Voldy, Demons, and Death Eaters! Oh My! *Editing*

Special thanks to JenKM1216 for acting as my Beta until I can find one! You rock, sis!

Chapter 2-Harry Gets His Answers


Harry checked his watch. It was 3:00 p.m. For the first time since arriving at the Dursleys', Harry felt a thrill of excitement and anticipation shoot through his body. Not only would he probably soon be seeing his friends, but the questions burning in his brain all summer would finally have answers.

"Hedwig, we're finally leaving,” he shouted to the bird, which started at the outburst.

Harry began to pack away his school books, supplies, robes, regular clothes, and his beloved Firebolt into his school trunk. He carefully looked around his room for anything that he might have left that he would need. Satisfied that he was not forgetting anything, he gently put Hedwig in her cage, took a deep breath, and went to face the Dursleys.

Harry walked solemnly into the living room. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were watching their favorite program. Dudley was nowhere to be found, and, since he was extremely hard to miss due to his bulk, Harry figured he must be tormenting the younger children in the neighborhood with his gang. Harry waited for a commercial to come on, then said, "Excuse me; I just wanted to tell you that I've had an Owl from Professor Dumbledore. He is sending Professors Lupin and Moody to pick me up at 5:00 this evening."

"What do you mean you’re leaving?” snarled Uncle Vernon. "Start of term is not for another six weeks. Believe me, I've been keeping track."

"I know school doesn't start for another six weeks, you’re not the only ones who want me out of this house,” said Harry irritably. "The headmaster said that they needed me back at school early this year. Anyway, you'll recognize the men who are coming to get me. You met them on the platform at the end of last term."

Harry suppressed a smile at the immediate drain of color from Uncle Vernon's face and the slight greenish tinge that came over his aunt.

"Two of them? Which two?” she asked nervously, glancing out of the windows as though they were standing outside for all the neighbors to see.

"Professor Lupin is tall and graying. Professor Moody was the one with the bowler hat,” said Harry, trying not to laugh.

"The one with the freaky eye? What time did you say you'd be leaving? How are they getting here? I do not want my living room blown up again, you hear?” bellowed Uncle Vernon.

"I will be leaving at 5:00 p.m. They're coming in a Muggle car, so your living room should be safe,” Harry said pleasantly, remembering when Ron's father, Mr. Weasley, had accidentally blown up half of the living room when trying to get out of the sealed fireplace.

"Well, that's a half an hour from now! We can't be expected to be ready in that time!” said Aunt Petunia.

"They will only be here long enough to collect me. They don't care about what the house looks like or what you’re wearing,” said Harry in exasperation.

"It would have been polite to give us at least one day's notice. You people are a very inconsiderate lot, aren't you?” sneered Uncle Vernon.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to finish packing,” said Harry, making a hasty retreat. He took the steps three at a time and was in his room before they could call him back.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be,” he said to Hedwig.

Harry began to pace his room and, after about twenty minutes, he stopped to stare anxiously out the window. He heard a car turn down the street and almost fell out of the window trying to watch its progression down the street. "Please let it be them, please let it be them, please, please let it be them,” Harry chanted under his breath. As the car slowed and then turned into the driveway, Harry gave a fervent, "Thank you,” and pulled his head in the window so fast he hit his head.

"Ouch, damn it,” he groaned, grabbing Hedwig's cage in one hand and the end of his trunk in the other. He dragged his trunk down the hall and was at the top of the steps when he heard a knock at the door.

By the time Harry got half way down the stairs, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were in the hall, and Uncle Vernon flung open the door.

"Don't you think that you should give people a little more warning before you show up on their doorsteps?" demanded Uncle Vernon.

Mad-Eye Moody tipped back his bowler hat and looked Uncle Vernon over from head to toe with both his normal and magical eyes. Stepping through the doorway, he said, "Why? We didn't come to visit you, Dursley. We came for the boy."

Whether he noticed Uncle Vernon's paling face and the horror in his and Aunt Petunia's expressions, Moody didn't let on.

Uncle Vernon was soon distracted, however, from Moody's magical eye by the entrance of Remus Lupin. Vernon Dursley took in his shabby clothes and looked like he was torn between rage at him having the nerve to be in his house and cracking some mean joke. Then he seemed to remember what he was and, with more restraint than Harry had ever seen him use, kept his mouth shut.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. We have met before, but I do not think that we were properly introduced. I am Remus Lupin, and this is Alastor Moody.” He then caught sight of Harry at the bottom of the stairs trying, unsuccessfully, to repress a fit of laughter at the Dursleys' situation. "Hello, Harry,” he said, smiling. "Are you sure that you packed everything?"

"Yes, sir. Well, goodbye,” he said to his aunt and uncle, who seemed to be too afraid to say anything, even though they clearly wanted to.

"Yeah, bye,” said Moody, grinning as well. It made the scars all over his face look even worse and showed some missing teeth. Petunia let out a terrified squeak and hid behind Uncle Vernon.

