Harry Potter and the Imaginary Order of Phoenix

Arabella Figg and the old crew

Harry's eyes were now so wide; they seemed to be at bursting point. He couldn't believe what he heard. The woman, which was his neighbour and he had dreaded the hours he had spent in her house before starting at Hogwarts. It never occurred to him that she would be a witch. "But how could it be?" Harry was lost at words.

Arabella Figg was watching him closely. She said, " You must be thinking how could I be a witch? Ah, well, - Harry, it was a very difficult job pretending to be a Muggle, very difficult indeed; and with an uncle and aunt like yours- it was a total disaster." She walked back to her armchair and sat down " Nobody would want to pretend to be a Muggle, not even if you offered a sack full of Galleons each week for about fifteen years and then left them to deal with the Dursley's, without magic. It was the mere force of Dumbledore and the requirement of the situation that made me step in to make sure you were secure."

"Make me secure? But, but how did you manage all that without magic? You never told me who you were? Why was that so?" asked Harry, his heart doing one-man-aerobics.

Mrs. Figg smiled, and then said, "That, Harry, was the most difficult task apart from convincing the Dursleys, of course." She leaned forward. "You see, Harry, we had to do a lot of work to make you safe from wizards who...well... might harm you. As you have known, few wizards whom you met in the Leaky Cauldron when you first entered the magical world have met you before. You must have seen them waving or shaking hands with you. If I am not wrong, you even recognized one. Those people were no ordinary ones. They were set there for your protection, to keep you away from danger. It was done on Dumbledore's advice and, of course, on Fudge's orders; but it doesn't ends there. For proper safety, this was very insufficient. For that purpose, I was asked to step in. To tell you the truth, Harry, I am a retired Auror, and I don't have a family."

Mrs. Figg sighed, watching Harry's jaw drop, and smiled, then continued, "Dumbledore was able to convince me to help him in your case. I am aware of the manner the brain of a dark wizard works, so I put up some enchantments and spells that helped enormously in your security, particularly against Death Eaters."

She now again rested her neck on the cushioning of the armchair while Harry closed his mouth, staring at her, still disbelieving. "Dumbledore and I thought of using the Fidelius charm to make you secure, but by that, it would have meant a great deal of problem in management. I would have to follow you like a shadow in order to make you visible to every Muggle in the streets, at parties, and at school. We couldn't let one person see you while the other couldn't. What would happen if those two people suddenly start talking and the one who could see you starts to talk about you while the one who couldn't, obviously think that he had gone mad; talking about someone who couldn't be seen miles around."

Harry was frowning at her, not in anger, but in amazement. Looking at his expression suddenly jerked Mrs. Figg, "Oh, I'm sorry dear, I just kept on talking and it didn't occurred to me if you understood." She stood up and began pacing up and down in the room. "The Fidelius charm is a complex enchantment through which the information of a certain living thing or object is packed inside a single living soul. In other words, the person or secret-keeper, in which the information is hidden, can only see that person or thing and no one else can, unless he or she wants to disclose it to someone else." She now turned to Harry, "I think you understood that ..."

Harry, who already knew about it, nodded. Seeing that, Mrs. Figg relaxed and then said, " Well, as you see, we couldn't have used that charm, as I told you before, so we used other ways. For that, your blood was the most useful weapon, "

"What? M-my b-blood? " Said Harry, in total confusion, "But how?"

"It took Dumbledore about three days to find out," Mrs. Figg said, with a sympathetic smile, "no one really knew why You-Know-Who lost his powers when he tried to kill you, but a wizard like Dumbledore, secret is a mere puzzle; his brain figured it out. Your mother, when she died, left an old magic sign upon you. That magic was only possible if one gives its life for another due to immense love. So, You-Know-Who wasn't able to kill you and his spell rebounded It was all due to the love of your mother, which is travelling inside you." She took a deep breath and sat down again. "The spells we used on you required a very powerful internal magical power, and what else can be powerful enough to repel the killing curse? So, this charm that was placed on you, is know as the Protensive charm. Its main function is to utilize the internal magic to create a shield, which in return blocks out evil."

Harry now felt dazed. He didn't knew where the story was going and even five year of experience at Hogwarts hadn't taught Harry all that there was about magic. Still he listened carefully at what Mrs. Figg was telling him, but she seemed to understand Harry's situation, as her next words were full of concern," I think you are getting confused dear, better we leave it there, I think Dumbledore will tell you about it himself. No one can be much better at explaining than Dumbledore."

