A/N
In this chapter you'll read a bit about the Catholic Inquisition. I tried to get the nouns and dates right, but please don't see this as some kind of serious History lesson. The characters and their motives are only my interpretation, and are not meant to be historic correct. I hope this part is not too verbose, but I wanted to show that the Congregation has a history, extremely unlike to the OotP. It will be the only "History lesson" in this story, I promise.
Important:
This chapter was especially difficult to write. I didn't want to sound too "Christly". But you have to remember the very important part (in good and evil) the Catholic Church played in Europe for 2,000 years. If you don't like this explanation of the Congregation's history and origin, you're welcome to ignore most of this chapter and simply continue with the story. It won't play a real part later, it's only background information.
I thought long about writing this chapter at a later moment, but from the storyline it had to be now. The four friends have to know now what the congregation stands for, to have some weeks to think about joining or not the party.
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In Days of old
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Pinegrew Manor – 11th of July
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Upon entering the library Roxanne found Hermione, as expected, sitting on the old but cozy chair at the window, reading some book she had come upon on her last visit a week ago. It was her usual place, and on silent agreement everybody left that chair to her if she was present. For a moment Roxanne Greengrass née Pinegrew watched her in silence. Hermione had only been here for a few minutes, but already she was totally enthralled by the old tome.
She feels secure and at home, Roxanne pondered. She was happy about it, partly because it proved how wrong Albus had been. Fifteen years ago it had been Albus Dumbledore who caused the rift between Minerva McGonagall and Agatha Pinegrew. He hadn't trusted her family, expected her to turn dark only because of Roxanne's marriage to Cyrus Greengrass. Funny how often he sees the darkness in others' souls but his own, Roxanne growled silently, as he is the one using Charms and Potions so carelessly to bend others to his will. Thank God that this had changed. The friendship between Minerva McGonagall, Agatha Pinegrew and Augusta Longbottom was as strong as it once was.
"Oh, hello Roxanne," Hermione looked up at last and smiled, her eyes showing that her mind wasn't really here yet. With a pondering look she put the book on the small table at her side. As she moved her arm, the bracelet on her wrist became visible. Another thing Albus would certainly somehow interpret in a dark way, Roxanne thought, her eyes narrowing. Luckily he doesn't know about them.
The bracelet – similar ones being in the possession of Harry, Daphne and Neville – had been a gift from her, enchanted with runes to protect the bearer against curses and charms. Originally created for Astoria, the special condition of her family never allowed her to bestow the bracelet to her younger daughter. While Cyrus had allowed her to rear Daphne more or less as she wished, he had spent far too much time with Astoria, trying to transform her into his picture of the 'perfect little daughter', protecting her from the 'bad influence' of her mother and grandma.
He even engaged her to Draco Malfoy two years ago, months before she entered Hogwarts. Horrified, Roxanne and her mother had watched Astoria slip away. She was in love with Draco and adored her father. Only over the last six months had she changed for the better again, mostly thanks to the influence of Harry and the dangers Daphne and Astoria were put through. Apparently it had reminded Astoria of how much she loved her older sister and now the siblings were inseparable again – at least when not spending time with their boyfriends. And Draco: Roxanne hoped that the soothing influence of Astoria and Narcissa would be enough to rescue him from Lucius' grasp.
"Claire Roussevalle wrote me again," Hermione smiled. "She's staying with the Delacours this summer."
Roxanne nodded. She remembered the talented girl quite well. A Beauxbatons student like Fleur Delacour, she had put her name in the Goblet of Fire too. But the Goblet had chosen Fleur, much to the chagrin of Claire's family. It had been Harry who realized that something was wrong with her when she returned from the winter break. A hidden examination by Daphne later they knew that Harry had been right: Someone was abusing Claire. Roxanne shuddered as she thought about the experiences of his childhood that allowed Harry to spot something like that at a glance.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked concerned. Roxanne realized that she had started to growl very unladylike. She blushed slightly: "Sorry, only thinking about Harry's childhood – and Dumbledore."
