Secrets and Mysteries

Disclaimer: JKR owns what you recognize; I contributed the characters of Tanya and Raphael.

Rating is for later chapters

Chapter Two

Secrets and Mysteries

Harry awoke early the next morning. Ron was still lightly snoring in the next bed, and the sun was reluctant to come out and greet the day. Harry briefly considered rolling over and trying to fall asleep again, but Hedwig had noticed him stirring and softly hooted from her cage. She wanted to get out and get some exercise.

"Sorry, old girl," Harry regretfully told her. "I can't have a snowy owl flying around outside. You'd attract too much attention -- the sort of attention we can't afford." Hedwig hooted her disdain and turned her back on him. Harry sighed and began pulling on his clothes.

He headed quietly down the hallway to the stairs and almost ran into Tanya, just having come down from the upper level.

"Top of the morning to you," she said cheerfully. "Had a good sleep?"

"Good enough. How about you? You seemed real tired last night."

"Aye, but it was a good tired . . . I think we got a lot accomplished."

"What was it you were doing?"

"Business for the Order. I had to track someone down. Can I have a word with you?" Without waiting for an answer, she pulled him upward, to the third floor. Harry went willingly, noticing her frown as she moved up the steps.

"Are you all right?"

"Aye, I'm fine," she answered, slightly surprised. "Why do you ask?"

"You seem like you're in pain."

"Aye, just a bit stiff. It's been a while since I've slept on a floor, that's all."

"Why are you sleeping on a floor? Ginny has an extra bed in the room next door to Ron and me."

"That's for Hermione Granger, when she gets here. I'm in the attic with Buckbeak."

Harry stopped, speechless. "Why in the world would you be sleeping in the attic, with all these rooms available?"

"They're not fit for sleeping in, apparently. Mrs. Weasley put me in there. Now come on, I have to tell you something I'm not supposed to tell you."

She pulled him into the attic, where he bowed to Buckbeak, then went over to pat him. "I guess he really misses Sirius, doesn't he?" Don't we all, he moaned to himself.

"He seems despondent at times, but it's better when we can let him out for exercise. We can't do it too often of course, but he'll be going to a better home soon. You'll stick it out a little longer, won't you, Buckbeak." Buckbeak seemed to understand, and playfully pushed Tanya.

"Where's he going?"

"There's someone named Hagrid at Hogwarts. Do you know him?"

"Oh yeah," Harry said fondly. "I know him well. Buckbeak will be glad to see him again. They're old mates."

Harry looked into the corner and saw a thin, raggedy looking blanket.

"Please tell me that's not where you slept," Harry said, looking directly at her.

"Well, I tried to sleep on the roof, but it got a little too cold out there. I've gone soft, sleeping in beds the last few years."

"I'm trying to understand why Mrs. Weasley put you up in the attic instead of a bed like a normal person. What's going on?"

Tanya's face reddened slightly and she looked down at the floor. "Look, I'm going to tell you some things that might better be left unsaid. I mean, I know what it's like not to know what everyone else knows, and I'm going to risk everyone's anger in telling you. So, please, for my sake, keep it to yourself." She looked up at Harry for confirmation. He nodded solemnly.

"First of all, I'm guessing it's pretty obvious that Mrs. Weasley doesn't hold me in high esteem." Harry snorted.

"Her hatred is for my people, not specifically me. It's not so hard to take, knowing that. I mean, I've been sneered at by experts. She's just a novice at hatred. So don't go holding it against her. She's thinking about what her parents, her grandparents, and probably her entire ancestral family have always believed about gypsies. Some are true, most are not. But gypsies are notorious for being mysterious. We're taught to be that way. It's not for the gaje to know what we're all about. So we bring on a lot of that fear and hatred ourselves. We're different. People are always afraid of what's different. It's not entirely her fault."

"Who are the gaje?" Harry asked. He'd never heard of it before.

"People who are not gypsies."

"Oh. Still, she could have given you a better bed."

"I think she doesn't want me contaminating linens that other people will eventually use. Like I said, she doesn't exactly think highly of me. But that's all of no consequence. I wanted you to know that you're in danger from Voldemort and other Dark Wizards who are gunning for you."

