CHAPTER 32 - THE LEAGUE

When L and the werewolf landed in another location the night was still dark there. He didn't see a thing and needed to sharpen his other senses. He inhaled and a smell of moisty grass filled his nostrils. He quickly realised they were somewhere in the countryside and it was not long before dawn. He had heard song birds waking up. It took a few moments before L's eyes got used to the darkness he realised they were in a garden of some provincial house.

The man moved towards the house and L followed. Even when he couldn't see much, the silhouette of the building was familiar to him. Like he was there before. That feeling and the shape of the darkened landscape also made him realise where he was: back in England. That literally made him roll his eyes.

Ofcourse they fucking made me travel around the whole world just to hide the fact that they were in England… L thought and followed the werewolf to the interior of the house. It seemed completely empty apart from the paintings on the walls which were covered by white sheets. It was probably a security precaution - so the people on those portraits couldn't tell anyone what was going on there.

They moved through a few corridors and empty rooms, before the werewolf opened one door for him. L stopped in front of the opened door and frowned. It was pitch black inside. It was clear that the man was not going to follow him inside, which was a little bit distressing. But he didn't make any attempt to take L's wand so at least, L wasn't going in unarmed. He took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The room he found himself in turned out to be dark only from the outside. Inside it was illuminated by the dim light of candles that were floating in the air above him. L quickly realised he was in some sort of assembly room. It had hexagon shape and there were benches rising in levels along each wall. It resembled a courtroom at the ministry of magic. But this one must have been magically enlarged into height, because L couldn't see its ceiling. The benches were ascending all the way up, into the unknown. The room was empty but L knew it was only an illusion. He could literally feel the presence of other entities. Many of them. There were different perfumes lingering in the air, scents of alphas, betas and even some omegas. Animals as well.

Whoever was there, they didn't let L waiting for long because as fast as he took the room in and stood in its centre, someone started speaking:

"Lawliet L, you are in the presence of the high counsel of The Animagi league. We gathered here on short notice, because we were alerted by our envoy, Alec Evans, that you will not cooperate otherwise. So what is it that you expect from this meeting?"

L couldn't help but feel shivers running down his spine when he heard the voice of that person. The speaker was obviously a man and his voice colour was somehow familiar to L. But he couldn't sort it. It could have been anyone he met at the ministry or during his years of work there. At the moment he was only sure that the voice evoked negative emotions inside him.

"To know who I am talking to would be a good starting point." L said and heard a quiet murmur around. But the sound was cut off but that strong voice:

"That is not possible. We need to guard our identities. This is a dangerous time for every animagus. We can not risk you being captured by Kira and revealing any of us."

"And what if one of you is captured by Kira?" L opposed.

"That is unlikely. Kira are not interested in torturing us. They want us all dead. You, on the other hand, were already captured and tortured by one of their followers."

That made L mentally frown. He knew there was a possibility that BB was working for Kira. But they never found a proof. Now he was here, in a room full of people he didn't know, couldn't see and who obviously knew disturbingly a lot about him and his investigations. This secret society had their fingers everywhere. So there was no reason to act like he didn't know what the man was talking about:

"There is no evidence that my capture 9 months ago had something to do with my investigation of Kira's killings. The mission I was on was not related to the Kira case. It was most likely a personal revenge."

"Yes, most likely. But given the past of Beyond Birthday there is a high possibility of him being somehow connected to Kira." The speaker said without any hesitation and L was again a bit alarmed by how much these people knew. But this was not a time and place to analyse their security measures.

"Wouldn't that mean that he would immediately kill me? If you know so much about me, you must surely be aware that I am an Animagus as well."

"It is as you said. Mr. Birthday has his personal interests in the matter, it is highly probable that he would keep you alive. At least for some time. Should he try to capture and torture you again, we would all be in jeopardy." The man explained.

"There is one thing, I don't understand..." L started and decided to get as much information as possible: "If you are such a great super secret organisation, why would you leave the investigation to me? You obviously know a lot about me. About my investigations. And you already knew something I didn't. Why don't you investigate this on your own? And don't try to tell me you don't have the capacity. I can sense at least... 120 entities in this room and if this is only a high counsel, there must be many more Animagi in your ranks."

The murmur started again and L looked up at the seemingly empty benches.

"That was a very precise guess, Mr. Lawliet. The rumours about your abilities were not lying then. The most capable young wizard of the century." The speaker said and sounded genuinely impressed.