Hermione nodded. She understood. Only a few months ago she had learned details about Harry's childhood. For a long time he had been very silent and shy about it. Only after visiting Petunia, to put her memories about Lily Potter née Evans into the magical painting, had he been willing to speak about it. Petunia and especially Vernon had been a horrible family to him. But while this was partly their fault – Vernon really hated everything magical – a far greater part had been the result of Dumbledore's meddling.
They had detected a music box in the house, enchanted to enhance bad emotions: Jealousy, hatred, the urge of violence – everything they felt towards Harry was multiplied by ten. Petunia and Dudley had left Vernon three months ago and now lived in a cottage near to Pinegrew Manor. The relationship between Harry and his last blood relatives was still tense and not very cordial, but it improved slowly. For the greater good, only barely was Roxanne able to suppress another hiss. Albus had meant that a humble and beaten Harry would serve him better in his fight against Voldemort. Luckily the entrance of Harry and Daphne took her mind off those dark thoughts.
"Hi." Hermione hugged Daphne first. She noticed the well-snogged look of her lips and the smell of grass on her shirt. With a smirk Hermione fetched a blade of grass from Daphne's back before she turned towards a suddenly blushing Harry.
His blush only deepened and he tried to hide behind Hermione's mane of hair when Roxanne – sharing her guest's smirk – nonchalantly asked: "Had a good ride… on your brooms?"
Daphne, far better than Harry in controlling her expression and more used to her mother's innuendoes, equally laid-back answered: "Yes mother, at least until Harry took me down by the pond to have some steaming sex in the summer sun."
Harry nearly fainted. Aghast he stared at his godmother: "No, we didn't …"
Roxanne glared at him, while Daphne asked sweetly: "Harry, you don't want to imply that I'm lying, do you?"
Like a rabbit surrounded by two cobras Harry's eyes went from Roxanne to Daphne and back. Enrage his godmother or his girlfriend, both possibilities appeared equally bad. After some silent moments, Hermione started to laugh, unable to hold it back anymore. "You two are really evil, you know that?"
"Certainly," Daphne drawled in her best Draco imitation. "We're Slytherins. It's our right and nature to be evil."
Harry dared to breathe again and glared at his girlfriend: "I'll get you for that… later."
Daphne showed him her sweetest smile and mouthed: I very much hope so.
"Steaming sex at the pond," Roxanne suddenly sighed. "I would like that." Harry groaned in pain. "But your father… isn't… available for such activities."
"Perhaps you should take a lover, Mum" Daphne suggested with a serious voice.
Harry put his head in his hands, trying to protect his mind from those pictures: "Too much information, too many bad pictures."
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"Hello Neville," Roxanne greeted her last guest, while Daphne and Harry watched how Hermione more or less jumped her boyfriend. A few months ago none of them would have expected their beloved bookworm to show her emotions so openly, but Neville had really helped her develop a softer, more relaxed and far less constrained side of her personality. In the beginning Harry had been surprised to see her Patronus. An otter seemed so wrong – not serious enough by far. But now he realized that her Patronus had known better from the start.
After a passionate kiss Neville untangled himself from her hug and blushed, but allowed her to hold his hand: "Hello Roxanne."
They all took a seat and enjoyed their tea and cake for a while, until Hermione mentioned: "Please tell your grandma that I send my thanks for the book, Neville."
"What book?" Neville had no idea what Hermione was speaking about, as his grandma hadn't wanted to startle him with that special bit of information.
"The book about marriage customs in pureblood families," Hermione answered with a slight blush, hastily looking down at her feet.
"Oh," Harry grinned: "Something to tell, Neville?"
Hermione's head jerked up, her eyes blazing at Harry, who continued to grin.
"N… no," Neville struggled to answer. Did he see a sliver of disappointment in Hermione's eyes? Daphne frowned slightly, her eyes going back and forth between her friends. "Not yet," Neville added after moment, a hint of Gryffindor bravery urged him to explain: "Perhaps soon." His heart roared with joy as he noticed a happy glimmer in Hermione's eyes. He would ask her, ask her soon.
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"While I always like to have you as my guests," Roxanne interrupted the happy chatter about vacation and books some minutes later "there is a special reason I wanted to see you today."
All went silent and paid her attention. They had expected a more serious reason for this little tea party, but only Daphne knew the motive.