"That much I know. They finally saw fit to tell me things like that." Harry remembered how frustrated he was with the attitude that ignorance was bliss. But Dumbledore had come clean at the end of term. No more would he keep Harry in the dark, thinking he was protecting him.

"Okay, so you understand why there were so many of us bringing you here last night. But there's more you need to know . . ."

Just then they both heard the footsteps coming up the last flight of stairs. Tanya pushed Harry to the door and they both scampered out of the attic and down the stairs that Mrs. Weasley was just coming up.

"What the devil are the two of you up to?" she asked suspiciously.

"He wanted to say hello to Buckbeak, of course," Tanya lied smoothly.

"He knows where the attic is; you don't have to escort him there."

Harry hated that they were talking as if he wasn't even there. And Tanya didn't bat an eye when lying to Mrs. Weasley. Was she so skilled at it?

"Don't you be worrying your motherly head about Harry," Tanya said. "I wasn't trying to seduce him."

"And I'll have none of your back talk, you sassy thing, you! I could just as easily have you sent back to where you came from!"

"Do you have that much influence over Dumbledore, then? Well, knock yourself out; maybe he will turn me out. But then you'll have to talk Kreacher into helping you out around the house. Good luck with that."

Tanya pushed past Mrs. Weasley, who stood fuming, speechlessly glaring daggers at Tanya's back. Harry followed quickly, not wanting Mrs. Weasley to put him in the awful position of taking sides.

As they rounded the bend to the last flight down, Tanya quickly whispered to Harry, "Come up to the attic after lights out tonight. That's the only chance I'll have to tell you what I have to tell you." With that she turned, not toward the kitchen, but toward the front door. Harry watched her walk away, enjoying the view in spite of his inner turmoil. She moved too near the curtained portrait of Mrs. Black, however, and as the curtain drew away from the portrait, Mrs. Black's dreaded shrieking filled the hallway, waking up the rest of the house.

Harry ran forward, working with Tanya to pull the curtains back over the portrait. "I wish I could remove this stupid thing!" he swore.

Tanya looked thoughtfully at him. "Why don't you, then? It is your house, you know."

"Everyone has tried. She'd put some kind of sticking charm on it to prevent it being moved. Just like the family tree in the den."

With Mrs. Weasley coming down the last flight, followed closely by a bleary-eyed Ginny and Ron, Tanya turned tail and almost ran out into the morning. Harry wished he could follow her.

As he followed the others down to the kitchen, he remembered the conversation he had with Tanya in the attic. He remembered something that didn't register at the time; now he recalled it easily. She was able to say Voldemort's name without flinching, without hesitating. Why was that? Was it because she'd grown up in a gypsy world as opposed to the wizard world?

In the kitchen, Snape and Lupin had been having a stilted conversation, obviously trying to be civilized to each other. It couldn't have been easy, Harry knew. The bad blood between them went back a long way.

Harry expected to be put to work once breakfast was done, cleaning the house. But that had been done a couple of years before, and it had been kept up. Sirius had nothing better to do than housework, Harry surmised. More's the pity. How bored must he have been, cooped up here like a prisoner, while Wormtail wandered around freely. Harry once more felt badly that things didn't work out they way he and Sirius had wanted. He forced his mind away from these depressing thoughts and brought his attention back to the conversation going on at the table.

"So they agreed it would be okay for her to come now," Ron was saying. "I guess even the Muggles mess up sometimes, don't they?"

"Even more than you know," Lupin replied. "So, what plans do you lot have, with the limitations you'll have as well?"

"Oh, who knows, Hermione will be bound to think of something. She always has good ideas. I just hope they don't involve schoolwork. It's too soon to think about that." Ron, typically, rejected anything involving academics, especially since they were supposed to be on holiday.

"So, Hermione's coming here now?" Harry was looking forward to it. He'd always found it easy to talk to her, and Ron was right. Without Hermione, it seemed like something vital was missing.

"Sure, she'll be here soon. You weren't listening, I guess, but their passports have been messed up and they couldn't travel to the States."

