Elemental Genesis

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Chapter Sixteen: Heaven Only Knows

Heaven only knows what lies before me

Heaven only knows what all my searching is for

All my life I've waited for a miracle

But I can't ask for anything more.

-"Heaven Only Knows" by Richard Marx

He ducked as the masked Death Eater fired the Cruciatus Curse at him. Rolling into a better position, he sent out a jet of red light from his wand and successfully stunned his opponent. However, as soon as that dark wizard went down, another two arrived to attack him. Stopping their assaults using a strong shield spell, he purposely reflected the hexes back at their casters. Taking advantage of the situation, he performed the Full-Body Bind curse on them.

All around him, the battle was winding down. It was close, but the Order had beaten the Death Eaters in this battle. He watched as the other Aurors apprehended the scumbags and carted them off. They had been attacking a lot more lately around muggle towns. Sometimes they were too late to save innocent people from their fate. Sirius clearly remembered two articles in the Daily Prophet a few days ago...

MUGGLE TOWN DECIMATED!

The town of Hilton, located a sparse twenty miles from the city of Edinburgh, was discovered to be nothing more than a few smoldering remains and was completely devoid of life. The Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement made this find early August 7th.

All of the town's 350 residents were found to be dead, counting women and children, with no survivors. Many of the bodies when given an autopsy had traces of the Unforgivable curses on them. Some high-ranked Aurors, including Zacharias Orville and Alastor Moody, believe this to be the work of Death Eaters. Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, claims this allegation to be false and the work of terrorist wizards trying to launch the nation into chaos. What could not be explained is the cause of death of one particular muggle. The ministry prevented an Auror spokesperson from further commenting.

-Daily Prophet senior correspondent Ciara Corbin

Sirius planned to ask Orville what that was all about. It intrigued him as to what was so extraordinary about the demise of this specific muggle that the Ministry wanted to keep it quiet. If he couldn't get it out of Orville, then he'll just visit Ciara Corbin then. He remembered her from school, but they were just friends. The dark-haired girl with the amber eyes was a good friend despite the fact that she was a Slytherin through and through. It did not surprise him that much when he found out that she was in the Daily Prophet, she always was writing a story and tended to know a lot about what was going on. Unlike Rita Skeeter, Ciara was reasonably liked and gave a good view on a story. She also didn't write a story unless she had all the details. It was through her and another old school friend that the second article was put in the paper. The focus of this story was his first priority these days.

Boy-Who-Lived Missing!

According to reliable sources, Harry James Potter has vanished from his relatives' home and cannot be found. His disappearance was discovered when a wizard went to collect Potter on July 31st. Later, it was revealed that Potter had in fact been missing since the night of July 28th. In the testimonies by Potter's aunt and cousin (names withheld), Potter had transported himself out of his home via a whirlwind. However, Ministry magic detectors did not pick up any magic signal that night, so this is viewed as skeptical. More shocking is the revelations about the Boy-Who-Lived's home life.

Potter's uncle had apparently abused the young wizard every time he was at the home. Potter's cousin claims that at first it was only small things, "like a smack or two", but it fast accelerated into serious injuries when the family started to experience troubles. Potter's aunt says that the last time she had seen the boy she had first glance thought him to be dead.

Medical teams, Aurors, and average wizards alike are searching for the wizarding world's savior. Sirius Black has offered one thousand galleons for his godson's safe return. The Ministry of Magic is also offering 750 galleons as a reward for finding Harry Potter as well. We can only hope that we find him soon.

-Daily Prophet senior correspondent Maximillian Waring

The former Ravenclaw chaser latched onto the story as soon as Sirius had contacted him. Max Waring will forever be a meticulous and admirable reporter. He had interviewed Aurors, Harry's aunt and cousin, Severus Snape, and all others connected in this and wrote this brief article about it. He was required to withhold some information, but Waring was a trustworthy person. In the last war against Voldemort, Max Waring and Ciara Corbin were the eyes and ears in the media for the Order of the Phoenix and they themselves did some fighting. They were looking into everything in search of Harry and planting subtle seeds of suspicion into the public's mind about the Ministry and Voldemort.

Yes, he did put up a reward for finding Harry. He would pay anything just to have Harry back. Harry was the only living legacy of his two deceased friends, James and Lily. He was the reason he broke out of what could adequately be called hell on Earth to protect him. Harry was all he had to live for since his life fell apart fourteen years ago. Everything be damned if he was going to let anyone, whether they were some fat insane muggle or Voldemort himself, get their dirty hands on his beloved godson.

