Chapter 2

"Smoke balls on 3! 2! 1! Now!"

"Smoke balls deployed and functioning, targets moving blindly now."

"Offensive spells on 3, then apparate to north-west peak! 3, 2, 1, now!"

"Apparition successful, awaiting your arrival."

"Directives, please."

"You've got it."

"Urgh, Flame, those guys use some nasty spells," said Harry as he apparated to her.

"I suggest wait here for them to bunch together then send down one of the stunner balls, we have a better view from up here."

"Noted."

"They're going to bunch in exactly 10 seconds," said Ginny, using her carefully honed partial seer talent.

"In 10, the stunner balls go down."

"5 seconds to go. 4. 3. 2. 1."

"Launch!"

"Griffin?"

"Flame?"

"They worked. We won!"

"Brilliant! I love those spheres. Now, I would say that we apparate back, but no doubt Eagle has another surprise planned for us."

"No doubt."

"Wands out, belongings away, take up defensive stance," said Harry suddenly, before he began to follow his own orders.

"Ambush set for us about to activate, get ready, Griffin."

"Ready. Take stance behind, watch my back, Flame."

"Ready, Griffin, prepared for ambush." Suddenly, there was a loud CRACK, and they were surrounded by people in black robes with white masks.

"Prepare for long assault," said Harry before he launched into attack mode.

"Griffin, there are wards up!"

"I see them. Anti-apparition and portkey wards, don't try either modes of transport!"

"Noted!"

"Griffin, south side are retreating."

"Noted, take up west side. East side retreating as well, leaving north for me!"

"Griffin, West side moving forward for close combat."

"Flame, take both West and North, I'm attacking the wards."

"Hurry."

"Taking wards. Ach; that was draining. Leave north now, focus on West."

"Noted."

"North beginning to retreat, focussing on west. What are you carrying?"

"Wand and spare only."

"We're fighting multiple-wands now!"

"Noted! This end in close, they're prepared to face close combat."

"Keep a hold of both wands and hold on. Wards are down, apparition good to go."

"Griffin, I have to initiate close combat in 5 seconds."

"Noted. Apparate to safe house in 15 seconds. All but 2 down on this side, joining you."

"Prepared to apparate."

"NOW!" yelled Harry before he apparated away to the roof of the nearby house they had called 'safe' earlier in the exercise.

"They're confused, taking them down now, both wands! NOW!"

"They're down, Griffin."

"Good, that was fun, now let's go through the drill and give them the portkey back to the holding rooms anyway, even if they aren't real."

"I will never understand how you enjoy those exercises, Griffin," said Ginny exasperatedly as they apparated silently back to the fallen 'Death Eaters' that were really training dummies.

"It's exhilarating," he whined, "not quite as good as Quidditch, but it's up there!"

"Huh, that's why you're pair leader and not me," she said, "and did Eagle mention something about almost being finished training? Might have been Lenta, but I swear they have been hinting at that for the last week," said Ginny as they sat down on the ground, training exercise done.

"I think it was Eagle, if we did well enough in the main exercises that was earlier- I think we did, by the way, and didn't mess this one up even though we'd be exhausted, we'd be finished… but it's Eagle, everything she says has triple meanings. That's why I like working with Lenta."

"Lenta's tougher, though! Eagle acts tough and strict, but Lenta can actually pull it off… during training. I like working with Eagle, we go a little slower, but it's much more enjoyable."

"I prefer the challenge," said Harry distractedly, "oh, look, here they are."

"Yes, we're here, hola, I can hear your excitement," said Lenta.

"That was… acceptable for a long-range attack, you can work well together if you focus," said Eagle, and the pair sighed in relief. If Eagle called something acceptable, it was exceptional. Sort of.

"You died out towards the end just before the second attack," she continued, "but that was expected and you held up well. Good use of your different skills, especially the wandless attack and the ward removals by you, Griffin, and the warnings from you Flame."

"Sί, bien hecho, well done."

"Right, apparate back to the hut and we will meet you there," said Eagle mysteriously. Harry and Ginny looked at each other and shrugged before disappearing silently and re appearing outside the hut.

"Well that was the most mysterious thing she has ever said," said Harry, before he felt a slap.

"It is not, you just don't like her," she said sternly, but her eyes were dancing.