L didn't even flinch at that and was looking straight into the place where the voice was coming from: "Let go of the flattery and answer the question."

There was a moment of silence before the spokesperson spoke again: "You are also very direct as I see. A family feature, I believe. Your late father, Elliot Lawliet, was the same."

Now that got L by surprise. He hadn't heard anyone speaking about his father for years. He himself wasn't talking about him. And now he was in this room full of strangers, talking to someone who obviously knew his father and was actively comparing them. L clenched his fists. He was not there to talk about his family, but the man still continued:

"I was under the impression that his only son would be named after him. It is quite surprising that he went for a single letter as your name. Lawliets are a proud family, after all…"

L laughed out loud and the ice cold sharp sound filled the room: "I think I know my family well enough to know how proud they are or aren't. But you, mister, are still avoiding the answer."

There was another moment of silence. The spokesman probably realised there was no way around it and therefore answered: "You are right. We do have capacities for our own investigation." The man said and made a small pause before continuing: "But we can not afford running it. The moral code of this society is not to interfere with a natural flow of the Wizarding world. Running an investigation like this would go against the very basic law of this society. You, on the other hand, are not our member. You already lead the investigation and you have a possible personal connection to Kira through Beyond Birthday."

L couldn't believe what he was hearing. He hated hypocrites like this. But he only chuckled and tilted his head: "Aren't you already breaking your own rules by sharing the information with me?"

There was a moment of hesitation from the man. Almost unnoticeable but L had heard it anyway: "The counsel has decided that this information will not help you enough to change the natural cause of the…."

L cut the man off: "Yes, exactly! That information is not helping with anything! You know there are only a few names in the official register of the Animagi, which I guess, is most likely your doing. So there is no way for me to actually verify the lead you gave me. I can not work with this any further! I need a list of names to be able to find out where Kira strikes next! The fastest option is to confront them and try to stop them."

The man let out a sigh, not content with L's way of thinking: "Confronting Kira will not help you if you will not know how to kill them! Do you think their victims didn't try to fight back? You will only end up dead and therefore no use."

At that moment L knew he pushed the right button. The man knew something. He damn knew much more than he was letting out.

"Then tell me what you know!" L said in a low voice that almost sounded like a growl.

"We don't know much more than you do."

L threw his hands in the air: "That's bullshit! You are obviously trying to push me in some direction, so you can as well say it directly. What value does the information that Kira is after Animagi really have?"

There was a long pause from the spokesperson but the murmur in the room went alive again. It was clear that these people were talking to each other, probably even arguing, but L couldn't really hear what they were saying. The room was under more than one spell and he heard only mumbling. It took a few minutes before the murmur stopped and the representative spoke up once more:

"According to our source, Animagi Wizards played a part in the original tale about Kira. But that part was later erased and legend was transformed."

L raised an eyebrow and wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. Legends were always only a ghost of the original story. That's what history made of them. Many times on purpose. It was nice to know, but it didn't help with anything. Unless someone knew the original story, which was near to impossible after a 1000 years.

"That's it? That's all you know? Because that is still not helping anyhow." L hissed.

The spokesperson started speaking in a harsher voice, obviously displeased with L's reaction: "Mr. Lawliet. We know you are after artefacts from Kira's era. If you will be able to find the parchment with the original story, you might figure out how to destroy Kira."

"If parchment like that exists."

"It does. There are mentions about it in sources belonging to the League."

"What kind of mentions?"

There was another long discussion above L's head. He frowned. The longer he was there the more suspicious he started feeling. There was something wrong with all of this.

Then it hit him.

There could be only one reason a secret society like this would go out of hiding. Especially, if they had the moral code they had: They are trying to make up for something they screwed up.

L's voice cut through the whispering around: "You had parchment, hadn't you?"

L immediately knew he was right because the room fell silent. He let out a long sigh and continued: "So you had it and you lost it. You don't have any copy and obviously no one knows what was its content. So it means you lost it generations ago. And you probably didn't know it was lost in the first place."

The silence that spreaded in the hall was terrifying. It was like no one dared to breathe. Even the spokesman must have been shocked by this revelation because he started reluctantly:

"All your deductions are right, I'm afraid…" He made a pregnant pause before speaking up again: "The original parchment with the Legend of Kira was in the possession of the League. But, we can not tell for how long it's been gone, because we didn't know it was missing until 18 years ago. Before that, no one was in need of that parchment for over a hundred years."

