Chapter Seven: The Order of the Phoenix
The next week went by quickly, with Jessica busy with lessons, Hermione helping her, Harry practicing for Quidditch, and Ron trying the whole time to avoid his brothers, who kept trying to curse him.
"It's for practice!" Fred yelled, chasing Ron down a fourth floor corridor. Hermione and Jessica were walking to Professor Binns' classroom. Jessica was not looking forward to another mindless lesson with a ghost whose voice was even more boring than his appearance, if that was plausible. She said good-bye to Hermione, then went inside.
It was stifling hot in the classroom. She made sure to sit in the exact middle of the room - not too close, yet not too far - and opened her book to the page specified on the board. She let Professor Binns talk her into a stupor, and only woke twice: once when her elbow slipped off the desk, causing her chin to smack hard on the edge of the desk, and again when Professor Binns snapped his textbook shut and announced today's lesson was over. She found Ron on the stairs in a very foul mood.
"Why do the Slytherins have to be here early?" he yelled to no one in particular, "It's not like they're in any danger from Voldemort! My mum sits at home by herself all day every day while my dad's in at the office, and they send the stinking SLYTHERINS here early?" He pounded his fist into the wall behind him.
Jessica walked cautiously over to him. He was clutching a letter in his fist, and his eyes were closed. His head leaned back against the wall behind him, something making a shining trail down his cheek - a tear. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, and his body began to shake with sobs.
She let him cry for a moment, and when his tears had subsided, she asked gently, "What is it, Ron?"
Ron swallowed hard, holding out the letter, which wasn't a letter at all. It was a copy of the Daily Prophet - Jessica assumed it was the wizard newspaper - and the story on the front page was "MUGGLE ATTACKS IN A SMALL VILLAGE OUTSIDE LONDON."
"There was an attack in Ottery St. Catchpole," he said with some difficulty.
"That's where you live?" Jessica asked softly.
Ron nodded. "My dad works at the ministry, and my mum's home all alone all day long, sometimes at night, with my dad working late sometimes. Nothing happened to her, or it would've been in here, but . . ." he sniffed, "I just worry, ya know? I mean, if anything ever happened to my mum . . ." He began to cry again. Jessica pulled him into a hug, and he leaned down to cry on her shoulder. She comforted him for a while, until she decided that he was a little better. They pulled apart a little, and Jessica kissed him on the cheek.
Neither of them moved for a long time, until Ron checked his watch and said, "You'd better be going along to Potions. Snape's an even uglier git when someone shows up late to his class." Jessica smiled weakly, trying to shake the sense of foreboding from her mind.
The dungeons were easier to find this time around, since she had a general idea of where she was going. She pushed open the door and went to her usual place in the middle of the front row, and pulled out her materials. Snape swept in like a huge, malevolent bat as usual, and immediately began to give her instructions. He seemed to have gotten over insulting her, as she seemed to be a promising Potions student. Hell, thought Snape, I think she's better than Granger.
Jessica was adding lacewing flies to her Solidarity Concoction when Professor Dumbledore opened the door.
"Severus, Jessica," he said quickly, "I need to see you both in my office. Jessica, please leave your things. I think your Solidarity Concoction can have a little time to stew."
Jessica nodded, and she and Snape followed Dumbledore up to his office. Once inside, Jessica saw that Harry, Hermione, and a puffy-eyed Ron were already in there, along with pink-faced Neville and the other teachers. Sirius was there, too, accompanied by a strange-looking man Jessica had never seen before. He smiled at her and looked at her like a niece, just as Sirius did. She smiled a little confusedly back, and went over to stand with her friends. Professor Dumbledore began to speak.
"Now that you are all here, I would like to begin. If you could all please listen very carefully to what I'm going to say, I would be most grateful, as it is imperative you all hear what I'm saying." Everyone in the room nodded. "There is an imminent threat on Muggles, as was shown by the attack this morning, which ever-so-nicely showed up on the front page of the Daily Prophet. I have made the decision," with this he stared hard at the strange man and Sirius and then at Snape, "To reinstate the Order of the Phoenix."
This last statement was received by the teachers with a grunt of acknowledgment, and Sirius and the other man nodded grimly. Obviously this meant something. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Jessica, and Neville were, however, thoroughly confused.
"Erm, Professor, if you don't mind me asking," Hermione ventured, "But what is the Order of the Phoenix?"
