Don't worry, Weasleygurl I won't keep you hanging..for too much longer

Chapter 27: The Vow

Harry looked up as several people entered the room. When at last the door was closed, Moody, at a nod from Dumbledore, once again performed a complicated serious of charms, making it impossible for anyone to enter until the meeting was over.

“First things first.” Minerva stood up, ready for business. She turned to Harry’s group of friends. “Come up here, and stand facing the back of the room.”

Harry like the others got up, confused as to what was going on. He looked questionally to Minerva before turning to face the people he had grown to known and love.

Lupin had been there for him, especially since Sirius. He wasn't sure about this apparent tension between him and his father, but he was sure he would get to the bottom of it, as soon as Sirius was safe, that is.

And there was Tonks sitting next to him. She had managed to get her hair under control, which was a good thing. At the moment it was a ridiculously long, curly blond which was not flattering in the least, but a vast improvement from the half mousy, half punk look she had previously been sporting.

Molly and Charlie sat on either side of Arthur. There were tears in Molly’s eyes, not knowing whether to be proud or terrified. Arthur was beaming, a grin bursting off of his face. Harry couldn’t help but grin as well.

The Weasley twins were behind them, making faces at the group standing in front of them, at least until Moody shot them a look.

Moody was standing next to the group, alternately shooting dirty looks at the twins and grinning at the group.

Hagrid, who hadn’t been at the earlier meeting, sat in the corner sniveling like a baby. Harry shook his head in wonderment at him.

Harry’s eyes finally met those of his parents. He hadn’t even realized that they had snuck back in, but it seemed fitting.

“We need you to take a serious oath before we continue. It requires the Unbreakable Vow. We, in this room have all taken it, are you prepared to do the same?” Minerva asked them in the most serious voice they had ever heard. At the nod of each of the children, the other members came up to assist

Fred and George tripped over each other to reach Ron, laughing as they did, and ignoring the dirty looks from their mother, Moody and Minerva. Dumbledore tried not to smile, but it was obvious that it was difficult.

Arthur and Molly put their arms around Ginny, awaiting instruction as she smiled up at them.

Lupin and Tonks began to walk up to Hermione, but a sobbing Hagrid beat Tonks there. Looking around for a moment, Tonks turned to Luna and grinned. Charlie also joined Luna and put his arm around Tonks, completely missing the jealous look that crossed Lupin’s face for a split second.

“I wish your parents were here to do this for you, but I would be proud to do it none the less.” Moody said as he slapped Neville’s back, sending him to his knees. Minerva sighed as she helped Neville up.

At last Harry’s parents made it to the front and joined him, each smiling in pride at him.

“Everyone, get ready.” Dumbledore said from his portrait, beaming at the room. At his word, the various groups moved into position.

Fred grabbed Ron’s right hand with his, and George pulled out his wand placing it on the hands.

Arthur took his daughters hand, while Molly held the wand on their right hands.

Charlie took Luna’s hand and missed both the dirty look from Neville, but also the knowing smile from Lupin.

Because Hagrid was not a fully fledged wizard and did not (legally) have a wand, he took Hermione’s hand as Lupin put his wand on their clasped hands.

At a motion from Moody, Minerva took Neville’s hand as Neville warily eyed the wand Moody had placed on their hands. Moody was after all, often known as a loose cannon.

With tears in her eyes, Lily Potter firmly and loving grasped her sons right hand in hers. James proudly pulled out his new wand, admiring it for a brief moment, before placing on the clasped hands of the mother and son.

At a nod from Minerva, Dumbledore began giving solemnly instructions. “I will give the vow. The order members will each repeat the vow after me. You will respond with ‘I do.’ Do you understand?”

At the nod of each of the children, Dumbledore began. “Do you promise that you join the Order in its cause to protect the world from Dark Wizards?” As the oath was repeated and each child said “I do” thin wisps of red flames shot out of the ends of the wands and began wrapping themselves around the clasped hands.