"Ha, you can't fool me with your stern act anymore, Flame, I can see through it all!"

"Fine, fine, leader Griffin."

"Hey!"

"You asked for it!"

"Can't wait to get back to Hogwarts just to see everyone's shock at how well we know each other and how much we've improved over the summer! Though meeting Lemon Drop and the rest of the Order of the Chicken might not be as highly anticipated. By the way, when was I going to be rescued from the Dursleys?"

You'll be at the Burrow in a week."

"Brilliant! Can't say I'm looking forward to being around the rest of your family, but it's nice being around you and the Burrow beats Privet Drive any day."

"Yeah, but mum won't know what to do, you don't need feeding!"

"True," said Harry. The four years of compressed time had given Harry a complete new look. He had grown a lot, the stunted growth from malnourishment being completely reversed- and Potters are tall. He was still thin, but his muscles were more compact giving him the look of a dancer- tightly coiled, wound like a spring and ready to leap at a moments' notice. His glasses had been broken beyond repair in the first week, leaving Harry to learn to brew an eyesight-restorative potion half-blind. That had exploded a few times. His hair was slightly longer, though that and the red streaks in it were due to his developing metamorphmagus talent. He stood straighter, his shoulders back and looked proud of himself which was a look that had been lacking before. His scar had begun to fade as Mere had discovered how to break the Dark Magic leaving Harry with a lot more magic at his command, especially after he released the previously suppressed magic. The magic reserves in his core he now had were enormous as it had slowly been building under suppression- leaving he and Ginny to discover Dumbledore's twinkling-eye trick- it was just the amount of magic he possessed.

"True," he continued, "and I think we might have a small problem explaining how we both look so much better after a day- or two months, depending who you're explaining to."

"Glad you think I look better," she teased, "anyway, have you forgotten what Lenta said about the charms to place on the people that saw us yesterday?"

"True… oh, we need to remember to sneak into the Underage Magic department or whatever it's called and get rid of our tracking charms."

"We don't even know if we're finished today!"

"Er… good point, that," he said.

"That it is," came Eagle's voice, "but not a necessary one."

"Congratulations, you two," said Lenta, holding out a card for each of them, "You are finished your training to become Unspeakables. Well, you will still receive a lot more training over the years, but it's all you need for now and you are free to join your team on missions," he finished. Harry grinned and looked down at the card he was holding.

TEAM 3 MEMBER

GRIFFIN

LEADER GRIFFINFLAME

FIELD OPERATIVE

DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES

It said nothing else, and was coloured plainly. Even without the words, it was obvious which Department it belonged to, due to the lack of information. It was known, however, to be impossible for anyone other than the holder to wear it. On the back there was a little more information.

TEAM WARDER

WANDLESS MAGIC

TEAM HEALER

OFFENSIVE

Harry almost laughed at the 'Team Healer' part. In the whole of Team 3, he was the only one to not have Healing magic as his weakness, so as a joke they had put that on his card. They were tempted to announced on Ginny's that it would be unwise to let her near your injuries, but finally Eagle had said it would be unprofessional. Team Warder was based on his mage sight and his skill with working them- once again he left his team behind there as only he and Ginny had the sight, his was stronger and wards were both offensive and defensive magic- it was rare for someone to be equally skilled in both. As Silver had said when they arrived, age didn't matter- only experience and he had the experience with wards. Wandless magic was self-explanatory, in his opinion, and 'Offensive' was written on his as 'Defensive' was on Ginny's as every pair had to have one of each- Ginny had stronger Defensive magic than Offensive and preferred to watch another's back than to go out on the front.

"Yes, you're done training. We're going to give you a break, actually, as Shadowflight have gone on holidays for a few months," Eagle sniffed her obvious disapproval, "so make sure you keep up your exercises and get all of your work and gadgets set up when you get to Hogwarts. We'll send you a message when you're needed back here and don't forget to use the time-turners to avoid suspicion."

"Bien hecho, Griffinflame, you have done well. Remember to keep practicing Occlumency and lock up your memories every day or when you learn something important so it can't be obliviated from you. We're ready to cancel the time compression. Are all your gadgets away?"

"Yes."

"Yup."

"Then, let's go!"

