Wahde was, as she had been for several months, on her best behavior.
While she liked to think she knew more about Africa than Sirius or Charlie, and she probably did, the part where she had grown up and the part where she had been educated were only two tiny parts of a massive continent, and for all she knew about it, she knew very little about the royalty, and acting like some kind of avatar for the Phoenix was even more of a challenge. If it had not been that no earlier than three weeks ago, a bird of that very description deigned to perch on her shoulder, she would be feeling half as confident as she currently was, which was currently about enough to get her through the meeting.
"If that will be all, Wahde, please allow yourself to be escorted to the field, and take Black with you." Yes. I shall take him with me. He has not taken me anywhere, after all.
"It has been a pleasure," she said, not bowing as she left the throne room. Out in the field there was a small round table made of palm wood, set for three. Sirius followed her, probably aware that they were being sent out so that the prince and his advisors could discuss things quietly. They had shown him more respect than the men of the Dendi Kingdom, who had assumed he spoke no French at all, and spoke it in front of him until to demonstrate his transparency, he said something in the language that she did not recognize.
"They're certainly off to a better start than the nascent Ministry of Botswana," Sirius observed as soon as they were alone in the field. He seemed glad to sit at the table, having stood for hours. "I honestly didn't know Botswana had a Ministry."
"Neither did I," she admitted. "Perhaps they are like us. Perhaps they want to improve things, but they need power."
"Let's hope. What is this?" he asked, gesturing toward the snack on the table. He was not as curious about the bottle he had already uncorked.
"This is a local snack called dundu, I believe. Sliced yam fried in palm oil, most likely, seasoned with a few different local spices," she guessed. There had been someone at Uagadou who had been obsessed with collecting snacks. She ended up decidedly obese, but Wahde supposed that was a secondary concern. "The wine is made from palm," she explained, though he had not asked.
Before the meeting, they had met with Diggle so that he could go over royal customs and manners common in West African tradition, though they ended up talking more about fauna, since he had been curious if there were any birds quite like the Fwooper, at which point she admitted she did not know, but would ask Charlie, since creatures were more of his thing anyway. She was satisfied that at least those who had been to Hogwarts only knew of a handful of the creatures, spirits, beings, and nonbeings of Africa, because she had never heard any of them talk about the Shade.
The meeting itself, the audience, rather, as they were addressing royalty, went well, at least by her own estimation, though Sirius's expression had not changed. The prince had insisted that Wahde explain everything about the Phoenix and the Order, and she started at the beginning.
"The Phoenix is not a creature of blood and bone. It is the light of the truth," she had explained. "It cannot be destroyed. It cannot be hidden. It cannot be changed. From age to age it lights upon the shoulder of its agent in the mortal plane."
She went on to explain that the avatar of the Phoenix was once, recently, the same as the owner as the Elder Wand, commonly known as the Deathstick in West Africa. Because he chose to act as a teacher and a guide rather than seeking glory for himself, it stood to reason that he should be regarded as an exceptional avatar, and Wahde hoped to continue his work as the servant of light and truth, with the current master of the wand to aid her in her efforts.
Presently, however, the master of the wand seemed to have taken a liking to palm wine.
"Do you believe we are lying to people?"
"Are you picking up where Dumbledore left off as the leader of the Order?"
"Of course. I am not special, though."
"Was he?"
There was a pause.
"Of course. He was powerful and talented."
"Voldemort's probably stronger than he ever was, but that's just what I know secondhand. Being powerful doesn't make you a good leader. Everything our intelligence has on the Death Eaters suggests that they're being thrown under the hippogryff."
"Albus Dumbledore was brilliant."
"Voldemort's brilliant. Perkins, you don't know him, he's an old friend of Charlie's father- got some memories off the muggles a while back, and apparently a young Tom Riddle was using dark magic on children without a wand, without any instruction. It wasn't just random bursts of accidental magic; he knew what he was doing."
"Then what was it?" she asked.
"No idea," Sirius answered. "I'm not sure why we followed him. When I tried to think about it in Azkaban- I had a bit to think about things- basically everything he ever said made sense. It's our choices, more than anything else, that make us who we are. Did any of us ever talk about that?"
"No."
"Suppose there's a plot to murder someone," he said. "There are three killers, I don't know, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Anyway, they all agree that it would be best for the three of them if the victim dies. So on the day of, only two of them shows up. Athos and Porthos both cast the killing curse, but the victim jumps out of the way of one and hits the other, so Athos misses and Porthos hits. Aramis figured he didn't really need to show up for the victim to die, so he firecalls the Hit Wizards, but not soon enough for them to actually prevent the murder." He let her think about it a moment. "How many murderers are there?" he asked.
"One."
"Well, sure, literally only one person kills another person. What's the moral difference, though, between missing and hitting?"
She thought about that for longer than the previous question.
"I suppose you have a point. Both of them chose to kill someone."
"This is not to say these crimes should have the same punishment," Sirius clarified. "Even if they are the same, morally speaking, I would think people would prefer that one crime was committed instead of the other. If they carried the same punishment, anyone who ever thought of killing anyone else would make damn sure they got it right."
