AN: I got my first flame!!! ~Points proudly~ well, technically it's a little too mild to be a flame, but it's a negative review nonetheless. Let's call the lucky person to the stand, shall we? Drum roll please, for…. The Cryptic Critic!!! Okay, so normally I would deal with a flamer by publicly humiliating them, but since this is my first, I'm going to humor you instead of insult you. Consider yourself lucky.
First of all, I'd like to say that this story is not my best piece of work. Actually, it was the first fan fiction I ever wrote, so I suppose it's a bit sketchy in places. As to my opinions, I can damn well stick them where I please. Besides, they weren't in the story itself, but in the AN, which you didn't have to read. As to the pronoun thing, I don't think sticking a few more in there would have made any significant difference.
Wow, I wrote a polite reply to a flame. Guess that means there is a first, (and last), time for everything. Anyways, on to the story. I think you'll like this one.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
[FLASHBACK]
8 Days before Halloween, 12 years ago...
Nine people sat in complete silence in the round, circular room. A phoenix with a beautiful rose plumage gazed around at them. The people, although they didn't seem it, were weary, exhausted even. They all looked somewhat impressive, sitting there, grim and silent in emerald cloaks and hoods. A powerful aura emanated from all of them. Their faces were drawn and looked aged at the moment. It was the effect of constant worry and pressure.
All heads snapped up as the door opened, and the most powerful wizard in the world, Albus Dumbledore, walked in. Looking at him, no one would really believe that this man was the greatest wizard there was. He was old, and his face was lined with more care than on all the other people in the room. Yet the power coming from him was incredible, and those that mattered knew better.
Dumbledore seated himself behind his desk and looked around gravely at the group, who were all staring at him with sharp, bright eyes.
"Thank you all for coming," he said. Some nodded politely and murmured, but no one spoke, and they all waited for him to continue.
"I have called all of you here to discuss several matters of dire importance. As we all know, the war is not going well. In fact, it's getting worse, due to some very recent developments that have occurred, and something must be done about them immediately, or we could all be lost."
The people in the room still said nothing, but their faces grew even more alert, some slightly surprised at the dramatics. "Before I inform you of that however," Dumbledore continued, "there is the matter of Lily and James to be considered."
All heads turned to two of the emerald hooded figures in the circle. The two people glanced at each other, and then turned back to Dumbledore.
"James, you and Lily were to give us your decision tonight, concerning the meeting we had with Flitwick."
One of the two figures, a man, looked up at Dumbledore and then removed his hood, revealing a mop of untidy black hair. Frowning slightly, the man said, "We still don't like the idea of hiding, Dumbledore, but all things considered, we figured that it was the best course of action; at least for the present."
The room was filled with audible sighs of relief at his decision. "Good," Dumbledore said, smiling. "And about the Secret Keeper..."
"We still stand firm on that," James said. "It has to be Sirius."
Some people turned to glance quickly at another man, who also sat in the circle. Then, before another word could be said, a woman, who sat next to that man, took off her hood and looked at James and Lily, saying,
"James, come on. You know that would be a bad idea. Sirius is too obvious a choice! Anyone who knew you at all would assume that you'd pick Sirius to be your secret keeper!"
Dumbledore spoke up, "Lyralei is right. Sirius would be the first person they'd go after. It's not safe."
"We trust Sirius with our lives, and we won't have anyone else do it," James said adamantly.
"As if I don't!" Lyralei said angrily. "Hell, James, don't be so damn stubborn! Sirius is the first person they will go after, and they sure as hell can torture the information out of him! You need to choose somebody who's less obvious!"
"Hey, hold on, I still happen to be here people. Don't I get a say in this?" asked the man sitting next to Lyralei, who was none other than Sirius Black.
"No!" Lyralei said, still glaring at James. Sirius ignored Lyralei and went on, "I completely agree with James and Lily. I'm going to be their secret keeper, no question about it. Besides, I am the best one for the job. The death eaters won't find it very easy to capture me," he ended with a cocky grin.
Lyralei now looked desperate. "James, Lily, please, think about this. You know this isn't the wisest thing to do. Why don't you pick me instead? I'll be your secret keeper; you know you can trust me."
The woman who sat next to James, who was none other than Lily Potter, spoke up gently, "Yes, of course we trust you Lyr. But that's not the issue here; you know it isn't. If choosing Sirius isn't a wise idea, choosing you wouldn't be either. You are just as closely connected to us as he is. We know he's an obvious choice, but if the dark side can get their hands on Sirius, then that means they can get to almost anyone. In that case it's just a matter of time before we're discovered. Sirius is the best bet we have, and you know it."
Lyralei simply sank back in her chair, somewhat in defeat. Lily always was the only one who could get her to stop arguing. Dumbledore then said, "Yes, but there is one other option. You both know I have offered, and that offer still stands."
Lily smiled at her old Professor. "Yes, Albus, we know. And thank you, but we still stand firm on our decision."