"I see twelve years of Azkaban hasn't affected your dueling, Black." Sirius started as a gruff voice addressed him from behind. Immediately, he pivoted around and brought his wand up threateningly. The middle-aged man with the iron-gray hair raised his hands up in a placating manner. "Easy, tiger. I'm not going to bloody curse you or something. Though if you keep standing there staring into space, someone might just do that.

"Sorry," he apologized brusquely and lowered his wand. "But once can never be too careful, Orville."

Orville waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Want to go for a drink? The Leaky Cauldron is not that far away." He scrutinized the younger man with an intense look. "Judging by the look of you, you need one."

Sirius sighed and nodded the affirmative. What the hell, I don't have anything better to do at the moment. Together, they walked down the hushed avenues in silence. The yellow London streetlights created menacing shadows while also casting a creepy façade on their robed selves as well. It was fortunate that no one walked the streets this late at night. Both of them had been on the alert instantly when a mere cat knocked over a trash bin.

Tom looked up at the two when they walked in. It was past midnight and the bar/restaurant/hotel did not get that many late night visitors. He was not expecting late night visitors as infamous as these two especially. Both looked exhausted and their robes were in some places tattered. They did not need to say a word as they collapsed at a table. Tom already knew what to bring these two: two glasses and a chilled bottle of his best Ogden's firewhiskey. His was tipped handsomely for his service and retreated back to the back, to finish the last of chores needed to be done.

Orville then said to Sirius, "I'll tell you what you want to know first and then we'll talk about something else." He looked the blue-eyes former convict fiercely with dark-brown orbs. "No discussion," he pronounced firmly.

Sirius cracked a small smile at the older man. Zacharias Orville certainly had not changed over the years. Orville taught the in-training Aurors in this time and taught everything he knew to him. He was giving this prestigious position because he has so much experience fighting dark wizards. Alastor Moody would have also qualified if he wanted to, but everyone knew that paranoid "Mad-Eye" Moody was not and never will be a people person. Even now, Sirius could hear Orville barking orders for him to run twenty miles in the pouring rain or to do a hundred and fifty sit-ups in one minute. He was a tough taskmaster who asked not to be liked but be served. "Fine," he conceded. "But that doesn't mean I'll answer your every question."

"Fair enough. I assume you want to hear about the Hilton incident, right?" He took a long swig of his firewhiskey and pulled a mortified face. "It was disgusting what was done there. Especially that last body lying dead on the hill, that was just plane inhuman. Out of my forty years as an Auror, I've never been so sickened in my life."

If Orville is this disturbed, then it must have been really bad. "What happened? Ciara Corbin said something about that body, but she said the Ministry prevented comments."

"For once, I agree with them. The people really don't need to know about that."

"Well?" Sirius sipped his glass.

"It was a muggle man, sliced perfectly in two."

He successfully stopped himself from spitting the liquid in his mouth into Orville's face. He managed to choke out a strangled, "What?"

"It's exactly as I said, Black. Cut in half." He smiled at the shocked expression on Sirius' features. "You should have seen the body. It's much worse than it sounds. You can even see the poor guy's horror, on both sides of his face. I don't know what exactly happened to the guy, but I know that it was both gruesome and painful. May that muggle rest in peace." Orville raised his glass respectfully before taking a sip. Sirius did the same.

"It could not have been a Death Eater. Death Eaters would never do that. I doubt that they would even if they could do it."

"That's exactly what I said. The Ministry is now all scared. And because they are all scared, what do they do?"

"Let me guess this one," he interrupted. Even in the old war, Orville never had that much faith in the Ministry. The sole reason Orville joined was to take revenge on the Death Eater that killed his oldest sister and to protect the remaining members of his family. When he saw how much they held back from the people, Orville never trusted Ministry decisions again. One could call him an anarchist, but others just say he's extremely democratic. "They didn't say a word, to both the people and to the people working on the lower levels of the administration."

"Exactly. And they call this a fair and balanced government," Orville scoffed. "There are a few worse ones, but there are a few good ones. I've been around the world once or twice before. The Americans do a pretty good job and so do the Canadians. Australia's is a wonderful one. We just have to be stuck with one of the bad ones."

"Pity."

"If we had a stable government system to begin with, this threat probably would not have been so bad. But there's one more thing about the body that might interest you."

