A/N: Chapter two, finally. My apologies for having taken so long, but I haven't had quite as much time to work on this of late, and I've been spending most of my writing time on the general story outline. It's coming together. Stick with me. A correction was made in the first chapter. A few people wanted to know how Harry got scratched if Professor Thornby is supposed to be buffering him. Well, he wouldn't be scratched. I can't believe I messed that up, but at least it was a very minor point and easy to fix.
All Hail Chaos: Well, Jenkins wasn't an entirely random choice. Nice to hear from you again!
howling wolf1: Thanks!
Rob: I hope you think the rest is just as good. I'm sure I'll like it.
krysalys73: Aww, you're sweet. Thanks for the encouragement, and also for pointing out my error in chapter 1!
athenakitty: Will Harry be happy now? Well, maybe someday. :-)
Meggplant: Yes! Harry should have backbone! I know he probably should have gone through more teenagerish moodiness but hey, it's my story and he's going to be a little bit more levelheaded. Like Hermione. She's not moody (except around Ron… snicker).
Jemma Blackwell: Sorry it took so long to get the second chapter out. I figure Dumbledore must have a way of contacting the Order members, just as Voldemort can use the Dark Mark to call his Death Eaters. No tattoos for the Order, though.
greendragonuk: I sure hope this story is better than Guardians. It's been almost two years since I started that one and I'm thinking I've improved.
Prongs4: Well, I'm guessing that by now you've eaten all that popcorn. It's long gone. Make up a fresh batch, would ya? (Hilarious review, by the way.)
padfootfe: Hmmm… the end notice might not have been there when you first read the end of Guardians. I put it up after the fact.
capncrunchnotthecereal: I've been busy too (obviously). I hope the story lives up to expectations.
InfiniteThinking: Interesting name you've got there! Yes, if you say nice things I will write more. To be fair I should tell you that I will continue to write even if you said nasty things… but that would make me sad.
Talix: Thanks for pointing out my error with the scratches. You are very observant! Hopefully there will be a bunch of new chapters soon so you can go ahead and read.
Chapter 2: Meet the Order
Lupin grasped Harry's shoulder and the two of them Apparated straight to Alverbrooke. Sirius was pacing back and forth in the breakfast room. "Finally!" he said when his friend and godson appeared. "Is everything all right? Are you all right?"
"Everyone's fine, Padfoot," Lupin said reassuringly.
"You look awful," said Sirius, giving Harry a critical look. He pointed his wand at Harry's head and said, "Scourgify! Ah, that's better. What was that stuff in your hair, anyway?"
"Plaster," said Harry. "From the wardrobe falling through the ceiling."
"The... what? Never mind, I want to know about the Longbottoms first."
"Still alive," said Lupin, "thanks to Harry." He explained about the poisoning and how Harry had used the talisman to help Alice.
"Did it really work?" Sirius said eagerly. He barked a short laugh when Lupin nodded. "Fantastic! I knew how it was supposed to work and all, but I've never actually seen it done. It's lucky you made it in time."
"Neville would've been crushed if anything had happened to them," said Harry.
"Poor kid," said Lupin, shaking his head. "Growing up an orphan's one thing. Growing up with parents who can't know you… that's another." He and Sirius exchanged a significant glance.
Harry was more eager than ever to start his research. Neville had been spared the pain of losing his parents, but he was still going to have to hear that someone had tried to kill them. The sooner Harry and his friends found a cure, the sooner the Longbottoms could have a normal life. And not be sitting ducks, he thought. "Did someone tell Hermione that I'm okay?" he said aloud.
"I'm sure Arthur has taken care of it," said Lupin. "She was as terrified as the rest of us. We had to Obliviate a dozen Muggles who saw you vanish into thin air."
"I knew the Dursleys would cause more trouble," Sirius growled. "You should've let me teach them a lesson last Christmas."
"You would've torn them to pieces," said Lupin.
"They've earned it ten times over," Sirius said darkly. "Dursley was always a bad apple. I doubt Harry's surprised that this happened." Harry looked at the floor. "I still don't know why he did it," said Sirius when Harry remained silent.
"He wanted money," said Harry.
