F-T R Wonders whether Mushroom Hunter was mocking her, then decides not to question her good fortune Thanks for your reviews! I think one disclaimer should suffice for the whole story- if my writing style's similar enough to JK Rowling's that someone gets confused, that someone has full permission to sue me.

The list was painfully short. McGonagall's magical list contained only four people that weren't found in Ollivander's records (and some people actually think he keeps it all in his head! I ask you...). Their names and addresses were all on record, and still lived in the U.K. The biggest obstacle seemed to be their ages.

One witch and one wizard were in their seventies and nineties, respectively, which could make them a bit suspicious and cranky, but by wizard standards, they were probably acceptable as ministry members. The second witch was forty-nine, so Liza hoped she wasn't in the middle of a big career. The youngest wizard was a mere sixteen, but Jeremy reckoned he could probably pass for eighteen when he was done training. However, he would probably be the biggest challenge to teach, not to mention getting his parents to go along with it.

Nott was assigned to recruit Nancy and George, the senior citizens. Jeremy got the middle-aged witch, a woman named Estelle. Unfortunately, Liza was trapped with the adolescent, a boy named Allen, who she anticipated would be more difficult than the rest put together.

She stood now at his doorway, wondering how to best phrase her problem, when the door opened and a man who was presumably Allen's father answered it.

"Um, is Allen here?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"I'm... I'm a witch. You heard from one of our kind a few years ago, and, well, we have a situation. I need to speak to Allen- our entire way of life is at stake.

The man puzzled over this. "I suppose you could explain this... situation to Allen and he could decide. I'll get him." She waited a few moments, and a tall black boy with longish hair and brown eyes appeared.

"Why, good afternoon," he said with an Eddie Hascal grin. "I've been expecting you."

"What? Why?"

"Oh, simple. When the esteemed ambassador from the ministry paid me a visit five years hence, I had to decline. My criminal empire was booming, you see, and I couldn't run it from a boarding school. However, my visitor left behind a copy of the daily prophet. There were some strange articles in that thing, you know, and I don't just mean ads for gladrags wizard wear. It seemed rather obvious that these Walpurgi people were planning a coup, and could use a mastermind like myself to help them. I assume you've heard of me?"

This kid was ten times as irritating as she'd expected! "Sorry, but I've never heard of you. I'm from the Order of the Phoenix, a group trying to take down the Walpurgi, who've already gotten control. The only reason we need you is, like me, you have magical powers but don't know wand magic. Since the Walpurgi don't allow wands in their headquarters for security reasons, we've been asked to learn wandless magic, infiltrate the ministry, and take them down."

He considered this for a moment. "Fair enough. How will you be paying me?"

"Does a position in the new world order count for anything?"

Allen snorted. "There's not going to be a new world order unless the Alster's involved in the planning. What is the plan anyway?"

Now it was Liza's turn to be amused. "You don't want to know. Believe me, you can have full tactical power as well as being a mole if you want ."

He nodded nonchalantly. "Okay, okay. Let me see what I can do."

"Great! We leave in an hour. I'll need your parents' permission, though."

"Oh, I'll just leave a hologram. I've been away for months at a time and they never notice. I don't know how they managed to have a son like me."

"All right. Our first stop is Nott manor, and then Jeremy will take you to Diagon Alley..." That would be sure to shut him up.

Now that there were five of them, the little attic where the wandless students were taught seemed more like a school. Liza gave them all positions in her head. Nancy was teacher's pet- she accepted the toe pointing and chin tucking without question. Apparently she was used to deportment changing every few years. This was the woman who was still doggedly trying spells hours after the others had quit.

George, strange as it was for a man in his nineties, seemed to be class clown, although he was bad at it. He pulled the 'got your nose' gag like it was going out of style and treated Nott like a crochety grown-up son.

Estelle, who had, in fact, been in accounting, was only here because her husband was willing to support their family financially while she was away, and her kids thought having a witch in the family would be the coolest thing in the world. She assumed the unlikely position of the rebel, pointing out that it was useless for Theodore to demonstrate the spells with a wand when his students couldn't have them. Ever cynical, she seemed to think they'd be here for years rather than months.

Allen, for whatever reason, seemed to be rather helpful. He turned out to have a plan after all, and seemed to make the most progress with spellwork. As he explained it, since children can produce spells when they're upset, the way to look at wandless magic was a series of frustrations. He himself had been practicing for years and found it quite useful. Estelle, who was pretty high strung anyway, took to this approach immediately. "I- CAN'T- FIND- MY- PENCIL!", she would wail, and then it would appear. The others took longer to get in touch with their inner drama queens. Liza suggested some potions to fix this. She reasoned that they wouldn't need them in the ministry, because when three or four angry Walpurgi were lunging at her, she was sure to be quite frightened enough to work a miracle or two.