Professor Dumbledore's eyes flashed with an emotion that no one could discern. He sat down at his desk and motioned for the others to do the same.
The students all sat in chairs around his desk while the adults stood in the back of the room. Dumbledore cleared his throat and began to speak.
"A long time ago, when Voldemort was newly risen to power, an organization was formed. They called themselves the Order of the Phoenix. I was among them. They were the self designated protectors of the Hogwarts students and their families. Of course, we would have protected everyone if we could have, but ten wizards can only do so much. Throughout Voldemort's rise to power, we did as we swore to do, some leaving the Order but all the while others joining. We had to start being careful as to who we brought in, because you couldn't trust anyone in those days. The last Order, before Voldemort's downfall, consisted of Sirius Black," he nodded to each person in turn, "Remus Lupin," the strange man next to him, "Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape," the students' jaws dropped, "And of course myself. Then there were five others. They were your parents, Harry, Lily and James Potter, your father, Neville, Frank Longbottom, your mother, Jessica, Heather Hartfield-Black, and finally your father, Ron, Arthur Weasley." Ron's jaw dropped again at this news. Dumbledore, however, reached into his desk and pulled out five silver amulets on silver chains. He began to hand them to the students.
"These are the Amulets of the Order. There is a stone set in each one that will glow if you are needed. You are not required to do any Dark Arts battling, however, as you are all students, but they are there for when we need you around the school." He explained each one to each student as he passed them out. "Neville," he said, pulling out a small star-and- moon with a purple stone set in it, "This was your father's. He chose the star and moon because anywhere in the world, at night a star and the moon will light your way. Harry," he said slowly, "This was your father's." It was a stag, with a ruby set between its antlers. "I should think this is self-explanatory, although it wasn't to me when he requested it made." His eyes twinkled. "Hermione, this was Lily Potter's. I think you are suited to this one," he said, handing her a rose with a blue stone in the stem, where a thorn would be. "As no rose is without thorns, you, just as Lily before you, are a beautiful flower that has a sharp, stinging intelligence." Hermione blushed. Dumbledore handed a kite set with a yellow stone to Ron. "Your father's. You see, a kite can fly high only with help from another, just as a great wizard can only do great things with help from another." Finally, he turned to Jessica. He smiled, giving her a miniature silver sword with a light blue stone in the hilt. "Your mother's," he said, "As swords are the most elegant weapon, so was she the most elegant protector." He then sat back behind his desk and watched each of the new members of the Order examine their amulets with interest. When they had all put them on, Dumbledore removed his from beneath his robe. It was a lion, and it had a garnet (a darker red stone than a ruby) in its jaws. He gently rubbed the stone, which lit all of the other stones ablaze with light. He smiled.
"You are now official members of the Order," he said, "You can rub your own stone to call any of the others. Just concentrate on who you wish to call, and rub the stone. They will come. Now, if I could ask the students to leave, I must give the other members of the Order back the amulets they returned to me, if they were members before, and then I must get requests from the others as to what form they should like for theirs. Be careful."
The friends left, each thinking about the parent they had lost (or in Ron's case, hadn't) that owned the amulet before them. They wondered how Dumbledore got it back from them when most of them had died. She walked down alone to the dungeon to wait for Snape.
He returned a few moments later, wearing a snake with a green stone for an eye. How fitting, she thought, a true Slytherin, then. She finished her potion, Snape inspected it ("The color is off," he said, "Ten points off."), then packed up to leave. Just as she reached the door, Snape stopped her by saying something that she never would have thought she'd hear him say.
"Good luck in the Order, Black," he said. Then he went about straightening things up. Jessica smiled slightly to herself, then left.
The air in Dumbledore's office was a little more tense than usual as Jessica sat down for her lesson. Dumbledore wasn't his usual, mischievous self, and seemed to be investigating his amulet very closely. He kept getting distracted, until finally Jessica asked, "Professor, should we stop for today and pick this up tomorrow?"
Dumbledore smiled at her. "You may go," he said. She left quickly, running down the stairs to find her friends.
As she ran, she looked at her amulet. It was very pretty, and she liked the design a lot. She saw her friends, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and, for once, Harry Potter, and smiled. She might not be sure about what she felt for Harry, but she'd wait for that to sort itself out. This, she thought to herself, is going to be a great year.