"Apparently it had nothing to do with Voldemort," said Lupin. "It was an old-fashioned kidnapping for ransom."
Sirius balled his hands into fists. "Vernon Dursley kidnaps his own nephew and shakes him down for money? I've never heard of anything so low!"
"I think he committed tax fraud," said Harry.
"I can well believe it," Sirius snorted. But what about Jenkins? Don't tell me she wanted money too."
Harry didn't feel like telling the story again, so Lupin related what Harry had said at St. Mungo's. While he talked and Sirius listened with a black expression on his face, Harry took a chair and rested his cheek on one hand, thinking. In a way, Sirius was right – Harry wasn't completely shocked by what his uncle had done. The man had always been self-centered and greedy. Still, he never could have predicted that this would happen, not even after last summer. Now that he'd had some time to think about it, Harry was more certain than ever that Uncle Vernon must have been really desperate to resort to kidnapping and the use of magic.
So he'd been turned over to the Muggle police. What was going to happen to Dudley and Aunt Petunia, Harry wondered? If his uncle had committed tax fraud, how much did they owe? Public humiliation was certainly in store for them. There'd be no more trips to Majorca, Harry was sure.
They deserve it, said a voice inside Harry's head. You reap what you sow.
No kidding, Harry thought back. Uncle Vernon's been sowing for a long time now.
Forget about the Dursleys, said the voice. They're nothing to you.
Harry didn't feel like arguing with that. As he continued to think about the Dursleys, irritation intruded on his good mood. His rage at his uncle and Madeleine Jenkins had vanished when the Order members had arrived at the hut-on-the-rock; with his escape assured Harry had become focused on getting to the Longbottoms before it was too late. Now when he thought again of how selfish, how arrogant, how callous his uncle had been… Anger welled up inside him. Where had Uncle Vernon found the nerve? Had Aunt Petunia been in on the plan, too? Harry doubted it, but then again, he never would have thought his uncle would kidnap him, either. Today all that had changed. The only person that Harry could be absolutely certain had not been involved was Dudley. He was too young and stupid for this sort of thing. But someday he'd grow up and be just like Uncle Vernon, just as fat and cruel and self-centered…
You hate them, don't you? the voice questioned.
Harry grimaced. He did hate them. He couldn't think of a single instance when any of them had willingly bestowed a kindness upon him. Years of subtle abuse hadn't been quite enough for his relatives; they'd had to finish it with abduction and extortion. It was their desire to get money from Harry that infuriated him the most; the physical kidnapping was secondary. How dare they? It was they who owed him for the childhood they'd stolen.
They're going to get what's coming to them, said the little voice inside Harry's head. They're going to have to walk a mile in your shoes now. No more easy street for them.
It occurred to Harry that it was rather ironic that the Dursleys had finally met their downfall through him, the one they had exploited for so long. In all the time he'd lived with them Harry had never once thought of retribution; he had simply been longing for the day when he could leave them far behind. Even after the Dragonthistle Potion he'd not considered revenge, but now that their downfall had come he wasn't sorry.
Exactly, said the voice. They're family in name only. Forget about them. You've wanted them out of your life since you were first old enough to understand how they felt about you. Why waste a single thought on them now? You're free!
Yeah, thought Harry. I AM free.
"Harry?" said Sirius.
"Hmm?" said Harry, jerked out of his reverie.
"I said, I'm proud of you. You handled yourself like a pro."
"I didn't feel like a pro," Harry said rather tartly, still smoldering over the Dursleys. "It was a tug of war, not a test of skill."
"Well, you won, didn't you?" Sirius said brightly. "It was the only thing you could do. Yes, I'd say you kept your head very well."
"I'd like to forget about Vernon Dursley for a while," said Lupin. "Let's get Harry settled. Have you got his things, Padfoot?"
"I have," said Sirius.
At those words Harry felt his spirits rise again. Here he was, moving into a new home with his father's best friends. The Dursleys really were out of his life forever... almost. There was just one thing left before all the t's had been crossed. "What about the papers?" Harry said, voicing his last concern. "What if Uncle Vernon still refuses to sign?"
"I don't think you need to worry about that," said Lupin. "He's in a lot of trouble. He hasn't got a leg to stand on."