It was a bit to take in. She had basically associated heavier penalties with a crime being worse, but when she applied some thought to it, the more consistent explanation was that the heavier penalties were assigned to whatever crime society wanted committed less than others. What the wizard seemed to be implying, though was that there was no moral difference between different crimes. Fitting. He is a former prisoner.
"Then there are two."
"Well, what's the moral difference between committing a murder, and letting someone else do it for you?" he asked. "What did Athos accomplish by showing up and missing? Couldn't Porthos have done it alone?"
"Perhaps he could have. Are you saying Athos and Aramis are the same?"
"Yes, and by extension, they are both the same as Porthos, morally speaking. Again, it makes very little sense to legally equate the crimes. Aramis only stayed home because he was reasonably certain his help was unnecessary. There was, however, a chance that both of those who cast the curse would miss, or for some other reason the victim would continue to live. If he could not be certain, or it did not matter, then he would have come with them, and perhaps because of that they would have succeeded."
"What was the crime they committed, then?" she asked.
"It was deciding that someone else should die, and not for any appropriate reason. Suppose, after the meeting, they were all eaten by a passing dragon. Why would they be different people than if they did go out and kill someone? It is our choices that define who we are, not our success or failure. The problem with these wizards is that they hated someone, or they sought to gain selfishly from his death, or something like that. That's what makes them who they are."
Wahde was beginning to see how the principles the late Dumbledore had advocated were logically consistent, and quite possibly the true principles that everyone should follow. She did not, however, see how they were etched into the fabric of the universe, only how that was something that could theoretically be possible, because at least they did not self-contradict, as far as she understood.
The familiar crack of Apparation rang out, and Charlie Weasley appeared right next to them.
"I thought you were meant to bring updates on the Grindelwald situation to McGonagall," Sirius prompted.
"I already did. I knew she wouldn't be getting the information to you right away, though, and I had a few minutes. Grindelwald's starting a massive magical breeding project."
"What?"
"Okay, so a fair bit of Greenland is uninhabited, mostly because it's cold and nothing grows there. With magic, that's not really an issue, so he got a few of his followers to set up what I think is a massive living space over there, I only know about it because they were talking about getting the food there in front of me."
"Then you asked about it," the former prisoner guessed.
"Yeah. Basically, one of the Vitez said that it was a hedge against a really unlikely scenario that the muggles are just biding their time and they secretly have something nightmarish to use against us. With enough witches and wizards in an undisclosed location, they'll be able to respond to the problem."
"It's just a coincidence that they'll all be completely loyal to Grindelwald, then?" Sirius mused.
"I don't even know about that. He's really convinced of his own ideology; when he said he didn't care what they grew up believing, as long as they knew how to use magic, I bought it. Some of his supporters are moderate blood purists, others were brought up by muggles and they honestly think wizard rule is the best thing for them."
"Why?" Wahde asked. She had, in the past, questioned the point of Secrecy, because wizards had the power to help the do-no-magics, which the British called muggles, but she did not see why one needed to rule over the other.
"Basically they think that wizards just wouldn't put up with being equal to muggles. They said that giving wizards power over muggles would help them accept muggles into their societies and probably even their families at some point. They're really optimistic, because they believe that wizards would eventually get over it, or there just wouldn't be any muggles anymore. They seem to think that muggles would have fewer and fewer children with each other."
"That wouldn't happen," Sirius said. "With an unlimited amount of food, they would probably produce more children, if anything. Besides, it's been a long time since anyone's looked about for the ideal mate. If there's any chance of the muggles having children only with wizards, they'd have to make a law about it."
"I don't think they'd mind making such a law, to be honest," Charlie said. "What do I do?" he asked. "McGonagall didn't give me any orders. I know we don't normally give orders in, well, the Order, but I couldn't take any unilateral action without consulting anyone else."
"Well, Wahde, what do you think? Is Grindelwald doing anything wrong?"
"He's flooding the magical world with children? Of course he's doing something-"
"He can provide for them, for the record."
"I know that," she said, snapping a little. In her efforts to become the avatar of the Phoenix, she had been advised to avoid outbursts, course language, and drastic changes in expression, all of which had been significantly harder than she had thought they would be. "What is he going to use them to do?"
"Don't they have agency? Isn't it really their decision what they grow up to do?"
"If we are to take him at his word- what would his intention be?"
"He seems to just be trying to increase the magical population," Charlie said. "What seems inevitable, though, is that they'll see him as the founder of their little colony, depending on how long he lives. Hasn't got himself a Philosopher's Stone."
"Speaking of that, what happened to the Stone?" Wahde asked.
"Dean and Parvati went silent on us. The reason you haven't heard anything is because we haven't heard anything." Sirius sighed deeply before he was finished talking.
"Well, it's not the first time I wish Hogwarts was still running to contain the impulsive teenagers. We're getting away from the point. Where is the fault in Grindelwald's actions?"
"He's Grindelwald," she explained, annoyed. "He's a dark wizard Dumbledore had to throw in prison. We can presume he has something evil in mind."