L brought his thumb to his lower lip in habit, but he really felt like pinching the bridge of his nose. He couldn't understand why a society like this did not make copies of their possessions. But if nothing at least his instinct to search for something ancient was right. Now he had some precisions he was able to work with. Even when it was still like searching for a needle in a haystack. Especially when that needle was obviously stolen and probably held in high regard in a haystack who knows where.

"So… you think I should start searching for this… original parchment." L asked and the answer he got was much more direct than he expected: "Yes. Find it and if possible, destroy Kira with the information found in it."

"That sounds like interfering with the natural cause of the Wizarding World to me." L said and as expected, there was again some murmur. But it was quickly silenced by the same strong voice:

"We are aware that we are walking on a thin line, Mr. Lawliet. But whatever was in that parchment, might have also been the reason for the rise of this new Kira. So we are trying to take the responsibility…"

L wanted to tell him something about how poorly they are taking responsibility, but he stopped himself. He was aware that this person he was talking to, must have been the one who sent Alec to him. And he must have known L will not be satisfied with just a scratch of information. He must have known that he would come for more and he would get it. So no matter the responsibility and moral code talk, this person was giving L exactly what he wanted - information. And he was doing it in front of everyone and got away with it, because it seemed that L deducted everything himself. Clever. L chuckled internally. Whoever this spokesperson was, they were trying to get L where they wanted to have him. Like a piece in their game. But L was not usually the one to be played. He was a player: "What if the scroll is in Kiras' hands? Or what if there is not any valuable information about how to face their magic? If you want to take the responsibility, you should also help me to try to find Kira and face them."

"That would be against the code of our…"

"Screw the code! If you are sure Kira is after you, we might be facing genocide of a whole Wizarding kind!" L turned his head higher up and looked at the empty benches above him: "Is this what you want? To wait until Kira comes for you next? Or for your mate? If we wont stop Kira, there wont be any of you left to keep that stupid code!"

The whispering started again but the main speaker did not wait for their reactions: "Mr. Lawliet, you are not part of the League so you can not understand its codex and history behind it. We have our reasons."

"Does everyone agree with it?! Really?!"

The question was hanging in the air and no one made a sound. L was looking around the room, waiting for someone to say something but he waited in vain. It was their main spokesperson who broke the silence again: "There is no use playing on emotions, Mr. Lawliet. Our members know the code and agree with it."

It feels more like they are afraid of speaking up. L thought to himself and raised his voice again:

"Then I am asking for volunteers! If there are any of you, who don't agree with this and they would like to help me with the investigation, you know where to find me. Or Alec Evans knows." L wanted to turn and leave with that, but the man spoke again:

"Mr. Evans served as our envoy just this time. He is not part of the League anymore and he is in no contact with other members. And it will stay that way."

L frowned deeply at that. The more he was hearing about this organisation the less he liked it. Obviously, Alec was good enough to bring L to them, but not good enough to be part of their organisation. Not anymore. Which was something Alec admitted himself. So at least at that he wasn't lying. But this representative of the league, whoever it was, didn't want Alec near its members. L had no idea what it meant yet, but if they kicked Alec out, there was a chance for some hard feelings between them. L could use that to get more information from Alec.

"Alright, then contact whoever you guys have in Hogwarts. I'm sure you have a contact there." L said and again turned to leave, but the reaction stopped him in his tracks:

"There are no other members of the League in Hogwarts at the moment."

His eyes widened, suddenly struck by the information. He turned around and asked dumbly: "Why?!"

The question seemed to amuse the speaker because he chuckled before he explained: "For obvious reasons. We don't want to draw Kira's attention to students. That's why we made sure there would be no transfiguration teacher in the school this year. Neither there was any for the last two years. If the Animagi treaty is not developed, it can stay hidden for a long time and that gives us time to deal with the current situation. We are protecting the future generations of Animagi wizards."

L was frowning hard and his thumb was moving on his lower lip. His brain was calculating, running over possibilities and scenarios. But it didn't even take him two seconds to connect dots and understand that this information explained everything.

So… the mystery grows. I sooo wanna hear your theories and opinions about this current development! What do you think L just realised? Can you connect the dots? :P

Thank you for being with me!

Love, J.