Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading, and please review, I really appreciate hearing from all of you. Enjoy! -Kelly

CHAPTER 21

THE BRITISH REPRESENTATIVES

"I'm not saying I don't think she's… great and everything, I just… I don't want to go out with her, why is that so bad?" Al exclaimed, stabbing his dinner with a fork.

"It's not that you said it, Al, it's that you said it while you were on a date," Rose said.

"We weren't on a date!" he exclaimed. "We were with Blake Collier and Emma Drake the whole time."

"Al, they're dating, it was a double date," Rose told him.

"Wait, really?"

"Why on Earth do you think two friends would go sit in that horrid tea parlor if it wasn't a date?" Scorpius asked incredulously. "There are cats on the walls, it's disturbing."

"No one ever told me it was a date," Al protested.

"What happened?" James asked from a couple people down the table.

"Al made Ariana cry at Hogsmeade," Rose said.

James shrugged. "Girls cry, Al. Move on."

"Girls don't cry if you aren't a horrible person," Rose said pointedly.

"Whatever, Rosie," James said, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, Scorpius said, "Hey, guys, McGonagall's going up to the podium." Rose looked towards the staff table, and sure enough, McGonagall was calling everyone to silence. She looked… almost nervous, Rose thought.

"Will Rose Weasley, Aidan Tanner, Stephanie Macmillan and Lucy Weasley see me in my office? Thank you." The chatter began to start up again and Rose stood up, confused. "I guess I should go?" she said hesitantly. "It's got to be about the Modernists, right?"

Al shrugged. "Good luck." Rose picked up her bag and walked out of the Great Hall. She saw Lucy and Aidan standing there, talking quietly.

"Do you know what this is about?" Rose asked them.

"No idea," Lucy said. "We're just waiting for Stephanie."

"Do you think we're in trouble?" Aidan asked, nervous.

"We can't be, we didn't do anything," Lucy muttered. Stephanie emerged then, looking just as confused as Rose imagined she did herself, and they started down the corridor to the headmistress's office. When they opened the door at the top of the stairs, McGonagall was sitting at her desk and two serious-looking wizards were seated across from her. They all looked at them as they entered, and one of the men stood up and walked over to them.

"Mr. Davis, what are you doing here?" Lucy asked. He smiled, though it looked mostly forced.

"Hello, Lucy. We're just here to have a discussion. For those of you that don't know me, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Everett Davis, and I'm one of the British representatives in the International Confederation of Wizards. My colleague, Mr. Daniel Clarke, and I would like to have a talk with you all."

Rose looked at Aidan nervously as Davis continued. "You can all have a seat." Rose noticed for the first time that there were four chairs lined against the wall, and they walked over to them.

"Do you know him, Lucy?" she whispered to her cousin.

"Sort of. He's been a representative since I was little but he's never really done anything of note."

They sat down in the chairs and Davis brought his chair down from McGonagall's desk, where McGonagall still sat looking nervous. Clarke moved his chair, too, and they sat facing the four of them. "We understand that you are the officers of the student organization called the Modernists."

"Yes," Lucy said.

"We're here to talk about a certain aspect of your ideals that has been brought to light recently."

"Brought to light by who exactly?" Lucy asked.

"The person in question has asked to remain anonymous. They've told us that your group supports repealing the International Statute of Secrecy. Is this true?"

There was a moment of silence before Lucy said, "Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Actually, Miss Weasley, there might be," Davis said. "It really depends on what comes of these notions. You're free, of course, to hold whatever beliefs you may wish to hold personally. However, when you begin to spread these ideas, they become potentially very dangerous."

"And why is that?" Stephanie asked, looking irritated more than anything else.

"The notions that you're spreading, Miss Macmillan, are… inflammatory," Clarke said. "There's no way to tell what kind of rebellion you could incite."

"We aren't inciting anything, we're expressing an opinion," Lucy said, sounding much more angry now.

"Yes, Miss Weasley, but not everyone that will hear your opinion will think through it rationally. This is why we would like to ask you to stop sharing these views publicly."

"Excuse me?" Lucy said, clearly furious now.

"I'm sorry, Miss Weasley, but there is no way that this can continue safely."

"Are you shutting us down?" Stephanie asked. Clarke shook his head.

"Of course not. However, we do require that you be more closely monitored. And we ask that you refrain from holding any more meetings this term. Next term there will be changes at Hogwarts that are already planned, and we will take care of your situation then as well. It won't be extensive; we merely ask that you have a more… carefully chosen faculty supervisor."

"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Rose asked indignantly.

"Mr. Hagrid seems to be slightly lax in his control of the situation," Davis said. "The new supervisor will be Ministry-approved."

"That's not fair at all," Lucy said. "Since when does the Ministry have a say in Hogwarts extracurriculars?"

