Chapter 51: Smaller Circle

"Wow, it seems everyone has some idea of what they want to do career-wise," Claire said after the Circle of Khanna gang was finished talking. "Liz and Barnaby want to be Magizoologists, Diego's thinking of being a Dueling Champion, and Chiara's thinking of being a Healer."

"Sounds like everyone chose their jobs accordingly," Penny remarked. "After all, Barnaby and Liz enjoy working with magical creatures."

"I just want to hold a baby hippogriff in my hand someday," Barnaby said, holding his hands in a cradle-like position. "They would be so cute and adorable."

As Claire smiled at Barnaby, she realized that it was time to bring up what she wanted to talk about. "So speaking of the future, I wanted to bring everyone in the Circle of Khanna together for that reason."

"There's a few people missing, though, including Merula," Ben noted.

Claire turned her attention to Barnaby. "Have you or Liz talked to Merula since she arrived?"

"No," Barnaby answered.

"Did either of you stay in touch with her over the summer?"

Barnaby shook his head. "We tried contacting her, but she kept saying she was busy."

"With what?"

"She never explained anything, though I didn't bother to pry further because frankly I'm done with mysteries."

"Agreed, Barnaby," Penny interjected. "So now that Rowan is at peace, should we disband the Circle of Khanna?"

Thinking about this, Claire wasn't sure how to answer.

"Perhaps we should talk about this with everyone else in the Circle before we consider making a final decision like that," Chiara suggested, noticing Claire's distressed look. "For now, we should get to bed before Filch and Mrs. Norris catch us."

"Agreed," Tonks said, yawning.

So everyone except Claire left the courtyard.

"I couldn't bring myself to tell them about Merula joining 'R,'" Claire said out loud as she looked up at the cloudy night sky. "They're too busy figuring out their careers after school, and want nothing to do with the Cursed Vaults anymore or 'R' for that matter. Guess all I have left is Jacob to turn to."

###

The following day, Claire sent a message to Jacob through her owl Eban. He responded several hours later, telling him to meet her at the Hog's Head Inn. So she followed Jacob's instructions and arrived in the dingy pub after school where Jacob was seated inside and sat across from him.

"You don't look too good," Jacob noted. "And your note seemed equally distressed in tone. So tell me what's going on."

"Same here."

Claire jumped as she saw Mad-Eye Moody sitting between her and Jacob.

"When did you get in here?" Claire asked. "And how did—

"Constant vigilance, Claire," Moody interrupted. "I heard that you were meeting Jacob, and have news about 'R.'"

Frowning, Claire said, "Are they gone?"

"No, they're growing in numbers and more active than before," Moody replied. "Whatever they're after didn't stop with the Cursed Vaults."

"Actually, I saw something at the end of my Sixth Year that I want to talk to you two about," Claire said, causing Jacob and Moody to look directly at her. "It began when Mundungus Fletcher told me about a Dark witch who was asking questions about me around Diagon and Knockturn Alley, so I naturally thought she had a connection to the Hogwarts mole. This led to me spying on her during a meeting with the mole, and I found out who it was."

"So who is the Hogwarts mole the Mahoutokoro wizard mentioned?" Moody questioned.

"It was…Merula," Claire said.

Jacob's eyes widened. "What happened next?"

"Merula agreed to join 'R,' and bring me into the fold as well," Claire continued. "Then the Dark witch Apparated away with her."

While Moody breathed through his nostrils in an irritated manner, Jacob asked, "Have you told anyone else about this, Claire?"

"I haven't, nor have I tried to confront Merula about it," Claire replied.

"Good, because this means you have the advantage over Merula," Jacob said. "But how do you feel, Claire? You seem bothered by this revelation, even though I gathered you and Merula weren't really friends."

"We were not," Claire sighed. "But I thought we had at least put aside our differences, and she might use her magical talents for good instead of being a self-centered bully. That's how it felt when we were taking private lessons from Rakepick anyway, before Rakepick's betrayal. I even interpreted Merula's vendetta against Rakepick to be a sign that she wasn't entirely evil, though it seems I was wrong in assuming that."

"Betrayals are never easy, Pip, whether you like the person who betrayed you or not."

"And if that weren't bad enough, my friends are thinking about disbanding the Circle of Khanna. They want to put 'R' behind them and focus on their careers outside of school. Now, we may have avenged Rowan's death by sealing Rakepick inside the final Cursed Vault but I'm not sure if we should disband knowing 'R' is growing stronger and Merula's helping them from inside our group."

"Such is a feeling I'm all too familiar with," Moody interjected. "When You-Know-Who was defeated, the group I was a part of wanted to disband so they could move on with their lives. But I was reluctant to do this, as I speculated You-Know-Who wasn't entirely gone."

"Were you ever proven right?" Claire asked.

Moody paused and changed the subject. "Maybe you should consider talking to someone else about this issue with 'R'. That way, you would have an extra voice besides me and Jacob while not having to burden your other friends with the knowledge of Merula being a traitor."

"Yeah, I like that idea," Jacob supported. "Of course, you don't have to tell this other person everything. Just enough to help you out."

"Is that how you achieve 'constant vigilance'?" Claire said to Moody, who nodded.

"Now, on an unrelated note, I can't believe you're already a Seventh-Year, Pip!" Jacob exclaimed. "Seems only yesterday when you were getting visions from me in the Artefact Room during your first year."

"Oh, right, how could I forget?" Claire laughed. "That was before I learned I was a Legilimens. Now Dumbledore did say Seventh-Years had the opportunity to explore career options outside of Hogwarts, and I'm not sure what that means."

"I imagine Professor Dumbledore might want you to visit the Ministry of Magic," Moody guessed. "But that's all I know."

Claire had a feeling Moody wasn't entirely being honest, but she decided not to question him further and left the Hog's Head Inn feeling somewhat relieved.

To be continued…