"Oh, no-no it's just nothing. You may continue, I want to know about it, " said Harry, suddenly sitting upright and showing signs of rapid attention, " I want to know how- "

"Not now dear, maybe later, but not now. Perhaps I'll make a cup of tea for us to relax a bit," said Mrs. Figg, as she stood up and began moving towards the kitchen.

"But I would-" Harry tried to ask, but he was cut off by her next words.

" I said no," she said in a decisive tone, "From what I see, it's better that the rest should be told to you by Dumbledore himself. And I don't want to listen to anything else." she said as Harry again tried to say something.

He knew he couldn't argue with her. She was a retired Auror and could become extremely nasty if someone irritated her. The conversation was booming inside his head like he was listening to a particularly loud stereo. He didn't dare ask anything else from her until she was back with the tea. Harry took the cup from her and began to drink it without saying anything, except a "Thank you."

Mrs. Figg watched him drink for a moment, then she engaged herself with a cup as well.

Although Harry seemed to be calm, in reality his head was flooding with questions. Questions about his safety measures, about Mrs. Figg and her relation with Dumbledore, and... and his father.

Mrs. Figg seemed to be reading his mind. She shot some curious glances at Harry while he was drinking; apparently she seemed interested in his thoughts.

"Is something troubling you Harry?" she asked gently, putting down her half drank cup on the saucer. Harry gazed at her for a moment, then looked at his own tea, and placed the cup on the table.

"Err-yes, Mrs. Figg," said Harry, rather timidly, "I happen to know from Professor Dumbledore that ... that you err- knew my father."

Mrs. Figg's smile faded a little. "As a matter-of-fact, I knew him as well as your mother, Harry. They truly were remarkable people, and you seemed to be quite a lot in their league," she said in exasperation. " You have the same determination, confidence, appearance, and love-for-others like your father. Your mother was very civilized; I remember her quite well."

Harry looked at her with curiosity. He had never heard from someone about his mother. Although he knew very little about his father, it was still a lot more than about his mother. "You-you knew about my mom, really? W-what was she like, was she really nice?"

Mrs. Figg chuckled. "Hold on to your horses, Harry. I'll tell you all about her as much as I can. But before that, I think its time for us to leave." With that she stood up.

Harry imitated her, "But, why not now? We have time, you can tell me! I really want to know about her, I have never even seen ..." At that moment Harry stop abruptly. He had seen her. He had seen his parents, as well as his ancestors, in the Mirror of Erised, in his first year at Hogwarts. Also the photo album that Hagrid gave him showed pictures of her and of his father at different occasions. Looking at him, Mrs. Figg said in a gentle tone,

"Harry, my dear, you will know all you want to ... but later. Right now I have to take you to Dumbledore, who is waiting for you at the Weasley's house. You know how tense the situation is."

Harry began to stare at the floor, and then nodded silently. Mrs. Figg put a comforting arm on his shoulder and said,

"Don't worry dear, I will tell you everything. Just don't be disappointed." With that, she turned towards the table. There was a small transparent jar placed on it, half full of what was unmistakably...

"Floo powder, dear, Do you know how to use it?" Mrs. Figg said as she took some. Harry moaned. This manner of transportation was his least favourite, but he still nodded. Mrs. Figg turned towards the fireplace, which was bare of any fire. She took out her wand, pointed it towards the fireplace, and muttered, "Incendio". Instantly, crackling fire rose from it.

She was about to throw the powder in it when Harry suddenly said, "Wait! What about my Hogwarts stuff, my books, and everything else? They are at the Dursley's house."

Mrs. Figg waved her wand hand, "Oh, don't worry about that, dear, after you reach the Burrow, I'll bring your things after some time." Harry watched her as she threw the powder in the flames, which then changed to emerald green.

"Now, Harry, just enter the fire and clearly say 'The Burrow' and it'll take you there," she said. "Be sure to tuck your elbows tightly and stay calm, or else you might face problems. The fireplace is connected to the Floo network and it won't fail, unless you make a mistake. So go on then."

On her words, Harry entered the fireplace. The flames didn't hurt; instead he felt they were tickling him. He clearly said, "The Burrow". Instantly he began to spin around. Slowly it became faster and faster and blurred fireplaces flashed pass him. At last, his feet contacted solid ground and he leaned forward in order to stop himself from falling. When he looked up, a bit dazed from the spin, he saw the same twinkling eyes behind the half-moon spectacles, which, couldn't belong to anyone else, except Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was standing just a little distance away from the fireplace and was having a conversation with the eldest Weasley brother, Bill. Both were watching Harry as he came out of the fireplace. Dumbledore smiled and said,

"Good day, Harry. I see that you are just in time for the party."