"Hermione will leave the country for two weeks and Neville will be much occupied with his OWL preparation." Both teenagers agreed to this. "But all of you will be here from Harry's birthday until the start of the school year. Agatha and I want to use those four weeks to train you. But before we do this, you have to decide something." With an unusual grave expression she looked around. "Hermione turned fifteen last fall. Neville and Harry will follow in three weeks and Daphne will be the last one in five weeks. Fifteen is a very special age, you have to know, nearly as important as seventeen.
"At fifteen you are allowed to make a number of very important decisions. Many teenagers are allowed to handle business matters on their own – like Lily decided with Harry and her trust fund. Many engagements start at the age of fifteen." Both Neville and Hermione avoided looking at each other. "And it is the age the Congregation allows newcomers to join."
Harry inhaled deeply. So this was about the Congregation. He glanced at Daphne, but his girlfriend stared at her mother stoically.
"Daphne will join the Congregation on the day after her birthday. We offer you the same opportunity. I wanted to make this offer today, so that you have a few weeks to think about it. It is a serious decision and will certainly influence how much we are allowed to train you. To be honest, we really hope that all of you will agree. It would make the training much easier and more… efficient. Much of what we want to teach you are secrets of the Congregation and despite the trust we put into all of you, we aren't allowed to share them if you don't join us. Ana already ignored this once and the others weren't happy about it."
Daphne knew exactly what her mother was speaking about. Right before the third task she had been terrified. She had feared to lose Harry and had begged Ana for help. And her aunt had agreed. She had cast a very special ritual that had strengthened her link to Harry, allowing her to sense him on a far greater level than before. It only lasted for a few days, but it had been enough to find him, had been enough to rescue Harry in the nick of time. Without that rule-breaking Harry would be dead now.
"Before we're able to make a decision," Hermione stated calmly "we have to know more. With you, Agatha and Ana being part of the Congregation, it can't be something bad. But still …"
The others nodded, their head whirling around as a new voice answered: "That's the reason I'm here."
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Pinegrew Manor – Chapel
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They had changed location and gathered in the small chapel that belonged to Pinegrew Manor. At the beginning Harry – and Neville even more – had been surprised to see something like this in the home of a Pureblood Family. Most purebloods didn't have a strong connection to any faith, partly because of the historic tensions between church and magic, but mostly because of simple disinterest. However the Pinegrews apparently had a long tradition of being Christian, mostly Anglican with some Catholic members thrown in for the mix. It didn't affect the daily life too much and there weren't weekly family church attendances, but it was quite normal for Harry to watch one of his Pinegrew ladies to offer a small blessing at the table and sometimes one of them – mostly Roxanne – was wearing a little silver cross. In her case it had been a gift from her late great grandmother at her eleventh birthday, she once told him. It is a strange idea to know your ancestors three generations back, Harry mused a bit depressed.
Much stronger had been the influence of their humanistic attitude. This had certainly been a major reason for Hermione's fast and close friendship, especially with Agatha Pinegrew. At last she had found someone who shared her opinions about rights of other races. At last someone took her seriously when she spoke about S.P.E.W. Daphne had already helped her in the matter, but it had only been proof of the world-view her mother and grandma had taught her. If possible Agatha was even more outspoken in that matter and Hermione found more than one family member in a history book, mentioned as an opponent of the Goblin wars or being an Ambassador to the centaur clans.
"To understand the Congregation, you have to know about its history. I really hope I'll be more interesting than Professors Binns, but please be patient with me," Ana Hernandez smiled. She composed herself for a moment and started to weave a story – a story about days of old.
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Rome – Papal Scriptorium – 1252
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"Is this really the way?" Sister Sarah pointed towards the paper on his writing desk, the one he intended to subscribe right now. Her voice was a mix of doubts and concern. Nothing of that was new to him, and deep within he shared her opinion. But unlike Sister Sarah, he was a politician foremost and a churchman only a far second.
Pope Innocent IV looked up from the decree. Sister Sarah was one of the few members of the Catholic Church who were allowed to be this close to him, to address him so informally. "Your Holiness" – it had needed several years and many conversations until she had been willing to omit the title, at least if no one else was around. But a man in his position needed someone like her – a friend with a conscience, no political ambition, but a strong desire to help any human being. He wasn't allowed to follow her advice too often, but was always willing to listen to her.