"Wait a moment, Lenta; you're always too eager here. Griffinflame, outside of time compression, four hours have gone past. That makes it 10am out there and in here you've just finished a full day. We've got potions to prepare you, here. Taste alright, too. Then you can go and enjoy your ay doing whatever you planned."

"I do always forget the potion. Griffin, Flame, I can no longer address you as novato, rookie. I shall address you now, as Operatives as that is what you are," he said formally, then added; "agentes!" Harry kept himself from rolling his eyes; instead he sent a wandless message spell to Ginny.

'Never going to get used to him saying every title in Spanish, I swear he does it to annoy us. We need to practice using real names. I've spent 4 years calling you only "Flame" and it would be dangerous to slip up on the outside. So… Ginny, for now.' He saw her nod when it hit and knew she got the message. They drank the potion and said goodbye- as well as given permission to portkey right out, Silver was dealing with the underage magic problem. Harry quickly sent another message spell.

'I've got some work to do at Gringotts, want to come to Diagon Alley? If yes, change robe colour to something more casual. You can always time-turn if worried about parents noticing absence.' Harry morphed into a slightly different face, before he decided to just leave his hood up and morphed it back- and was overjoyed when he saw Ginny's robes turn a light green.

"Portus," he shot the spell at a small piece of wood on the ground, focusing on the apparition point in the alley.

"Ready?" she nodded. Then let's go!" They touched it and the world was suddenly spinning around them… until their feet slammed into the ground. They stood blinking in the sunlight for a few seconds before they realised they needed to move and started to walk. It took a few minutes for Harry's eyes to adjust. Even with his mage sight almost completely shut off, the amount of magic in the area was phenomenal. He needed to be around places like it more often to get used to the lights. Ginny appeared to be having similar problems.

"It's really bright, isn't it?" he whispered. The nod was all the confirmation he needed. The pair of them strolled casually towards the bright white building at the end of the alley and entered, barely acknowledging the poem on the double doors. Harry walked up to a free goblin along the many counters.

"I would like to visit my family vault," he said when the goblin looked up.

"Name," he sneered.

"Potter. The goblin nodded.

"I will have someone take you down to the vault," he said, "Sharptooth!" Another goblin, Harry presumed it was Sharptooth, came walking towards them.

"Family vault," said the first goblin, "you know the deal. Potter." Sharptooth nodded.

"Follow me."

"F-Ginny, are you coming?" asked Harry when she showed signs of staying and waiting for him. "You're welcome to come, you know, I might need some help, anyway." Ginny nodded.

"Nice save," she muttered when she was close enough. They got in the cart and it began flying down the tracks much faster than Harry remembered, to his delight. All too soon, the cart began to slow.

"Family Vault 7," announced Sharptooth, smirking in what could almost be interpreted as evil. "Place your hand on the vault door. If you are who you claim to be, the door will open." Harry finally realised why they hadn't challenged his identity at all. The vaults could be nasty if you tried anything. Harry stepped up and placed his right hand in the niche on the door. It opened slowly, with green smoke billowing out in the wake of the door. At least it didn't melt away like others.

"Coming in Fl-Ginny?"

"Are you sure, Gri-Harry?"

"I'm sure."

"Move over, then!" Harry laughed and stepped inside the vault- and gasped. It was huge. His trust vault- which he had believed was the only one he had until time compression- was dwarfed in money alone by this vault. However the family vault was not mainly gold. There were thousands of family heirlooms arranged throughout the cavern. It was simply incredible. Harry made his way towards the pedestal in the centre of the vault and looked at it. There was a small ring- the family Head ring- and a letter. He reached out for it and shook it open.

To our Dearest Harry

(Sorry if you don't like being addressed like that!) If you are reading this letter that means Voldemort has found us and we have not survived. If this is the case, hopefully it is your 15th birthday and you are standing there reading this with Padfoot and possibly Moony. If not, Dumbledore has a lot to answer for (unless Padfoot just forgot that you were to access the vault on our 15th birthday.) Anyway, Happy Birthday if it is. If you're anything like your father and you did grow up with or friends, you will probably skip this next part.

