After HP shared the dream, Lao Fu was conquered by me

"Oh, I'd really like him to leave," said Harry coldly. "If he doesn't leave, I won't be able to use magic, and Dumbledore will probably keep me in Privet Drive all summer."

"Aren't you worried about... about going to the Ministry of Magic for trial?" Hermione asked softly.

"No," Harry said stubbornly. He walked away from them, looking around. Hedwig rested contentedly on his shoulder, but the room didn't seem to improve his mood. It was dark and damp. The peeling paint on the wall was empty except for a blank canvas framed in an ornate picture. As Harry passed it, he thought he heard someone laughing quietly in the shadows.

"So why was Dumbledore so keen to keep me in the dark?" Harry asked, still trying to keep his voice indifferent. "Did you - er - bother to ask him?"

He looked up in time to catch a glance between them, which seemed to say that he was behaving just as they had feared. This did not make him feel any better.

"We told Dumbledore we'd love to tell you what's going on," said Ron. "We really did, mate. But he's awfully busy at the moment. We've only seen him twice since we got here. He hasn't got much time, and all he did was make us promise not to tell you anything important when we wrote. He said owls might get intercepted."

"He could have told me the news if he really wanted to," said Harry roughly. "Don't he know of any other way of sending messages besides owls?"

Hermione glanced at Ron and said, "I've thought about that. But he just doesn't want you to know anything."

"Maybe he thinks I can't be trusted," Harry said, watching their expressions.

"Don't be silly," said Ron, looking a little panicked.

"Or think I can't take care of myself."

"Of course he doesn't think so!" said Hermione anxiously.

"Then why do I have to stay at the Dursleys' while you two are involved in everything that happens here?" His words burst out one after another, his voice rising. "Why are you two allowed to know everything that happens?"

"That's not it!" Ron interrupted. "Mum won't let us go in where they have meetings. She says we're too young—"

Harry shouted unconsciously.

"So, what a shame you weren't able to attend the meeting! But you were here the whole time, weren't you? You were all together the whole time! And I, I was stuck at the Dursleys' for a whole month! And I've been through more than either of you, and Dumbledore knows it—who saved the Philosopher's Stone? Who got rid of Riddle? Who saved both of you from the Dementors?"

Every bitter, resentful thought Harry had had over the past month came rushing back: the anxiety of not getting any news, the resentment of knowing they had been together all this time and he alone, the anger of being followed and not knowing it—all these humiliating feelings finally burst forth like a flood. Hedwig, startled by the sound of his voice, fluttered her wings and flew back to the top of the wardrobe. The piglet squeaked in panic and whizzed faster and faster above them.

"Who had to run through dragons and sphinxes and every other disgusting thing last year? Who saw that guy come back to life? Who had to escape from his clutches? It was me!" Ron stood there, his mouth half open, stunned, not knowing what to say, and Hermione looked like she was about to cry. "But why should I know what's going on? Why should anyone bother to tell me what's going on?" "Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really—" Hermione said urgently. "Not really, or you would have sent me an owl, but Dumbledore made you swear—" "Yes, he did—" "I was stuck in Privet Drive for four weeks picking newspapers out of bins just to find out what was going on—" "We wanted—"

"I suppose you're all delighted, aren't you, all snugly tucked away here together—" "No, to be honest—" "Harry, we're so sorry!" Hermione said desperately, tears welling in her eyes. "You're absolutely right, Harry—I'd be angry too!"

Harry glared at her, still breathing heavily, then turned away from them and paced up and down the room. Hedwig screamed glumly from the top of the wardrobe. There was a long silence, broken only by the plaintive creaking of the floorboards beneath Harry's feet. "What exactly is this place?" he posed the question to Ron and Hermione. "The Order of the Phoenix," Ron answered without hesitation. "Would someone be so kind as to tell me what the Order of the Phoenix is—" "It's a secret society," said Hermione quickly. "It's run by Dumbledore, he founded it. It's all some of the people who fought You-Know-Who last time." "Who's in it?" Harry stopped and put his hands in his pockets. "There's a lot of people—"

"We've seen about twenty of them," said Ron, "but there must be more." Harry shot him an angry look. "And then?" he asked, looking from one to the other. "Well," said Ron, "and then what?" "Voldemort!" Harry shouted angrily, and Ron and Hermione both shrank back in fear. "What happened? What does he want? Where is he? What can we do to stop him?"

"As we've told you, the Order won't let us into their meetings," Hermione said uneasily, "so we don't know some of the specifics - but we do have a general idea," she added hastily, noticing the look on Harry's face.

"Fred and George invented the retractable ears, see," said Ron. "They really work."

"Telescopic—?"

"Retractable Ears, yes. But we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and was furious. Fred and George had to hide them to keep her from throwing them in the dustbin. But we've put them to good use before she finds out. We know some of the Order of the Phoenix are tailing the Death Eaters who've been exposed, keeping a close eye on them, you know—"

"Some of them are recruiting more people into the Order—" said Hermione.

"There were some other guys standing guard over something," Ron said. "They kept talking about some kind of guard duty."

"Not to protect me, huh?" said Harry sarcastically.