"She'll be on us about Kreacher," Ginny said. "That's one thing. I have to admit, I think she's off her rocker about this particular house-elf. He's not worth trying to befriend."

"Dumbledore says Kreacher is what we humans have made him," Harry said. "But still, he's not the only house-elf in the world. Why does he act that way when the others don't?"

"Because of all the years he'd spent serving Mrs. Black," Lupin put in ruefully. "That's enough right there. There's no excuse for him, really, but we're stuck with him."

Tanya had come back into the kitchen silently, taking in the conversation. Kreacher was right on her heels, sneering, knowing it was him they were talking about. For once, he didn't mumble about them, but kept his silence as he headed toward his cabinet under the water heater. Tanya watched him walk away, but before he reached the cabinet, she said, "He looks like he's dying, doesn't he?"

Kreacher stopped dead in his tracks. Motionless, he waited to hear more, not turning around. Tanya continued. "I mean, you can see death on someone just before it happens, can't you? He doesn't have much longer, you know."

Kreacher skipped the last few steps to sanctuary, and Tanya turned back to the table. Mrs. Weasley hissed her disapproval. "How dare you say such a thing to him! You knew he could hear you!"

"I wouldn't have bothered saying it if I didn't think he'd hear it," she said pertly. "Are you afraid I put a gypsy curse on him?"

"What kind of girl . . ." Mrs. Weasley muttered as she turned to the stove.

Snape replied, smiling, "My kind of girl. I never did like that sneaky elf."

Harry was dying to know what was between Tanya and Snape. He'd never heard Snape speak to or of anyone without that natural sneer in his voice. He acted as if he actually liked Tanya, and Harry was bound and determined to find out everything he could about her. Why she was the first gypsy allowed into Hogwarts, why Snape appeared to be her fan, and what was it that she wanted to tell him?

At the reminder of meeting her in the attic tonight, Harry felt his pulse quicken. He was afraid to admit how much he wanted to speak to her alone, in the privacy of the attic. Was this another Cho, all over again? What about Raphael? Didn't she fancy him? And why wait until tonight to speak to him? Was it possible she wanted to be alone with him? Where they wouldn't be interrupted? He felt his face growing warm, and forced his thoughts elsewhere. Ron was giving him a questioning look, and Harry knew he'd either have to make up a story of some kind or admit to Ron what he was thinking about that caused him to blush like the infatuated schoolboy he was.

Harry made it a point to help clear away the breakfast dishes before Mrs. Weasley could demand that Tanya do it. They worked together, under Mrs. Weasley's watchful eyes. It didn't take long, and they headed upstairs to the den, where the others had gone. Mrs. Weasley must have felt she should chaperone them every step of the way, and Harry wondered if it was possible for two people to get up to everything Mrs. Weasley thought they could.

As they passed by the covered portrait of Mrs. Black, Tanya stopped. "You say you would remove this portrait if you could?"

"In a heartbeat," Harry replied fervently. Mrs. Weasley continued up the stairs to the second floor.

The next instant, there was a crash as the portrait slid down from the wall and landed on the floor. Mrs. Black began her tirade once more, and Lupin and Snape came running out to see if they could quiet her. They stopped in their tracks when they saw the portrait on the floor. Harry looked at Tanya, who simply shrugged and went into the den.

Lupin gingerly pulled the portrait away from the wall and looked at the back of it. There was nothing to see except for the wire, which once held it to the wall. He shared a look with Snape, who nodded and helped Lupin carry the braying Mrs. Black from the hall, and, presumably, out the back door to the trash bin. Harry walked into the den and stood staring at Tanya, who pretended not to notice.

"What's going on out there?" Ron asked. "I don't hear the old bat screaming anymore."

"She's gone. They took her out back. I think we're finally rid of her."

Ginny looked wonderingly at Tanya. "Did you do that?" she asked.

Tanya looked anxiously at Harry. "You don't mind, do you? You did want her out of here, didn't you?"

"Sure, but how did you do it? They've tried everything."

"Not everything, obviously."

"Well, thank you for that," Harry grinned. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say, 'Well done!'."

