Invisible Trail

Chapter Three: Emergency Meeting

Sirius Black was heading for one of the classrooms at Hogwarts. He had transformed himself into his Animagus form, an enormous black dog, so those people who did not know about his ability would recognize him. The summer holidays were not over yet, which meant there were no students at Hogwarts; but still, there were people who did not believe in his innocence. Even though more than three years had passed since Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lupin had found Peter Pettigrew, the Ministry of Magic (lead by Cornelius Fudge) was not willing to accept the inevitable truth: Peter was the traitor and spy who gave Lily and James to Lord Voldemort and he was still alive, which meant Sirius was totally innocent.

When he arrived at the door, he barked twice (as Dumbledore had told him to) and after a few seconds a black-robed man opened the door. Professor Severus Snape had a murderous look upon his face; it was widely known he hated Sirius because of a silly prank when they were students. This hatred had been diminished by the great efforts Dumbledore did; Sirius and Snape could no longer be named enemies, but co-workers.

Sirius went in and Snape closed the door behind him. Several candles dimly illuminated the classroom and a circular table stood in the middle of it. Twelve chairs surrounding it and nine of them were already occupied. Sirius transformed himself back into human and took one of the chairs. He looked around and realized only one member was missing.

To his right sat Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and the greatest wizard he had ever met. Dumbledore was the only person Voldemort ever feared and even though he appeared to be old, he was amazingly wise, and powerful.

Next to him was Arthur Weasley, Head of the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. Arthur was not one of the most important persons at the Ministry, but he was a very nice and centered-man and he knew how to earn respect.

Right next to him sat Molly Weasley, his wife. Molly was a strong and powerful witch with the ability to detect when people was lying to her. This gift was acquired by raising seven kids; among them were the terrible twins (Fred and George).

Then came Arabella Figg, an old witch devoted to take care of Harry while he was with his Muggle and only relatives, the Dursleys. Arabella was Harry's neighbor and took care of him in several occasions while the Dursleys were away. She blamed herself for Harry's disappearance; she was the person in charge of his protection while he was in Privet Drive.

Next to her sat Snape, who was working as a spy against Voldemort. Snape was playing a vital role at a great risk: if the magical community found out he was an active Death Eater, he would be sent to Azkaban without giving him a chance to explain; on the other hand, if Voldemort found out he was a spy, he would die.

To his right was Percy Weasley, who had been recently promoted as the Head of the Department of Magical Cooperation at the Ministry. He was very young, but his hard work had proved to be effective. The death of his first boss, Mr. Crouch, had been very hard for him (Mr. Crouch was sort of an idol to him), so he decided to fight the Dark Arts more directly.

Minerva McGonagall was the next one. McGonagall was Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts. She was an incredibly powerful and skilled witch who fought the Dark Arts in an extraordinary way, but was definitely keener on Transfiguration.

To her right sat Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor. Hagrid was not a proper wizard; he had been expelled from Hogwarts during his third year for a crime he had not committed. He also happened to be a semi-giant and along with Olympe Maxime was trying to get the giants to join their side. Olympe was the Headmistress of a Wizarding school near France called Beauxbatons and was also a semi-giant. She could not make it to all the meetings because people might suspect if she traveled too often, but she attended the meetings occasionally.

Charlie Weasley was sitting to Hagrid's right. He had been studying dragons in Rumania for a few years, but decided to return to England and join the Aurors. His older brother, Bill, had made the same decision. Bill had worked for Gringotts, the Wizarding bank, in Egypt but when Voldemort came back he realized the Magical Law Enforcement needed some help. Bill and Charlie had moved back to the Burrow, the Weasley home, and made a very good team when it came to detecting and catching Dark wizards.

On Bill's right a seat was empty, which surprised nobody because it was Remus Lupin's. Remus was one of Sirius's best friends and also one of James Potter's; he was Moony, one of the four Marauders. Remus was a werewolf, which was the cause of his absence. That night was full moon and even though Snape would brew him a potion to make him harmless, he preferred to be alone around the days of his transformation, just in case. He had been the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts during Harry's third year and helped to unmask Scabbers (Ron's old rat) as Peter Pettigrew, the traitor Marauder.

A few moments after Sirius sat down and looked around, Dumbledore began the meeting. "Now that we are all sitting, I would like to start by thanking you for being here." He had a half smile on his face, but his eyes immediately revealed how worried he was.

Sirius had been trying to be patient, yet he could not bear to wait any longer. He turned around to face Dumbledore with a meaningful expression, which he read right away.

"This emergency meeting has only one purpose," he began explaining, "to share with you all the information we have gathered about Harry's disappearance. I know you are all very concerned about him and you must know Severus has worked tirelessly to find out all he could." At this point his gaze fell upon Snape, who had no difficulty at getting the hint that it was his turn to speak.

"There is no doubt the attack on Privet Drive was lead by none other than Voldemort," Snape started. "No body was found there and the most logical explanation is that no one was murdered, leading us to think he took Potter to his castle."

"And where is this castle?" Arabella asked.

"It's in the outskirts of London," he answered. "Unfortunately, it is unplottable and very well warded, so a break in or out is just as difficult as in Azkaban."

"Yet, it could be done!" pointed out Sirius.

Snape started losing his patience, but answered as calmly as he could. "Yes, it could. But we would need a map, in the first place, which is impossible if I may add, and a miracle so we won't get caught."

"A map? Why?" inquired Molly.

"Nobody is allowed to wander around the castle. Voldemort has his ways to know if someone is where they should not and obviously murders that person before he gets to share the information he has discovered. I have heard several Death Eaters talking about Potter, but none of them has actually seen him. The only one who knows if he is alive, which I doubt, is Voldemort himself."

"Harry is strong and smart, he won't give up without putting a good fight. Don't worry, he'll find a way to get out of there!" Dumbledore said, trying to persuade the members in the Order of the Phoenix, even if he was not very sure himself.