"Dumbledore will take care of it," Sirius said reassuringly. "What room do you want?"
Harry chuckled a bit. "What's so funny?" Lupin said curiously.
"No one's ever asked me that before," he said. "At Privet Drive I went from the cupboard under the stairs to Dudley's second bedroom."
"Well, there are no cupboards here," said Sirius. "I'm sorry, Harry, but you'll have to content yourself with something really big."
"Is the green one still free?" said Harry.
"Yes," said Sirius.
"Then I'll take that."
Lupin levitated Harry's trunk, Sirius picked up the Firebolt, and Harry carried Hedwig's cage. They climbed the two flights of stairs to the third floor and walked to Harry's chosen room at the end of the hall. By now it was quite dark outside. Someone had taken the trouble to light several of the oil lamps that stood here and there in brackets on the walls. The night breeze was coming in through the open windows.
Lupin threw open the lid of Harry's trunk and the three of them began to unpack. The three of them spent a cheerful hour making the room look like home, and as he worked Harry forgot all about the Dursleys. He let Hedwig out of her cage; she soared out one of the open windows and into the night in search of dinner. Sirius propped the Firebolt up in a corner. The chest that held Harry's set of Quidditch balls was placed nearby. His clothes were magicked into a tall, dark wardrobe and his schoolbooks were set upon the desk. Harry pulled out a lurid orange poster of the Chudley Cannons that Ron had given him and hung it up on the wall. The seven team members zoomed across it on their broomsticks, waving enthusiastically at their audience.
"That color is almost painful to look at," said Lupin, wincing jokingly at the poster.
"You should see Ron's room at the Burrow," said Harry. "The whole thing's orange."
"I'm more of a Darbyshire Devils man, myself," said Sirius.
Lupin snorted. "The Cannons flattened them in their last matchup."
"Yeah, well, the Devils have better colors, at least," said Sirius with a grin. Despite what had happened that evening Sirius and Lupin seemed to be in very high spirits, clearly as happy about the move as Harry was.
Harry's stomach growled loudly. "Did you hear that, Padfoot?" said Lupin.
"I did," said Sirius, still grinning cheekily. "Hungry, Harry?"
"I'm starving," Harry admitted. "The last thing I had to eat was a couple of Chocolate Frogs on the train."
"Come on, then," said Lupin. "I'm sure the house-elves will only be too happy to whip something up."
Sirius rolled his eyes as they headed back down the hall. "Ask them for a light lunch and they'll give you a full picnic for six."
On the way to the breakfast room Harry met Pip, the head house-elf. Pip was in complete awe at meeting Harry, though he seemed a bit more down-to-earth than Dobby had been.
"Such a pleasure it is to speak with you at last!" he squeaked, bowing so low that his squashed nose was in danger of touching the floor. "Pip helped Mistress Celeste take care of Master Potter while he was poisoned. Pip does not think Master Potter would remember him."
"Er, no, sorry," said Harry, feeling more than a little embarrassed at being referred to as "Master". "I don't remember anything from that week. And you can call me Harry."
"Certainly, Master Harry!" Harry sighed and Sirius and Lupin chuckled softly. "Is there anything Pip can do for you, sirs?" the house-elf said, bobbing his head up and down.
"Master Harry hasn't eaten in some time," said Sirius, winking at his godson.
"Ah! Supper it is, Master Black!" squeaked Pip. "Pip will see to it at once!" And with a loud crack, he vanished.
Harry, Sirius, and Lupin arrived in the breakfast room and took their seats. They had not been waiting two minutes before food appeared. There was so much variety it was almost like being at Hogwarts. All the food was piled high in a large cluster of serving dishes. "What did I tell you?" said Sirius. "There's enough here to feed ten!"
Harry, who was ravenous, thought he might be able to down it all himself. It felt like ages since his last meal – the clock on the wall said it was nearly ten o'clock – and the fight with Madeleine Jenkins had been tiring. He took a little bit of everything and dug in. Sirius and Lupin were talking about something but Harry's mind was too busy for him to notice much. With the Dursleys firmly out of his mind he was free to mull over the post-kidnapping events.