"Prison changes a wizard, Wahde. I used to laugh. We can reasonably presume he is not the dame dark wizard that had to be thrown in prison. All the same, you are right to suggest he will gain through his venture, but his belief that he will gain, if correct, will also be a boon to the wizarding world in general. At the very worst, they will be self-sufficient and have nothing to do with our affairs."
"That's unless he succeeds in making an army of them," Charlie said.
"They're going to serve him out of what, then, his own goodwill?" Sirius asked. "They're going to respect him as the founder of their colony, and just follow him into war against everyone else?"
Wahde could not tell whether he meant that it was improbable, of if it did happen that Grindelwald had an army of followers, he would have earned it.
"Of course they will- all he has to do is give them a really twisted view of everything. You weren't there. He completely misrepresents the Order- even the Death Eaters could tell that's how little he understands about the situation, or it's just how little he cares about the truth. He's playing the part of some excessively high-minded idealist, or some kind of gentleman who has to play by most of the rules that Dumbledore was using, but he doesn't have any intention of doing that in practice." He gave an exasperated sigh. "We're playing by the rules, the Death Eaters aren't, the Ministry's changing the rules, and Grindelwald's pretending to play by the rules. If something comes up that gets between him and his goals-"
"He'll just say 'c'est la vie' and smash it," the former prisoner finished. "We'll let you go back to collect more information, but I am sure you want to run this by a few more members first. Do we have anyone who could kill him in combat? I'm not talking about during a diplomatic mission-"
"No. From what I've seen, he doesn't have all the skill he used to have, but his knowledge is all still there. I don't think we have anyone who could beat him in experience, so if anyone does beat him, it'll have to be someone a lot younger and quicker."
Wahde nodded along with the idea. Generally age was not a negative for wizards until they started having memory problems, and there were potions for that sort of thing. At the same time, it was a proven fact that the young had faster reaction time and were quicker physically, which made the slightest difference. Though the old, experienced wizard could probably beat any young wizard, he could almost certainly beat a less experienced old wizard, who was essentially trying to beat him at his own game. A wizard of ninety nine has no advantage over a wizard of one hundred.
"It'll have to be a lot of someones," Sirius amended. "That's if he's on his own, away from his followers for some reason."
"How was the meeting?" Charlie asked.
"The prince speaks the Queen's English; welcome change if you ask me. He's agreed to a nominal show of support for the Order, since it appears some long-lost relative of his has already joined our cause. He just wants more information to be sure, though this is the fourth time he has asked us questions."
"What does this mean for us?"
"We've already been accepted by Ethiopia, so if we were to be accepted by Nigeria as well, virtually all of English Africa would follow suit. We might not inspire as many people as the legendary sorcerer of darkness, but if we defeat enough of them, we'll be picking up their recruits. We'll be able to plant new bases all over the continent."
"Are we seeing any initiative from the locals?" the younger wizard asked. "Don't tell me we're just making them go along with it."
"It's limited. We have some people who seem to have been legitimately inspired by the Order, others are probably just doing it because they're tired of the chaos. Far be it from us to keep them out just because of that."
"Their intents are important, though?"
"They'll figure it out as they go. It's never a huge surprise when something self-serving brings people around to doing the right thing," Sirius explained. "When I was a kid, I made friends with James Potter and the rest because I figured it would anger my parents and my brown-nosing younger brother. I wasn't born some kind of hero, and I'm probably still not- by any meaningful measure anyway, but to the best of my knowledge, and with a wand on my heart, I'm doing the right thing now."
There was a pause as everyone, including Wahde herself, seemed to consider his words. She imagined she had carried this conversation before, though she could not tell how long it had been since the last time. Perhaps one time, he had to convince himself.
"Where are you going next?" Charlie asked, seeming to have accepted the explanation. "If we want English Africa, you'll have to go to the horn, and you'll have to get the south."
"The south should follow Botswana. The Kalahari was a disaster for everyone around- the city's location being revealed inadvertently has the potential for being a massive issue for the tribal leaders and the surrounding area. If we keep the pressure on the city, they'll join up with us and it'll be a runaway train. Unlike the Maghreb, where they have the Magicians and several dark groups, we would actually be the largest active organization in the south, and what's key to the pressure is picking up the rest of the old British colonies."
"Any reason we didn't start with the French West?"
"My English is a hell of a lot better than my French, same with Wahde." Charlie looked at her as if expecting her to say something.
"I do not speak French at all."
"Right. That makes sense. I don't know why I asked."
"How is your brother?" she asked, thinking he might be distracted. "I heard something happened to him."
"He's the same as he was, better or worse. I'm really trying not to expect him to just wake up or anything. The rest of my family is saying basically the same- not my parents. They're still saying that sooner or later he'll be up and about before we know it, and he'll be asking everyone why they're standing around gawking."
She was reminded he had a large family, as well as how important it was to him. He had told her at least at some point about each member, including the one sister when they were chasing her down along with Anthony. Well, perhaps he should keep looking around in Africa. She sipped a glass of palm wine, finding it was better than the credit her assumptions had given it. He might have some long-lost relatives yet.