A family's first male heir is always in line to receive the Head and Lordship of the family line once they turn 17. If the family has no heir, or the heir is too young when the current Head dies, it is passed onto the closest of the line, assuming they are magical, of course. However, you are the last of the line. There are no other Potters which means that you are free to become emancipated and take the Head and Lordship of the family on your 15th birthday. Of course it becomes slightly more complex for you as you are also last of the line of the Evans family, assuming that your older cousin Dudley possesses no magical talents. (or he does, but not enough to attend Hogwarts.)

The Head of House ring on the pedestal is rather special, though it is actually the same as all other Head rings… but that's beside the point. The point is, once you put it on, you automatically assume you position as long as the ring accepts you. The ring acts as a portkey to all Potter and Evans property unless you buy more, in which case you will need to add it to the portkey destinations. It cannot be removed from your finger until you die, when it places itself back on this pedestal. It is invisible to everyone unless you want them to see it, and it cannot be felt by others, either. Yes, you can take others on the portkey- one at a time, but it requires you to let them see the ring. The other thing you can do is make it visible only to certain people. Very useful if you want to make a statement to one person but leave the next oblivious. Finally, it vibrates if it comes into contact with a potion. Brilliant, no one can prank you by potions again, as if a potion is… say, on your spoon, and you're holding the spoon, the ring will still vibrate. The only way someone could potion you without your knowledge is if they feed it to you directly. Once again to do with potions, once the ring comes into contact with a certain one, it recognises it. If the ring meets the same potion again it automatically alerts you to the potion in your mind. Potters over the centuries have introduced that ring to some nasty potions, I can tell you. Plus everything that you would brew or drink in a normal lifetime… one Potter head met every different type of love potion- believe me, I checked! So, that's all I have to say about the ring. Hopefully all of the Potter deeds (and the Evans, we combined the family vaults- Evans on the left, Potter on the right) are in the cabinets up the back and you can look at them whenever you feel like it. If you grew up with the Dursleys, I would suggest sooner rather than later- just after you throttle Albus and whack Padfoot and Mooney over the head.

Alright, James, enough telling him to be violent. Harry, don't get too caught up in this work. Besides, if you make a mistake, you are the only Potter/Evans around to notice, so it doesn't matter. Go live your life and have some fun, study hard in school. If it's not too late for you to add elective courses at school, I would suggest Arithmancy and Ancient Runes; they're both brilliant subjects.

Sorry, Harry, I'll keep the quill away from her. She likes work! Nah, go prank some people… OUCH! Sorry, I didn't mean it, Harry; I actually meant follow your mother's footsteps into academic brilliance and never prank people. (Unless they deserve it like Snivelous) OW! Didn't mean that one, either. Urgh. Okay, be a model student, behave and get payback on Wormtail! Ow, your mother keeps hitting me, seems to have a problem with whatever I'm writing. Can't see what's so bad, but never mind. Huh. One last thing, if you are reading this letter it means that the Potter and Evans rings have combined and you can show whichever you choose. You can also change your name to be Harry James Evans-Potter if you like, we don't mind at all. Some people seem to appreciate more names; however the Evans line doesn't hold much sway. Have fun, we love you.

From

James and Lily Potter

PS- Lily, I could have written your name for you, you really didn't need to do that.

It was for Harry, you twat!

Harry couldn't help his laughter when he read the last two lines, even though he was sure that they were staged. He put the letter in his pocket and stared at the ring. All he had to do was put it on and he would become emancipated. Almost in a dream-like state, he reached forward and picked it up before sliding it onto his fingers. For a few seconds there was a hectic rush of unfamiliar magic that put him on edge before it calmed and began to feel welcoming. The magic of the rings had accepted him and he had taken up his position. He grabbed the box of property deeds and placed them in his Unspeakable trunk before grabbing a bag of money and walking to the door.

"Did you see anything that you want, Ginny, or do you just want to go now?"

"Huh? Oh, no, let's go, I can't take any of this from you."

"If you're sure, I really don't mind," he said before turning and walking out the door.

A quick cart-trip later, they were back in the midday sunlight.

"I'm pretty much done here, but do you want to grab an ice cream from Florean's now, or look around or just go home?"

"I don't have money, though," said Ginny nervously.

"Doesn't matter, I can pay," said Harry before he steered her over to the ice cream parlour.