The next week went by quickly, with Jessica busy with lessons, Hermione helping her, Harry practicing for Quidditch, and Ron trying the whole time to avoid his brothers, who kept trying to curse him.
"It's for practice!" Fred yelled, chasing Ron down a fourth floor corridor. Hermione and Jessica were walking to Professor Binns' classroom. Jessica was not looking forward to another mindless lesson with a ghost whose voice was even more boring than his appearance, if that was plausible. She said good-bye to Hermione, then went inside.
It was stifling hot in the classroom. She made sure to sit in the exact middle of the room - not too close, yet not too far - and opened her book to the page specified on the board. She let Professor Binns talk her into a stupor, and only woke twice: once when her elbow slipped off the desk, causing her chin to smack hard on the edge of the desk, and again when Professor Binns snapped his textbook shut and announced today's lesson was over. She found Ron on the stairs in a very foul mood.
"Why do the Slytherins have to be here early?" he yelled to no one in particular, "It's not like they're in any danger from Voldemort! My mum sits at home by herself all day every day while my dad's in at the office, and they send the stinking SLYTHERINS here early?" He pounded his fist into the wall behind him.
Jessica walked cautiously over to him. He was clutching a letter in his fist, and his eyes were closed. His head leaned back against the wall behind him, something making a shining trail down his cheek - a tear. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, and his body began to shake with sobs.
She let him cry for a moment, and when his tears had subsided, she asked gently, "What is it, Ron?"
Ron swallowed hard, holding out the letter, which wasn't a letter at all. It was a copy of the Daily Prophet - Jessica assumed it was the wizard newspaper - and the story on the front page was "MUGGLE ATTACKS IN A SMALL VILLAGE OUTSIDE LONDON."
"There was an attack in Ottery St. Catchpole," he said with some difficulty.
"That's where you live?" Jessica asked softly.
Ron nodded. "My dad works at the ministry, and my mum's home all alone all day long, sometimes at night, with my dad working late sometimes. Nothing happened to her, or it would've been in here, but . . ." he sniffed, "I just worry, ya know? I mean, if anything ever happened to my mum . . ." He began to cry again. Jessica pulled him into a hug, and he leaned down to cry on her shoulder. She comforted him for a while, until she decided that he was a little better. They pulled apart a little, and Jessica kissed him on the cheek.
Neither of them moved for a long time, until Ron checked his watch and said, "You'd better be going along to Potions. Snape's an even uglier git when someone shows up late to his class." Jessica smiled weakly, trying to shake the sense of foreboding from her mind.
The dungeons were easier to find this time around, since she had a general idea of where she was going. She pushed open the door and went to her usual place in the middle of the front row, and pulled out her materials. Snape swept in like a huge, malevolent bat as usual, and immediately began to give her instructions. He seemed to have gotten over insulting her, as she seemed to be a promising Potions student. Hell, thought Snape, I think she's better than Granger.
Jessica was adding lacewing flies to her Solidarity Concoction when Professor Dumbledore opened the door.
"Severus, Jessica," he said quickly, "I need to see you both in my office. Jessica, please leave your things. I think your Solidarity Concoction can have a little time to stew."
Jessica nodded, and she and Snape followed Dumbledore up to his office. Once inside, Jessica saw that Harry, Hermione, and a puffy-eyed Ron were already in there, along with pink-faced Neville and the other teachers. Sirius was there, too, accompanied by a strange-looking man Jessica had never seen before. He smiled at her and looked at her like a niece, just as Sirius did. She smiled a little confusedly back, and went over to stand with her friends. Professor Dumbledore began to speak.
"Now that you are all here, I would like to begin. If you could all please listen very carefully to what I'm going to say, I would be most grateful, as it is imperative you all hear what I'm saying." Everyone in the room nodded. "There is an imminent threat on Muggles, as was shown by the attack this morning, which ever-so-nicely showed up on the front page of the Daily Prophet. I have made the decision," with this he stared hard at the strange man and Sirius and then at Snape, "To reinstate the Order of the Phoenix."
This last statement was received by the teachers with a grunt of acknowledgment, and Sirius and the other man nodded grimly. Obviously this meant something. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Jessica, and Neville were, however, thoroughly confused.
"Erm, Professor, if you don't mind me asking," Hermione ventured, "But what is the Order of the Phoenix?"
