Chapter 328: A Night of Terror at Order Headquarters! Ethan Is Scarier Than a Dark Wizard Raid
Some time later.
"What is it, Harry? Is your scar hurting again?" Sirius poked his head in from the doorway, asking with concern.
He was covered in dust. Spiderwebs tangled through what had once been jet-black curls. His formal robes were old but still decent, now smeared with grime.
"Nothing. I'm fine," Harry said, forcing himself to settle.
His scar did not hurt.
But lately, he couldn't say why, he kept getting a chill running down his spine, as if something bad was about to happen.
Then Harry remembered his Divination marks and promptly threw that "omen" out of his head.
He started again, "I was thinking, should we tell E…"
"Kreacher! Stop hiding things!" Mrs Weasley's shout cut Harry off.
A moment later, the house-elf's sullen voice snapped back. "Filthy blood traitor, ordering Kreacher about… That belongs to the young master! Thieving scum!"
"Kreacher! You dare say that again?" Sirius bellowed, vanishing like a gust of wind.
A sharp bang followed, and the "madwoman" portrait in the hallway woke up and began shrieking at the top of her lungs.
The whole house erupted into chaos.
"…Should we tell Ethan about the Order of the Phoenix..." Harry finished under his breath.
He let out a sigh.
Tonight was Harry's birthday. Under Mrs Weasley's command, they were slogging through the grim task of cleaning the entire Black family townhouse.
Ever since Voldemort's return, and since [Mr Lamp] had become more active, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, hidden by the Fidelius Charm, had once again resumed its role as Order of the Phoenix headquarters after years of silence.
Ron and Hermione were here.
Only Ethan had not been invited.
"I just think we should not hide it from him," Harry said, tipping a doxie over with the end of his wand and shoving it, stunned, into an iron bucket.
He spoke to his friends with eyes full of innocent conviction. "Ethan is so kind and sincere. He has never hidden anything from us."
"Exactly," Hermione agreed, biting her lip. "If we're here enjoying ourselves while Ethan gets attacked by an enemy and tossed off a mountain and ends up all battered, what then?"
Ron's eyes bulged.
"Merlin's pants… am I the only normal person here?"
Just imagining what this place would turn into if Ethan showed up made Ron shudder from head to toe.
Still. There was one piece of good news.
No matter how capable Ethan was, if nobody had ever brought him here, he could not possibly find this place.
Ron muttered, "Hmph. Right now, Ethan's probably off having a brilliant holiday with some girl."
He stuck his bottom lip out, irritated, and flung another screeching doxie into the bucket.
And he could not help picturing, for the hundredth time, how nice it would be if he were Ethan…
Crack. Crack.
"Wah!" Ron yelped as the twins Apparated in and nearly scared him out of his skin.
They teased him at once. "Little Ronnie, what lovely daydream are you having? You look so happy you're practically drooling."
Ron's face went crimson. "Oh, shut up!"
Harry watched them bicker, smiling.
At the same time, he made a quiet decision.
After tonight, after his birthday, he would go and ask Headmaster Dumbledore directly if Ethan could join the Order of the Phoenix.
Harry admired Ethan.
But letting Ethan attend a birthday party…
Sorry.
Harry felt he had the right to say this.
He was a normal human being.
He wanted a normal, safe birthday, one without blood spray and screaming.
Remembering the past few years, and how Ethan's "birthday present" had nearly put the Dursleys' heads up on the wall, like the Black family's house-elf…
Harry shivered.
"Thank goodness Ethan still does not know the Order of the Phoenix exists," Harry breathed, relieved.
He did not notice that his godfather, in the form of a big black dog, had guiltily tucked his tail tight between his legs.
That night, a storm broke.
Rain hammered the windows. Outside was pitch-black, the rattle of water on glass sharpening the cold.
But inside, the house was warm, lit with a soft orange glow.
Everyone gathered around the long dining table, which Mrs Weasley had filled with carefully cooked dishes. Greasy roast chicken legs, herb-crusted lamb chops with their edges slightly charred, creamy stew and thick soup, honeyed carrots, peas with mint, and sauce.
And of course, the birthday cake.
Even Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody, both busy, had come in from outside to celebrate with Harry.
This is the best birthday, Harry thought happily.