Dumbledore nodded at them, almost sadly, as if he were mourning a loss yet to come. "Very well then...Now, for the rest of you," he said as the others in the group looked at him attentively. "A few days ago, Aurors from the Ministry managed to capture the death eater Ignius Brosny, as well as a few of his followers. This morning, however, we got word that they had escaped. They were still in solitary confinement at that time, and had not yet gone to Azkaban. We're not sure how they got away. One of the guards was found dead, another stunned, and the others were not present at the time."
Lyralei frowned. "This is horrible news, surely, but how is it going to affect the war?"
Dumbledore went on, "I believe you all have heard about Orlin's Jewel, also called the Necromancer Crystal? It is the only stone in the world that yields the power of Necromancy, which is a magic so dark that no decent wizard, or even any evil wizard can hope to use or control it. Even I do not know how to fight it. Necromancers do not exist anymore, and have not since the dark ages. Necromancy is the Art of the Dead, and is closely related to Demonology and the Underworld."
Dumbledore paused his explanation to look at the faces of everyone in the room, and to see what they made of this so far. Then he went on, even more gravely, "The last famous Necromancer was a man called Orlin. He was actually related to Merlin, being his second cousin or so. Orlin was a very powerful wizard, although dark, and he delved a little too deeply into the art of Necromancy. It was his downfall.
He had foresight, however, and he knew that this evil art was failing, and so he created Orlin's Jewel. He was taken by the Underworld a few years later, but before that, Orlin's Jewel became known and feared all over the world. Orlin took it away and hid it, but before he died, he told his heir where it was. Orlin then forbid his heir or anyone else to ever use the Necromancer Crystal. Even Merlin never dared to go find it. Orlin declared a doom that the Crystal would lie in its hiding place until there came one who was worthy of wielding its power. In the ages to follow, Orlin's Jewel simply became a dark legend, but it is said that the information as to its whereabouts is still passed on through the generations by Orlin's heirs."
"But what does this have to do with us or with Brosny's escape?" Lyralei questioned, although she had been fascinated by the story.
"Brosny," Dumbledore said, looking right into Lyralei's eyes, "is the last descendent of Orlin's heir. He knows where the crystal is, and if he gives it to Voldemort, then we are all doomed."
A stunned silence followed this horrific statement.
Now, the other 5 members of this group were Amanda Simons, who was a respected Historian and Magical Theoretician, Jamal Naistu, a famous curse breaker from Nairobi, Arabella Figg, of the Department of Mysteries, and John Stillas and Kobi Mastons, who were both Aurors along with Lyralei.
Then John spoke up tentatively, "So you're saying Brosny is going after the Crystal. But why now? He could have given He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named the Crystal years back. Why did he wait till now to do this?"
Amanda Simons answered, "I don't think he knew about the Crystal or anything until recently. Brosny is relatively young, and according to the Doom placed by Orlin, the information is only passed on after the heir reaches a certain age, or right before the previous heir dies. I think Brosny's mother passed away recently, and she was the last descendent of Orlin. Even then, Brosny would not have realized the significance or the truth to this legend. The only reason he is after the Crystal now is because it must have come into Lord Voldemort's attention. I'm pretty sure that the Death Eaters would do anything to gain their master's favor."
Now almost everyone in the group was staring at Amanda in amazement. She looked around, faintly amused. "You forget I'm a Historian. I have studied this matter and several obscure others, which are wrongly considered by most to be unimportant, very thoroughly." she said matter-of-factly.
Dumbledore smiled at her through his half-moon spectacles. "Ms. Simons is absolutely correct, which is why I called her to this meeting."
"So we have to stop Brosny from getting to the Crystal," Sirius said. "How are we supposed to do that? I mean, does anyone have any idea at all as to its whereabouts? Brosny could be searching anywhere in the world right now."
"We have taken care of that problem already," Kobi Mastons said, sneering slightly at Sirius, "Brosny was interrogated by a few of us yesterday, so we know his intentions and the exact location of the Crystal."
"I see, and since you were feeling so proud and full of yourself after the interrogation, you decided to lower your guard and let the man escape, is that it?" Sirius shot back at Mastons.
Mastons glowered at him and opened his mouth to argue, but a possible brawl was prevented by Lily Potter, who cut in smoothly.
"Professor, this information is quite important, isn't it? Shouldn't the Ministry themselves be informing us of this?"
Arabella Figg answered her question, saying delicately, "Our Head of Department thought it best to inform Dumbledore of this first, as we don't think this matter should be made public to the entire Ministry just yet. You see, our department has completely processed the information of the interrogation, and has gotten in contact with our counterparts in Kenya, where the Crystal is said to be. Meanwhile, the Ministry is currently under a lot of pressure and is a bit, well, ah, in turmoil to tell you the truth. But even I don't know all of the information concerning this case. It was all directly given to Professor Dumbledore."
Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, and now I shall tell you all of it. The Crystal is indeed in Kenya, in the capital city of Nairobi. It was hidden in a secret temple somewhere, of which our friend Mr. Naistu can tell you more."