Professor Dumbledore's eyes flashed with an emotion that no one could discern. He sat down at his desk and motioned for the others to do the same.
The students all sat in chairs around his desk while the adults stood in the back of the room. Dumbledore cleared his throat and began to speak.
"A long time ago, when Voldemort was newly risen to power, an organization was formed. They called themselves the Order of the Phoenix. I was among them. They were the self designated protectors of the Hogwarts students and their families. Of course, we would have protected everyone if we could have, but ten wizards can only do so much. Throughout Voldemort's rise to power, we did as we swore to do, some leaving the Order but all the while others joining. We had to start being careful as to who we brought in, because you couldn't trust anyone in those days. The last Order, before Voldemort's downfall, consisted of Sirius Black," he nodded to each person in turn, "Remus Lupin," the strange man next to him, "Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape," the students' jaws dropped, "And of course myself. Then there were five others. They were your parents, Harry, Lily and James Potter, your father, Neville, Frank Longbottom, your mother, Jessica, Heather Hartfield-Black, and finally your father, Ron, Arthur Weasley." Ron's jaw dropped again at this news. Dumbledore, however, reached into his desk and pulled out five silver amulets on silver chains. He began to hand them to the students.
"These are the Amulets of the Order. There is a stone set in each one that will glow if you are needed. You are not required to do any Dark Arts battling, however, as you are all students, but they are there for when we need you around the school." He explained each one to each student as he passed them out. "Neville," he said, pulling out a small star-and- moon with a purple stone set in it, "This was your father's. He chose the star and moon because anywhere in the world, at night a star and the moon will light your way. Harry," he said slowly, "This was your father's." It was a stag, with a ruby set between its antlers. "I should think this is self-explanatory, although it wasn't to me when he requested it made." His eyes twinkled. "Hermione, this was Lily Potter's. I think you are suited to this one," he said, handing her a rose with a blue stone in the stem, where a thorn would be. "As no rose is without thorns, you, just as Lily before you, are a beautiful flower that has a sharp, stinging intelligence." Hermione blushed. Dumbledore handed a kite set with a yellow stone to Ron. "Your father's. You see, a kite can fly high only with help from another, just as a great wizard can only do great things with help from another." Finally, he turned to Jessica. He smiled, giving her a miniature silver sword with a light blue stone in the hilt. "Your mother's," he said, "As swords are the most elegant weapon, so was she the most elegant protector." He then sat back behind his desk and watched each of the new members of the Order examine their amulets with interest. When they had all put them on, Dumbledore removed his from beneath his robe. It was a lion, and it had a garnet (a darker red stone than a ruby) in its jaws. He gently rubbed the stone, which lit all of the other stones ablaze with light. He smiled.
"You are now official members of the Order," he said, "You can rub your own stone to call any of the others. Just concentrate on who you wish to call, and rub the stone. They will come. Now, if I could ask the students to leave, I must give the other members of the Order back the amulets they returned to me, if they were members before, and then I must get requests from the others as to what form they should like for theirs. Be careful."
The friends left, each thinking about the parent they had lost (or in Ron's case, hadn't) that owned the amulet before them. They wondered how Dumbledore got it back from them when most of them had died. She walked down alone to the dungeon to wait for Snape.
He returned a few moments later, wearing a snake with a green stone for an eye. How fitting, she thought, a true Slytherin, then. She finished her potion, Snape inspected it ("The color is off," he said, "Ten points off."), then packed up to leave. Just as she reached the door, Snape stopped her by saying something that she never would have thought she'd hear him say.
"Good luck in the Order, Black," he said. Then he went about straightening things up. Jessica smiled slightly to herself, then left.
The air in Dumbledore's office was a little more tense than usual as Jessica sat down for her lesson. Dumbledore wasn't his usual, mischievous self, and seemed to be investigating his amulet very closely. He kept getting distracted, until finally Jessica asked, "Professor, should we stop for today and pick this up tomorrow?"
Dumbledore smiled at her. "You may go," he said. She left quickly, running down the stairs to find her friends.
As she ran, she looked at her amulet. It was very pretty, and she liked the design a lot. She saw her friends, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and, for once, Harry Potter, and smiled. She might not be sure about what she felt for Harry, but she'd wait for that to sort itself out. This, she thought to herself, is going to be a great year.