Nothing could ruin this warm, cheerful atmosphere.
Until the Weasley twins decided to tell a joke.
"You know," one of them said, voice deliberately creepy, "there's a rumour that on a pitch-black night, a house that is the only one with lights on gets watched by monsters."
"Oh yes," the other chimed in, dragging it out. "A huge monster reaches in with long claws and snatches children right down the chimney."
"Ah-wooo, ah-wooo, little Ronnie…"
Ron snorted and laughed loudly. "You think I'm three? Who believes rubbish like that?"
He had barely finished speaking when a dull thud sounded outside.
Bang!
It was the sound of something heavy stepping down.
The whole house shuddered twice.
Ron: ???
Everyone: ???
Ron's grin froze on his face. He forced a laugh. "J-just a tree branch hitting the house, right? Funny timing, though…"
Bang!
Another heavy impact.
"Huh?" Ron looked as if something had seized his throat.
His eyes went wide. His face turned paper-white.
He stared at the twins, who were now just as baffled.
No. Wait. The monster did not actually show up, did it?
Bang. Bang. Bang.
In the sudden quiet of the dining room, the sound was terrifyingly clear.
Steady. Rhythmic.
And getting closer.
Like something enormous was walking straight towards the house.
Even the adults wiped the smiles off their faces.
"Shh," Lupin said calmly, raising a finger for silence.
He lifted his wand and extinguished the dining room lights.
In the last second before the light vanished, Mrs Weasley shot the twins a murderous look that said, very clearly, We will talk about this later.
The twins looked wounded.
"We didn't know we had the power to make our words come true," one whispered.
"Next time, let's curse Snape bald," the other whispered back.
"Brilliant…"
"Quiet," Mrs Weasley hissed.
The dining room fell into absolute silence.
Only the footsteps outside kept growing louder and heavier.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Harry gripped his wand and swallowed hard.
His heart jumped in time with each impact.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
A blurry silhouette appeared beyond the rain-smeared window.
In the curtain of water, a faint orange halo glowed.
What is that?
Harry narrowed his eyes, straining to see.
His mind raced through possibilities.
Maybe it was wandlight, a quick Lumos cutting through the rain.
Maybe it was some alchemical device that breathed fire, about to burn them all alive.
With each dreadful step, the shape drew nearer, until the outline finally emerged from the gloom.
And when Harry saw it clearly, his mouth fell open.
It was a giant.
Not the kind described in textbooks.
This looked like a moving mountain.
He could not even make out its face, lost somewhere in the clouds and mist. Only its thick, corded limbs were visible, each step pounding down with a brutal thud.
Bang. Bang.
The ground trembled.
The house trembled.
Harry's heart trembled.
And that orange glow.
It was coming from the giant's chest, as if a bonfire had been set inside its ribcage, a forge burning where a heart should be, casting a dim, living light.
"Merlin…" Sirius whispered, head tipped back, his wand lowering without him noticing.
He sounded dazed. "Is it the end of the world all of a sudden?"
In the stunned silence, the giant stopped in front of the window.
Bang.
With a low rumble, it slowly bent down and extended a hand vast enough to blot out the view, reaching towards them.
"Get the children out," Mad-Eye Moody roared.
He lunged forward, seized Harry by the shoulder, and prepared to Apparate, because there was no way they could fight something like this.
Then.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang at the end of the hallway.
Everyone went rigid.
They stared at the door standing in the dark corridor as if it were a gateway into hell.
Swish.
The curtain covering the old woman's portrait slid down, as if everything had been timed.
For once, the portrait did not scream.
In the dead quiet, she drawled in a greasy, mocking voice, "Ding-dong, ding-dong… shh. He knows you're home."
As if in answer.
Cre-eak.
In full view of everyone, the front door opened by itself.
Ron let out a strangled, off-key scream, shaking so hard his teeth would have rattled if he had not been clamped shut. He grabbed Lupin as if to use him as a shield, nearly throttling the poor former werewolf in the process.
Lightning split the sky.
For a heartbeat, it lit the figure standing in the doorway.
Tap-tap.
Ethan stood there.
He lifted a hand in a cheerful wave, smiling at the stunned, petrified crowd.
"I'm here!" he announced brightly.
"Surprise. Miss me?"