"I have to do this, Sarah. If I disagree with this decree, I'll appear weak. And a weak pope is unable to hold his children in check." Innocent was very discontent with this edition of the decree. He had tried for a long time to change it, to weaken it. But in the end the members of the new Dominican Order and their friends among the more traditional Cardinals and Bishops had been able to get their wish.
The new decree "Ad Extirpanda" would allow every Inquisitor to use torture to extract a confession from a heretic. Only 73 years ago his predecessor Pope Alexander III had institutionalized the Inquisition and since then – especially since the 1215 founded Dominican Order started to play an important role in the Inquisition – they had been able to extend their authority with every year.
"This is too much power for a mortal man, Innocent. Under torture everybody will confess to anything. Such a confession is worthless. It is our duty to convert, to convince, and not to reign with terror and fear."
Innocent sighed deeply. "I know that, Sarah. But you know as well how the Bishops and Cardinals fear a repetition of the Crusade. Never again shall a Christian meet a Christian on the field of battle like that."
Sarah knew what Innocent was speaking about and she agreed, albeit in a different way. Only two decades ago there had been a Crusade, but not in the Holy Land. To extinguish one of the new religious movements that had started to gather followers a hundred years ago, the Church – with the help of the French king who wanted to get a stronger hold on the Provence of Languedoc – started a Crusade against the Cathars. This was also called the Albigensian Crusade because the Cathars had been especially strong in the City of Albi. The Cathar movement had been crushed, the greater part converted by force, the rest forced to flee or be burned. It had been a horrible time, nothing any Christian wanted to experience anew.
"They hope to extinct any new movement before something like that can happen again. We can only hope to steer the Inquisition into the right direction. We can't stop them anymore – not now at least."
"Can we really guide them?" Sarah asked with a low voice and apparently unconvinced. "You know that they will not only harass supposed heretics? Since the end of the Crusade and even partially already during that time they started to search for… people like me."
Innocent nodded gravely. 'People like me', that meant wizards and witches. He was one of the few high-ranking members of the clergy who knew about magic. He didn't condemn it; in contrary he saw it as a gift of God. Reading the Bible gave proof of magic wielders even in the time before Christ. Some people believed that even Moses had been a wizard – or that he had a wizard in his entourage. But all of this had to be a secret. Officially Sister Sarah was his personal healer, nothing else. But her most important duty was to protect him – from spies, from assassination attempts and from other wizards. Until now she had been very effective in these duties and he knew of about at least two instances where she saved his life. But if the wrong people learned about her special gift, she would be in grave danger. And he feared that some of the Dominicans, at least, suspected something.
"Was is especially dangerous is that they search without knowledge," Sarah continued quite troubled. "They have no real grasp of magic, don't know what you can do and cannot do, and don't differentiate between a Dark Magician and a Healer. They act like a drunken and blind-folded man, hacking around with a sword, and trying to hit poisonous snakes on a farmstead. The chance they hit a cow, a hen or the farmer's daughter is far too great."
"Then we have to find a way to guide them. If they lack knowledge, it is our duty to share this knowledge with them – your duty, Sarah."
"My duty?" Sarah asked. "What do you mean?"
"You're able to differentiate. You're able to tell dangerous magic from the compassionate sort. You could find others like you and found an order… no, not an official order as the Dominicans. It should be more something like a loose congregation – a congregation of wise and educated men and women, knowledgeable about magic but solid in their faith."
"Pope Leo III already tried something like that 400 years ago. But his Order of Theurgists only lasted a few years."
"Leo wanted an Order of holy magic wielding warriors. Your congregation will be something different. Protect and educate will be your duty, guide and pacify. In a sort of way the Dominicans are right: There is a real danger stemming from dark magic. And this danger will only grow, when those magicians realize the new hunter. We can't stop this fight, but perhaps we can lessen the impact and protect the innocent."
"I'll think about that," Mother Sarah agreed.
