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CHAPTER TEN: Brought to the Order
Even after all the decades that had passed, 12 Grimmauld Place remained the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The group had not been pressed into service in eleven years but still met on a social basis. The peaceful times had meant that very few new members had been recruited, but Harry had been sure to enroll his children and their friends once they came of age.
There were few people there at that time. Harry had made sure of that. Himself and Hermione, Neville and Luna, James and Emily, Rose and Scorpius…and Seamus Finnegan, who Harry trusted to keep things quiet. And, of course, their two guests.
"I don't want the entire Order in on this,"he told them. "The Ministry is handling things. But I want us to discuss it. And there's one area we can look at which the Aurors won't." He looked at the two guests. "Which is why you're here."
Draco Malfoy and Dudley Dursley looked back at him uncertainly. It had taken a fair amount of guiding and persuading to convince them to come there. Since Draco had been depowered, the pair had worked together in Dudley's burglar alarm business, as Draco and his second wife Pansy tried to live as muggles.
"Yeah, what are they doing here?"Seamus asked, who had never been one to forgive and forget.
"Because they can tell us what's going on in the muggle world,"Harry answered.
"Don't you have your Ministry spies for that?"Draco asked sarcastically. "Or has putting a Weasley in charge not worked out how you thought?"
"Please, Dad,"Scorpius persisted. "You're almost unique. Someone who grew up in our world and went to live in the muggle world. There must be something you noticed."
Draco glanced at Dudley. "There was one thing."
Dudley produced a rolled up newspaper. "We saw this advert in the Telegraph."
Harry looked at the advert, the others crowding around. "What is it?"Emily asked.
"It's about a new clinic,"Rose replied. "They seem to be conducting research. They're asking for help from all children under fifteen who demonstrate certain symptoms." She paused as she read on, looking up at her mother.
Hermione had reached the same conclusion. "Harry, this is accidental magic they're talking about. Someone's trying to find muggleborn children!"
"But why?"Harry wondered.
"Maybe they want to kill them,"Neville suggested. "Keep the blood lines pure."
Draco snorted. "Yeah, trust someone to think of that."
"They could be trying to form an army,"Luna added. "I've heard stories about children's gangs."
"I thought you had rules about that?"Dudley asked. "Underage magic?"
"Well, whoever's doing this doesn't care much about rules,"Hermione answered.
"How do we find out what they are doing?"James wondered.
"The only person who could get in there without attracting suspicion is a muggleborn child,"Harry mused. "Fortunately, we've got access to the biggest concentration of muggleborn children in Britain."
In the library at Hogwarts, Nymphadora, Gemini, Bradley and Beverley were sat around a table reading books. But the books they were reading had very little to do with schoolwork. They were consulting some Daily Prophet annuals on recent history.
"Here it is,"Bradley said at last. He pushed a book towards Nymphadora. "The Death Eater revival fifteen years ago."
Nymphadora nodded. "James, Albus and Rose have told me about it. Not much though. But it started with a Dark Mark above a quidditch game, like the message at Albus' game."
"But that wasn't a Dark Mark,"Beverley pointed out.
"So we're probably not dealing with Death Eaters,"Nymphadora agreed.
"Then who are we dealing with?"Gemini asked.
"I don't know. Something new."
"That's what I thought,"another voice interrupted them. The four first years turned round in shock to find Harry walking towards them with Hermione, Neville, James and, slightly surprisingly, Rose and Scorpius.
James gave Rose and Scorpius an amused look. "Brings back memories, huh?"
"What do you mean?"Gemini asked cautiously.
"He means that fifteen years ago, the three of us, with Uncle Albus and Uncle Martin, were sat where you are,"Rose explained. "Looking into the Death Eater revival. And it didn't end that well for us."
Gemini sighed. "So you want us to give up?"
"No,"Harry replied simply.
That silenced nearly everyone in the room. "Come again?"Bradley asked.
"We're not going to ask you to give up,"Harry replied. "But we are going to ask you to work with us."
"Sounds like the same thing,"Nymphadora noted.
"No, not necessarily,"Hermione persisted. "We really might need your help." She bit her lip slightly before adding,"Especially you, Beverley."
"I'm really not sure about this,"Neville interceded. "These students are under our charge."
"They're our children,"Rose said sharply. "Not yours."
"Even so. And Bradley and Beverley aren't anyone's. Anyone's here, I mean."
"I could get in touch with Bradley's family,"Harry replied. "There's enough Order members among them."
"And muggleborns rarely need anyone's permission to get involved,"Hermione noted with a smile.
Neville still wasn't convinced. "I saw my children get dragged into this stuff before they were ready for it. I'm not sure I'm ready for my grandchildren to do the same."
"I seem to remember you thinking differently when we went off to the Department of Mysteries,"Harry commented.
"We were older."
"So were we,"Scorpius put in. "But we won't ask them to do anything dangerous."
Beverley raised a hand cautiously. "Um...what exactly were you going to ask us to do?"
Before anyone could explain their thoughts to her, a shrill whining filled the air. Gargoyles and paintings began milling about in panic. Some of the figures on the paintings began rapping on their frames. "Headmaster! Headmaster!"they called.
"What's going on?"Scorpius asked.
"It's the alarm,"Neville realised, shocked. "Someone must have tripped it. Probably Ernie, Professor Macmillan. I left him in charge of the wards."
"But what does it mean?"Nymphadora answered.
Neville swallowed hard before answering. "It means Hogwarts is under attack."