Jamal Naistu nodded and continued the explanation in a heavily accented voice. "The Crystal is in one of the underground shrines in Nairobi, where I am from. It is most likely heavily guarded, as many of these shrines are. They are safely hidden by magic, so no muggles know of them anymore. I have gotten into and broken many of the shrines before, but many contained only tombs. Most of these Shrines were built for tribal Princes in ancient Africa, who employed "Medicine Men" as they called some wizards back then, to make them. Anyway, this Shrine is supposed to be somewhere in a Western Grassland, near the Ondungo Woods. Even if we reach the general area, we still have to find the Shrine and break into it. It will not be that easy."
"This is why Mr. Naistu, and most probably another curse breaker from our Ministry will be going on this expedition. Jamal is, by the way, our contact from the Kenyan Ministry, and will be able to get you through there without any trouble." Dumbledore said.
"All right," Lyralei said briskly. "When do I and the others leave? And who are the others, exactly?"
"What?!" Sirius exclaimed. "What do you mean 'I and the others'? No way you're going on this trip."
Lyralei glared at him. "Excuse me," she said icily, "but I don't remember asking your permission, and frankly I don't see how it's any of your business whether I go or not. It's my job we're talking about."
"Please," Dumbledore cut in, "I must ask you two to continue your discussion later. And, in answer to Miss Maxwell's questions, she will in fact be going." At this Sirius opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when Dumbledore raised a hand and said, "Please let me finish. Miss Maxwell will be accompanied by Mrs. Simons, Mr. Naistu, Miss Figg, and Mr. Stillas and Mr. Mastons. You may get another member or two on your team however; you'll know later. All of you are to meet with Bartemius Crouch tomorrow at 0900 hours in Conference room B12 at the Ministry headquarters. He will give you your final instructions, and then you'll be off."
Again, Sirius opened his mouth to say something, and again, Dumbledore cut in, knowing exactly what he was going to ask.
"And no, Mr. Black, you cannot go, I'm afraid, even in Lyralei's stead. You and the Potters have to stay to complete the Fidalus Charm. I'm sure you have some idea of how complicated that particular Charm is, and how it takes a lot of time, patience, and most of all, the presence of all the members participating."
"But,-"
"If you come," Lyralei said, cutting him off, "then I get be Lily and James's Secret Keeper. You chose, Sirius, what'll it be?" She asked, smirking slightly because she knew that there was no way Sirius could come now.
Sirius looked at her desperately, "You can't go Lyr! Damnit, it's too dangerous! This is practically a suicide mission!"
"Like I said, it's my job! And when has something being dangerous ever stopped any of us before?" Lyralei asked in exasperation at the conversation, which they both knew was pointless.
Then, as if to add fuel to the fire, Kobi Mastons leaned back casually and said, "Relax Black. I'll be there to watch Lyr, you can be sure of it..." He ended, eyeing Lyralei in a way that made Sirius's blood boil.
Just in time, James managed to grab Sirius before he could pounce on Kobi and tear his throat out or something equally worse. And right before Lyralei managed to get her wand out, Arabella Figg placed a restraining hand on her shoulder and said "That's enough, all of you! We have enough worries without us fighting each other. We're on the same side, remember? At least save the arguments for later; we have a serious matter to discuss right now!"
Sirius growled and pulled away from James. Lyralei simply looked away.
"What happened to the team of Aurors that originally captured Brosny? They were all of Class A too, weren't they?" John Stillas asked.
"Yes, they were," Dumbledore replied. "I believe that Alastor Moody was among them. Moody has already gone off on another mission, as well as a few others, and the rest of the Aurors were left in no condition to be going anywhere for a while, I'm afraid."
Then Dumbledore looked at the group very gravely. "I must impress upon you how important this mission is. IT MUST NOT FAIL. The only room for failure is if Voldemort falls in the next week or so, and I can almost assure you that's not going to happen. This is a very covert operation, which is why there aren't very many of you assigned to this. Mrs. Simons and Mr. Naistu will be needed to find and, if possible, contain or destroy the stone. Mrs. Simons has the research done that shows how. The Aurors will have to take care of Brosny and possibly a few followers he might have along. Brosny will not have told very many of his fellow Death Eaters about all this, because he will surely want to keep all the credit to himself. However, it is likely that a few might follow him anyway, so be warned. Miss Figg is the representative and recorder for our Ministry, and this mission falls right into her department. Lily, James, and Sirius are acting as witnesses to this meeting. Remember, our success now lies in secrecy and not in numbers; which is why we aren't sending as many Aurors as we normally would have. As all of you undoubtedly know, we need to finish this quickly and quietly. Good luck."
The entire group regarded Dumbledore solemnly. Then, as one, they replaced their hoods and quietly vanished from the room.
AN: Told you the story got better. :)
ANNE( v )79: Thank-ye lots.
MWPP: Yeah, can't say I'm very fond of those idiots either. Hmm, maybe I should have a little fun with those two…~grins evilly~
PadfootProngs: Exactly. I really don't see how she's going to make the next book any better. J.K basically dug a hole for herself with OOTP. Thanks for reviewing!
Lyanire: Umm, the chapter says that Lyralei has partial command in the investigation. I know it's vague, but she explains her role in a bit more detail in an upcoming chapter.