Chapter 20

-Interlude-

Meanwhile in the Room of Requirement happened secret meeting of the surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix. Presiding over them like a beloved grandfather sat Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore in his portrait.

The details of art of magical portraits were greatly lost to time but Albus knew that the origin of them derived out of magical Greece.

Herpo the Foul had been a genius, a dark and twisted one undoubtedly, but a genius nonetheless. Before he created the ritual that effectively rendered the soul and gave the practitioner a form of immortality he discovered that if you were content with a existence of ink and paint you could tether your soul to runic array and enchant a painting to be representation of your magical essence.

And with that the tradition of ancestral portraits was called into existence.

Wise ancestors could provide advice and see the flourishing families even after their bodies were long gone.

And like that the portraits of the Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts were commissioned to give advice and help the current head of school in their educational endeavours.

But that fact also enables portraits to influence their environment with their own agenda as they were technically the same person only as a painting. So it wasn't a big surprise that the reverence that the living Albus Dumbledore had gotten, his portrait was treated almost more than that.

He knew he had the same power over his loyal followers. He was still the leader of the light and if it weren't illegal he would still preside over the Wizengamot as Chief Warlock.

But these musings weren't the reason of this meeting so he tore his thoughts to more pressing issues namely the loss of influence over Harry Potter and the resulting rise of the young Lord Black.

This new powerhouse could undo all of his influence with his ruminations and inquiries in his actions as Chief Warlock.

Greengrass and Shacklebolt were both very worried about a potential grey wizard of great influence. The rumours about resurfacing members of the Blacks were astonishing and worrying as well.

A strengthened Black Family was the last he and of course the light needed.

With a light cough he drew the attention of the assembled members to him and spoke in his most grandfatherly voice.

"My dear friends, I called you here to congratulate you to the sound defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Your contribution to his downfall will not be forgotten and be assured that you all did what you had to do.

Unfortunately, things are happening now that aren't in our favour or promoting the weakness of the Light.

The disappearance of Harry James Potter is a great loss for our effort to extinguish the darkness once and for all.

The new Lord Black is a threat to everything we hold dear and I hope that you will stand against him as steadfast as you stood against Voldemort!

Because make no mistakes a grey wizard is only a dark wizard in disguise. Equality between Dark and Light only breeds adversity and must be prevented for the Greater Good.

That Harry fell to his devilish machinations only shows the level of deception this wizard employs in his quest for power.

I implore to all of you that we must stay true to our cause and goal of true peace for the warriors of the Light.

You must find out what you can about this man and his followers. Find weaknesses in his actions and convictions and exploit them.

We have to prevent him gaining anymore ground in this vacuum of power.

I have no doubt that we will be victorious in the future and that will show the populace that our way is the path of the righteous and just.

We are the Light and the Darkness flees before the dawn."

And with this parting message he sent his followers out. They had a mission and they would not stop until Aries Black was only a footnote in their community's history.

No matter the price.