Phoenix Pride Keeperoliver Chapter 2

Albus sat at his desk smiling at the headlines written across the front page of the Prophet. He wished he could see the face of Cornelius Fudge this morning. It seems the Pride was able to do what he and his Aurors could not.

MINISTRY SHOWN UP BY UNKNOWN GROUP OF CITIZENS

It was late yesterday afternoon when the Auror office was paid an unexpected visit by 15 bound and weaponless Death Eaters. It appears this was the group that had been causing the death and destruction along the west coast towns.

The Ministry was at a loss of words about who was responsible for their capture. The Aurors had been out for two weeks looking for this group, but never found a clue as to their where about.

So, who were the heroes of the day? A vigilante group of citizens? Irate towns people who knew the area, and were tired of being the target for this group of Death Eaters? It is the belief of this reporter that it was neither of these. I believe there is a new team in town, and they are more adapt at finishing what they start out to do than our own Auror Corp.

When asked about his thoughts, Minister Fudge replied, (NO COMMENT). It seems the Minister is for once quiet. Kind of makes a person wonder what he is thinking. Perhaps he will try and learn who this group is, and try to force them to join forces with the Ministry and capture the rest of the Death Eaters. If it is, then good luck. If he couldn't catch the Death Eaters, then how could he hope to catch the ones who did capture them.

It is the thought of this reporter that it is time for the Ministry to consider the idea of replacing our Minister with one more fitting of the Post. Such as MoM head Amelia Bones. Or Head of the Auror Dept. Alastor Moody. Like I said it is just my thought, and not the thought of this publication or it's Manager. It is something that should be considered.

Finally, who ever is responsible for the captures of these criminals, I tip my hat to you. It gives our people a new found hope and freedom. It will not stop the raids by the Death Eaters, but hopefully it will curtail them. There is a new kid on the block, and I for one wish to see more of them.

Good luck on any future ventures you may have who ever you are.

Andrew Mayfair, Reporter.

Yes, Albus would certainly like to see the face of Cornelius at the moment he read this story. He also wished he could attend the meeting of the Wizengamut this morning. This article will certainly cause quite a stir. But school took priority over his wishes. After all, it is his school and some of it's students who are responsible for the headlines. Hopefully, the Phoenix Pride will continue to make these type of headlines in the future.

Filius, Sirius and Remus have trained these people well. Perhaps it was time for him to step in and help. It could be that he may learn a new trick or two.

The twinkle in his eyes brightened at the thought of him learning once again. By youths no less. If the Ministry knew who was behind the capture, they would disband the Auror Corp, and place the pride there in it's place. Amelia would be proud to see Susan and her friends become the heroes of the hour. If she only knew.

Unknown to Albus, Amelia Bones did know. She was the one to let the information leak to Filius. And she was more than proud of this group. If it was up to her, every one in the wizard world would know of them. Only this team could get an army of elves to fight along side them. And according to Susan, they were thinking of asking the Goblins to join their group. If that were to happen then heaven help the Death Eaters as they would never stand a chance. However, she didn't think they stood much chance, as the Goblins did not associate with the magical world of wizards and witches.

PP-}

Sirius and Remus were at that very moment talking to Ragnok about an alliance. They pointed out that if the Goblins were to remain on the sidelines watching to see which way the war would go, then they could be too late to do anything, and it may bite them in the butt.

Remus continued, "Sir, if you remain neutral, eventually the dark forces will attack your people trying to take control of the resources Gringotts will provide. They have Giants, Trolls and Werewolves on there side. Enough to do more than considerable damage to your nation. I am sure you can see this. Power is what they seek, and it all starts with money. We are not asking for you to totally commit to us, just that if you decide to join in the fighting, that it be with us that you join. Perhaps if you were to let one Goblin join in, to see how we train, Learn, and fight, he or she could pass on to you our progress. If it is satisfactory, then perhaps you would think about joining us. We hope that you would like what you see. Just one Goblin."

"You do know that the Goblins hate witches and wizards. They do not trust you, and would just as soon cut your throat as to talk to you. What you ask goes against our very nature. I do not think you could ever hope to persuade a Goblin to join you, and I could not ask such a thing of my people. If you can find one Goblin to join you, I will allow it. However, I only give you until this time tomorrow to find one."

"Deal, and thank you sir." Shouted Sirius as he jumped out of his seat and headed for the door before Ragnok changed his mind. Remus was right behind him. Ragnok laughed at the enthusiasm of the two. He really did hope they would find one of his people to go with them.

