A/N: Since a war is coming up, this chapter is only about Order meeting. Will include Harry and Estella in the coming chapters. No romance for this chapter. Will make up in the coming ones
Hope everyone is this corona pandemic. Stay safe and thanks for all the love
The evening sun cast long shadow on the Hogwarts ground. Dumbledore stood near his window gazing upon the forbidden forest. His hand was hurting reminding him of the little time he had left. He had already shown all his memories of Tom to Harry. He hoped that Harry would destroy all the horcruxes before his death. He had expected that Harry would be able to keep the Horcrux in him within limits especially since I last year Harry had been able to close his mind to voldemort himself. But it appears that he was wrong. something Sinister must have happened to Miss Malfoy.
He heard his stairwell gargoyle move indicating that it was time for the Order of the Phoenix meeting.
"Such a nice boy. Defending the Malfoy girl even though she attacked him." said Mrs Weasley as she led the way into dumbledore's Office.
"everyone please take a seat"said Dumbledore as the members settled down. Dumbledore had only invited a select few members for this meeting. Mr and Mrs Weasley, Professor mcgonagall,Tonks, Mad eye Moody, Lupin and Snape. But Snape was absent for the meeting. Dumbledore knew that It wouldn't be easy to make Snape an acomplice for his Horcrux plan. but some things had to be done for the greater good. And if all goes according to the plan...
"Good evening everyone shall we get started?" asked Dumbledore amicably.
" An obscurial in school Dumbledore! An obscurial! we need to inform the ministry before she takes the place down" said Moody straight to the point. Dumbledore looked at all the members and was surprised to see most of them noddding in agreement except Lupin.
"And what would the ministry do? kill the child?" Asked Lupin angrily
"that's the last option. they will try to... er ..fix her" countered Tonks unconvincingly
"how do they plan to do it Tonks? " Dumbledore calmily asked
Mr Weasley, Moody and Tonks became very uncomfortable at this point.
"using the cruciatus curse to suppress the magic out of someone has never yielded good results and we know what happens .you should remember we are talking about a 16 year old child " Said Dumbledore gravely
Mrs Weasley shuddered as the image of Frank and Alicia longbottom flashed across her mind. Even if she was malfoy,an obscurial ,Dumbledore was right. They couldn't let the ministry take her. Dumbledore looked on as each of the members were internally struggling to arrive at a conclusion. To do the right thing that may have wrong repercussions or to do the wrong thing that will make everything right
"what do you propose we do Dumbledore?" asked Mr Weasley after a moment of silence
"if we can give her a more potent squibsical potion, that should drastically reduce the power of Magic and calm her down. I am sure that I can arrange for a more potent potion" added Dumbledore.
Tonks snorted while Mr Weasley looked at him disbelievingly.
"and we are just supposed to go to her and give her the portion? " asked Minerva sarcastically
"or do you propose that we do the cruciatus curse to make the girl powerless and then give the portion?" said Moody
"I am afraid I agree with minerva on on this, Alastor " said Dumbledore calmily
"Old age seems to have gotten to you Dumbledore" growled Moody " we are talking about anan obscuri who has lost control. anyone within 5 feet radius will be dead even before they realise it .tThere is a reason we use the the unforgivables against them. That is because there is no countercurse for it. the magic wall surrounding her will counter any other spell thrown at it unless you plan to to invoke the Dark arts..."
"There is something more powerful than even Dark arts" mused Dumbledore
"Love"
The order members resisted the urge to roll their eyes.
"With all due respect Dumbledore love will not help in the situation" Said Mrs Weasley
"Molly, you do not have the knowledge in obscurial as I do. It has been proved from ancient times that even though Obscurials cannot control their magic many times their loved ones were able to calm them down. Even without any potions"
"But many times the obscurials ended up killing their relatives which is why the ministry prefers to handle them in their own way" interjected Moody
"to kill them you mean?" asked Lupin glaring at Moody
"well if we don't kill them they will kill us" retorted Moody
"moreover it seems that the squibsical potion too isnt working. She should be a squib if she had taken it. At least that is what your magical trial is all about .isn't it Dumbledore ?" accused Moody
"Well you know that the potion is not my strong suite. But I wanted to stop the injustice we did to obscurials. The squibsical potion is effective if you take 4 vial every 8 hours. but in the trial we found that most of the kids die by the age of 14 due to the unnatural suppression of their magic . The ministry of Magic was happy to project my potion as a success as it meant that they were no longer seen as Killers and child would die from the same portion that was supposed to save them. Long story short, when Mrs Malfoy asked me to help her child I decided to change the dosage of potion not to suppress her magic completely which is why she is not a squib and is alive"
"Till now" muttered Moody even though he too didn't want to kill the girl
" I have sent a word to Narcissa Malfoy to come. She should be able to give the potion to Miss Malfoy while we try to protect her from the obscurial magic. By midnight, Miss malfoy's magic will start draining and we can proceed with the plan" said Dumbledore.
The the order members nodded in approval
"well let's meet at midnight"said Dumbledore slowly getting up.
"Dumbledore there is one more thing" said Tonks nervously
"What was Harry doing with Miss Malfoy?" asked Tonks even as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Dumbledore look around to find that all the order members were looking nervous now. Obviously the Chosen one with aa deat eater's daughter was not a situation they were prepared for. Harry would be the leader of the resistance. Their hero Even a slight inclination to the Dark side can taint his image and be a blow to their mission. They needed someone who could do no wrong.
"We all know that Harry tends to put himself in dangerous situations .He has had a rivalry with Slytherin house in general and Malfoys in particular ever since they arrived in the school. I am sure that Harry must have gotten into a fight with Miss Malfoy as usual but her obscurial magic must have gotten out of control. Harry being Harry rushed the girl to the hospital to save her" said Dumbledore simply.
"yes Harry has a heart of gold .I remember how He saved my Ginny in second year not even caring for his life" supported Mrs Weasley
" She lost control in a school fight? Surely this is serious" said Mr Weasley looking concerned
"lets try to save the girl first Arthur and then think about further course of action" Said Dumbledore
The order members seemed to be momentarily satisfied with this . The meeting was disbursed but Lupin stayed back .When everyone left Dumbledore looked at Lupin.
"Yes Remus?"
"Harry was able to carry Miss Malfoy from the castle to the hospital wing even though she had started to radiate magic by then. As far as I remember it is a 10 minute walk from the castle to the hospital. Under normal circumstance Harry should be dead by now" stated Lupin
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"The power of love is beyond any magic known to us" said Dumbledore