By midday, Harry was back at the Dursleys. Still unsure about whether or not he was able to perform magic outside of school yet, he got himself ready to look over the properties that he owned. There wasn't all that many of them, but it was still a great shock to discover that he owned any. The Potters had 2 properties- the manor and a cottage in France, Godric's Hollow had been lent to them by (apparently) Dumbledore. The Evans had one more. They a manor as well, though smaller than the Potter's it was worth more being older. They also had a cottage in Derbyshire and a beach house in Australia. The deeds were quite boring in Harry's opinion, but the Evan's ones were a mystery as his mother had apparently been Muggleborn- so why did they had wizarding homes? They had been upgraded too recently to claim that the line had been squibs for long enough to forget about magic, but the upgrades had definitely happened before his mother had been born. Her Grandparents? That was what was being suggested, but it would mean that everything he knew about his mother's side of the family was wrong. He was confused. He really wanted to go and check all of the properties out, but he could tell that the current guard contained Moody, and a sudden disappearance with him watching the house was a bad idea, so he contented himself by looking at the wards- which was a bad idea as well, because they made him furious.

"Blood wards! What blood wards? Lemon Drop is really going to pay for this one! That ward wouldn't keep out a first-year! There are no blood wards! Huh, even if there was, Voldy has my blood! What on earth was that man thinking? Mail-redirect ward? You've got to be kidding, that's where the Gringotts statements are going. Wizard-repelling? He's repelling me! No wonder I always feel like I have to leave, and he lectures me when I do! What is this? A way to subtly torture Harry Potter without it being traced back to him? We'll see about this, Underage magic laws or no." Harry knew that using his wand would be even riskier than not especially considering that he hadn't got confirmation of the underage magic waiver- but no one at the Ministry would believe that a soon-to-be 6th year student could pull down the wards set by Albus Dumbledore- and if they did, he would have to explain why he put up those particular wards. This was good.

Harry stretched out with his senses to grab hold of the wards. Some of them were fine and he was happy to leave them there- others were not. He ripped down the wizard-repelling charm along with the proximity-alert. Those were doing him no good at all. The mail-redirect ward wasn't such a bad idea- he just modified it a little. It now only redirected mail with offensive curses or jinxes, howlers and other dangerous mail. Dumbledore could deal with them. He put up a ward against dark marks and one to keep people out with malicious intent. Of course, he had to make exceptions for the Dursleys as he was sure they were considered as 'malicious intent.' Dealing with wards set up by Dumbledore was draining, though- as much as he hated to admit it, the man was powerful.

A week later, Harry was yet to leave the wards he had modified, and was beginning to feel extremely claustrophobic and was seriously looking forward to getting to the Burrow even if it would put him under even more scrutiny as Ron and Molly Weasley would be there along with visits from Dumbledore and the other Order members. He had gotten an owl the day before telling him that he would be moving- but the clues were very subtle and it was a direct hint to Harry to watch what he wrote by owl. As if he needed the reminder. His Unspeakable things were well and truly hidden and he was sure that the Order wouldn't find it. It left only his 'old' school things visible so he was free from suspicion.

There was a crash downstairs and Harry rolled his eyes. He stretched out his magic senses and noted Tonks, Kingsley and Mad-Eye were all there. Great, he thought, they must really think me useless if they send all of the Order's aurors to pick me up to get to the Burrow. He then made sure that all of the locks on his door were done, as that would be a dead give-away; mentally thanking the confirmation of his underage magic waiver that had come his second day back via Silver. He sat up and grabbed his wand, pointing at the door. It would do him no good if Mad-Eye- Hip-Flask- saw him complacent. His 'constant vigilance' would not accept the excuse of 'I sensed your magic and could tell that it was you-' not that he was planning on telling anyone that. The lock clicked and the door swung open.

"Show yourself," he said in a harsh voice. He could have sworn that Hip-Flask smirked.

"Constant Vigilance, boy! It was you along with Snape, Dumbledore and McGonagall that found me that night in my trunk, missing my leg and eye," and Harry nodded at him.

"Wotcher, Harry, I'm the one that always knocks over the trolls leg at Headquarters, and the girls like it when I do the duck and pig noses for dinner entertainment." She got the nod.

"I charmed Ms. Edgecombe's memory the night that Dumbledore fled," said Kingsley. Nod.

"What was the first thing I ever said to you?"

"Not to call you 'Professor' as you never got around to doing much teaching," said Harry and the three aurors were satisfied.