“Do you promise to keep the secrets plans of the order, and not divulge them to anyone other than other Order Members?” Another batch of flames shot out, binding the hands.

“Do you promise that if you have any questions or doubts to a member’s loyalties that you will bring those questions before the council before any action is made?” After hesitations, more flames shot out of the wands. Dumbledore fought to keep his face serious and not smile, knowing that they were thinking of Snape.

“Do you promise to perform to the best of your abilities any request of the Order?” “I do.” Came the immediate response followed by more winding flame.

Dumbledore smiled sadly at their lack of hesitation and almost blind devotion towards the Order. “Do you promise that if a request is asked of you that you do not feel is working towards the greater good, you will raise your questions to the council before completing the task?” Harry and Hermione looked up questioningly at Dumbledore before saying “I do.”

“And finally, do you promise to continue fighting towards the good of people regardless of losses that you might experience.” “I do.” The response came more firmly from both Harry and Neville, who had lost almost everything. The final flame wrapped itself around the clasped hands.

“Do you once again promise to uphold the promises that you have made here today?” Dumbledore asked. “I do.” As this final affirmation was made, the flames appeared to tie a knot around the clasped hands and then melt into the hands sealing the promises.

“You have all made an Unbreakable Vow. This vow is unique from other vows in the fact that you have made these promises to the Order, not to and individual. Even if the person that you have made this vow perishes, your vow will not be broken until the Order is no more.”

As Dumbledore finished the group began sitting down, Harry felt his chest swell out a bit, proud that he was now a member of the Order of the Phoenix.


Standing back up in the front, Minerva began to speak. “You may have been wondering why you have been asked here today, without the rest of the Order members.” She began, looking to each individual in turn.

“You have shown great devotion to the Order, yes even you children, and we have a special mission for you. We would like to form an Order within the Order, if you will, to carry out certain missions with sensitive information. The information I am about to give you should be held in the strictest confidence, even from the other Order members. I can not imagine Mundungus with this information.” Minerva mumbled the last part, causing a giggle to ripple throughout the people present.

“Now, now, Minerva.” Dumbledore said, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. “You don’t want them to think that we don’t trust our own hand picked members, now do you?”

“Yes of course, your right.” Minerva sighed. “It is not that we don’t trust our members, it is just that we trust some more than others.” She compromised.

“Now, if you choose to be apart of this new elite branch of the Order, you must do so now, before we give you the information.” Minerva said all business once more.

Harry looked around the room at the people that he loved, he of course, knew what at least this mission entailed, and hoped that everyone in the room would blindly agree to join. He knew in his heart that they all would.

She put a vessel on the table that reminded Harry of the Goblet of Fire. It was in the shape of a pentagon and was filled with a red fire, but it emitted no heat. Next to the container she placed a stack of parchment and a beautiful quill.

“If you choose to join us, step forward, right your name on the parchment with this quill and throw your name into this chalice.” She said motioning to the table. “If you cannot put your faith in us, please leave.” She motioned to the door.

For a moment no one moved. Then Harry rose and stepped up to the table, the rest of the group followed suit. Moody brought up the rear, and he had tears of pride in his eyes at the devotion these people had to the betterment and safety of the world.

Minerva led off the group, writing her name on the parchment and then throwing it into the fire. One by one the rest did the same. When the last name had been entered and everyone was in there seats, she closed the lid.

“Brace yourself.” She said calmly. “This will hurt.”

Not knowing what she meant, the group looked around at each other, but then tried to prepare themselves for the pain, a difficult task since they had no idea where it would hit.

Minerva took out her wand, pushed back her sleeves, and tapped the box three times while inaudibly muttering an incantation. As she finished, she tapped it one last time, the box lifted off the table and began to spin, engulfing the room in light. Suddenly, everyone in the room began to scream.