Harry, who was smiling and looking at both of them, allowed his eyes to travel throughout the room. The Burrow was the same as ever, but it never seemed to be this much crowded. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen as he could easily hear the sound of saucepans. Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, along with Hermione, were sitting around the table, all watching Harry, beaming and grinning broadly. But his gaze got suddenly fixed upon a familiar face that was standing just a little distance away to his left.

Harry's face split with joy as he leapt towards him, shouting, "Lupin!"

Remus Lupin was standing there, his young face looking at Harry with a broad grin. Harry hugged him, lost for words and full of joy.

Lupin politely patted his head, "How are you Harry? You haven't forgotten me in one whole year, have you?"

Harry, who was now seemed close to tears, said, "How could that be? I missed you very much Lupin, very much."

Everyone was now looking at Harry. Even the sounds of footsteps from the kitchen announced that Mrs. Weasley had also joined the crowd in the room. Harry didn't know if he really missed Lupin, but he surely missed him until he met Mad-eye Moody and later, when he was ragged into the Triwizard tournament. Harry let go of Lupin, trying to control his tears. Lupin put his hands on Harry's shoulders, looked at him, beaming and then turned his face, pointing to Harry's right. Harry looked around.

He hadn't noticed before, another man was standing close to the wall whom Harry didn't recognized. But he didn't care to give him a second glance as Snuffles the dog was running towards Harry from the same direction. The great, black dog leapt on Harry and started to lick his ears.

"I am glad to meet you too, Sir-err - Snuffles." said Harry, grabbing the paws of Snuffles, smiling. The dog let go of Harry, looked at him, wagged his tail and then sat down, close to Harry and Lupin's feet. Ron and Hermione got up from their chairs came close to Harry; both seemed to be very happy. At that very moment, there was some cracking noise from the fireplace and in few moments, Arabella Figg appeared, carrying Harry's trunk and bag.

"Welcome Arabella ... good that you have brought all of Harry's stuff." said Albus Dumbledore.

Mrs. Figg looked at Dumbledore and said, "Thank you Dumbledore," then she turned towards Harry, "Harry, dear, I've brought your stuff but I couldn't find your wand. Have you misplaced it or -"

"Oh, - no, Mrs. Figg, I have it with me. I had put it in my pocket while the Dursley's were bringing me to your house," said Harry, taking out his wand and showing it to her.

"Ah, in that case, we should better get on with it. How about it, Mundungus?"

"Who?" Harry asked, surprised, but his quarry was answered almost instantly.

The man who was standing close to the wall from where Sirius had came running said, "Yes, Arabella, I think we should, but wouldn't it be better if I introduce myself to Potter?" The man was a bit old. He had a bald patch on his head and there was whiteness in his remaining hair. He was upright and clearly showed signs of great energy and capability. His face reminded Harry of a younger Mad-Eye Moody he had seen in the Pensieve. He was dressed in navy blue robes and was watching Harry with great interest and broad grin.

Arabella looked towards them in amazement. "Haven't you introduced yourself to Harry? Oh my goodness! Harry this is Mundungus Fletcher. He is our old friend and head of The Dark Arts Defence Committee. He is here to help us against the - unfriendly - atmosphere currently arising."

"Hello, Mr. Fletcher," Harry greeted. Then he said, " I think I have heard your name somewhere. I can't remember where."

"Oh you must have, must be from Arthur I dare say," Mundungus said. His voice was a bit croaked. "He always catches me whenever I try to jinx Muggle objects."

"That's obvious Fletcher," this time Mrs. Weasley cut in, who was standing close to the kitchen, unnoticed." Who else would want to distribute Muggles household jinxed objects to Muggles as souvenirs? Or have more fun by enchanting Muggles' underwear to have teeth?" Everyone in the room laughed on that.

Mundungus chortled and said, "Come on, Molly, what a boring life it would be if there won't be any fun. At least the Muggles don't remember it when their memories are modified."

"Quite humorous is your tale Fletcher, perhaps you are lucky that Arthur has always been able to get you out of trouble," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling "You can't find a better man than him. I wouldn't have saved you myself if I had found out that, by catching and saving you again and again, would only result in fire coming out of my mouth and a horn in my tongue-" Everyone chuckled. "Possibly the way to show your gratitude."

"Well I had only done that for a bit of fun. I didn't meant any harm to Arthur, did I, Arabella?" said Mundungus, still chortling.

Bill, for the first time since Harry arrived, said, "Well our conversation can continue anytime we want to. Why not Harry takes his stuff upstairs?"

"Yeah Harry, come on, we'll all go," Said Ron, pointing towards Hermione and Ginny.