"Dumbledore has modified the wards around the property for the night, Harry. We need to go outside and wait for the signal to go. You can't apparate yet, so you'll be going side-along with me, and Moody is going to take your belongings... though Kingsley is volunteering to go with the broom," smirked Tonks. Kingsley nodded gravely and Harry fought to shove the amusement he was feeling behind his occlumency shields.

"Please be careful with it, Kingsley, it is extremely important to me," he said seriously, but was mentally laughing hysterically at the situation. Tonks looked shocked, and he winked at her. The outburst of laughter that followed made it even harder for Harry to keep his shields up. When Tonks managed to control herself, they went outside to wait for the signal, Harry holding on to Tonks- wishing that he could yell out that he could apparate by himself. It was much more comfortable that way, but it would raise to many questions and the information would surely reach Dumbledore. Memory modification was far too risky. Suddenly, red sparks shot high into the air.

That's the first signal," Tonks said in his ear, "we will be ready to go in a minute." Harry nodded. Now that the amusement of the situation was gone, anger was returning. Did they know that there had never been anti-apparition wards, or were they all victims of Dumbledore's lies? He hoped that they had been lied to; otherwise they had each earned a new enemy. He didn't like lies or secrets though he knew that the latter was necessary. Finally green sparks exploded above them and Harry felt himself sucked into the horrible sensation that was side-along apparition.

"Are you alright?" Tonks asked him as soon as they arrived; "the sensation takes some getting used to, and most people don't react well to their first side-along apparition..." she trailed off when she saw the amusement in Harry's eyes. It was fake, but she didn't need to know that.

"I'm fine," he said, "quite a pleasant way to travel, really, muck better than Floo or the Knight Bus," and finally the amusement was real as he saw Tonks' dumbstruck look.

"I take it you won't be needing the stomach-soother then," she said weakly, and Harry began to laugh. They walked towards the crooked building that was the Burrow, and Harry had another moment of amusement when Tonks handed the potion to Kingsley.

"You can use that another time," she had said, "I didn't need it."

"Were you too late?" Harry almost snorted then.

"No," said Tonks, sounding confused, "he really didn't need it. I asked him if he was alright, and said that the sensation took some getting used to- and he laughed, and said that it was quite a pleasant way to travel!" Kingsley's look caused Harry to burst out laughing again.

"You were comfortable with side-along apparition," he said faintly as the approached the doorway, "Mad-Eye, have you ever heard of someone else like that?"

"Aye, I have," he said gruffly, "and he was a natural when he began apparition training." Harry didn't even have to fight to keep the 'happy/excited/nervous' look on his face. It seemed to come naturally considering he was about to visit the Burrow.

"Harry! How wonderful to see you, dear," called a voice when they reached the front door.

"Mrs. Weasley," he said, "thanks for letting me stay for the rest of the summer."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all, dear," she said and Harry mentally rolled his eyes.

"Ron, Ginny, Fred, George," he greeted them, "Where's Mr. Weasley?"

"Oh, he's gone into the office for the day," said Ginny, giving him a significant look. Harry sent a wandless message at her. From your look, we need to talk later, correct? She nodded and Harry wished that her wandless skills were good enough to send a message back- but she didn't have the power for something so advanced.

"Thanks," he said instead.

"Hey mate, come dump your stuff in my room, then we can go and have a game of Quidditch," he sounded ecstatic at the word 'Quidditch,' and Harry would be lying if he said he wasn't excited. It took a lot of effort to remind himself that he was one of the people who had betrayed his trust.

"Thanks, mate, sounds great," he said and followed him up the stairs.

"Bill and Charlie are here as well, so we've got one team."

"Bill and Charlie are here"

"Yeah, there's supposed to be a big meeting or something going on tonight, so most of the Order's here." Harry nodded and stayed in thought all the way up to the attic-turned-bedroom and dumped his stuff, minus the broom that Kingsley had assured him was 'still in perfect condition after the apparition.' They spent the evening in the air; there was no need for a seeker, so Harry, Ginny and Charlie were against Ron, Fred and George- Charlie and Ron were in keeper with the others all playing chaser for their teams as the Weasleys seemed to lack bludgers- Molly's influence, no doubt. It was thoroughly amusing for Harry and Ginny when the others noticed how well the pair of them worked together, giving the twins a run for their money in chasing skill. That left the deciding up to the keepers. Charlie had incredible eyesight, being a seeker, but Ron had the build for a keeper even though he lacked the confidence and skill. The end score was close- Harry's team was leading by a goal when Molly announced dinner.