Harry screamed at the pain coursing through his arm. He desperately clawed at the sleeve of his robe, finally managing to pull it up. An image was beginning to appear, as if being burned on to the tender skin of the underside of his wrist where his arm met the palm. He gasped as the image came into focus.

Branded on his arm was an image of a phoenix, Fawkes from the looks of it, behind the phoenix was a pentagram, a five pointed star. Harry watched mesmerized as the tiny phoenix on his arm began to beat its wings. As suddenly as it was there however, it had vanished.

Harry stood up as the pain became a distant memory and noticed others in the room picking themselves off the floor, all staring at Minerva.

“The Order had been communicating through the use of their patronus. This was dangerous because it can be identified who and where the caster is. If you remember, that is how the Death Eaters were able to track and murder Fluer Delacour and Bill Weasley.” Pain was apparent in her voice as she said this. Molly gave a slight sob but held her head up high.

“Because of this we gave all the members these rings.” she said handing out a ring to each person. “They do not give specifics; they just heat up when we activate them to call a meeting. While these, being object can be stolen, if a Death Eater finally figured out that it signified a meeting, they would not no where to go.”

Harry examined the ring as Minerva spoke, it was a plain gold band. The only distinguishing thing about the ring is that it had an ornately carved phoenix, surprisingly detailed for how miniscule it was. He placed it on the ring finger on his right hand. It had been charmed to fit the wearer perfectly.

Minerva demonstrated how the rings worked, she tapped hers muttering something and suddenly his ring began to emit warmth, not unpleasantly warm, just enough to get his attention. “When you feel the warmth. Meet here directly. Again this is for a normal Order of the Phoenix meeting.” Minerva said lowering her wand. “We got this idea from you.” Minerva said acknowledging Hermione. “From your DA coins.” She said proudly as Hermione blushed.

“Now.” Minerva said indicating her wrist. “We got this idea from the Death Eater’s Dark Mark, but expanded on it. If you notice, the mark has vanished. Because we are an essentially nonexistent Order within the Order of the Phoenix we wanted something that would alert you of a meeting or when someone was in danger with out being an object that could be stolen. We also wanted something that would be discrete, unlike the Dark Mark. This mark will appear when someone is sending a message. The message itself is given to you, almost like a voice whispering in your ear. You will know, but no one else will.

"When the message is complete, the mark will again disappear. We tried to make it invisible all of the time, but it seems impossible. This message is in detail, and tells when and where the meeting is. It can also be sent as a warning, and a plea for help. Anyone can send a message, but remember it will come to all of us, and please use discretion when using it.” Minerva again lifted up her wand and placed it on the mark. “I need help.” She said, “I am trapped at the school.” As soon as she had lowered her wand her voice whispered through his head.

“Wow!” he gasped, looking around. Everyone else in the group seemed to be impressed with this means of communication.

“Now that that is taken care of, let’s get down to the first mission.”


From a motion from Minerva, Harry stood and nervously made his way to the front of the room.

“Earlier today.” He began with a shaky voice, “after the game, when we left you” he looked around the room, trying to ignore the baffled looks on almost everyone’s faces, “something happened that I didn’t tell you about.”

“I thought you said you went to the school?” Ron asked almost accusingly.

“You knew about this?” Hermione asked a hurt expression on her face.

“We did go to the school!” Harry insisted, “And no, I didn’t know about this, jus the mission.” Harry said addressing Hermione’s question.

“Oh, ok.” Ron said motioning Harry to continue, apparently satisfied with his answer.

Rolling his eyes, Harry continued. He told them everything, about the portrait, about the meeting, the journey through the castle, the rooms. He did however leave out the nightmare from the potions, much to the disappointment of his parents, who were still curious about what he saw. He told them about the portraits and the Founders and what they had to say.

When he was finished, everyone sat in shocked silence for a few moments.

“You met the Founders?” Hermione asked in awe.