"Have a pleasant evening. Harry will return at the end of term,” said Lupin, closing the door behind him.

Lupin and Harry got his trunk into the back of the car. Then, Harry and Hedwig got in the back seat. Once Lupin and Moody got in the front, Harry asked, "Where did you get the car?"

"I borrowed it from a Muggle neighbor,” Moody said as Lupin backed out of the driveway.

Harry gave a laugh that he tried to disguise as a cough. He was pretty sure that with Moody's appearance any Muggle would be afraid to say no.

As they turned onto the highway, Harry found that he couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer. All the things he hadn't been able to ask all summer tumbled out of his mouth so fast that the adult wizards had trouble following him.

"What's Voldemort doing? Have there been any deaths or disappearances that haven't been in the Daily Prophet? Professor Dumbledore said there had been a development; what was it? Are we going to the Burrow? If not, where are we going, and will Ron and Hermione be there?"

When Harry paused to take a breath, Moody growled, "Not here. We will be where we're going in a couple of hours."

"We will fill you in as much as we can when we get there,” Lupin said, looking at Harry in the rear view mirror so that Harry could see he meant it. "How has your summer been?"

Harry felt frustration and anger fill him almost immediately. He could feel the magical eye watching him through the back of Moody's head and looked at his shoes. Harry willed himself to calm down. They were going to answer his questions; he just had to be patient for a little bit longer. A couple of hours were nothing compared to the weeks he had already waited.

"As well as can be expected in that house,” Harry said. Then, struck by sudden inspiration, Harry asked casually, "How have your summers been? Interesting?"

Lupin laughed. Moody gruffly said, “Nice try, Potter. Our summers have been interesting alright. Now, you wait."

Sighing, Harry made himself comfortable and began to wait. He listened to Lupin and Moody argue about turning around to throw off any pursuers about five times in an hour and a half. As he looked out the window, Harry saw the sun was starting to set, painting beautiful colors across the sky. He had just begun a heat-related doze when the car suddenly stopped, jerking him awake. He must have fallen asleep because the sun had already set, and night was falling. Moody and Lupin were both already out of the car and looking around. Harry groggily began to look around also and was snapped fully awake by what he saw.

Moody opened his door and said gruffly, "Let's go while the coast is clear."

Harry looked at him in dumbfounded horror, his mouth open in shock.

"We have to hurry, Harry. You're not safe out in the open. Do you remember how to see it?” Lupin asked gently.

Harry nodded mutely. He picked up Hedwig's cage and one end of his trunk, Lupin got the other. They stepped onto the rubbish-strewn sidewalk, and Harry thought, "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place." The house magically squeezed itself into existence. They walked up onto the porch, Harry's mind racing, and Moody unlocked the door with his wand. They all hurried through the entrance. Once again, Harry found himself in his Godfather's house, the last place he had seen Sirius before that fateful night in the Department of Mysteries.

"Why are we here?” asked Harry numbly.

He looked around. It couldn't have looked more different. The house was no longer covered with dust and dirt. It was still quite shabby, the paint and wallpaper peeling, but it was actually clean enough for safe human habitation. Harry found that he was impressed in spite of the numbness he still felt.

"Well, Harry, being as Sirius wanted the house to have a good purpose, and, since no one knows of its existence, Dumbledore decided that it would be prudent to keep it. It is very well protected, as you know,” Lupin said gently.

"Where's Kreacher?” Harry asked suddenly, his eyes going very cold.

"The elf is dead. When we came back after, well, after what happened, we found his body. As far as we know, Dumbledore was the last one to see him alive,” said Moody gruffly.

"Let's go downstairs before we wake up Mrs. Black,” said Lupin suddenly, trying to change the subject.

They left the trunk off to the side so that no one would trip over it, walked down the hall, past the dining room, and through the door that led down to the kitchen. Once they hit the bottom of the stairs, Harry was attacked by something red and something bushy. All of them were knocked painfully down onto the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

"Girls get off of him,” cried Mrs. Weasley, a kind, plump, red-haired witch in green robes. "Hello, Alastor. Hello, Remus. Arthur is still at work. Would you like some tea?"

"Love some, Molly, thank you,” said Remus.

"Sounds good,” said Moody, sitting down stiffly.

By this time, Ginny and Hermione had managed to disentangle all their limbs from Harry's. Ron offered him a hand up, shaking his head. "Girls are mental, I'm tellin' you,” he said in disgust, rolling his eyes at his little sister and their best friend.

"Hello, guys,” said Harry, rubbing his elbow where it had hit the floor during his fall.

"Harry, dear, would you like some tea or butterbeer?” asked Mrs. Weasley, smiling at him.

"Tea would be fine, thank you, Mrs. Weasley,” said Harry, retuning the warm smile.

She threw him one last smile and busied herself making tea for everyone.

"Alright, who wants to start? I have a right to know what's going on."

Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron took seats at the table. Mrs. Weasley came over with a mug of tea for everyone and a teapot. Lupin looked down at his hands, as if searching for where to begin. All the teenagers sat on the edges of their seats in breathless anticipation.

"There are some things that you would have learned this year in your History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes which would have made it easier to explain all this to you. What you have to understand is that we are not the only type of magical humans. There is another kind of witch called Wiccan."

Hermione cut him off with: "Oh, I read about them in, Witches of All Kinds Around the World. A Wiccan witch’s sole purpose is to protect Muggles against demons. They live among and work side by side with Muggles, so, of course, they are not allowed to use magic in their everyday lives, the way we do, or for personal gain. It would give them too great an advantage and would risk them being exposed, so any Wiccan witch who tries has the spell backfire on her,” finished Hermione.

"Very good, Hermione,” said Lupin, looking impressed, but not surprised. "Wiccans' powers work differently from ours. They are born with active powers which they are able to use without wands. Actually, they do not use wands at all, but they do use potions and spells, along with their active powers, to vanquish demons.

"They answer to a group of higher beings called the Elders, and have guardians, who are called White Lighters, that make sure that they do not let their regular lives get in the way of protecting Muggles. White Lighters also make sure that they only use their powers to that end.

"A prophecy was made over three hundred years ago by a Wiccan witch named Melinda Warren. She prophesied that from her line would be born three sisters who would become the most powerful good witches ever born."

"The Charmed Ones,” exclaimed Hermione excitedly. "I read about them too. Each sister would have one of Melinda Warren's three powers: the power of telekinesis, the power to freeze time, and the power of premonition."

"What's telekinesis?” asked Ron in confusion.

"Moving objects with your mind,” Hermione said irritably. "But there hasn't been any proof that the prophecy ever came true."

"The Charmed Ones are alive and well and currently living in San Francisco, California. They were able to vanquish to King of the Underworld, called the Source, three years ago. Since then, the demons have been in total chaos because they are all vying for the position.

"We have found out that Voldemort has started gaining power and raising an army of demons. He promised to have his Death Eaters kill the Charmed Ones, and since they are not used to fighting our kind...” Lupin trailed off tiredly.

"They wouldn't stand a chance against the Death Eaters,” said Harry in horror.

"That isn't all, Potter,” growled Moody. "You wouldn't know how to defeat a demon if you ran into one. Fighting one of them is much different than fighting a wizard. It would kill you before you could even think to run."

"Also, the spell at your aunt’s house that holds Voldemort at bay will not work on a demon. They could pop in and kill you without any problem,” added Lupin. "That is why we had to get you out of the Dursleys' house as soon as possible."

”Dumbledore should be talking to the Charmed Ones right now. He is going to try to persuade them to come here, both to help protect you and for their own protection. We'll have to wait until they arrive for anymore information,” said Moody gruffly, exchanging worried looks with both Lupin and Mrs. Weasley, while the teenagers attempted to digest everything that they had just learned.

~*~*~*~*~

A little while later, the Golden Trio and Ginny were able to escape the kitchen with the excuse that Harry needed to get settled into the room he shared with Ron. Harry grabbed Hedwig’s cage in one hand and one end of his trunk in the other. Once Ron had picked up the opposite end, the teenagers crept up the stairs, past Mrs. Black’s portrait, and up to the bedroom.

“I wonder who Dumbledore is going to hire as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?” Hermione mused as the others seated themselves on the beds. “He is going to have to get someone who really knows what they are doing, being that we may have to be fighting demons soon. If only Professor Lupin could come back to teach. I am sure he knows what he is doing.”

“Yeah, well, anyone would be better than that Umbridge,” Harry said darkly, glancing at the scars on the back of his hand.

“That goes without saying,” Ginny replied.

“Besides, Dumbledore didn’t hire her, Fudge put her at Hogwarts. I don’t think he will be in a hurry to interfere with him now that he has proof that Dumbledore and Harry have been telling the truth all along,” Hermione said smugly.

“Still, you have to wonder who would be willing to take the job,” Ron said thoughtfully. “I mean, the teachers don’t last long, do they?”

“He probably won’t have all the trouble he has had before in finding a teacher,” Harry said. When the others looked at him incredulously, he continued, “Well, with Voldemort back, where is safer than Hogwarts? With Dumbledore there, Voldemort won’t try anything.”

“You’re probably right, mate,” Ron agreed, though Hermione continued to look doubtful.

Ginny, however, looked a bit awkward before asking Harry, “How have you been feeling since what happened in the Department of Mysteries?”

Harry was taken aback by the sudden change of subject. He frowned, not really wanting to talk about Sirius’ death at the moment. “I’m fine,” he said simply, avoiding her eyes.

Ron came to his rescue after seeing Harry’s reluctance to discuss the subject and asked him loudly, “How about a game of Exploding Snap? Dumbledore won’t be back for a bit yet, so we have time for a quick game.”

“Sounds great,” Harry said, relieved.