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Pinegrew Manor – Present
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After Ana finished her story, they were silent for a long time, trying to understand what had happened back then and why. It was so far away, so foreign it was nearly like struggling to understand an alien race. For Neville it was certainly the most difficult. Unlike Hermione – or even Daphne who had read more than one history book in the past – he only had a very patchwork-like grasp of Muggle History. Naturally he had heard about the Inquisition, but it had always been more like a horror story, not something real.
"So," Hermione started slowly "the Congregation started as a kind of unofficial Order of the Catholic church, meant to be… what… a helper of the Inquisition?"
"More like a little unloved step sister," Roxanne started to joke.
"They had hoped that the Congregation would be able to slow the Inquisition, to teach them and to guide them. To our regret, they failed bitterly."
"And you're still part of the Church?" Daphne heard the suspicion in Harry's voice. While he always had been supportive of her faith, he certainly didn't want to be 'a Church lackey', exchanging one master for another.
"No," Ana shook her head, "not for a long time, not since the Concordat of Paris in 1801. With membership being something like a family tradition for many of us, there are still many Catholic members among us. But my own mentor belonged to an old Jewish-Muslim family originating in the time before the Reconquista. And the Pinegrews – like most British members of the Congregation – are Anglicans."
Harry nodded, relaxing again. That sounded much better.
"In the 1250s and 1260s Sister Sarah founded the Congregation and tried hard to find a solution, forge some kind of cooperation with the Dominican dominated Inquisition. She failed miserably. Her human world view was no match for the bigotry, fear and jealousy of her time. They struggled for decades, but in 1324 they had their first major setback: Bernardo Gui wrote his 'Tractatus de practica inquisitoris', a handbook for Inquisitors, describing ways to investigate – among other things – cases of magic."
"It is weird," Harry said with a low voice "to hear such a name as Bernardo Gui in this story. I only heard about him in a film before – The name of the rose. And now you speak about him like a real person. It's like … "
"Like living in a book?" Daphne asked with a smile.
"Yes," Harry responded "like living in a book."
"It's history, Harry," Ana explained. "An important piece of our history, a part most of us know nothing about, but which caused events that have repercussions even today. In Europe religion – in real or as a pretext – has always played a role in politics and war. The French king wanted to reign in southern France, but he rallied troops in the name of god. The Spanish nobility wanted back into their old country, but again it was – at least officially – a war against the Muslims. For a long time the Church was the mightiest ruler in Europe, doing much good but causing much mayhem too."
"How was this book of Bernardo Gui a setback, Ana?" Hermione asked, trying to get back to story.
"It was a setback, because it made official that the Inquisition had their own explanations, their own knowledge. They decided that they didn't need us, that they didn't want us to 'mess with their cases'. Since then the tensions mounted and more than once a member of the Congregation found himself in the dock. After Innocent IV died, none of his successors was that close to us. We didn't have many supporters for a long time, and slowly the Congregation sank into insignificance. There were still members and they tried to help, but their success was severely limited."
"I hear a but coming," Harry smiled weakly.
"You hear right," Ana agreed.
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Spain – 1485
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Sitting on an old and battered wooden chair, Rodrigo Hernandez watched the man sleeping on the worn cot. Had it been the right decision to be here, to help this man? Many of his friends believed that it was wrong to rescue him. He certainly was one of the most feared and hated men in Spain for a reason. But Rodrigo couldn't help himself: He was unable to stand back if someone needed his help, be it as a Healer or as a Defender.
Sixty years ago a large group of Congregation members had followed a new wave of the Reconquista into Spain, mostly to Castile. There had been rumours about persecutions of Jews and Moslems in the 'freed' parts of Spain. Was freeing the right definition if most of the inhabitants didn't welcome you? Spain had been a terrific mix of cultures with Jews, Moslems and Christians living together, under Moslem rule but mostly peaceful. Certainly it had been far better than now under the oppressive rule of the new Spanish nobility and the all-too zealous Church.
The Congregation, under their sign of an Asp around a wand – most people assumed it was simply a kind of Asclepios Staff –, mostly put on the appearance of Healers. The healing arts had always been widespread among them and it was a very useful disguise. While large parts of Europe endured the 'Dark Ages', sciences and culture blossomed in Spain. A few members of the Congregation had been in Spain before that wave, and many Healers had kept up correspondence with Muslim colleagues. Now they worked hard on rescuing that knowledge – knowledge often called blasphemous by the Church.