Harry nodded, he could tell she wanted to bombard him with questions, but knew it was not the right time. He was impressed with her self control, all though he could tell she was struggling with it.

“So what do we have to do to get Sirius out?” James and Lupin asked almost simultaneously. Lupin shot James a dark look, James looked down, hurt.

“We have to pull Sirius out and destroy the veil all at the same time. There can’t be any wait time in between. I have been given the incantation to extract Sirius from the veil. Someone needs to say the incantation, grab Sirius as he comes through the door, and almost even before he is completely clear of the door, the rest of the group needs to begin the incantation to seal and destroy the door. This is important because we do not want any of the evil to get out.”

Hermione and Ginny both gave a visible shudder at the thought of what might be waiting in the veil, biding its time to come out.

We need to go over this, and practice the incantations until we have them perfectly. There will be no opportunities for mistakes. We have one opportunity and a slip up could be disastrous.” Harry tried to press upon them the feeling of dread that the Founders had pressed upon him.

“There is one more thing before we continue any farther.” Harry said solemnly dreading what he was about to say.

“Once we get Sirius out of the veil, it may become apparent that he has become corrupt or contaminated with this evil that resides in the veil. If this happens, we must destroy him. No questions asked. We can not take the risk.” Harry paused to regain his composure.

“If you can not agree to this, ALL of you, “he spoke to everyone, but his eyes were focused on his father and Lupin, “then I will NOT give you the spell to save him, and we WILL destroy the veil without trying. Do you understand?” His eyes bore into the two men, when they and the rest of the group had all nodded in agreement, Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

With a flick of his wand a huge whiteboard appeared with three spells on them: “Eximo Sirius Black”,“Occlude Vinculum” and “Eradico Arcus Claustrum”

“The first spell is the incantation to remove a person.” He then demonstrated the proper wand movement as shown to him by the Founders. They had made him do it over and over again, till they were satisfied that he could pronounce and perform the spell perfectly.

“Because they taught me to do it, I will perform the incantation to remove Sirius.” Harry said in a voice that left no room for argument.

“The moment you see Sirius come through the Arch, perform the second spell.” He demonstrated the proper pronunciation. “The wand movement is simple; just point it at the arch.” He listened as they each pronounced the spell. “You will only need to do this spell once, but you need to make sure that Sirius is most of the way out before you do it other wise it will trap him halfway inside.” Harry continued walking through the group.

“After I extract Sirius I will use Petrificus Totalus and Incarcerous to make sure that if he is corrupted that he will not bother us while we destroy the veil.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “In case something should happen that would make him immune to the spells, would you be ready to assist me Moody?” Harry asked.

“Of course I will.” Moody gruffly answered.

“Might I make a suggestion, Harry?” Minerva asked stepping up.

At Harry’s nod she continued, “Why don’t Miss Granger and Miss Weasley perform the incantation to seal the door. Molly and Lily can keep an eye on them incase they need more assistance with the sealing, if anything tries to get out, they can use their patronus to push it back in. Meanwhile, Moody and Arthur will be ready to assist you if the need should arise. The rest of us will begin destroying the gate the second it is sealed and the rest can join in.”

Harry thought about it for a second and nodded. “Yes, that will work, I like it.” He smiled as he made his way back to the front.

“When are we going to do this, Harry?” Ron asked, seeing a break in the conversation.

“Right now.” Harry said, “Are we ready?”

There were a few panicked looks, but everyone stood up and followed Harry out of the room. “We will use the floo network to get there, it is the easiest and most secure.” They arrived at the fireplace and one by one, each person took a handful of powder and stepped in to the grate, saying their destinations clearly, “The Ministry of Magic.”

“I need to get some more floo powder.” Molly said absentmindedly before she too disappeared.

In the darkness of the alleyway, a man stared at the location he knew the house to be. “They already got a new secret keeper.” He whispered bitterly and began to laugh. It was a cold dark laugh; the laugh of a madman.