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ღ chapter fifty one ( unknown power )
JUNO SOFTLY PADDED through the kitchen to leap into Jules's lap, taking advantage of the awkward silence as Harry took a deep breath, before rattling into a series of questions.
"Where's Voldemort? What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news," he said, "and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything —"
"That's because there haven't been any suspicious deaths yet," Sirius told them, "not as far as we know, anyway... And we know quite a lot."
"More than he thinks we do anyway," Cordelia pointed out, as Phoebe fussed in her arms once again. She gently rubbed the infant's back, leaning back in her chair so the baby rested on her chest.
"How come he's stopped killing people?" Harry asked.
"Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself at the moment," Sirius pointed out. "It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up."
"Or rather, you and Jules messed it up for him," Lupin continued with a satisfied smile.
"How?" Harry asked perplexedly.
"You weren't supposed to survive!" Sirius exclaimed. "Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he'd come back. But you survived to bear witness, and Jules saw the whole thing happen in her trance, like she was there."
"And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore," Lupin nodded. "And you made sure Dumbledore knew at once."
"How has that helped?" Harry asked.
"Are you kidding?" Bill said incredulously. "Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was ever scared of!"
"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned," Cordelia nodded.
"So what's the Order been doing?" Harry asked, looking around at them all.
"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans," Sirius answered.
"How d'you know what his plans are?" Harry asked quickly.
"Dumbledore's got a shrewd idea," Lupin elaborated, using a spare hand to push his sandy brown hair from his face, scars glinting in the light. "Dumbledore's shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate."
"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?"
"Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again," Sirius said. "In the old days he had huge numbers at his command; witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one group he's after. He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."