More than anything else Harry wanted to know about the Order of the Phoenix. The whole last two weeks of school he had abided by Hagrid's advice and not brought it up though he had badly wanted to know what it was all about. But today he'd been found by at least a dozen members of the Order, and even though he'd had things fairly under control, they had come with the intent to rescue him. Dumbledore had dropped a few tantalizing hints at St. Mungo's although he had stopped short of actually explaining what the group was all about. If Harry hadn't been so caught up in the moment, he might have used the opportunity to put the headmaster on the spot. Now that the moment had passed and the adrenaline had stopped flowing, he was bursting with questions.
"...and he's talking about getting a guardian for Ron and Hermione, too," said Sirius. "Harry, are you listening?"
"What is the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry said abruptly.
Sirius and Lupin shared a brief, uncertain glance. "How much do you know about it?" said Lupin.
"That it exists, that Dumbledore runs it, and that one of its goals is to protect me," said Harry. "Add the people that I know are members, and that's it."
Lupin calmly took a sip of tea. "We don't run the Order. It's not up to us to go divulging secrets."
"Oh, come on!" cried Harry. "What is it about this group that no one can tell me about? I get one hint after another, but no one will come out and say it!"
Lupin remained perfectly impassive in the face of Harry's outburst, but Sirius looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry," he said. "We really can't say anything until Dumbledore gives us the go-ahead."
"Why not? Are you afraid I'll go spilling my guts to anyone who'll listen?"
"That's not it," said Lupin.
"Well, why, then?" Harry pleaded.
"Because you're not a member," said Sirius. "It's up to Dumbledore to decide who can know about it."
"But I already know about it," said Harry. "So do Ron and Hermione!"
"Already know about what?" said a voice behind them.
Harry turned to see Dumbledore stepping out of the fireplace, brushing soot from his robes. "Professor... sir... what is the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry blurted out. Lupin tsked beside him.
"Ah," said Dumbledore as he straightened his glasses. "I expected that you would want to know as much. The Order is a group of witches and wizards who are dedicated to the complete and utter defeat of Voldemort. I am its leader."
"Oh," said Harry, feeling taken aback. After all the hints and secrecy he had not expected such a direct answer.
"Simply knowing what the Order is does not help you much," said Dumbledore. "I came to summon all three of you to an emergency meeting. I think it is time that you learned who your friends are, Harry."
Harry couldn't help himself; a wide grin spread across his face. He had hardly dared to hope that he would be told about the Order so soon, much less be invited to a meeting.
"However," said Dumbledore, "you will not be permitted to listen to the entire meeting. One must be an adult to join the Order, and it deals with many matters that students should not have to concern themselves with. As much as you may feel you have earned your place, you cannot be a full member. On this point there will be no negotiation."
Harry wanted to argue. True, the adults had all been around when Voldemort had last been in power, but he'd done more to thwart the Dark Lord than almost anyone else alive. First, second and fourth year they'd crossed swords, not to mention when he was just a baby. Well, maybe not so much that one, Harry thought. That had really been his mother's doing. Then there was everything that had happened last year. He'd kept himself alive after being poisoned by the Blakes. He'd saved Snape's life after they'd stumbled into a trap left by someone in the Ministry delegation. He'd gone to the Wizengamot to help Professor McGonagall get justice for Professor Thornby. Matters he didn't need to concern himself with? He never went looking for trouble; trouble found him because Voldemort wanted him dead! If there was anyone who deserved – no, needed – to know how the Dark Lord was being counteracted, it was Harry. He very much wanted to argue, but the headmaster's eyes were so penetrating that Harry had to acquiesce. At least Dumbledore's not keeping you out entirely, he thought. It didn't seem like much of a consolation prize.
"I hope we're going to talk about what to do with Celeste," Lupin said firmly.
"We will," said Dumbledore. "I am fairly certain that moving her here to Alverbrooke will be acceptable to everyone, but it must be brought up all the same."
Harry blinked as something Lupin said tugged at a corner of his mind. Professor Thornby… threatened… "Did I tell you that Madeleine Jenkins knows she's my guardian?" he blurted out. He couldn't remember if he had amidst all the excitement about the Longbottoms.
Sirius, Lupin, and Dumbledore all slowly turned their heads to look at Harry. "No, you did not," Dumbledore said gravely, his brow furrowing.