"We'll help you with that, don't worry," George said as Harry leaned to pick up his trunk. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny began to climb upstairs, followed by the Weasley twins carrying the trunk, and Snuffles. The zigzag stairs ended at Ron's bedroom, which was exactly the same as his last visit, decorated with Chudley Canons posters. Nearly every object in the room, even the bed sheets, were orange in colour. Apart from Ron's bed, two more were there, which Harry suspected were of Fred and George, as Bill was here nowadays. Fred and George put down Harry's trunk beside Ron's bed. Snuffles, the dog, was standing at the doorway while they all sat down.

"How were your holidays with the Muggles, Harry?" asked Ron, who seemed to be anxious to talk to him.

"Like they've always been, but slightly better. Perhaps because of Fred and George for what they did last year," Harry replied, looking at the twins. They winked in unison.

Fred said, "Well, Harry, what you saw last year, may be considered as the trailer for what will be coming this year. George and I have made big plans,"

"What plans?" Harry said eagerly.

"They won't tell. - I tried to ask them," Hermione said, "they say it will spoil the fun."

"Yeah and you wouldn't enjoy it fully when we do our stuff," George said, "Besides, - Slytherins will be wishing they would never have come to Hogwarts."

"Really, what will you do, distribute Ton-Tongue Toffees among them?" Harry said sounding really amused now.

"I wouldn't bet on that if I were you". Fred said, chuckling and waving his hand, "Just wait till you see."

"Whatever you do, just give Malfoy a good hard lesson, so that he keeps away from us," said Ron bitterly, "Better ask Fletcher about how to give jaws to someone's underwear. We might want to practice it on Malfoy if he messes with us."

"Surely we all would like that, but both of you have to be careful in case if you're caught doing something, let's just say, nasty," said Hermione in a grown-up tone, "Besides you will be taking N.E.W.Ts this year and might get into big, big trouble."

"Well, Hermione, you are a sounding a bit like Percy, who do you think we are? A couple of amateurs?" Fred said, sniggering, "We haven't been caught doing pranks during the O.W.Ls, then how could they catch us in N.E.W.Ts, eh?"

Hermione shook her head disapprovingly.

Although the conversation with Fred and George was interesting, it wasn't enough to make Harry stop his eyes from continuously flickering towards Sirius, who was currently in dog form, and was now sitting quite close to Ron's feet; apparently hearing the conversation curiously too.

"That's probably a good idea, we may even allow Crabbe and Goyle to have their share too; fat little hungry idiots they are," said Fred, rubbing his chin.

"Well we ought to go down and see what's happening. Maybe we can get more ideas from Mundungus, he never minds giving them away," George said. "Maybe we might even find something for Percy. It's been a few months since we slipped dungbombs into his cauldrons and add some of that giggling coke in his tea. Coming anyone?"

"Yeah, I will," said Ginny, who had remained silent throughout the conversation, smiling all the time, "I need to talk to mom."

"About what, Ginny?" asked Fred, as she reached the door where they were standing, "Not about our planning, I hope?"

"No - no, it's not about that - it's about my books, nothing personal." replied Ginny. Before Fred closed the door, he turned back, gave meaningful look at Snuffles, then turned towards Harry,

"I think Sirius might want to talk to you. Have a good time Harry."

With that, all three of them descended down the stairs, leaving Harry, Ron and Hermione behind with Snuffles. Hermione stood up and shut the door. Sirius, after seeing that they left, changed back to his human form. He looked the same, as he had been when he had left Harry in the hospital wing. Although he required a shave, his hair wasn't too long or filthy. He was wearing light blue robes, which seemed to be covered in small amounts of dust. His face was full of concern as he closely watched Harry.

Harry couldn't help himself and he flung at Sirius, just like he had done with Lupin, and hugged him. Sirius also embraced him, quite like a father who seemed to have met his son after a long time. Ron and Hermione watched them, smiling lightheartedly, evidently full of joy by seeing the love between both of them.

"Why didn't you write to me, Sirius?" said Harry, his voice was now trembling, "I was so worried about you, I felt lonely. Please don't leave me this time, please. I need you, Sirius, I need you," Harry's voice quivered a bit more as he started to sob.

Sirius, said, "That is why I'm here, Harry. I'll be staying with you. Come on now, stop crying, Harry, you're a big boy, it doesn't suit you," said Sirius as he pulled Harry away and mopped his tears with his thumb.

"You-you will?" asked Harry, looking up at him, "You will be staying with-with me ... at Hogwarts?" He could clearly hear Ron's sigh and Hermione's dry sob that she seemed to be trying to control.