"Don't see why you all have to play that violent sport," she complained as they walked in, "it's bad enough that there's a war going on- you don't have to all go and injure yourselves for fun!"

"What's so amusing?" Ginny breathed in his ear, and Harry was reminded that she was an empath.

Is it just me, or have we found another Mere? 'Quidditch is dangerous, it's bad enough that you all go and injure yourselves on the field, but do you really have to do it for fun as well?' he send the message spell and was rewarded with a small snort from Ginny.

"Dinner's on the table, dears," Molly interrupted his thoughts. The stampede was incredible- Harry swore he would never get used to the appetite of the Weasley boys. Halfway through the dinner of roast beef and gravy, an exhausted Arthur Weasley walked in to the kitchen.

"How was work today, dear?" asked Molly.

"Big raid today," he said wearily, "and the inhabitants put up a fight."

"Where was the raid?"

"Malfoy Manor," and Harry barely stopped himself from chocking on his meal. Team 5 was supposed to raid Malfoy Manor today he messaged to Ginny and her eyebrows twitched before she put the mask back on.

"Are you alright, dear?" asked Molly, who had noticed a slight reaction.

"I'm- I'm fine," he lied, "just a little surprised." He did see a small amount of realisation cross Arthur's face, but it was hidden quickly.

"Harry, may I speak to you after dinner, please," said Arthur and Harry knew what the discussion would be about.

"Of course, Mr. Weasley," he said quietly and dinner resumed at its normal pace- far too quick and furious to be normal, and several involuntarily chocking on their food. When it was finished, Ginny stayed to help Molly with the washing up and Harry followed Arthur outside. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the wards that Arthur was putting up around them.

"You were far too surprised when I said the raid location," Arthur began and Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Team 5," he said softly and stopped the older man in his tracks. He looked shocked.

"I suspected that you were in contact..."

"Not in contact," he said and Arthur looked even more surprised.

"You've met Silver, then?"

"Yeah, a week ago. Training's finished, as well. Was a bit of a shock, but their views of Lemon Drop were consistent with my own before they visited," he admitted. "So you're in team 5, do you know anyone else?"

"I shouldn't say," Arthur began, "but I know the identity of Silver and Bunny... and I'm Skin. You're obviously Griffin from your story."

"Yeah, I am, though that was a little early for you to know that. Griffin knows who I am, and I know her. I also recognised Meadow's voice and she mine," he admitted, "So between the two of us, Silver, Meadow, Griffin, Flame, Skin and Bunny are all known. I thought you were a Dumbledore supporter?"

"No, both Charlie and Myself are not pro-Dumbledore, though I probably shouldn't have mentioned his name. There are at least 2 anti-Dumbledore Weasleys, anyway."

"3," Harry corrected, "you should at least know if your children are anti-lemon-drop... your youngest is Flame."

"Ginny," he said, "Incredible- I suppose that means I can't keep treating her as my baby, then. Team 5 has heard about the pair of you, by the way, Lenta and Eagle came around the Department bragging about you."

"Brilliant, he sighed, "just brilliant. Bet they did that on purpose, my... unique... gifts made it quite obvious to them who I really am."

"Parseltongue," agreed Arthur. "So, you and Ginny were communicating?"

"I'm quite good with my wandless magic, and Ginny's an empath," said Harry, "we communicate quite well silently- I realise something, Ginny feels the emotion and sends a questioning glance, I send a wandless message- and she can't answer! I usually know what she's going to say before she does, though; sometimes I forget about her empathy though."

"Wish my partner and I could do even that," said Arthur wistfully, "but neither of us are skilled enough in wandless magic, and neither of us are empathic either!"

"Oh well. I suppose I don't need to remind you to not let this information slip- though I think Ginny and I are discussing it later. I think she guessed something today, should we go inside now?"

"Hmm? Right, yeah..."

"Wait- Arthur, no offence, but I never really expected you to be a member of the department..."

"Masks are wonderful things, Harry," he said as he walked back inside.