She smiled shyly and looked at the family tree over in the corner of the den. "I can do the same for that one, if you've a mind."

Harry began to worry. Tanya didn't seem to care about repercussions. "Aren't you setting yourself up for trouble for doing magic outside of school?"

Tanya frowned thoughtfully. "I've been asked to do magic, or what can be considered magic, for the Order. I think those that would discourage it are hard put to know where to draw the line. If I'm to be allowed to perform magic for the Order, how can they tell me not to perform magic for anything else? Besides, I think the Ministry gave Dumbledore special permission for me to be tutored in magic here."

She looked up, smiling impishly. "Anyway, Dumbledore's coming today. If I'm doing something he doesn't approve of, I'm sure he'll tell me."

"Yeah, what's he got to tell us?" Ron looked worried. "None of us are in trouble, are we?"

"No," Ginny put in. I think it's a general warning about how careful we're to be because of You-Know-Who bumping around London. He also wanted to speak to Harry when he got here." Ginny seemed pretty well informed, as quiet as she was. Harry wondered how reliable her information was.

"So, we're to expect Hermione and Dumbledore all in one day," Ron said. "What do we do with the rest of the day? Hey, Tanya, fancy a game of wizard chess?"

"I'm afraid I wouldn't give you much competition," she said ruefully. "I'm hopeless at chess, and I'm believing I wouldn't be much better at wizard chess, whatever that is. Besides, I have my orders already."

"What orders are they?" Harry wondered if it was connected with whatever had tired her out yesterday. Who was she tracking, Voldemort?

"Oh, same old, same old," she said evasively. "But I suppose I should see Dumbledore first, in case he has different ideas. Severus mentioned that he wanted to talk to me."

Severus? Harry was disconcerted to know they were on a first-name basis. Did Snape call her by her first name, too? He must, because Harry could swear he'd never heard what her last name was.

"Tanya, you never told me your last name," Harry asked.

"It's Relke," she said. "Of the Irish Roms."

"Is that where you're from?" Ginny asked.

"I was born and raised in County Claire," she replied. "But I spent some years in New York City before I came back hereabouts. I found . . . I mean I was in Ireland again when I heard of Hogwarts, and applied as soon as I could get here."

Harry wondered what she'd found in Ireland. And what caused her to hear about Hogwarts. He was sure the name didn't come up in idle Muggle conversation. Oh, did he have the questions to ask her tonight.

A horrible keening was coming from the hallway. They ran out to see what new horror could be there, and found Kreacher ripping his dirty fingernails down his cheeks, blood oozing slowly from the scratches. Ginny tried to restrain his hands from during further damage, but he backed away from her and pointed a knarled old hand at Tanya.

"You filthy gypsy trash! You did it! You took out my mistress! Murderess!"

Tanya calmly surveyed him, as if she hadn't heard the insults he hurled her way. "But she isn't your mistress, Kreacher; she'd died years ago. Harry is your master, now."

"I'll not be serving any half-blood the likes of him!" he spat.

"True, you'll not be serving anyone much longer," Tanya told him quietly. Kreacher stopped his harangue instantly, alert, waiting.

Tanya became solicitous of him, as if he were a patient in the intensive care ward of St. Mungo's. "Kreacher, why don't you come in and lie down on the lounge for a while? You should rest."

Kreacher cried out in fear and ran away, back to the kitchen stairs, presumably to the safety of his cubbyhole.

Ron gaped at her. "Can you really convince him he's going to die soon?" he asked in a very worried tone. "Is that gypsy magic?"

"I'm merely setting up my alibi for when someone does kill him," she said evenly. She flicked her braid over her shoulder and turned back to the den.

Ron cast a scared look at Harry. "I never know when she's kidding."

Harry had no answer for this. He figured he'd never know when she was kidding. Would someone kill Kreacher? Would she do such a thing? Harry was suddenly not so sure he wanted to know everything about her.

Hermione arrived along with Professor Dumbledore later that afternoon. She threw herself at Ron immediately, and at Ron's confused, uncomfortable glance in his direction, Harry understood two things right off: Hermione no longer thought of Ron as just a friend, and Ron knew it and didn't know what to do about it. Harry himself didn't know how to feel about it. If those two started acting differently around each other, how would it affect him? Would he begin to feel like an outsider? Would they even hang out together anymore?