"Yes, Harry, Dumbledore believes that it is the best that can be done for your protection. I will stay with Dumbledore as his pet Snuffles, that's how I can keep my identity secret," Sirius informed, smiling. Then he led Harry towards Ron's bed and made him sit there. He folded his arms and started to pace.

Harry, Ron and Hermione carefully watched him, although they had a clue what might Sirius be thinking, but Ron asked anyway, "What is it, Sirius?"

Sirius looked upon him, shifted his folded arms to his backside, took a deep breath, and said, "What else is there to think about, Ron when the Dark Lord is on rampage, again?" With that, he continued his pacing, leaving Ron feeling stupid. " I am worried about the safety of all of you. Very little time has passed since the death of Laslanders and we still haven't got any clues about the killers. If Fudge wouldn't have been so thick headed, he would have ordered to take every person into custody who was suspected to be a Death Eater," He stood still for a while, staring at the ceiling. Then he sat down besides Harry and continued, "It's not that I am worried about myself being called responsible for all this, but until we have some solid evidence about the responsible people, we are fighting in total darkness."

"What does that mean, Sirius?" asked Hermione.

Sirius smiled and said, "I meant that Fudge is calling me responsible, but unless we catch one Death Eater it can't be proved that Voldemort is back or I am innocent."

Although Ron flinched at the name, he quickly recovered. "So why doesn't Fudge just investigate it? Dad tried to talk to him but he just wouldn't listen."

"He won't as far as I know, Fudge rather go upon his own decision rather than taking advice." Sirius said.

"Then why doesn't Dumbledore take any action against the Death Eaters?" Harry said. "Surely he is capable to make Lucius Malfoy accept that he is a Death Eater. He was there when Voldemort called them all."

"Dumbledore can do that, but he is waiting for the proper time," Sirius said, his eyes examining Harry closely, "Although Dumbledore likes to do things his way, sometimes even he thinks about not testing other peoples' anger. Fudge has great respect for Lucius and he may even go crazy if Dumbledore forced Malfoy to tell the truth, even though the chances are remote, but you can't trust a man who denied a truth to keep himself calm and he would probably be shocked to death if a solid evidence comes in front of him."

"So why don't we catch somebody else who is a Death Eater?" Hermione interrupted.

Sirius said, "That is the problem, there is no one else left who was accused for being a Death Eater"

"What? Has everyone else gone into hiding?" Harry asked, thunderstruck.

Sirius said, "Probably, except for Lucius, every other name you mentioned wasn't found since the rebirth of Voldemort. We searched each and every one of them, " He sighed, and then looking at the concerned faces and changed the subject, "So, Harry, have you done your homework?"

"What? - Oh, no, I haven't. I wasn't allowed to," he replied, awkwardly as he hadn't expected the question.

"Why don't you do it with them, instead?" Sirius said, jerking his head towards Ron and Hermione. "You don't want to be the only one with incomplete homework, or do you?" He smiled and stood up.

"I don't feel like doing it, maybe later," Harry said, looking at Sirius.

"Then you should have some rest, you may need it." Sirius said.

"Err, Sirius, if you don't mind, can I ask you something?" Ron asked.

Sirius replied, "Sure, Ron, what is it?"

"Well," Ron said. "I heard that you were very active in your time at Hogwarts and, well, you did some good pranks-" At this Sirius raised his eye brow "- can you tell us a few good ones. We would like to try them."

"You want me to tell you how to cause trouble?" said Sirius, now both of his eyebrows were raised and his finger was pointing towards his own chest.

"Yeah, well, would you? Come on, I mean, we all want to teach Malfoy a lesson," Ron asked hopefully.

Hermione was watching them with great interest along with Harry. Sirius looked at all three curious faces, shifted his folded hands to his back and said, "Well my pranks might prove to be dangerous and you might make mistakes while doing them. Dumbledore may also not like-"

"We will manage," Hermione cut in.

"You don't understand ... if something went wrong then..."

"Please!! " All three said in unison.

Sirius sighed, then said, "Ok, all right, I'll tell you some. But remember; don't get out of control. They may become dangerous. Now I think that I should leave; Dumbledore might need my assistance. Ron, please open the door while I transform."

"What, doesn't everybody know who you are?" Harry asked.

"Everybody do know," Sirius replied as Ron moved to open the door. "But we don't know if the Weasleys' have visitors. We won't even know when Fudge suddenly Apparate here and find me in the human form."

"And what are they talking about downstairs?" Hermione asked.

Sirius said, chuckling, " Hermione, who do you think we are? Members of a musical band who are preparing for a new song? We are planning our next moves," With that, he transformed and ran down the stairs.