Chapter three

The Order

After the meeting had finished and Cynder had calmed down, Molly Weasley, Ron's mum, called everyone downstairs.

"Well, we'll be eating down in the kitchen," she announced as the group made their way downstairs.

Harry was surprised to see that both Spyro and Cynder also sat at the table just like everyone else, although he did notice Cynder sending death glares at Sparx every now and again.

"This is very, very peculiar," Arthur Weasley told Harry as he sat down in front of Lupin, "it seems your hearing in the Ministry is to be before the entire Wizengamot"

"I don't understand," Harry responded, "what has the Ministry of Magic got against me?"

"Harry, it's not just you." Spyro pointed out, "both me, Cynder, even Dumbledore have had that Ministry lot going against us"

"Yeah, it's on the front page of that Daily Prophet newspaper" Cynder added, "The Boy Who Lies, Dumbledore's Deception, Dense Dragons Delude, and there I thought that they would stop after a while."

"Fudge is using all his power," Sirius explained from the head of the table, "including his influence at the Daily Prophet to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned."

"Why?" Harry asked, completely baffled with this information.

"The minister thinks Dumbledore's after his job" Lupin stated,

"But that's insane!" Harry exclaimed in disbelief, "no one in their right mind would believe that…"

"Exactly the point." Lupin agreed, "Fudge isn't in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear"

"You can trust me on this," Cynder butted in, "fear makes people do terrible things. When my father came to power all that time ago, he almost destroyed the planet, and from what I've heard, Voldemort almost destroyed everything the humans hold most dear"

"Now they both have returned in the same body, and I'm afraid the minister will do almost anything to avoid facing that terrifying truth," Lupin finished. There was silence for a bit, before Sirius mentioned,

"We think Voldemort wants to build up his army again. Malefor too. 14 years ago, Voldemort had huge numbers at his command, and not just witches and wizards, but all manner of dark creatures."

"Same with Malefor" Cynder once again chimed in, placing her front paws on the tabletop to gain a bit of height, "he had Apes, Grubblins, Trolls, Ogres, and even an Earth Golem" she clearly enjoyed informing others of Malefor's strength.

"he's been recruiting heavily," Sirius continued, "and we've been attempting to do the same. But gathering followers isn't the only thing he's interested in. we believe that Voldemort may be after something, something he didn't have last time"

Spyro and Cynder both looked up instantly on hearing this. To hear of Malefor trying to rebuild his army is one thing but hearing he might be after something else! Well, that worried the dragons!

"Woah! Wait!" Sparx exclaimed in his characteristic disbelief "so these two powerful dudes who have joined forces and minds are after something that would make them even more powerful?"

"You mean like a weapon?" Harry asked nervously.

"No, that's enough!" Mrs Weasley interrupted, "he's just a boy", she had a stern look on her face that said all too clearly that the conversation was now over, "you say much more, and you might as well induct him into the Order straight away."

"Good," Harry retaliated, "I want to join. If Voldemort's raising an army, then I want to fight." But no more was said, though both dragons clearly saw Sirius give Harry a small wink before Mrs Weasley served up the dinner.

That evening, Spyro, Cynder and Sparx were sleeping once again in the main living quarters. Spyro was on an old armchair, whilst Cynder was on the sofa, Sparx was sleeping on top of a hatstand due to Hermione's cat constantly hunting the little dragonfly down in hope of a midnight snack. Cynder was once again dreaming, she could see a corridor with black-tiled walls that featured no windows and no doors apart from a plain black one at the end of the corridor. She was very close to the ground, and she felt an unusual eagerness to get to that door, she was getting closer and closer until… her eyes snapped open, and she was back on the sofa. The dragon yawned and rubbed her eyes with a paw, she then rubbed her bare neck, where there was now a pinkish ring where her spiked choker would have been. She then noticed that that cat was scratching at the base of the hat stand. She sighed before using a sliver of her Fear element on the feline, causing it to scamper away with a hiss. She then tried to get back to sleep, but it was hard when that dream felt so real.