"You said she threatened Celeste," said Lupin, who began to look worried. "I just assumed it was because she was your teacher. Someone you knew."
Harry shook his head. "No. She figured it out. She said she was there when Bellatrix and Mr. Malfoy were interrogated –"
Dumbledore slapped his wand into his open palm. His eyes flashed with blue fire. "She was," he said tightly. "As a high-ranking member of the Wizengamot she was entitled to be there. I might have been able to find a way to keep her out, but with Cornelius gone… I never anticipated this kind of trouble. Obviously this was very poor judgment on my part."
"Well, what does it matter?" said Sirius. "She's just one person, and she's going to jail. You could modify her memory if you really felt that you had to do it."
"It matters," said Dumbledore. "I am beginning to suspect that Miss Jenkins is not a lone voice of dissention."
"She's a nut job!" Sirius said angrily. "She still won't believe that Voldemort has returned!"
"Be that as it may, she is not the only one who thinks this way!" said Dumbledore. "Many of the people who sided with Cornelius are still siding with him even after his death! Do not forget that she had a Healer at St. Mungo's who was waiting for her signal!"
"What are you saying?" Lupin said tensely. "That Fudge's faction is binding together again?"
"I am saying that it never came completely unbound," said Dumbledore.
Sirius scrubbed one hand through his dark hair. "I thought we were only going to have one enemy from now on."
"We will get into this in more detail at the meeting," said Dumbledore, glancing at the clock on the wall. "It is time to go."
Harry, Sirius, and Lupin left the table full of food for the huge fireplace at the far end of the breakfast room. "The usual place?" said Sirius, taking a handful of Floo powder from the urn next to the hearth.
"Indeed," said Dumbledore.
Sirius sighed loudly. He flung the powder into the fireplace, stepped into the green flames, clearly said, "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!" and vanished.
"Where?" said Harry.
"Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place," Dumbledore repeated. "Sirius grew up there."
"Oh!" said Harry, immediately intrigued.
"Tread lightly on the subject of his parents," Lupin said somberly. "By the time Sirius was an upperclassman at Hogwarts he didn't get on well with them. Visiting his old home isn't a pleasant experience for him."
"Ah... okay," Harry said, though his face bore a quizzical expression. "So... where are his parents now?"
"Dead," Dumbledore said bluntly. "You next, please."
Harry threw some Floo powder into the fireplace, repeated the name of the Blacks' house, and felt his body go spinning away. He remembered Mrs. Weasley's advice from his first trip by Floo and tucked his elbows in. It helped a little bit with the nausea that was rising in his stomach, albeit not enough. Harry didn't much care for this method of travel, but at times like these, there was nothing to be done about it.
Harry's body stopped whirling and he queasily opened his eyes. He was standing in a dark, dusty dining room. A cobwebbed chandelier hung from the carved ceiling; the crystals that hung from its arms were almost opaque with grime. A long table with a dozen chairs sat directly beneath the chandelier. All the pieces of furniture had clawed feet. Here and there a painting hung on the wall, so covered in dust and dirt that their subjects were unseen. The whole place had a dark and ominous feel to it.
Harry took it all in with apprehension. What sort of parents had Sirius had?
"Welcome," said Sirius from beside the fireplace, "to my happy boyhood home." His sarcasm made it clear that he was not happy to be there.
Lupin suddenly appeared in the fireplace, followed soon after by Dumbledore. Neither of them paid any mind to the odd surroundings. "Come," Dumbledore said briskly. "This way."
Harry followed the adults through a doorway and out into a hall where a few wizards were standing about talking. One and all they raised their hands and voices in greeting, but Harry barely noticed. He was looking at a tall wood and glass display case that was made to fit into a corner, the sort that Muggles would display china or figurines in. This one was full of strange objects. There were silver boxes inscribed with letters Harry couldn't read, several finger rings set with colorful stones, a long, black wand, a crystal ball supported by a metal hand, and a crystal decanter filled with a red liquid that Harry didn't dare speculate on. The thing that made him gasp in surprise, though, was a coppery-colored, close fitting circle made of two sinuous, out of phase waves.
"You have a Constrictor!" Harry exclaimed aloud. "Sirius, what…?"