"Oh, that's right," said Ron, a look of sudden realization on his face. Harry snorted dismissively. He paced the room again, looking here and there but not at Ron and Hermione. "So what have you two been doing lately, since you're not allowed to attend the meeting?" he asked. "You said you'd been busy."

"It's been busy," said Hermione hastily. "We've been giving the house a thorough cleaning; it's been empty for ages and a lot of things have grown up in it. We've finally got the kitchen and most of the bedrooms done, and I think we'll have to tackle the living room tomorrow—oops!"

There were two sharp pops, and Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. Piglet squeaked even more frantically and flew over to rest on top of the wardrobe with Hedwig.

"Don't do that!" Hermione said to the twins, still in shock. They had the same dazzling red hair as Ron, but were stockier and slightly shorter than him.

"Hello, Harry," said George, smiling gaily at him. "We thought we had heard a very pleasant speech you gave."

"You don't have to suppress your anger like that, Harry, let it out," Fred said with a smile on his face, "There are probably two people fifty miles away who can't hear your voice."

"So, you two passed the Apparition exam?" Harry asked angrily.

"Excellent grades," said Fred, holding something in his hand that looked like a long, flesh-colored string.

"It only takes thirty seconds to go downstairs," Ron said. "Time is in Galleons," Fred said. "Anyway, Harry, you're jamming the reception. Extendable Ear," he explained, seeing Harry raise an eyebrow, and held up the string so Harry could see it led to the outside landing. "We want to hear what's going on downstairs."

"You better be careful," Ron said, staring at the retractable ears. "What if Mom sees it again?"

"It's worth the risk. They're having an important meeting," said Fred.

The door opened, revealing long, fiery red hair.

"Oh, hello, Harry!" said Ron's sister Ginny happily. "I thought I heard your voice."

She turned to Fred and George and said, "The Extendable Ears don't work. Mum actually put an Anti-Distraction Charm on the kitchen door."

"How did you know that?" George asked, looking crestfallen.

"Tonks told me how to check it," said Ginny. "You just throw something at the door, and if it doesn't hit it, it's got the Anti-Negativity Charm on. I've been throwing dung balls at the door from the top of the stairs, but they always miss it and go somewhere else, so there's no way the Retractable Ear can get under it."

Fred let out a long sigh.

"What a shame. I really want to know what that old fellow Snape is thinking."

"Snape!" Harry asked immediately. "Is he here too?" "Yes," George said, closing the door carefully and sitting on a bed. Fred and George followed. "Read a report. Top secret."

"Idiot," Fred said lazily.

"He's on our side now," said Hermione reproachfully.

Ron snorted. "That doesn't make him any less of an idiot. Look at the way he looks at us."

"Bill doesn't like him either," Ginny said, as if that was the final word.

Harry wasn't sure if his anger had subsided, but his eagerness to know more overrode his urge to yell, and he plopped down on the bed across from the others.

"Bill's here too?" he asked. "Isn't he working in Egypt?"

"He applied for a desk job so he could go home and work for the Order," said Fred. "He said he missed the tombs. But," he said with a mischievous smile, "there are some compensations."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember Fleur Delacour?" said George. "She got a job at Gringotts, and to improve her English—"

"Bill's been giving her lots of private tutoring," chuckled Fred. "Charlie's in the Order too," said George, "but he's still in Romania. Dumbledore wants to bring in as many wizards from abroad as possible, so Charlie's been socializing when he's not working." "Can't Percy do that?" Harry asked. Last he'd heard, the third Weasley son worked at the Ministry's Department of International Magical Cooperation.

After hearing what Harry said, the Weasley brothers and sisters and Hermione exchanged a melancholy and meaningful look.

"Don't ever mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad," Ron said to Harry nervously.

"why?"

"Because every time Percy's name was mentioned, dad would smash whatever he was holding into pieces and mom would burst into tears," Fred said.

"It's horrible," Ginny said sadly.

"I think we've got rid of him after all," said George, with a hard-to-see grimace on his face.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Percy and Dad had a huge argument," said Fred. "I've never seen Dad argue like that with anyone. Usually it's Mom who does the yelling."

"It was the first week after term ended," Ron said, "and we were getting ready to join the Order of the Phoenix. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted."

"Are you kidding?" said Harry.

Although Harry was well aware of Percy's ambition, he had the impression that his first job at the Ministry had not been very successful. Percy had committed a serious oversight, failing to realize that his superior was under Voldemort's control (even the Ministry didn't believe it - they all thought Mr. Crouch was mad).

"Yeah, we were all surprised," George said, "because Percy got into a lot of trouble with Crouch, and then there was the investigation and everything. They said Percy should have realized Crouch was mentally ill and reported it to his superiors in time. But you know Percy, Crouch let him take charge, and he was very happy." "Then why did they promote him?"

"That's what we were wondering about," said Ron, who seemed particularly willing to let the conversation flow now that Harry had stopped shouting. "He came home looking quite smug – smuger than usual, you can imagine – and told Dad they'd offered him a position in Minister Fudge's office. It's a fantastic position for a guy only a year out of Hogwarts: Assistant to the Minister. I suppose he expected Dad to be pleased."