January 1st 1973
A heavy sense of dread filled Minerva to the core. 'How many?' she repeated, hoping that she had misheard.
'30 people. 25 muggles and 5 ministry workers,' answered Moody darkly.
Minerva looked down at her hands, which were folded on her lap. Everything suddenly felt very real, Voldemort, the threat, all of it. It was not as though she had not realised or accepted that something was happening, but the sudden surge in deaths now made everything much clearer in her head: this was war.
Moody's gravelly voice made Minerva look up again. 'We need to act now!' said Moody, 'The sooner the better. Now, the attack in Gloucester is not why I asked to call forward this meeting,' he looked around the room, only filled with a dozen Order members, 'I wanted to call forward this meeting because we now finally have some names.' Moody paused and looked over at Elphinstone who nodded. 'Elphinstone and I have been trying to identify the identities of some of You-Know-Who's supporters…' Minerva noted Alastor's use of You-Know-Who rather than Voldemort. It seemed that many wizards had now started using the term, however, Dumbledore, she knew, was strongly against it. 'From some eyewitness accounts, we have managed to determine that Antonin Dolohov, Igor Karkaroff and Alecto Carrow are Death Eaters. We can also assume that Amycus Carrow is a Death Eater as well because her brother is.'
'But Moody,' piped up Emmeline Vance, 'How come they haven't been arrested yet?'
'No proof,' answered Fabian, looking up at Moody who grunted in agreement.
Minerva noticed Dumbledore pass a hand over his eyes. Having done the same thing only moments before, she knew he was feeling just the same as she was.
'But we can't let them go!' exclaimed Emmeline, 'They're dangerous!'
'That they are Emmeline,' said Elphinstone, speaking for the first time that meeting, 'And that is why we are here,' Elphinstone turned around in his seat to face the rest of the room, 'The Minister for Magic is refusing to acknowledge this threat. And, speaking as a ministry worker, it will be hard to persuade the rest of the Ministry that Voldemort is a worldwide danger. As Alastor said; we need to act now. We don't have the time to wait. However, the Ministry won't arrest someone just because a wizard might have seen or recognised the face of an attacker.
'Now, Alastor and I have been looking through some files of newly graduated Hogwarts students, some of those students having not been heard from since their graduation. We have been marking these names down on a list,' Elphinstone paused and removed a folded piece of parchment from his pocket, which was obviously the list of names, 'we have been going through this list and marking down all of the information know on these people since they left school. Now of course not all of them will be Death Eaters and Merlin knows how many people might be involved with Voldemort who aren't even on this list. However, we need to start somewhere. I'll duplicate this list and give one to each one of you. Some of us at the Ministry, or those of us with enough time on our hands, will try to track down some of these people and keep a close eye on the ones we have found.'
Elphinstone abruptly stopped speaking. There was a silence in the room while everybody digested this information. Minerva had to admit that Elphinstone's plan was good despite there being some gaps. She looked around the room her mind already working on how many people would be able to follow the could be Death Eaters. Not many was the conclusion she came up with. Already, Albus, Hagrid and herself would be at Hogwarts with hardly any time to go tracking people. And, there were the students to think about. Minerva did not like the idea of being away from the school for too long. Especially if Dumbledore and Hagrid wouldn't be at the school either. Furthermore, the younger generation who composed at least half of the Order were working hard to get their first houses, or start a family… They had neither the time nor the experience to track people down. This left only a handful of members who could spare the time for Order business.
'I think we should write down who is going to track who,' said Gideon Prewett, 'Then nobody will be watching the same person.' There was a series of hums and nods in the room, suggesting that Gideon's idea had been accepted.
Once all those who had volunteered to essentially spy on the suspected Death Eaters, Minerva gathered up her papers and books and stood up. She had a mountain of work to do as well as write a letter back to her Mother and Father whom she had not seen for a very long while and therefore did not want to dawdle. Striding to the doorway, she thought she had successfully managed to escape when someone called her name. Minerva closed her eyes and tried hard not to sigh impatiently.
'I'll see you at dinner,' she said stiffly to Dumbledore who frowned but nodded. Preferring to deal with this alone, Minerva marched back up to Elphinstone who had been the one that had called her.
'What is it?' she said harshly, not even trying to disguise her annoyance.
'I just wanted to say that I am sorry,' said Elphinstone calmly, although Minerva could see the agitation in his eyes, 'I didn't want to embarrass you.'
Minerva inhaled sharply, the image of Elphinstone proposing to her in the middle of the street now vivid in her mind. She pursed her lips and didn't answer, the memory of her students looking at her in the street making her feel angry again.
'I hope you will forgive me,' rushed Elphinstone, trying to ignore the fact that she had not answered him.
Minerva looked into his eyes and her features softened when she saw the distress in his eyes. New Year, new start, she thought to herself. 'Of course,' she said finally. Despite her anger, Elphinstone was a truly good friend and she did not want her previous embarrassment to cast a shadow over that fact. 'I'll see you next week Elphinstone.'
I would really appreciate reviews or any feedback at all! :) I hope you like this chapter! Have a great day! :) I'll try to update as soon as possible!