"My parents were not the nicest of people," his godfather said solemnly.
"Dumbledore said he knew where two were besides the one Mr. Malfoy had," said Harry, thinking back to the day he, Ron, and Professor McGonagall had appeared before the Wizengamot. "This is one of them."
"Yes," said Lupin, eyeing Dumbledore, who had moved off to speak with some of the others.
"Well, why don't you destroy it?" Harry said in confusion.
"Most of these things I think we would destroy," said Lupin, eyeing the objects in the case. "The Constrictor, though… I'm not sure. Voldemort has Singers, too. Besides, this house is vanishing from memory. We don't think that the Death Eaters even remember that it exists, which makes it ideal for holding meetings and keeping objects we don't want to be found."
Harry furrowed his brow, not entirely satisfied with Lupin's answer. He was prevented from asking further questions by the sight of a figure with curly brown hair walking past the doorway at the far end of the hall.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed.
She poked her head back into the doorway and her face broke into a smile. "Harry!" Before Harry could move she had run down the hall to seize his hand. "Oh, I know it's only been a few hours since I saw you last, but it feels like it's been days! We were so worried when you vanished like that! You're all right?" she said anxiously.
"He's more than all right," Sirius said proudly. "He fought and he won."
"You fought?" Hermione said in confusion. "But... your uncle broke your wand..."
"Harry!" said Mrs. Weasley, bustling up to them. "Dumbledore said you were well, but my goodness, it's good to see it for myself. Come inside, all of you. The meeting's about to start." And she hurried off again, pulling Sirius and Lupin along with her. Harry and Hermione were left alone by the display case.
"I guess I'll have to tell you about it later," Harry said quietly. "How is it that you're here?"
"Mr. Weasley Apparated into my parents' living room," Hermione replied. "He brought me." She looked over at the strange objects in the case and shuddered. "This is quite a house," she said. "Mrs. Weasley gave me the impression that they just hadn't gotten around to cleaning it out. The whole thing's filthy."
"How long have you been here?" said Harry. It sounded like Hermione knew a lot more about Sirius' house than he did.
"Not long," she said. "Long enough to hear some things, though. Ron's here, did you know? And so are the twins. They're seeking admission to the Order, but I don't think they're going to get it today. They've got a reputation for being irresponsible."
Harry and Hermione had been moving while they talked and now they were standing inside a large, dark-paneled drawing room that was lit with oil lamps and candles. The air was filled with the low buzzing sound made by the quiet conversation of the witches and wizards within. Harry recognized most of them. There was Calvin Featherstone, the barrister who had argued Professor Thornby's case before the Wizengamot. Kingsley Shacklebolt was sitting with Tonks who waved at Harry and Hermione as they passed by. Bellaton was there, standing by himself with a grim expression on his face. Professor McGonagall was speaking with Snape in a corner while Hagrid looked on. And there, on the far side of the room, was a cluster of people with flaming red hair. Mr. Weasley was there, apparently giving instructions to Fred and George who were sitting impatiently on a pair of stools. Harry recognized their older brother Bill who was talking with Ron.
"Hey!" said Ron, jumping to his feet. "What happened to you? Dad's been less than forthcoming!"
"You'll hear all about it in a few minutes," said Mr. Weasley, coming up to stand beside Ron. "Hello again, Harry. I'm surprised you're still awake, what with everything that's happened tonight."
"We could have heard about it a few hours ago if Dad would only deign to tell us," said George.
"I don't see what all the fuss was about," said Fred. "Harry is notorious for being hard to kill, you know."
"Actually, my uncle wasn't interested in killing me," said Harry.
"Did he really want to hold you for ransom?" said George.
"Yeah," said Harry.
"Bugger!" said Ron. "What a family!"
"Are you absolutely certain you're related?" said Bill, reaching forward to shake Harry's hand.
Featherstone interrupted their pleasantries. The barrister walked into the center of the room, unrolled a long parchment, and intoned, "This meeting of the Order of the Phoenix will now begin. The house has been sealed for silence. Albus Dumbledore will preside."
Harry could see Tonks rolling her eyes from across the room. To his amusement, Snape did the same only with much more irritation. "He says that every time," Mr. Weasley softly explained to Harry, Ron, Hermione and the twins.
