After her Elementals had secured the room, she began building the shield as she instructed her friends to stay back. Fudge was looking suspiciously at her rigid form, unmoving and not doing anything. He and the four Aurors were totally caught by surprise when white light engulfed them completely. The light slowly dimmed and they only saw her standing right in front of a doorway, the Minister and the four employees were nowhere in sight.

: Come on, :

Fenix instructed and they all headed back to Dumbledore's office to continue with their meeting.

**********

The five people who had traveled to see Professor Dumbledore found themselves lying face up in the Auror's offices. Aoshi sat up and frowned at his sleeve, trying to remember how they had returned to the Ministry after visiting Dumbledore.

"I have one god-awful headache," Conal Bryson moaned, "and how did we end up here?"

Fudge was sitting, massaging his swollen cheek carefully. "We must have traveled by Floo; it was a little too dangerous for us to be making that particular trip."

Jason Reef, another Auror stood up without saying anything and he had good reasons for keeping silent. He clearly remembered the information that he had gained from Dumbledore and was looking at Fudge with utter disgust. His thoughts turned into the actions of the strange woman. So far, not even the media had been able to find anything about her, save that she was a teacher also teaching D.A.D.A. and that she was the werewolf's partner. He clearly remembered as to how they had been transported back into the Ministry. It is just as well that she had tried tampered with their memories. Her way of traveling could induce too much curiosity and break the hundreds of rules of how Magick works. As for me, there is absolutely no reason why I should inform them that we had not traveled by the Network.

**********