The Inquisition hadn't been friendly to the Congregation and their new members – the Hernandez family being one of the earliest families to join them. But in a way it had been the inhuman persecution of Jews that allowed the Congregation to stay. After years of hate and murder, the Jews started to fight back. They had a surprising number of 'Cabbalist' called wizards among them – magical education being mostly reserved to men there weren't many witches – and they started to assassinate Inquisitors. As they did before in France and Italy, the Inquisition retaliated with force, but now they had to learn that their knowledge and skills were terribly inadequate for such a fight. So they allowed the Congregation to do their job.
"Why?" The voice was very weak, the face very pale.
Rodrigo was silent for several minutes. The Congregation had learned about a planned assassination attempt on this man and warned him. But he was unwilling to listen and refused their protection. One week later a trio of Jewish wizards attacked, killed his guard and wounded him lethally. Without Rodrigo's help he would be dead now, something many of his brethren and sisters wished for.
"I'm not completely certain, Tomas." Rodrigo's voice was unable to maskhis depression. While battling those wizards in the past decades, the Congregation had tried everything to stop this war. There simply had to be another way. But while the Inquisition allowed them to stay and help, they didn't listen.
"I can't allow them to live, Rodrigo."
"Can't or won't? Tomas, this killing has to stop. Most of them don't want to fight. They simply want to live in peace. Hundreds of humans died on both sides, unnecessarily. Decades of war are enough, Tomas. Please stop it, please allow Spain some peace."
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Pinegrew Manor – Present
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"That man," Hermione asked slowly. "That was Tomas de Torquemada I assume."
"Yes, he was. He had been Inquisitor for some time already, and been elevated to General Inquisitor of Spain one year before the attack. Many members of the Congregation and many Jews believed him to be some kind of a devil, and the reason for all those fights. But my ancestor didn't share that opinion. He thought that Tomas wasn't a bad man but an over-zealous one; he feared that allowing him to die would only bring another man on that chair, perhaps an even worse one. His decision to rescue Torquemada is the reason of many disputes even today, the reason why one half of Spain think our family to be heroes and the other half sentences us as fools."
"And did he succeed?"
Ana sighed: "In a way yes, but not completely. He stopped the war against the wizards, and even allowed us to make some agreements among Christian, Moslem and Jewish wizards. Those agreements were an early form of the agreements we have today between the Ministries of Magic and other magical races like the Centaurs. And a part of those agreements you know today as the 'Statute of Secrecy'. But on the other hand Tomas de Torquemada did nothing to stop the Spanish King and Queen – the Catholic Regents, as they were called by the Pope – from announcing the Alhambra edict. 1492, with the defeat of the last Moslem bastion, the Emirate of Granada, Spain was completely in the hands of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. In the same year, with that edict, they proclaimed that every Jew had to convert or leave the land within six months."
"Didn't the war start anew after that?" Hermione wondered.
"No," Ana shook her head. "A few wanted to fight, but most of them had seen enough blood to last a lifetime. They converted and tried to preserve their culture in secret. It was the beginning of decades of conversion, betrayal and persecution of relapse, as they called converted Jews who still followed their old rites in secrecy. It was a bad time."
"But with those agreements there was a sparkle of hope, I assume."
Ana smiled weakly: "I agree."
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Spain – 1506
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With a gloomy face Teresa Hernandez curtseyed when Queen Joanna left the palace and slowly walked towards the carriage. The soldiers, as much bodyguards as prison guards, followed a few steps behind. To her surprise Joanna offered her a small smile.
"Don't be so crestfallen, Teresa. There is no reason to be."
Teresa started to disagree, but then stopped, returned the smile and nodded with a new curtsey. "I agree. I'm allowed to be with you, your majesty. Only this is important."
With a small gesture Joanna allowed her to stand up. She turned around and for a short moment there was sadness in her eyes. "I'll miss this place."
"I know, your majesty." Teresa looked around. The soldiers were waiting patiently and she ignored the deep frown on Pater Martinez' face. "Was it worth it?"