Of course as this was already planned, the two approached Griphook. "Griphook old buddy, are you still game for what we asked? Your boss already OK'd it." Sirius gleamed as he said this.

"Are you telling me that the Director agreed to this notion of yours? He is allowing a Goblin join of his own free will?"

"Yup! Like we said, you would be a member of the pride by the end of the day. You're just about seven hours early. Come on, let's go talk to the boss." Sirius was jumping around like a kid with a new toy.

When Remus and Sirius walked in with Griphook, Ragnok knew he had been taken. They had this planned all along. Of course he had always appreciated a good prank. "So, you had this planned all along, did you? Very well, Griphook, do you agree to the terms of the plan?"

"I do my lord."

"Very well, I will allow you to see how this group deals with these Death Eaters. You have six months them. I want weekly updates in person. If there are any major changes, I wish to know about them immediately. Now go, before I change my mind. OH, and Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, well played."

The two gleamed at the praise the Director gave them. They bowed to him as they left. Once outside, they gave them selves a high five for their work. Griphook watched as they patted them selves on the back. It was strange behavior that he would learn was not uncommon among the group.

PP-}

In the following weeks, Griphook looked on with amazement at what they did to prepare themselves. Their dedication to their work ethic was beyond expectations. The smallest of the group, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny Weasley were not the weakest members as would be expected. In all honesty, the weakest were the people training them. Sirius and Remus. They were training their newest members, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Daphne Greengrass, Blaize Zabini, Tracy Davis, Colin Creevy, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Anthony Goldstein, and Cho Chang.

Griphook was taken back, when Filius presented him with a wand. This had never happened before. He was the first Goblin to ever bear a wand. He was trained with it along with the other new recruits, and became quite proficient with it. It felt like a part of him. His magic never felt so focused. He became a valued member of the team.

When he was to report to Ragnok on his next visit, he was going to ask him a very big request.

Ragnok was surprised when Griphook showed him the wand. He was even further surprised when he was shown what Griphook was able to do. He was then dumbfounded when Griphook asked the Director to permanently assign him to the Pride. This was not expected. He actually thought that Griphook would be asking to be relieved from the duty. He granted Griphook his request, and saw for the first time a Goblin pleased to work with wizards and witches.

PP-}

It was not long after this that Griphook found himself a part of a mission. He would be joining Luna, Ginny, Fred and George and Remus. The six were to patrol Diagon Alley as there was a report that there would be a raid that evening. The six would notify the rest if it actually took place. They would then respond to their call. The six were asked not to take part in any fighting, unless it was absolutely necessary.

They then floo traveled to the Leaky Cauldron, and entered the Alley. It just so happened that at the same time, the Death Eaters also arrived. Luna used her mirror to call the rest into action. However, a confrontation was inevitable. There were five Death Eaters in the original numbers, and were soon joined by ten more. These were cut of by the elves that arrived there first.

Griphook and Luna fought back to back against the original DE's The rest had done the same The five DE's were not that smart. Griphook had his first taste of action, and was brilliant. His opponent was taken out very quickly, and Griphook turned to help his partner. It was not necessary as she had taken her opponent out even quicker than Griphook, and was watching him. He laughed at this. It was the same every where. Once again all 15 DE's were captured, and delivered to the Ministry in the same fashion. The same reporter was there, and the Minister was given the same treatment as the last time. This time, action was taken against the Minister for failing in his duties. Before the Wizengamot he was tried for failure to withhold the duties of his post, and was relieved from duty, along with his Deputy, Delores Umbridge. The interim Minister was proclaimed and Amelia Bones took over the reigns of the Minister of Magic. Alastor Moody was her Deputy. Kingsley Shacklebolt Took over the Auror Dept. and Rufus Scrimgeour the MoM.

When Cornelius threatened to get even with the Ministry, he and Umbridge were tried and found guilty of threatening a government official. They were sentenced to twenty years.

Both Amelia and Alastor knew of the Pride, and were glad they were on their side. Alastor was not pleased with the Auror Corp, and started a training ritual almost equal to the training that the Pride did. The Auror Corp dropped in numbers because of this. They were old men, and not quite fit enough to train like this. Young people were recruited, and the Auror group took on a new look under Kingsley. Their brightest hopefull was Nymphdora Tonks, a young witch with the powers of a Metamorph. She was asked to train with the Pride for a special reason. Sirus Black had asked for his cousin to join them. Alastor liked Sirius, and Kingsley respected Alastor.