But then Tanya came into the hallway to see what all the commotion was about, and Harry forgot about Hermione and Ron. She shared a look with Dumbledore, who nodded slightly and ushered them all into the den. Ron, having extracted himself from Hermione's arms, pointed her to Tanya to make the introductions. Saying a quick hello to Tanya, she hugged Harry as if she hadn't seen him for much longer than two weeks. Harry wondered if maybe he hadn't read too much into her hugging Ron. Maybe she was just being emotional. This was confirmed when she hugged Ginny just as exuberantly.

Mrs. Weasley had come up into the den to greet Dumbledore, and ushered them all down to the kitchen. As Dumbledore gratefully sank into a heavy chair and accepted Mrs. Weasley's offer of tea, Hermione said, "That's what's different! What happened to Mrs. Black? We were making enough noise to wake the dead. No pun intended."

"Tanya unstuck it somehow. She's out in the trash bin now." At Ginny's words, Dumbledore looked sharply at Tanya. "And how did you manage that?" he quietly asked her.

"You know I don't know how it works," she said. "I just wanted it unstuck, and it unstuck. No one else seemed upset about it."

"It's not the portrait's removal that would upset anyone, except perhaps Kreacher. It's the magic. I still wonder if these things are beyond your control."

"It took conscious thought to remove it. It's not something I could have done accidentally. Are you having second thoughts?"

Second thoughts about what? Admitting her to the Order? To Hogwarts? Harry was avidly listening, hoping some of his questions were going to be answered, now that Dumbledore was here.

"I think second thoughts, at this point, would be like hindsight," Dumbledore said. "Utterly useless. And to stave off your next question, no, I don't have any regrets. I still think it a wise course of action. We hope to learn as much about you and your people as we can teach you about us."

Harry wondered if the reason Dumbledore did something as unprecedented as admitting a gypsy to Hogwarts had anything to do with his wanting to recruit everyone he could in the fight against Voldemort. If he had sent Hagrid to recruit giants, why wouldn't he want gypsies as well? If they all had a talent for magic like Tanya had, it would make perfect sense, wouldn't it?

"How do gypsies, in general, feel about wizards?" Harry asked her.

"I don't know, Harry," she responded. "The first in my life I ever heard there was a world of wizards was only when I met . . . it was only last year. I never heard any gypsy talk about it. I don't even know if any of them ever heard of wizards. I mean, that you really exist."

"What did you start to say, before you cut yourself off?" he asked. "When you met who?"

Tanya looked around. Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley were in conversation together at the far end of the table, not paying attention. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were eagerly waiting for Tanya's answer.

"I met one of your wizards last year in Ireland. He was very ill, and I helped him. While he was delirious, he talked of things like magic, and wizards, and things like that. I didn't think much of it; after all, he wasn't in his right mind. But when he got better, I asked him about it, and I could tell it was real. That what he was mumbling about was true. He eventually told me about his world, and told me how to petition Dumbledore for enrollment at Hogwarts. He was very eager, all of a sudden for me to meet Dumbledore. He said I could be of great help to us all; wizards, gypsies, gaje, Muggles. So I did. He convinced Dumbledore that I should be accepted at Hogwarts."

"So, who was this wizard you nursed back to health?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think I should tell you," she said nervously. "He wouldn't like it if you knew. I think he feels he should be above illness, as if it was a sign of weakness, or something like that."

"I know," exclaimed Ron. "It was Lupin, wasn't it? He's always ill because of being a werewolf."

"Let's not be turning this into a game of twenty questions," Tanya said reprovingly. "The least I can do, for all his help, is honor his anonymity." She stood up and went to the sink to begin putting away the breakfast dishes that had been drying in the drain board. Apparently, the subject was closed. But Harry wondered if he could find out more when they had their talk in the attic. Again, he felt warmth spread through him at the idea of Tanya singling him out to tell him something no one else wanted him to know.

Lupin entered the kitchen from the back door, stomping his feet on the mat there. "Good afternoon, Professor Dumbledore. Any news?"