"No more," Sirius pleaded. "I really don't want to think about it." If something that bad happened just to some muggle, then what about Harry? Calm down, Padfoot, and breathe. You won't let that happen to Harry. He may be fatally injured by some fat muggle piece of crap, but he won't get cut in half by a...something. Damn my imagination!

"Oh, but this is really interesting," Orville said cryptically. "It has to do with this girl training to be an Auror like us."

"I thought you retired from training in-coming Aurors."

"I did, but she just began following me everywhere. Her name is Stella Prewett. She is a persistent lass. She would probably to well, but she blindly trusts the Ministry."

"Despite her views, what was so interesting?"

"It was what she did when she saw the body."

"I can imagine how she reacted. Screaming and crying?"

"Partly so."

"Partly? How can you be only partly 'screaming and crying' when faced with a mauled body like that?!"

"Well, I don't know any other way of describing it. At first, she started screaming and not horrified 'oh my god' shrieks. She was screaming as if she just saw the devil. Next, when she quieted down, she started glancing around muttering. She got really jumpy, frightened when someone just said only one word. Then, she apparated away. Before she left, she claimed that she needed to talk to her uncle urgently."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "That seems...odd. Who is her uncle?"

"That's the understatement of the year, Black. Her uncle's some big jeweler named Derek Montague-Hillary. He's a widower, married her aunt years ago before the war. You remember Ophelia? He's her husband. I think he's a muggle."

"What would a muggle know about this sort of thing?"

"I have no idea. Also intriguing: I distinctly heard her say 'demon' in her mutterings. Strange, huh?" He poured himself another glass. "Now it's your turn." Sirius remained silent. "You know what I want to talk about : Harry Potter."

"No, Orville."

"That's wrong, Black. It's 'yes, Orville'. Now talk. You probably need this off your chest anyway. I know you too well and knowing you, you're wallowing in a guilt-trip."

"Nothing," Sirius abruptly broke in.

"What?" Orville looked surprised that Sirius gave in so quickly.

Sirius put his head on the polished wooden table in defeat and with one hand pounded the table angrily. This attracted the only other person awake in the establishment: Tom. At the sound of the harsh noise, he stuck his head out of the back room. He gave Sirius a reproving glare, but Sirius paid no mind to it.

"Calm down," Orville said. "Tell me what you mean by that."

"It's impossible, but true. There's no trace of him anywhere! Not a single magic trace or physical clue. It's as if he just vanished!"

"Did you check for outside interference?"

"Yes," he sighed. "It was the first thing I looked for once I confirmed that there was truly no sign that he was there. His room was completely clean of magic."

"I would think a whirlwind would leave something behind."

"It didn't. I looked everywhere and there was nothing!" He slumped in his seat even more. "I just don't know what to do anymore."

"I'll tell you what you're going to do." Sirius lifted his head and opened his mouth to say something scathing, but Orville beat him to it. "No, you're going to listen and do what I tell you. Are you listening?!"

He rolled his eyes and said, "Yes."

"You are going to find that boy, no matter what. He needs you and you need him. For his sake, your sake, and in the memory of his parents, you will find him and help him. You are going to give that boy the protection and proper home that he was denied! Understand! Well?!" Orville's voice rose in volume and passion the more he spoke.

Sirius grinned, "Understood. Thanks, Orville."

"Someone needs to keep you on track. Heaven knows that you get off it way too much for your own good."

"And heaven only knows what lies before me. And where what I'm searching for is."

<><><>

Ron glared at the waffles on his plate with a mixture of anger and sadness. He had left them uneaten on his plate for the greater part of an hour and they were rock-hard, yet he still picked at it with a fork. He sat alone at the table while his mother was at the sink cleaning up. Harry's supposed to be here, eating with us. Not missing and hurt, but with us.

"Ron, stop picking at your food and eat." His mother kept prodding them to eat, no matter how many times he had told her that he wasn't hungry. He saw what she desperately tried to hide. Her eyes, red from tears, showed that she had cried. Also, he had heard his father try to calm her down with shaky but optimistic words. Harry's disappearance hit her hard since she considered him as one of her own children. He's part of our family, yet we couldn't help him. Hermione was adamant that Harry would return soon. She sat at the window all the time now these days: reading and looking up to stare outside every now and then. Ginny had not yet ventured out of her room. Usually, he would go to his sister if he had a problem that he didn't feel like discussing with Harry or Hermione. He felt though, after hearing soft sobbing from inside her room, going to her would be extremely selfish of him.