When Nymphadora joined the group, she was at first embarrassed to be training with kids. She quickly learned these were not ordinary kids. For her first week she was so tired and sore from the training, she agreed to the rub down that Remus had offered. It became a nightly ritual with the two from then on. Sirius was thrilled that Remus and Tonks, as this is what she preferred to be called, got along so well.

Griphook continued his weekly updates to Ragnok, and Ragnok was beginning to think it was a good idea for him to join forces with the Pride.

PP-}

Ron and Hermione were becoming quite the pair. They were seen holding hands as they walked the halls of the school. They trained together, ate together and hugged when it was time for the two to retire to their dorms for bed.

This caused quite a ribbing from the twins, and Sirius. Ron could have cared less about it. He was surprised when Harry and Ginny supported him. He was expecting a ribbing from Ginny, but it never came. He was however told that if he was to see Her and Harry holding hands and hugging, he had to remember what she did. He agreed and that was the end of that.

George and Luna were found this way as well. He was taking quite a shine for the Claw. Fred was also taking a shine for Tracy Davis.

Harry and Ginny were not as bold as the rest. Not because of Ginny. Harry still had the lonely feeling he had when he first arrived to Hogwarts. Not as bad, but it was hard to break out the shell he had to put himself in. Ginny was trying her best to break that shell, and was slowly getting it done.

It helped when Filius would trick Harry into pairing up with her during training. It was also to get them to see how well they worked together.

Their training was becoming so intense that Albus had to make special provisions for them. Their schedule became much different then the rest of the school. Draco Malfoy saw this and reported it to his father. His father asked that he try to gather as much information as he could about how they trained. He would get nothing from Blaize, Daphne or Tracy. This group became an obsession with Draco. They were so close that no one would talk to others about what they did. He was told by Severus that they were a special group of talented students that were being trained for a competition with another school. Draco believed this because Severus and his dad were friends.

The thing that got him interested was hours they spent in their training. It was not normal for them to sit in class with the other students. What did they do for those hours on end.

He decided the only way he was going to find out was to try and get close with one of them. He would try to date one of the women of the group. He went over the girls there, and dropped Daphne and Tracy immediately. Being in the same house would be disasterous. Susan Bones is too high a risk to be caught with if he was found out what his intentions were. No it had to be one less noticeable. He would never dirty himself with a mudblood, so Granger was out. That left Luna Lovegood or Ginny Weasley. Both pure blood, and both good looking. He would flirt with both, to see who would take the bait.

All of a sudden, his father's task was looking better. They were both twice as good looking as Pansy. Pansy was OK, but a bit to clutchy. She was easy though. Maybe keep her on the side for a quick pick me up. Never hurts to be safe.

His first chance was that evening. He saw Luna coming from her dorm going to dinner. He quickly caught with her and started his line. "Hey Luna, how are you doing? You're looking quite ravishing this evening. Do you mind if I walk with you to Dinner?"

Luna never got a chance to answer as Draco was pushed up against the wall by a shield charm, then there was a wand shoved under his chin. "It's not polite to mess with another man's girlfriend, Malfoy. It could get you hurt, if you catch my drift. Now I am going to let you off this time, because you may not have know that Luna is off the market. Now in the future if you try this with her, or for any girl in our group, you will pay dearly. This is not a threat, Malfoy. Nor is it a promise. It is just a plain cold fact. If she is a memeb of the group, she is untouchable to you." George pushed his wand deeper into his skin, to prove his point.

"Who are you Weasley to tell me who I ca and can not talk to?"

"I could be your worse nightmare. Or I could be the one to tell the others what you're up to. Or I could just let you do what you want, and watch as you are torn limb from limb by who ever you piss off." The way he said it made Draco feel like it would happen just the way Weasley said it would. Draco was not normally a person to run from a challenge. He ran this time however, and dropped the idea of trying to become a friend to any of the group.

"George you didn't have to try and scare him like that?"

"I didn't try to scare him my love. I just told him the truth. You heard what I told him. Did I lie to him?"

"No, but you could have been kinder to him."

"Luna, was very calm with him. If he took it any other way, that was his problem. Now, come on, let's go get some thing to meat before Ron eats it all."

"He better save me some pudding. He didn't the last time I was late."

"Ya, I remember that. Took him a week to get those blue bells out of his hair. Bloody brilliant you are, love."

"Well no one messes with me and my pudding."

George looked at her with his puppy dog eyes, "No even me?"

"There are exceptions to every rule. But don't think of making a habit of it. There are exceptions to the exceptions."

"Of course my love, would never think of it. I know you and your pudding."