"I think it's better kept until we're all here," Dumbledore replied. "I'm expecting Hagrid later; we won't wait for him; but we'll wait for Moody, Tonks, Snape, and Weasley to join us. But in the meantime, Tanya, if you'll come with me to the den, I'd like a word."

Tanya wordlessly left the kitchen with Dumbledore, as Snape entered the back door, and nodded to Lupin. Lupin turned to the rest. "Severus has accomplished the impossible," he began. "He was able to quiet Mrs. Black at last. Her caterwauling was attracting unwanted attention, but when the sticking charm was broken, apparently so were any charms that protected the portrait from our spells."

Even Harry joined in the round of congratulations sent to Snape. Snape merely rolled his eyes and replied, "Even Potter or Weasley could have rendered her speechless once she was off the wall."

Just when he thought Snape was becoming more human . . . Harry thought bitterly. Always another jab. He wondered how Tanya was faring with Dumbledore. Was he reprimanding her for something? Or was she reporting to him about whatever it was she was doing for the Order?

Just then, Mad-Eye, Tonks, and to Harry's dismay, Raphael entered the kitchen. "And who do we have to thank for our quiet entrance?" Moody asked the kitchen at large. "The silence instead of old lady Black's yelling is making my ears ring."

Lupin smiled. "Tanya found a way to unstick the portrait from the wall. Mrs. Black now rests with the garbage out back, waiting for the trash collectors to give her a new home."

"Brava, Tanya!," called Tonks, looking around. "Where is she?"

"She's in the den with Dumbledore," Moody answered. "Didn't you see them as we passed?"

"No, I was keeping my eye on that blasted umbrella stand."

"So, what's Dumbledore want with Tanya?" Raphael asked Lupin. "I thought he wanted to talk to all of us."

Lupin shrugged. "He does, but obviously he wants Tanya's report about what she found out yesterday. I'm sure he'll bring us all up-to-date."

Raphael continued to look worried. Harry wondered again what it was Tanya was doing for the Order. With the frown that was on Snape's face, it must be something dangerous. He did seem very protective of her. What special talents had she that moved Dumbledore to act so quickly to recruit her, not just for Hogwarts, but for the Order?

Arthur Weasley came into the room and kissed Mrs. Weasley. She jumped up to get him some coffee as he greeted everyone, including Raphael. It seemed everyone knew everyone else, and Harry had been left out of things. Until yesterday. What had Dumbledore's letter said? Certain things have been happening these last two weeks . . . Just about the time Tanya came along. Was it her skills that allowed Harry to leave Privet Drive so soon? And Dumbledore had insisted she be part of Harry's escort. Was this inexperienced, young, non-witch supposed to be his baby-sitter? Harry felt his face burn at the thought. With everything that he'd been through, everything he'd done in the name of survival, did everyone still think he needed a protector?

"What's wrong, Harry?" He had forgotten Hermione was here, and she'd been studying his face, alert as always to his ever-changing emotions.

"Nothing," he lied. "Are you very disappointed about not seeing New York?"

"Yes," she admitted, "but I'm glad to be here, too. New York will always be there. I've already learned so much about it, when we were getting ready to go. Ginny said that Tanya used to live there; maybe she can tell me more about it later."

Dumbledore came back into the kitchen; Tanya was nowhere in sight. He motioned everyone to sit, and conjured up an easy chair for himself to sit in. Harry glanced around the table. Snape, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, the Weasley parents, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and himself. Oh, yes, Raphael was still there. Bloody hell. Apparently, no one saw fit to remove the non-members of the Order from hearing any news. Everyone was looking intently at Dumbledore, waiting for him to speak. Harry turned his attention to him.

"First of all," he began, "you all know how important it is we be discrete about being here. We can't afford any unwanted attention from Muggles, or anyone else." His eyes met each person at the table, one after another. He must have seen something in each to reassure him, because he continued. "Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, I'm afraid it won't be so much fun spending your holiday here, but it would be easy enough to arrange for you all to go to the Burrow instead. What would you prefer?"