"This particular situation has the potential to greatly affect the Ministry, Miss Weasley," Davis said.

"Fine," she muttered. "Fine. But this isn't going to work; you can't make me change my mind."

Davis sighed. "No, we can't. But I urge you to consider what this kind of publicity could do to any future career you may desire. Not to mention the career of your father."

"My father doesn't play a role in my political alignment, Mr. Davis," Lucy spat.

"Yes, I can see that," he said. "Do any of you have any questions?"

Rose was very angry at that point and almost surprised herself when she asked, "Who do you think gives you the right to dictate people's expression?"

Davis looked at her and coughed slightly. "I happen to have been given the right by the international magical community, for your information, Miss Weasley." He addressed all of them next. "Let me make something very clear to all of you. Opposing the Statute is not considered some kind of liberal idealism. It's insurrection. We're being much more lenient than we could be, because you're children. But I advise you to cease all association with this idea. Understood?" The silence from the four of them seemed to speak for itself and Davis coughed again. "Right. Well. You may go."

"I'm going to inform my father about this meeting, Mr. Davis," Lucy said as they walked out. Davis chuckled.

"He'll tell you the same thing I did," he said. Lucy stared at him with a cold expression before turning abruptly and walking out the door forcefully. Stephanie followed and Rose practically stomped out as well, with Aidan following her closely. The second the door slammed shut Lucy was in a rage, and for once Rose was completely at her level of disdain for politicians.

"How dare they? How dare they come in here and tell us we can't think something?!" she shrieked as they descended the staircase."This is completely ridiculous," Rose agreed. "It's probably illegal, too!"

"That's what I think!" Lucy exclaimed. "I would ask my dad, but… Davis is right, he'd probably give me the same story."

"I'll ask my mum," Rose offered. "I mean, she can't believe all that rubbish."

"Good idea, ask your mum," Lucy said, nodding. "Honestly, if there's any way I can get them in trouble for this, I'll do whatever it takes."

"By the way, what did they mean about changes to Hogwarts?" Stephanie asked. "Can they do that? Interfere?"

"Well, yes, probably, it is a sort of state school, after all, correct?" Aidan asked.

Lucy shook her head. "No, it's not compulsory, so probably not. But… I'd bet they have enough influence to interfere anyway."

"Wonderful," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes. "Just wonderful. Remind me to transfer to Beauxbatons next year."

"Can you speak French?" Aidan asked.

"No. It'd still be better than going to Ministry school."

"You're probably right," Lucy muttered. "Still, there are certain things you can do, even in a stifling environment like that."

"You aren't going to let them stop you from opposing the Statute at all, are you?" Rose asked.

"Well… no, of course not. Maybe publicly. But… there are ways," she said, and the gleam in her eye made Rose both excited and nervous at the same time. "I won't make you worry until next term, though. Let's just say that James and I have discussed this situation before. We've got something in mind."

They had reached the Great Hall, and Lucy said, "I have to meet Ava at the library, but I'll see you all soon."

"All right, we'll see you around," Rose said.

"Make sure to get the word out to everyone in the group, we don't want anyone getting in trouble for saying the wrong thing in front of an Auror or something," she added in disgust, then ran up the stairs and out of sight.

"This is completely mad," Stephanie said. "What do you think she's planning?"

"I don't know," Rose said. "I assumed you did."

"Nope. Though if James is involved I'm a little scared."

"I second that," Aidan said. "I'm almost glad we don't have to think about any of this until next term."

"We'll see you soon, Rose," Stephanie said, and the two departed for the Ravenclaw table. Rose sat down at her old spot, and Al looked startled.

"You look like you're going to murder someone," he said nervously. "What's going on?"

"The Ministry threatened us with insurrection charges if we don't stop talking about the Statute in the Modernists," Rose said. "They're shutting the meetings down for the rest of term, and they're going to monitor it next year. Hagrid's not allowed to supervise anymore either."

"You're kidding," Al said, and Scorpius's eyes widened.

"No. I wish I was. The representatives from the International Confederation of Wizards just told us off in McGonagall's office. Rosier told them, I know he did, he said he heard us in the meeting when he was in study hall the other day."

"What did McGonagall say?" Scorpius asked.

"Nothing," Rose said. "It was like she was afraid to. This whole thing makes me sick. And you should have seen Lucy."

"I can imagine," Al said. "So the Ministry's going to be watching us next year?"

"Yeah, and it sounded like not just us either. This is bad," Rose groaned.

"That's not all," Scorpius said, sounding grim. "Nott was seen in Glasgow yesterday."

Rose sighed. As if she didn't hear enough bad news today. "This is not a good day."

"Do you think he's… coming for us?" Al asked nervously.

"He's probably coming for the Stone. So, by extension, yes," Rose said.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"We can't do anything," Scorpius said. "We just have to wait."