"That explains Tonks," he muttered before following the older man inside, "and Charlie's definitely an Operative as well." He is. You mutter too loudly. But I only heard the part where you mentioned Charlie, not whatever you said before. Arthur's message spell hit him and Harry noticed the older man's wand being put discreetly away. Sorry. The wandless message spell took the older man by surprise and Harry smirked. Ginny, meet me in your room now, he sent another message spell before he walked up towards the room he had mentioned and let himself in before erecting privacy and proximity wards.

"Hey Ginny," he said when she walked in, "I learnt quite a lot just then."

"Dad's in the Department, Isn't he?" Harry nodded, "I thought he was, I just needed confirmation. Is that all?"

"No, I suspected him earlier as well. No, he is Skin, but that's not what I was going to say. Charlie's in the Department as well."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Your dad mentioned that he knew the identities of Silver and Bunny before he accidentally let slip that Charlie's in the DOM. I don't think Charlie's old enough to be Silver, though..."

"Bunny," chocked Ginny, "that's ridiculous- He's a dragon trainer! Or maybe that's why he got the name... how ironic!"

"Isn't it? So we know that Meadow's Tonks,"

"Is she really?" a guilty look spread over Harry's face.

"You didn't know that, did you?" Ginny shook her head. "Oops... just forget I said that. Anyway, I'm Griffin, you're Flame, your dad is Skin and Charlie is Bunny. I have a suspicion about Silver as well."

"Really? Who?"

"Ginny, how many people are older than Dumbledore?"

"I don't know... lots?"

"No! Dumbledore is incredibly old, even for a wizard! The Flamels, though..." Ginny gasped.

"You don't think- Nicholas Flamel?" Harry nodded.

"I'm almost certain of it," he admitted, "I had a suspicion ever since I met him, I just needed to research the people that have lived to Dumbledore's age after I checked the normal life-expectancy of a wizard, and I found that the Flamels were still alive..." Harry had told Ginny about all of his adventures at Hogwarts during their training.

"Just think... We've met the Nicholas Flamel, and we can't tell Hermione..."

"Speaking of Hermione, I don't think she can be trusted. She respects authority- and Dumbledore in particular- far too much," said Harry sadly. Ginny nodded.

"I'll check her emotions when she gets here, but I doubt they will tell me much other than if she is willingly doing what she is or if she has regrets- Harry! Hide, mum's going to come into my room!" Harry nodded.

"no-see," he said quickly, activating his robes and quickly moved to stand in the corner. Molly wouldn't notice him unless he began jumping up and down- or made a sound. A few seconds later, he felt the proximity wards trip and he quickly took down the silencing wards along with them. Seconds later, the door opened and the Weasley matriarch walked in.

"Ginny, dear, have you seen Harry? Ron can't find him."

"No, mum, but wasn't he planning on talking to dad?"

"Of course, I forgot about that," she said, sounding flustered, "well, of you see him, remember to tell him that Ron's looking for him."

"I will," she said softly.

"Oh, and Ginny, we need to get your father to look at your room, the light is behaving strangely in the corner... it looks like there's some extra magic in here," she said before walking out. Ginny turned to Harry, her face pale.

"I think we can see where my partial mage-sight came from," she whispered, and Harry nodded before he remembered that he was invisible.

"Yeah," his throat was dry, "yeah, you might be right. Well, I'd better go and find Ron... see you in the morning for a run?"

"No, you go alone tomorrow, it'll be too suspicious otherwise. I'll join you the day after." Harry nodded, and blushed after he changed his robes back.

"I never thought of that," he admitted, "but then we all know that strategy isn't my strong point, no matter how much training improved it. See you tomorrow, Flame," he said, before walking out the door to find Ron- who was in his bedroom.

"Hey, Ron, Ginny mentioned that you were looking for me," he said, wondering how being in his room classified as looking.

"Yeah, mate, I was worried! You didn't follow me up here," he said. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, your dad wanted to talk to me, remember?"

"Oh, I forgot about that," he said sheepishly, "so what did he want?"

"Oh, he just told me some things, asked how I was."

"D'you want to play chess, Harry?" and Harry mentally thanked the boy for the subject change. Ron was thick, but even the thickest person could spot something if given enough clues.

"Yeah, sure. I've improved, though," he warned.

"Like you could beat me..."