"I'm not hungry, Mum."

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I know, Ron. But please TRY to eat."

"Where are all of the others?"

"Charlie went back to Romania to help get the support of foreign wizards. We will need all the help we can get against Voldemort. Fred and George are looking for something in Diagon Alley, but I don't know what." Ron knew what they were looking for. Somehow, the twins had gotten a hold of quite a large sum of money. They were looking for space in Diagon Alley to rent or buy so they could start their joke shop. "Bill was called back to Gringotts and then was shipped off to Egypt. Apparently, they found something big and want Bill to get it. Your father is at work and...you know about Percy."

Ron ignored his mother's acknowledgement of Percy. "Bill got called back to Egypt? I thought he applied for a desk job so he could work with the Order."

"He did, but it's about some new tomb that they found. They noticed a strange cat appearing and disappearing in the area and for some reason, the tomb-breakers followed it. The cat went straight into the tomb, but the tomb-breakers couldn't go after it. There were a lot of security wards around it, very strong ones. It's an honor for your brother, this could be big."

Ron nodded numbly. "Good for him."

A brown owl flew into the kitchen through the window and soared out just as quickly, dropping a letter in Ron's lap. He stared out the window, wide-eyed. "Mum? Was that Hermes?"

"I think it was," she answered weakly.

Ron opened the letter. The neat and even handwriting was definitely Percy's. He read aloud:

Dear Ron,

How are you? I hope you are doing well. As for myself, I am doing fine. I have a place of my own now and Penelope might be moving in as well. I'm currently Minister Fudge's aide and not only is this a great promotion, but it is a great honor. He had heard of my work for Mr. Bartemius Crouch last year and wanted me on his team.

I'm very happy about this and also relieved. Many times I had thought that Dad's views and opinions would hold me back in the Ministry. Yes, I am still angry with mother and father. They trust the word of an old coot over the fine and upstanding Ministry of Magic! How absurd of them!

He kept on reading, even though he could feel his mother's palpable anger. Ron himself was getting hot around the neck at Percy's self-centered personality.

Congratulations on becoming a Gryffindor prefect! Take advantage of this because prefect is the first step to becoming Head Boy. I must say that for a moment I had thought you were going to follow in the "admirable" footsteps of Fred and George, but it was a pleasant surprise that you are following in mine. It's good to see that you are finally seeing some sense.

I guess you already heard about the whole Harry Potter thing. One must wonder if it is true though. Potter does have a tendency to exaggerate things, so I doubt this so called 'abuse' was really all that bad. As for him missing, I bet he left on his own over something childish and won't return just to get some attention. You should take advantage of this. Sever all your ties with Potter; he will only hold you back. True, he may be Dumbledore's favorite, but the people who really do count in the world do not think too highly of him.

You will only doom yourself and your future by being friends with such a controversial person as Potter. Potter's behavior is known to be violent and aggressive at times so if you have any trouble doing so when they finally 'find' him, I suggest you have a talk with Dolores Umbridge. She is a rather delightful woman who will be taking the Defense Against the Dark Arts post this year. I'm sure that she will help you.

I hope you will take my advice. Think about what I have said, especially about Harry Potter. It's dangerous knowing that boy. Also, don't let family ties hold you back. Once again, congratulations on becoming a prefect.

Your brother,

Percy

Ron finished the letter with his voice shaking with rage. He folded the letter up and focused on his mother's shocked face. No doubt that she's upset about him and what he said. Particularly about Harry. "I think I'm going to take Percy's advice, Mum. I'm not going to let my family ties hold me back." Vehemently, Ron shredded the paper into bits. "As of now, I have no relation or any connection at all to the person known as Percival Weasley."

His mother smiled at him and enveloped him in a hug. "For a second you scared me, Ronald Weasley. But I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Mum. By the way, can I have a Howler?"

She fixed him with a questioning look. "Why on Earth would you want a Howler?"

"I want to send a reply back to Percy. It would be rude not to give him a last letter."

"Hmm," Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Perhaps we both should send him a last reply. In the middle of the day, when he's at his office."

He smiled back at her evilly. "And you wonder where Fred and George got it." He then ran as his mother advanced threateningly upon him in mock anger with a wooden spoon.

We'll find you, Harry. Don't worry. You're part of my family, more a part of this family than Percy ever was. And when you're a part of the Weasley family, you're never alone. Wait for us, we're coming Harry. Heaven only knows when we'll find you, but rest assured, we will.

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