"Thank you, Calvin," said Dumbledore, settling himself into a chair. "First things first. We have five visitors among us: Fred, George, and Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter." Some of the Order members nodded in greeting; others smiled. Dumbledore turned to the students and the twins and addressed them. "You have been asked here for two reasons: to learn who you can trust, and to hear information we think you need to know. Let me introduce the members that you are not acquainted with." Dumbledore named Sturgis Podmore, Mundungus Fletcher and Dedalus Diggle, the last whom Harry vaguely remembered from his first visit to the Leaky Cauldron. He also pointed out Emmeline Vance, one of the witches who had accompanied Harry to St. Mungo's that very evening. Tonks and Kingsley Harry already knew, but the twins did not.
"There are just a few others who are not here," said Dumbledore, "and there are five whom you will never meet. Elphias, Shirley, Hestia, Malcolm and Gordon were lost in the recent battle." The Order members all dropped their eyes. Dumbledore was as solemn as Harry had ever seen him. "Five gone, and yet the rest of us will remain strong," the headmaster said. "Our friends will not be forgotten."
"Well said," said Mad-Eye Moody, raising his hip flask as if raising a glass in tribute. Most of the Order seemed strengthened by Dumbledore's words, but Lupin looked thoroughly miserable.
A few moments of reverent silence passed before Dumbledore spoke again. "Well. It is time to move ahead," he said briskly. "Harry, would you be so kind as to relate the events of this evening to the Order?"
Harry blinked in surprise; that had been quick. No one was stopping to grieve long for their fallen comrades. Then again, they had had two weeks to get somewhat used to the loss. The Order members looked at Harry expectantly. Ron, Hermione, and the twins wore their curiosity plainly on their faces. Dumbledore hadn't really given him a choice. Feeling nervous, Harry adjusted his seat on his stool and began. "Well, when we got off the train at Kings Cross my uncle was there waiting for me…"
He told the story as matter-of-factly as possible, omitting his enraged outbursts but including everything his uncle and Madeleine Jenkins had said. Everyone seemed appropriately shocked at the motive for the kidnapping and impressed with the way Harry had handled the situation. When he described how the witch had sent a signal to Healer Murphy the Order members began murmuring unhappily. "What exactly did she do?" Harry asked.
"Judging by your description, she broke a warning glass," said Dumbledore. "If I am not mistaken they were first used in the Auror corps."
"You are correct," said Kingsley in his deep bass. "Once they were used as signals between lookouts and squads. They haven't been used by British Aurors in some time, though. I don't know who still manufactures them, though I suppose the process must be written down somewhere."
"Unless we stumble across the maker in the dark, I don't know that we'll ever find them," Bellaton said flatly from his corner of the room. Harry gave the big Singer an uneasy look. Bellaton had not been acting like himself lately; usually he was pleasant and cheerful, not at all fatalistic.
"I do not think that we need to focus on the warning glass at this time," said Dumbledore. "More important is the fact that Miss Jenkins is still following Cornelius' ideology after his death, and that she had an accomplice."
"And based on what Potter said, she has many more," said Emmeline Vance. "A faction of Fudge's supporters is still actively operating against us."
"That much seems clear, yes," said Dumbledore.
"How many members could there be?" said Dedalus Diggle in a squeaky voice. "I don't believe that all the Ministry officials who sided with Cornelius were as rabid as he was."
"Hard to say," Sirius said darkly. "But Jenkins indicated that she had sympathizers in all areas of the government, including the Auror corps."
"Not unlike us," said Bill.
"Was Jenkins the leader?" asked Snape. A general silence followed as the Order members considered the possibilities. Harry glanced at Ron, Hermione, and the twins and saw that all four of them were watching the meeting with rapt attention.
"I have a theory," said Dumbledore after a moment, "that Dolores Umbridge is the group's leader."
"Umbridge?" Snape scoffed. "Who would follow that pink toad?"
"No," said Professor McGonagall, "I think you may be right, Albus. She has practically dropped off the radar since Cornelius died. By Merlin's beard, her ambition was matched only by her fanaticism. Unless it were Bellatrix Lestrange, I can't think of any other woman who could make my skin crawl so."