Harry piped right up. "I'd rather stay here," he said, looking around at the others for support. "It's always better to be right here to keep up with news of what's going on than wait around, not knowing." Ron and Ginny nodded.

Hermione agreed. "Those things I asked you to help me bring over will help," she said to Dumbledore. "It's amazing how fast time passes when you're busy with them." Ron and Harry looked at her, puzzled. "What things?" Ron asked her.

"Professor Dumbledore was kind enough to help me bring a television and a video game unit over. Once I hook them up, we can play games on them, with the help of a generator, of course." She looked at Harry. "You probably know all about them, having grown up in a Muggle home, like I did. But it will be all new to the Weasleys."

Harry grinned. "I used to envy my cousin his video games," he said wryly. "He never let me play them. So it will be all new to me as well."

Hermione smiled. "I guess it's settled then," she said. "We'd like to stay."

Dumbledore nodded. "I thought you might. Now for some rumor control. It has been reported that Voldemort (flinches from most at the table) has been seen in London, not far from here. But that's an exaggeration. Actually, it's Peter Pettigrew that has been spotted. However, unless things have changed radically, where Pettigrew is, Voldemort is probably not far. We are watching Pettigrew, and if he does anything that looks like he's still working for Voldemort, then we will at least know his whereabouts. That's something, at least."

"How reliable is the report of Pettigrew being seen?" Arthur asked. "The Ministry knows nothing about that."

"Very," Dumbledore replied. "Tanya was the one to find him, and there's no doubt in my mind that she knows what she's doing."

"Has she made any sort of contact with him?" asked Snape, looking very worried.

"No," was the reply. "She's not sure how to approach him. She knows we can't afford to alert him to the fact that we know who and what he is."

"Is he a rat, or a man?" Ron's question was a perfectly normal one, in that Pettigrew was a skilled Animagus. He'd been Ron's pet for twelve years, until they all were made aware of who he really was.

"Mostly a rat, but he's been lurking about a pub as a man. It seems to be his favorite haunt. So, if he is still working for Voldemort, he can't be very busy. Tanya said he spends most of his evenings there."

"She isn't thinking of making his acquaintance, is she?" Snape looked no less worried now than he had earlier.

"It's not always easy for me to tell what her plans are," Dumbledore said ruefully. "All I can do is let her know what we need, and she decides what to do about it. But she's been taking care of herself since she was very young, Severus. No need to fear for her safety."

"With all due respect, Headmaster," Snape said, not looking at Dumbledore, "sometimes I feel I'm the only one concerned for her well being. The rest of you lot seem to feel she's immortal; that she can survive on little food, little sleep, and manual labor."

Mrs. Weasley had the grace to flush at his words, but said nothing. Dumbledore nodded his head in recognition of what Snape had said. "You know her better than I do, Severus. So you know she has a will that can't be bent to our needs. She makes her own rules."

"That's what I can't understand," Mrs. Weasley put in. "She's like a wild thing that has never been disciplined, never had to follow rules! Instead of taking her in hand like you would any willful, wayward child, you encourage her! What if one day she decides that she'd rather use her talents for the other side? Wouldn't You-Know-Who love to have one of her kind on his team!"

"I assure you, Molly," Dumbledore said softly, "if only he knew about her, I'm sure he'd kill to get her. As for lack of discipline and following rules . . . gypsy life, as I understand it, is nothing but discipline and following rules. She's had a life you can't imagine. You'd never be able to understand her unless you, too, had that life. Unless the traditions of her people were the traditions of your people. I myself am at a loss to understand. But we can only hope she'll be patient with our ignorance.

"But also," he added, for the benefit of the younger people at the table, "she is in so many ways like a babe in the woods. She's only learned of the existence of our world a year ago, and she's going to have trouble fitting in at school. That's where I'm sure she'll appreciate already having met the four of you. At least she won't feel so all alone upon the start of the term. Because Hagrid and Professor McGonagall are also in the Order, they know about her. But of course, no one else can know about the Order, or about why Tanya is at Hogwarts. Remember, she's just another student. Whatever explanations about why she's starting so late, or who she is, let's leave to her. I don't know what she would like others to know."