Joanna pondered for a while, but then her sadness changed into a happier expression. "It was worth it."
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Pinegrew Manor – Present
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"After the death of Tomas de Torquemada in 1498, the situation relaxed a bit in Spain. Open hostilities had ceased and the Inquisition at least tried to keep peace with the magical community of all three beliefs. One of the most prominent witches of that time was the niece of Rodrigo: Teresa Hernandez. She was only a lay sister, not a nun. So she was allowed to have children. At the age of forty she took the vows and became Sister Teresa. Through a friend she got a position near Princess Joanna. Joanna was the third child of Queen Isabella and never thought to be Queen herself. But her older siblings died as well as her young nephew, and so one day she had an arranged husband at her side and a crown on her hair.
"Sister Teresa became very close to her in those difficult days, one of the few the young queen could trust. This unusual friendship blossomed when Teresa started to teach her, History and languages at first, but a bit about the magical community too."
"Wasn't that very dangerous?"
"It was, but it became a blessing later. Queen Joanna was very unlike her mother, certainly one of the reason her parents had other plans at the beginning. Her husband, despite being chosen out of political reasons, loved her deeply and she loved him back. He was willing to listen to his wife and followed her advice. With their help and through the mediation of Teresa, the very first official agreement between a government of southern Europe and the Spanish Ministry of Magic came into existence. It is still valid today."
"If I remember correctly," Hermione mentioned "Queen Joanna was only a real queen for a few years."
"You're correct about that. There were still too many opponents of that peace and this agreement rubbed it into their faces a bit too much. They used their chances after the early death of Joanna's husband. She was stricken with grief and an easy victim. They declared her unfit to rule and shifted her off into a cloister. Teresa followed her and stayed her friend until her death twenty-two years later."
"And Queen Joanna?"
"She died in 1555, alone."
"That's very sad."
"It is. But according to rumours her opinion didn't change until her death: It was worth it."
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"You said," Harry asked a while later "that you don't belong to the Church anymore. How did that happen?"
"Apparently it's a blessing now to have Binns at Hogwarts," Roxanne grinned. "They're still eager to hear more about it. They're hardened."
"And I hoped," Ana pouted "it would be because of my talent as a tale-teller." She sipped some tea and continued, clearly pleased that these teenagers were willing to learn about the Congregation's past.
"Nearly two hundred years ago, in 1801, at the Concordat of Paris, many of the new rulers, especially among the very influential French, feared organizations like us. They had nearly no information about us, knew nothing about our loyalties, our abilities or our aims. They wanted to clip the power of the Catholic Church and to enforce their hold on Western Europe. Mainly it was a meeting to formalize the relation between France under their Consul Napoleon and the Church under Pope Pius VII, the same Pope who crowned Napoleon a few years later.
"The Congregation – like many other organizations – was dissolved at that Concordat and never restored. Perhaps Rome assumed that they didn't need us anymore. There were Ministries of Magic everywhere, agreements between the magical and the Muggle world, even magical police forces. Why maintain us?"
"But you continued nonetheless?"
"Yes," Ana affirmed. "Old friendships like the one between the Pinegrews and the Hernandez didn't stop simply because some officials decided that we weren't needed anymore. And a few governments – especially the Spanish – didn't share that opinion. They still thought us to be useful. We continued to work, to help, to defend, to heal and to educate. We continue even today. And we hope that you'll be among those wizards and witches that will continue our work into the next century."
.
"And what are you doing today? What do you expect us to do?"
"The same as usual," Ana smiled: "Protect, educate and help. Our grandparents had been very active in the battle against Grindelwald and his allies. In Spain a group of dark wizards tried to usurp the government, magical and Muggle. They used mind magic to control many officials and it was a very exhausting, complicated and drawn-out battle. We lost many people back then. Some of those wizards survived and tried to repeat their actions twenty years ago. This time we were better prepared. Members like me, positioned near important officials of the Church and the government, were able to intercept them. It was still a difficult fight but much shorter than before. That success is the reason of my current position. Since then we try to help the different races and beliefs to interact freely, to live together peacefully. We had a number of weaker dark lords in Spain and Italy, too. Nothing comparable to Voldemort, but to a victim it is insignificant whether his murderer is a renowned dark lord or a simple serial killer.