"She's been lying low since before that, actually," said Tonks, and everyone looked at her. "Kingsley and I have been keeping a special eye on her. It started after the Gala."
"If she is the head of this underground faction, then she is living a double life," said Kingsley. "We have some evidence that she may be a Death Eater."
"But… she doesn't believe Voldemort exists!" Ron burst out. He turned red as he realized what he'd done. "Sorry," he muttered under his breath.
"Don't be," said Kingsley. "True, she says that, but it's easy to say one thing and do another. Who knows - she may have actually believed that at one time, but I must agree with Minerva. Based on what I know of her, it would have been easy for Voldemort to tempt her. She is most unsavory."
"What evidence do you have?" said Sturgis Podmore.
"She vanished from the Ministry on the eighteenth of May at about two o'clock," said Tonks. "She didn't return for nearly two hours. Lucius Malfoy and Walden Macnair were also nowhere to be found during that time. We've seen two other such coordinated absences."
"She has been spotted in Knockturn Alley," said Kingsley.
"We also have it on good authority that she's been putting pressure on a member of the Wizengamot to get Malfoy and Macnair released from prison on a technicality," Tonks added. "It's only been two weeks since their arrest."
"Don't forget her personality," said Kingsley. "She's cruel. She likes to be in control. She likes power, and Fudge probably wasn't giving her enough. Voldemort will nurse and indulge those desires."
"And then there's the last," said Tonks, exchanging glances with Kingsley. "We believe she was at the botched execution."
"With Fudge?" said Mrs. Weasley.
"With Voldemort," said Kingsley.
The Order members murmured amongst themselves. "I didn' see her there," said Hagrid.
"Neither did I," said Sturgis, and many of the others voiced their agreement.
"We all saw Malfoy, Macnair, and Blake," said Kingsley.
"And the Lestranges, and Grayson, and –" Emmeline began, but Kingsley stopped her.
"Before Voldemort showed up," he said. "There was another person standing with Blake before he stepped into the light. There were four Death Eaters, but we only saw three."
Harry frowned, thinking back to the night in question. It had happened such a short time ago that the memories were still fresh. He had had time to look carefully at the graveyard while Fudge had been waiting for Percy to arrive. Fudge had been there with Mr. Malfoy and Macnair. He'd been able to pick out the dementors in the shadows by their great height; Professor Thornby had been with them. And then there had been two other figures just outside the reach of the torchlight, one of whom had turned out to be Fergus Blake…
"He's right," Harry said quietly. "And the fourth person was very short."
The room grew quiet again. It made sense; Fudge had not known who his friends were really working for. If he hadn't suspected Malfoy and Macnair of being Death Eaters, then why would he have suspected Umbridge?
"We may have to increase the watch on Dolores to be certain of her affiliation," said Dumbledore. "Accusing someone of being a Death Eater is a serious matter; I want to be certain of this."
"Was she present at the interrogation of Malfoy and Lestrange?" Moody grated.
"No. Thank heaven she was not," said Dumbledore.
"Good," said Moody, "because then she might have followed the same logic as Jenkins."
Dumbledore turned to look at the younger listeners. "I am afraid that this is all we can allow you to hear," he said. "We are beginning to touch on topics that are strictly Order business."
Harry felt a flash of irritation. He was of the opinion that Professor Thornby was very much his business, and if they were going to discuss what Madeleine Jenkins had figured out during that interrogation, then it meant that his guardian was next on the Order's agenda.
"Are you speaking to our underage companions or to all of us?" George said boldly.
"George," Mrs. Weasley said dangerously.
"All of you, I am afraid," said Dumbledore with a small smile.
"It was worth a try, anyway," Fred muttered to his twin.
"Wait outside for us," said Mr. Weasley. "I don't think we'll be more than an hour."
Harry, his friends, and the twins all stood reluctantly and walked the length of the room to the two heavy wooden doors they had entered through. "Chin up," Dumbledore said with a wry smile. "Some of what we say here you will learn. What we say in between will be left to us."
The students smiled half-heartedly and left the room, having no other choice. Tonks gave them all a sympathetic smile and gently closed the heavy doors, hiding the Order members from view.