They all nodded in agreement. But Harry couldn't help but wonder why someone with all her legendary magical skills would waste her time at school. Was she being sent there to keep an eye on him? A rebellious part inside him vowed he wouldn't make it easy, no matter how pretty she was. She must think of him as a little boy compared to Raphael.

"So where is Tanya, now?" asked Snape. "Does she know . . ."

"I sent her out on an errand. No, she doesn't know. At least, I said nothing about it. We'll discuss it further when she gets back," Dumbledore said, effectively cutting off any more questions. He got up to leave, thanking Mrs. Weasley for the coffee. "Oh, by the way, you can expect Hagrid to show up sometime early this evening. In the meantime, I'll go up and see to the hippogriff now. Harry, he seems to like you as much as he likes Hagrid. Will you come with me, please?"

Harry got up to follow, wondering what Dumbledore had in mind. What did he have to 'see to' with Buckbeak? And why did he cut off Snape? What might Tanya know?

When they got to the attic, Dumbledore wheezing slightly after the three-story climb, Harry bowed to Buckbeak, then approached when Buckbeak bowed in return. As he patted the hippogriff's head, Dumbledore crooned a few soft words that Harry couldn't make out, and he watched in amazement as Buckbeak began to shrink, the heavy chain falling from around his neck, until Buckbeak was roughly the size of a hamster.

"That will make for an easier trip," Dumbledore said, "for both Buckbeak and Hagrid." Harry remembered now that Buckbeak would soon be back at Hogwarts, happily living in the dark forest. Now that the Minister of Magic understood that Voldemort was indeed back, and that Dumbledore wasn't trying to get his job, he had agreed that Buckbeak should not be executed. And about time that old git began to believe us, Harry thought morosely.

He noticed Dumbledore taking in Tanya's blanket back in the corner, but when Harry expected him to ask about it, Dumbledore said nothing. Harry wondered at that. Did no one think it unusual? "Well," Dumbledore said, "she must be an excellent housekeeper. You can't even tell there's an animal living here."

"Yes," Harry said bitterly. "She's getting in lots of practice here."

"You don't approve?" said Dumbledore, smiling kindly.

"It just seems as if Kreacher is being treated with more respect," Harry answered. "There are other beds; she doesn't have to be hidden up here like she's not fit for company. And there are a lot of us here. She shouldn't have to be the one who does the kitchen work all the time."

"I think you'll find as you get to know her better," Dumbledore assured him, "that she enjoys mindless work, such as household chores. It allows her to concentrate on her mental pursuits. It's probably a form of therapy for her. And I know for a fact that she will not be doing anything she really doesn't want to do." His eyes twinkled. "Don't worry about that."

Dumbledore picked up the now small Buckbeak from the floor and gave him to Harry. "He'll probably fall asleep if you keep him in your pocket. But you have my permission to let him fly around in the house, as long as you keep him away from Mrs. Weasley. I'm not entirely sure he's housebroken."

Harry grinned and took Buckbeak. They headed downstairs, Harry stopping at the second floor and heading to his room. He lay on his bed, watching Buckbeak flying laps around the room, Hedwig eyeing him enviously.

He allowed his thoughts to roam freely, as a pleasant drowsiness came over him. Where was Tanya now? And what dangers were waiting for her? Snape seemed worried, but he also seemed to be the only one. All at once, Harry felt wide-awake. The wizard Tanya had helped; that had to have been Snape! It would explain how Dumbledore found out about her. It would also explain why Snape and Tanya were such good friends. Though Harry still found it hard to believe Snape would feel kindly to anyone, whether she'd saved his miserable life or not, something must have happened to Snape to move him to act so human!

Again, Harry allowed drowsiness to overtake him. One question answered. He'd verify it tonight, along with other questions he'd put to Tanya when they talked. As he drifted into a light doze, he felt warm and fuzzy as he imagined being alone with Tanya . . . talking intimately . . . she would dispel his misgivings about her role at Hogwarts . . . she would assure him that she wasn't even remotely interested in Raphael . . . she did not think of him as a little boy needing to be protected . . . she actually admired him . . . she was impressed with him . . .