"Our second aim is to preserve knowledge. Mostly we dabble in mind magic, the healing arts and soul magic. Some of us are especially skilled in shielding magic and curse-breaking. We preserve that magic and promote research in those areas. That spell your mother is working on, Daphne, the one to help examining patients, has been supported by us. We support a number of libraries and hospitals, too, mostly in southern Europe.
"Our third aim is to support politicians who are willing to struggle for fair laws: Fair laws towards other races, regarding Muggle-Magic relations or to remove laws that still suppress the rights of children and witches. Interestingly Britain's laws are much more traditional in that regard than those in Spain or Italy."
"What we are expecting from you, you ask," Roxanne continued. "It is in a way very simple but likewise very difficult, and I fear it sounds terrible trite and corny: We want you to promote peace, equality and tolerance. We want you to further the goals our ancestors thought to be right for seven centuries. We want you to help the magical community to be a better place." Roxanne smiled weakly. "You see: Cheesy. But that's what we believe."
"Don't get us wrong," Ana explained. "We aren't some kind of Christian social service or a branch of the Salvation Army. But we think that it's our duty to give more than we receive. We want you to be happy, to marry, to have children and find a fulfilling job. But we want you, too, to think seriously about your future, to find something constructive and meaningful: It could be something simple as a soup kitchen. Perhaps you think that you'll serve the community best as a fighter, battling dangers like Death Eaters, rampaging dragons or crazed Doxies. You could do good deeds as a healer, as a politician who promotes laws that further equality among races or as a teacher who introduces new views to the next generation."
"At the moment our most urgent duty is to fight Voldemort," Roxanne declared much more dourly. "But this is only a phase of our life. And this is one of the reasons why we never joined the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore created his group only to fight Dark Wizards. He never had long-ranged aims. Dumbledore never had visions about the future, never noticed what is wrong with our society. As the Headmaster of Hogwarts and Supreme Mugwump he was in the position to really change something. He had friends in the school, in the Ministry, at court and among the Aurors. He could have done something to change Britain. But instead he simply waited for Voldemort's return. Voldemort was gone for fifteen years and still Britain is a place of outdated traditions, bigotry and prejudices.
"Yes, we'll fight Voldemort and try to kill him. But we don't fight him for revenge, not to avenge the deaths of Harry's parents or because we hate him. We fight him because it is our duty to protect others and because he stands for an outdated world view, because he brings out the worst in many people – and because he's beyond reform, despite any ramblings of our former beloved Headmaster about second chances.
"But your life won't stop after that, Harry. In a year he'll be dead. In a year this danger will be gone. But you'll still be here. You'll have to find something to do with your life. And we want to offer you a perspective: Not only for tomorrow, not only for the next year but for the rest of your life."
"I have a last question for now." Surprisingly it was Harry and not Hermione who asked. "Do you have a leader? Will there be someone who'll tell me what I have to think?"
"No," Roxanne answered.
"Yes," Ana responded. Smiling at their confused faces she explained: "We don't have a Dumbledore, Harry. We don't have 'a greater good' that leads our life and forces us to make sacrifices. Yes, we have ranks – degrees we call them – but those are only about knowledge and more owed to the time we spend with learning. Agatha – despite being a very strong and experienced witch – only belongs to the third degree, because she spent so much time with her job and family. I, being younger and not so broadly educated, rank among the fourth degree, simply because I have no own family at the moment and more time to read and travel. But that doesn't mean I can order her around or tell her what to think and do." She grinned shortly. "I could try but I don't think that to be healthy for me.
"No, Harry, we don't have a leader. But there still is someone to tell you what to do: It's called conscience. It's the reason why our life is so simple but likewise so extremely difficult sometimes: Only you can tell yourself what is right and wrong. There is nobody out there to bear responsibility for your actions and decisions. And believe me: There will be moments you'll pray for someone to give you an order."
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A/N
You have survived. From now on it won't be that serious again. From now on we'll concentrate again on kicking asses.
If you've questions about this chapter, if something is incomprehensible, please ask. Perhaps I'll add a few sentences/passages over the next days.